Terminator 2: Judgment Day FAQ

F.A.Q. WEAPONS VEHICLES LOCATIONS AWARDS

F.A.Q.

1. "JUST HIM AND ME" ?

In the first movie Reese said that "no one else comes through, it's just him and me" and that the TDE (Time Displacement Equipment) was blown up after he went in. So how come two more travelers appear ten years later?

"Reese didn't know about the jeopardy that John Connor was to face at age 10, and neither did Sarah. So, that was the starting point" - James Cameron (Starlog #171)

Reese couldn't know what happened after he left his time, and also couldn't be told. When Reese disappeared, John Connor knew he had to send one more protector because he knew that another assassin was sent, and this time to 1995. He alone had this knowledge. The extended T2 script, novelization and T2: Nuclear Twilight #4 comic book all depicted the scene the same way. From the script, right after Reese disappears:

FUENTES

Sapper team. Set your charges.

Let's blow this place back to Hell.



Connor shakes his head no. Mustering his strength.



CONNOR

Not yet. There's one more thing we

have to do.

After the second protector is sent, then they destroy the TDE

It is not clear when exactly Skynet sent his two terminators. It was shortly before the war was over, but when exactly is not clear. The Resistance was able to sent their protectors only after Skynet was defeated and all machines stopped functioning, in July of 2029. It was then that they could enter Skynet's facilities, access abandoned TDE and do their part.

Reese still suspected that Skynet might've sent more than one Terminator before getting destroyed. From the final shooting script of the first movie, the motel scene:



SARAH

He'll find us, won't he?



REESE

Probably. Sarah, if I get zeroed--



SARAH

Don't say that.



REESE

If I do, you have to get away, disappear without a

trace. Different country, different name, everything.

In case they send another one.

2. IS THE OPENING SCENE A FINAL BATTLE ?

Yes. It was already made clear in the first movie that Skynet's fall is inevitable at that point and its last try was to try to erase Connor's existence. The war was won in 2029

CONNOR (V.O.)

Skynet, being almost infinitely

smart, was also infinitely tricky.

It knew it was losing, so it thought

of a way to rig the game...



Technicians have pulled up floor panels and tapped

directly into cabling of the machine, using portable

terminals that they have wheeled in. Many of the soldiers

in this war against machines are technical specialists...

you have to fight fire with fire.



CONNOR (V.O.)

And now, though we've won the war ,

there is still one battle left to

fight. The most important one. It

will be fought in the past, almost

four decades ago... before all this

began...

The novelization, T2: Nuclear Twilight comic and extended script itself confirm the victory, which also allows Connor and his team to enter Skynet's facilities

The sudden silence takes the humans by surprise. They

slowly emerge from their rat-warren emplacements and

approach the frozen machines. We hear a voice speaking

over a radio headset. It is filled with awed emotion.



HEADSET VOICE (O.S.)

... The Colorado Division confirms

that Skynet has been destroyed...

The war is over... I repeat, Skynet

has been destroyed.



CAMERA TRACKS along the soldiers, bleeding, frostbitten,

wrapped in rags... Valley Forge with better weapons.

The wounded soldier in the ruins of the building

cautiously approaches the chrome skeleton before him. He

pushes against its chest with one finger. It topples with

a crash and lies still.

The soldier turns to his comrades with an idiot grin.

Tears are streaming down his face. A mighty cheer goes up

from the men and woman of the Last Army.

3. WHY ONLY ONE SENT AT A TIME?

the activation of the TDE , which was a gargantuan machine going down deep into the bowels of the earth, required so much energy that it caused all of Skynet's machine temporary deactivation after each power up - it required massive amount of energy to send one object.

"Jim always said that it [Time Displacement Equipment] should look like it took all of the energy of the planet just to send one person back in this thing, so it had to be a very big deal" - Steve BUrg, conceptual designer on T2, The Making of Terminator 2: Judgment Day book 1991

Later, the T2 Malibu comic series, in which Lightstorm Entertainment had involvement, depicted the idea and elaborated on it

4. WHAT IS THE GOOD TERMINATOR'S MODEL AND TECHNICAL DATA ?

This is the exact same model as the one sent by Skynet to '84.

