Terminator 2 (1991).  Director: James Cameron.  Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick.

Rounding out director James Cameron’s early science fictional output is the mega-hit Terminator 2.  As with some of his other early releases, T2 (as the film was/is promoted) featured the return of Sarah Connor and Schwarzenegger’s almost indestructible Terminator.  Only this time, Schwarzenegger's robot was programmed for good and tasked with protecting John Connor from the sleek, homicidal, an liquidy T-1000 (Robert Patrick).

Although the film has a legion of fans, to me it wasn’t as good as the brutal original, and many of the echoes to the first film became rather annoying after a while.  However, I still liked the movie enough to purchase the video release.

Or rather, video releases.

For there were many.  In fact, if the concept of double dipping has its ground zero, one could argue that the laserdisc releases of T2 were it.  First came the movie in a couple of incarnations (letterboxed, CAV, full screen, etc.), then a handsome boxed set, and then a handsome Mega-boxed set (featuring the deleted scenes you thought were in the first boxed set).  All this before DVDs first appeared on the horizon.

For a film I didn’t feel was as good as the original, I sure spent a lot of money on it.  I couldn’t help myself.  I wanted to see what was cut.

And there was quite a bit.  But did it amount to a better overall film?

In 2003, Artisan Home Entertainment released a Terminator 2 “Extreme” DVD, which featured the theatrical film on one disc and a “Special Edition” of the film on another (and, if you know the easter egg code, an even longer special edition complete with the alternate ending).  The special edition, I’m guessing (until the next version of the film, already on the horizon, is released) featured all the “cut” scenes re-integrated into the main body of the film.

The first notable add on involves Sarah Connor being brutally forced to take some medication while in the Pescadero State Hospital.  This leads to a cameo appearance of Reese (the always welcome Michael Biehn), reprising his role from the original Terminator.  Of course, if you’re familiar with that film, you know that his appearance here is nothing more than a hallucination as his character was killed in the last movie.  This sequence is tender and sad as Reese urges Sarah to get her act together and continue the fight.

The next major add on involves the gang (Sarah, John, and the Terminator, all now together) stopping after the jail break out for some repair work.  After Sarah is stitched up, a conversation ensues regarding the Terminator's processor chip, and how he's limited in his programming from learning new things and, thus, becoming more "human".  The Terminator’s CPU is removed from his head and the switch on it is reset, but not before Sarah Connor seriously considers destroying the thing and ridding the world of this seemingly benevolent Terminator.  That particular sequence, alas, features some pretty broad (over) acting.

This leads to a humorous scene a little later on where John urges the Terminator to learn to smile, with somewhat predictable results.  Regardless, its understandable why the former sequence was removed (although the later could have stayed in):  The "humanization" subplot was never really fleshed out for the remainder of the film.

We then have an mildly extended introduction to Miles Dyson, the man who is trying to figure out the Terminator's CPU (and thus will be responsible for the rise of the machines) as well as, a little later, an extended sequence where the scientist personally trashes his CPU model.

Towards the very end of the film, the T-1000 is, in perhaps the movie's most famous sequence, frozen solid, busted apart, then thawed and re-integrated.  What was eliminated was a very small scene that showed the T-1000 was “glitching” due to the extreme punishment it just took.  To me, this makes sense as later on, when he's thrown into the vat of molten metal, he is finally eliminated.  In the theatrical cut, I never understood why being roasted killed him after he showed himself so tough with the freezing.  With the addition of the glitch, however, it is now understood that because of the two extreme temperatures he undergoes...from frozen solid to volcanically heated, he simply is unable to maintain his integrity and, thus, dies.

Unfortunately, the presentation of the “glitch” in the extended cut of the film proved rather weak from a storytelling standpoint and, I suspect, this was why it was eliminated.  The fact is that unless you have read the screenplay and knew what the glitch represented, you were likely not sure of what you saw (This might have been a case where a little bit of expository dialogue, having Hamilton or Schwarzenegger comment on what we've just seen, might have worked.  But "might" is the operative word: Our heroes didn't exactly hang around much while in the T-1000's sights.).

The last major sequence to be dropped was a postscript to the film itself, showing Sarah Connor as an older woman.  Judgment Day never came because of the events of T2, therefore humanity lived on and the machines never gained control.  It’s a nice, conclusive ending that pretty much shuts the door to any more sequels, which may be in part why it was eliminated.  I can picture the studio bean counters looking at this definite conclusion like a vampire gazing at a cross (what  do you mean we can’t have any more lucrative sequels to The Terminator?  It’s a cash cow!  Are you guys crazy?!).

The above, of course, is random speculation on my part.  I don’t know who ultimately pulled the trigger and dropped that scene from the film.  Regardless, it has made its way onto the special features and seamless branching of DVDs.

Bottom line: I think the extended cut of T2 is the way to go if you're a fan of the film.  As I said before, I enjoy the film but don't think it measures up to the original.  Regardless, if the mood hits me and I want to revisit Schwarzenegger, Hamilton, and company, I'd go for the extended cut.

Bonus!

A sequence that was never filmed, but one can find in the movie’s screenplay (a book version with copious illustrations was released to bookstores at the time of the movie's release) involves the T-1000 finding Salcedo's south of the border base and killing almost everyone there in his quest to locate John Conner.  Such a sequence, in my opinion, should have been filmed (although not necessarily just for that awesome storyboard graphic presented below).  No, I liked the scene because it clearly established that the T-1000 remained just a few steps behind Sarah and John Connor.  In the theatrical and extended cut of the film, when our heroes escape from Pescadero, they could literally go anywhere and lay low for years.  There is no indication that the T-1000 had any idea where to find them from that point on.  With this unfilmed sequence, we understand that our heroes have to finish what they've started, as the T-1000 will always be nipping at their heels.

One final note: I don't know if its wishful thinking on my part or something I read way back when, but wouldn't it have been intriguing if the T-1000 were played by Michael Biehn instead of Robert Patrick?  This would have effectively flipped the good/bad guys from the first film completely.  And why not?  The T-1000, after all, can look like anyone.

One thing's for sure: It would have set up a far more interesting dynamic in the hospital escape sequence!