T-800, CSM-101

CSM 101 (Cyberdyne Systems Model) is mentioned in the movie itself. The newly added T abbreviation is followed by series number 800. The series number was shown for the first time outside the novelization of the first movie in the teaser trailer for T2. T-800 was officially confirmed by official press release, press, movie merchandise and most importantly, James Cameron himself and Van Ling - creative consultant and FX supervisor for The Abyss, T2, Titanic and other hits.

The full make is Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4 - that data can be seen when T-800 is rebooting after the chip switch scene. Van Ling explains:

This means that the infamous endoskeleton covered in living tissue is a T-800. The fact that the aforementioned living tissue looks like Arnold makes it Model 101. Therefore, all 800-series Model 101s look like Arnold. An 800-series Model 102 would look like somebody else, but would be essentially the same underneath, since it's a T-800

T-800 says that he can last "A hundred and twenty years on my existing power-cell", and in Frakes' novelization, there's little more to it - "A hundred and twenty years on my existing power-cell, under normal conditions."

That is not a contradiction of what was said in the first novelization ("Terminator could keep operating at full power for twenty-four hours a day for 1,095 days."). There's a big difference here - full power vs. normal conditions.

The T-800 is capable of running internal systems checks; calculating the distance of objects relative to itself; making detailed kinetic studies of trajectories, sampling and analyzing the atmosphere, weather patterns and wind velocity, analyzing body structure, calculating the force of gravity, analyzing texture and temperature of materials and other. The 800 Series is also equipped with vocals which enable it to replicate any human speech pattern of which it has heard an adequate specimen. It does this by recording and storing syllables of the subjects' voices, which it then replays and uses to digitally synthesize their speech patterns. The novelization also says that he can sense radar scans. It also says that T-800 DOES require oxygen, although very low amounts of it. That's why he was unaffected by the halon system at Cyberdyne.

T-800's endoskull blueprints, taken from the official 1991's "Making of Terminator 2" featurette, directed by Van Ling

The first picture shows something called 'Telepathic Communication Implant Cores". This is most likely a device that allows terminators to communicate with each other and other futuristic Skynet machines. Since it's based on some kind of wireless signal, it's very possible that it allows terminators to sense each other's presence , like T-800 did when he knew that it's the T-1000 who was controlling the police chopper.

T-800 has the ability to look for the alternate power source if its battery and power source is disrupted

T2 Extreme DVD text commentary explains:

Terminator drew upon the potential energy in his heat sinks to jump start his internal systems since his main power cell was ruptured and discharged by T-1000’s attack

T - 800's CPU (Central Processing Unit) abilities are not clear. In the novelization, comic book adaptation, script and deleted scene, we find out that CPU can be either set on WRITE or READ ONLY. Skynet presets the switch to Read Only when Terminators are send out alone so they wouldn't be able to think on their own and learn.

The scene was deleted for time purposes only, but eventually replaced with new information about the CPU, saying that it's a learning computer that collects data and learns from human contacts.

a CPU is made up of thousands of microscopic transistors housed inside a resin or plastic shell. The lattice of cubes in the construction of the prototype CPU suggests a "hypercube" (a cube of more than three dimensions). In computer design, hypercubes are used as a physical connection scheme that minimizes the effective communication distance (and therefore the time delay) between processors, when the logical connection scheme needed by the software that will be run on those processors cannot be known in advance.

This then supports the Neural Nets ability to learn, adapt, and built new logical connection schemes. The Neural Net CPU is ground breaking, using the very latest Quantum Effects chips

5. HOW IS THE FLESH PLACED ON THE T-800 ?

The teaser trailer for T2, directed by Stan Winston for $150,000 shows the entire procedure of how a T-800 comes off an assembly line and gets his flesh grown around the endoskeleton. A T-800 endoskeleton enters a living-tissue-casting machine and the living tissue of the 101 model is instantly pressed

Screen caps from Terminator 2: Judgment Day Teaser trailer

6. WHY T-800 LOOKS LIKE ARNOLD AGAIN ?

Connor specifically looked for that model to send because he remembered him as such and wanted to make sure that he's doing what he was suppose to do - send the T-800 that he remembers back in time to 1995 so he can protect him from the T-1000. He knew that for things to go the way they are suppose to, he has to find the terminator that looks like the one that he remembers.

When Skynet is defeated and all the machines cease to function, Connor and the resistance enter the TDE chamber and sent Reese back in time. Then Connor orders other to go to the Cold Storage Chamber to find a terminator to reprogram. From the extended script:

Connor walks into the darkness, followed by a few

technicians. They are in a vault-like cold-storage room.

Hanging in steel racks from ceiling tracks are hundreds of

what appear to be men. They are in rows of ten. Within

each row, each of the bodies are absolutely identical.



Connor signals the techs to remain by the door and walks

out among the dark bodies. They are INACTIVATED

TERMINATORS. He stops at a row in which they are

identical to the terminator which was sent to kill Sarah

(the Arnold model).

And there's another confirmation that the T-800 chosen and sent by John is the exact same one that was sent in the first movie by Skynet:

He walks to the end of the row. There is one empty rack.

He faces the terminator in the next rack. Its eyes are

closed.

"One empty rack" - CG animation done by Van Ling for T2 Ultimate DVD menu

Randall Frakes' novelization:

They were in a cold storage room. Fuentes gasped as his beam fell on a row of naked bodies, hanging on steel racks suspended from the ceiling.

John panned his light around. There were hundreds of men and women, in rows of ten. Within each row, the bodies were absolutely identical.

"Terminators," Fuentes whispered, his hand on his rifle butt, uneasy.

John quickly walked along the synthetic bodies to the end of a row and hesitated. He scanned the faces. No, not here. Then he gazed down the other row. All the same. Strange to him. Then... he turned to another row and stopped. it was filled with identical, familiar faces. The broad, brutally handsome features sent a shock of recognition through John.

7. WHY IS T-800'S HAIR DIFFERENT ?

The conceptual artwork showed the remaining 9 inactive 101 models with the longer hair, as seen in the first movie, so it's clear that the issue of hair style change was supposed to be addressed.

There's a theory that the resistance cut his hair short to have a better access to CPU. If they cut one spot to open the port cover, naturally they had to trim the whole thing now.

Another theory that comes from T2 books is that there are variants within variants - same model may have different types of hair etc, which is unlikely since there are only 10 same looking models

Van Ling gave two explanations: 1) Skynet may put different random haircuts on infiltrators to decrease the chance of zeroing them at a glance; 2) John Connor in the future may have had the T-800 prepped to look like the one he remembered from his childhood, because that's what was supposed to happen

8. WHAT IS EVIL TERMINATOR'S MODEL NUMBER AND TECHNICAL DATA ?

T-800 clearly states that the enemy this time is:

T-1000 Advanced Prototype

It's formed from a different, even more advanced metal - pollyalloy. Mimetic pollyalloy to be exact, which can be in both liquid and solid form. It's also referred to as 'liquid metal'

There is only a series number and no model designation because it doesn't have any designated appearance. As mentioned in the movie, T-1000 is a one of a kind prototype. T-1000 is so powerful that even Skynet itself feared it, and would never use it of not the circumstances.

it was fully autonomous, and barely under the allegiance of its creator, SKYNET. SKYNET had hesitated before creating this latest weapon system. There were unpredictability factors related to the liquid poly-mimetic alloy's longevity and the ability to process commands without interpolating its own priorities over those of its creator. it was so volatile a construct that only in the last throes of defeat, only when it appeared that the Resistance would finally be able to mount an offensive against the inner command components of SKYNET, even threatening the Cheyenne Mountain complex itself, did SKYNET go ahead and create the T1000. Einstein once said that God didn't play dice with the universe. SKYNET had no choice..."

The passage above also points out that T-1000 is autonomous, meaning it isn't controlled or dependent on Skynet. The reason is that it doesn't have CPU and is a brand new, completely different technology. It's almost like an artificial creature of sort, developing on it's own. It's never fully explained how T-1000 works, although it's confirmed that its built of thousands of tiny nano-bots that work together by both the novelization and James Cameron on T2 Extreme DVD commentary.

T2 Novelization:

"Sirens reached its auditory sensors, which could have been formed anywhere on its body (since every molecule had the genetic blueprints for all needed parts programmed into them), but were now in shape of human ears"

- Randall Frakes

James Cameron furthermore explains and confirms Skynet's fear of the T-1000:

"I started thinking about the film in two stages. In the first stage the future sends back a mechanical guy, essentially what The Terminator became, and the good guys send back their warrior. In the end, the mechanical guy is destroyed. But up there in the future, somewhere, they say, well, wait a minute, that didn't work; what else do we have? And the answer is something terrible, something even they're afraid of. Something they've created that they keep locked up, hidden away in a box, something they're terrified to unleash because even they don't know what the consequences will be - they being the machines, now in charge of the future.



"And that thing in the box becomes a total wild card; it could go anywhere, do anything; it's a polymorphic metal robot that is nothing more than a kind of blob. I saw it as this mercury blob that could form into anything. It's powers were almost unlimited, and even in the future, they couldn't control it.



"That scared me. Just sitting there writing the story scared me.

When physically damaged, the T-1000 is capable of reforming itself in seconds, closing up bullet holes and reattaching limbs

The concept of pain had never factored into the sensory sphere of the liquid machine. Pain was an indicator of damage to a part of the organism, but this organism didn't have parts, except on a purely molecular level and its molecules were each primitive, miniaturized versions of the total machine. If any section were parted, the separated parts would revert to liquid metal poly-alloy. The only default command implemented on the molecular level of this design was to find the main mass again and rejoin it as soon as possible. Each molecule had a range of fourteen kilometers...

The liquid metal allows it to actually reassemble if blown to pieces

"It didn't have a wafer-circuit brain to think with, instead it was something on a completely new level of artificial intelligence. The molecular brain acted like the rest of the design, a liquid, and it bubbled and seethed with cold, logical possibilities and probabilities. All of them extremely lethal and efficient."

T-1000 is capable of perfectly copying the shape, color, and texture of anything that it touches that is of similar size or volume. The only restriction is that it cannot form "complex machines," such as "guns and explosives" because they "have chemicals, moving parts." The only weapons it can form are "solid metal shapes," such as "knives and stabbing weapons.". It's truly a perfect invention. Furthermore, it can use its ability to quickly liquefy and assume forms in innovative and surprising ways, including:

fitting through narrow openings,

morphing its human arms into solid metal tools or bladed weapons,

walking through prison bars form additional limbs

and flattening itself on the ground to hide or ambush targets. T-1000 can become a floor, wall, stool, big rock - just about anything and anybody

James Cameron: By shape-changing, the T-1000 could adapt itself into almost anything. But there had to be limits about his shape-changing. Could it turn into a Coca-Cola machine? No, because it can't change its mass. It certainly can't change its weight; weight and mass are two physical constants. But it can become things. It could not turn into a small dog because it was too big, there was too much mass, too much material. It could mimic weapons, but it couldn't mimic a weapon that would actually fire. A gun has moving parts, and there's gunpowder inside a brass shell, so it can't make itself into that.



So we said, okay, it can't make itself into a gun, but it could certainly make itself into a knife. Or something flat, like linoleum. Knowing it could be a knife, we needed to show that once or twice because it would look cool, and we figured we could fit that into several different situations.

The fact that T-1000 is composed of the new pollyalloy makes T-1000 even more resistant to hit, damage and temperatures. It's proven when he starts to melt in the molten steel - it took only few seconds for T-800 to melt and cease to function, while it took much longer for T-1000 who kept fighting and going berserk for a while before actually melting. Also, the ability to turn into liquid shape makes it impossible to be held and hard to be hit

Robert Patrick: Cameron encouraged me to think about predators in general. He said to let your mind be a sponge, and try to take cues from aspects of nature, especially bugs. He was very interested in me thinking with an instinct - this very calm, non-emotional patience. So I checked out some documentaries. He had me training with a physical trainer, working out three or four times a day.

Only a chain of circumstances allowed the defeat of the T-1000, who got terminated because he was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the assassin in the first movie. A direct hand to hand combat had left the T-800 a crawling, incapacitated, smashed junk

9. DOES THE T-1000 SEE ?

The deleted scene of T-1000 searching John's room was specifically shot to show the audience that T-1000 doesn't see but that he senses, like an insect or Alien. He carefully touches and massages everything with the tips of his fingers. "Touch" is a key word here - it's the same way T-1000 samples objects.

Novelization: "(T-1000) took in the details of the neighborhood. It wasn't just his eyes he was seeing with. His entire body registered the environment in a dozen subtle ways"

"It didn't need lights. It could sense the molecular structure of things by touch"

There's no distinction in T-1000's form - same drop or part can become a piece of leg, or an ear, nose or knee - doesn't matter

Novelization: "Sirens reached its auditory sensors, which could have been formed anywhere on its body (since every molecule had the genetic blueprints for all needed parts programmed into them), but were now in shape of human ears"

10. WHY NOT T-900 ?

900 series doesn't exist. It's never mentioned or even hinted in any official or related source, besides, 800 series is still a new model. It's highly probable that the T-1000 got a 1000 designation because it's a prototype and because it's such a huge leap of advancement. It's also something completely different than anything ever done before.

11. WHEN DOES THE MOVIE TAKE PLACE ?

There are some sources saying the movie takes place in 1994, although it's incorrect. The movie itself points out that the events are happening in 1995. The first scene where the date is revealed is when T-1000 accesses police computer. The data shows John's birth as 2/28/85 and his age being 10. That means the movie's taking place somewhere from early to late 1995. Both Terminators arrive on Saturday, T-800 at 3:14 AM and the T-1000 at 4:58 AM

Van Ling confirms: The film is supposed to take place in 1995, since John was conceived in mid-May of 1984 and thus would have been born around February of 1985, and if he's supposed to be ten years old in T2, that would make it 1995. We really never tried to lock down the exact dates, but since I was the one who programmed that police computer on the set, I can at least vouch for that part of it!

Some say that it's not as apparent because of two factors

1. T-800 says that in 35 years he'll be reprogrammed and sent back. We know that it will happen in 2029, and 1994 plus 35 is 2029. Although it's very likely that T-800 was rounding the years, since he didn't mention months and days but years only - a clear indicator of rounding.

2. From what T-800 said, it seems that the Judgment Day, dated 1997, will happen in 3 years which would point out 1994. However, T2 takes place during the colder months, as evidence by clothing worn by people at the mall. So if T2 took place in early 1995, that would make 2 years, 6 months, and few days until Judgment Day, 8/29/97. Obviously, when the Terminator mentions "three years", it is not exact. He obviously doesn't mean it's exactly three years to the day. He is simply rounding to the nearest whole number, and that would fit perfectly since the rounded time is actually 3 years

On the other hand, Sarah, who was 19 in '84, was described by dr. Silberman as '29 year old female", which would also point out at 1994, but could easily be 1995 as well

One way or another, the answer is clearly displayed on the police computer.

Therefore, the answer is 1995

The Future scenes/Final Battle takes place on July 11, 2029

12. HOW DID THE T-1000 TRAVEL THROUGH TIME WITHOUT ANY LIVE ELEMENTS ?

Some say that the liquid metal can mimic human skin so flawlessly that it can fool the TDE. However, that can't be the case because the fact still remains it's not live, and only live things can move through time. The novelization and T2 extreme DVD text commentary explains that T-1000 was wrapped inside a flesh cocoon, that's why T-1000's arrival was done off screen.

Van Ling: That idea (flesh cocoon) was one we had bandied about during preproduction, but it was something that we thought would be too confusing to show visually it would have been like when Brett finds the shed alien skin in Alien. I still think it's the most logical explanation, given we see a flesh "mold" in the teaser trailer already. The other possibilities are that 1) the T-1000 could mimic the field generated by a living organism or 2) Reese really does NOT know tech stuff. Note that several comics and other media later played off the idea of surgically embedding weapons into human carriers and ripping them out of them once they arrived

originally there was suppose to be a scene showing officer Joe Austin finding the skin. Van Ling: it was something that we thought would be too confusing to show visually it would have been like when Brett finds the shed alien skin in Alien

The novelization itself tells a story of John and his soldiers stumbling upon traces of liquid metal left in the same flesh mold that we've seen in the teaser trailer supporting Van Ling's exact same explanation.

Novelization: They walked underneath them to the place where the two 20-ton plates met and peered within the small gap there. it was only large enough for a single man to step between and there was an indention in each of the plates, an indention in the shape of a man. Connor squinted at something gleaming at the edge of a small round opening positioned where the neck of a man would be in the lower indention. He squatted, feeling his age in his aching knees, and shined his light at what had caught his eye. He carefully extended the tip of his plasma rifle down into the indention, using the barrel of the well used weapon to prod what appeared to be a large drop of liquid mercury. As the barrel of his rifle touched the liquid it flowed onto the barrel of his rifle and seemed to soak in, disappearing.

13. WHY DIDN'T THE T-1000 BRING ANY WEAPONS INSIDE OF HIM ?

Because of the flesh cocoon he was inside of. The plasma weapons known to be used by Terminators aren't tiny. It can't be fit within the confines of a human form that's curled into a low crouch. If the T-1000 didn't need a flesh cocoon, it could take any shape needed to accommodate a weapon, and in fact could have taken a whole Terminator with it! But with a flesh cocoon, a T-1000 couldn't realistically fit large, bulky items within itself without potentially compromising the integrity of the cocoon.

14. WHY THE T-800 DIDN'T KILL ANYONE AT THE BAR ?

Terminators use force mostly when necessary. The first movie established that physical force is their secondary choice in obtaining the goal, and they always ask before resolving to violence. We see the same reasoning in both the second T-800 and the T-1000. Unlike the first terminator, the second T-800 wasn't threatened with a weapon right away. He threw his attackers around to weaken them and engaged and almost killed the one that had the knife, stabbing him in the upper back. He did not stop or withheld from killing. There was no need for it and the attacker ho had the knife was quickly and almost deadly disabled.

Novelization acknowledges T-800's tactical decisions regarding killing when he approaches Robert in the kitchen, the biker whose clothes came to his liking: The target was temporarily disabled. Shooting him would be an unnecessary use of force .

15. WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THE TERMINATORS TO ARRIVE AT JOHN'S HOUSE ?

Since most of the records were lost in the war, they didn't have knowledge of the pre-war Los Angeles. Both arrived in the middle of the night and there aren't many people at that time who can know and/or point the way and give directions to the specific address. Note that the T-1000 didn't know where the Reseda Mall is either and had to ask for directions. In the omitted scene, the girls are laughing at T-1000 for not knowing where such huge and well known mall is.

The novelization also explains that time is of no importance for the T-1000. He is in no rush at all: The target's escape meant nothing to it. The delay could only be a measurement of time. Although terminators had internal chronometers, the T-1000 did not. It was part of Skynet's new design. Knowledge of time had its uses, but in most cases of pursuit, it was an unnecessary element.

Time was only a temporary respite from inevitable.

16. HOW COULD SARAH STAB SILBERMAN FEW WEEKS PRIOR ?

Silberman had said that if she showed IMPROVEMENT after six months that she would deserve such a transfer. He also said that her attitude has been "much improved...lately"

17. WHY WAS THE ARM IMPORTANT ?

They could learn a lot from the arm...mechanical systems, alloys, peripheral electronics - Sarah Connor in T2: Cybernetic Dawn comic book

Novelization: He impulsively unlocked the cabinet and glanced inside at a larger object...a mechanically intricate metal hand and forearm.

(...) laced with hydraulic actuators. The fingers were as finely crafted as watch parts.

18. WHY WAS JOHN SPOOKED BY T-800'S APPEARANCE?

According to the novelization, John knew T-800's face from the newspaper clippings and knew it's probably the person responsible for the '84 Police Massacre and the same person that his mother believed to be a Terminator.

Novelization: In an instant, John recognized the face. he had seen it many times in the newspaper clippings his mother had shown him as he was growing up. It was that guy. The crazy dude who shot up that police station. The one his mother thought was a terminator.

19. WHO WAS THE MAN AT THE GALLERIA MALL ?

This is actually the police officer 1-L-19, Nick Delaney, that got his head smashed against the car by T-800 in 1984. That is why he is so shocked when he sees him - he recognizes him and also knows that this person is a cop killer from '84.

Later on in Pescadero the detectives show pictures of T-800 to Sarah. It's possible that those are the pictures provided to them by the above mentioned officer. Some say that it can't be so because the angles are different, but that's due to the fact that the pictures were taken a long time before the actual Mall scene was shot.

The officer is played by T2 co-writer William Wisher

20. WHY DOES THE T-1000 KEEP CHANGING BACK TO THE POLICEMAN FORM ?

The T-1000 already had a default form when it arrived from the future. When the copied form isn't needed anymore, he doesn't need to hold and execute the copied subject's data anymore and reverts back to the default form. Kind of like closing a window of a website you don't need anymore or going back to homepage. In addition to that, novelization explains he was doing that to save energy which was needed for emulating objects/people other than it's default form which was slim and energy-sufficient.

Novelization: The T-1000 walked forward. Because of the man's obesity, it has been stressing its ability to expand molecularly by remaining in the Lewis form, so it had defaulted back to the most energy efficient Officer.

21. WHAT HAPPENED TO SARAH'S TAPES FOR JOHN ?

John left them in the house. When John was leaving his house that morning, he didn't know that he was never going to come back to it. While searching John's room, the T-1000 found the tapes from Sarah, along with all the letters, messages and pictures with her in John's room. This way he found Salceda's Ranch later on. Since very shortly after the detectives seen in Pescadero already knew about John's foster parents being murdered, the tapes were most likely confiscated by the police.

22. HOW COME T-800 AND T-1000 HAVE DETAILED FILES ON DYSON IF THE RECORDS WERE LOST IN WAR ?

Dyson would be the first and most important person Skynet would want to know about. Same goes for his own history/development. How, who, when, where. And he had all the records about him - the address, everything. Who knows what else T-800 said to Sarah when she said that she wants to know everything. Dyson, unlike any other casual citizen, was a major figure in Cyberdyne. That's even underlined in T2 Extreme text commentary, saying that he was such a big shot there that they allowed him the unthinkable - to have a top secret model for CPU prototype at home on his desk. And again, he is the guy who'd done it all. Out of everyone around, Skynet would be the one to know all about Dyson. Out of all people, Dyson is the first choice. So even though there are no records available post Judgment Day, Skynet has all the data about his own history and creators since he 'lived' through it and it's a part of his memory/data bank.

Novelization: Terminator searched his memory. There was a basic history of his time embedded in the circuits. Data useful as a basis for cross-reffing and scaling events in this time. Terminator gained access to it with prioritizing it as tactical information.

23. WHY DOESN'T THE DOG BARK AT T-800 AT SALCEDA RANCH ?

In the first scene shown there, as soon as Enrique and the rest come out of hiding, you CAN hear at least one dog barking continuously in the background. In most of the other scenes there in the desert, the T-800 is either out of sight (underground in the weapons bunker, underneath the truck), or the scenes take place after obviously quite some time has passed. By then the dogs have had time enough to get used to his presence.

24. HOW DID THE T-800 KNOW THAT T-1000 IS PILOTING THE HELICOPTER ?

The blueprints for T-800 endoskull show something called "Telepathic Communication Implant Cores". This is most likely a device that allows terminators to communicate with each other and other futuristic Skynet machines. Since it's based on some kind of wireless signal, it's very possible that it allows terminators to sense each other's presence

25. WHY THE T-1000 LEAVES THE T-800 STUCK ?

T-800 cant do anything to T-1000. The T-1000 doesn't even consider him as a threat. In addition to that, by this point the T-1000 has developed an evil and nasty personality as explained by James Cameron:

"We saw the T-1000 as an advanced prototype, an experimental Terminator that could think and have a personality (...), which of course, the first Terminator could not do."

The reason he left him there is vicious: he didn't want to finish him off, he wanted him to suffer and stay there knowing that he is helpless and stuck. The next time he encountered him he realized that he's like an annoying fly and took him out with ease

26. WHY THE T-1000 DOESN'T CALL JOHN HIMSELF ?

At that point, even thought he was doing his best, T-1000 failed to fool John while imitating Janelle. T2 Extreme text commentary explains that T-1000 couldn't calculate the individual behavior for human beings, and that's what the machines couldn't do and why they eventually lost the war. So before trying it again by himself, he tried to get Sarah to do it. Afterwards he does call John himself, and again he did not fool him. John suspected something immediately and stopped suddenly even before he saw second Sarah behind or melted feet. Another factor was that he was damaged and could not perfectly recreate given object anymore

Van Ling: One interesting flaw of the otherwise analytical T-1000 - it could not decipher the human behavior factor accurately enough to know how to correctly imitate. This is why AI has not been particularly successful in predicting and analyzing human behavior on individual level and why we can still beat the machines.

27. WHY DIDN'T JOHN AND T-800 DISAPPEAR AT THE END ?

Terminator series is heavily based on logic and physical facts. The movie is not an 80's comedy like "Back To The Future" to do such things, that would be illogical and a complete cartoonish fantasy.

Physics tell us that there's cause and effect. If you remove the cause, the effect will not happen. But if you remove the cause AFTER the effect happened, the effect will still be there, simply because it's already a done physical object or event. There is no rule or any physical or chemical elements that would cause it to evaporate, that's just ludicrous. Going back, the effect won't happen the second time around because the cause is removed, but here and now the effect is already placed

28. WAS T-1000 IN AGONY WHILE MELTING ?

Not at all. Of course, it can't be because it's an artificial being. The reason it acts that way while in the molten steel is because its systems are going berserk. Keep in mind this is not one machine, its thousands of nano machines working together. The heat was melting the structure causing disruptions in the system, making T-1000 move in every possible way. The T-1000 didn't know what to do, that's why he kept bringing up all the data he had, showing all the copied characters. According to James Cameron in T2 Extreme DVD audio commentary, it was looking for solution.

The noises he makes is not scream or screeching in agony. Again, it's his damage vocal data

Novelization: It was screaming. A terrifying, inhuman siren of scream, as all its molecules were searching for the right channels back into its proper structure, but the intense heat and volubility of the molten metal around it confused them.

29. WHY DOES THE T-1000 MAKE A "NAUGHTY" FINGER GESTURE ?

Like mentioned before, T-1000 is it's own autonomous being. Frakes' novelization says that it learns, thinks and develops on it's own. By this point the T-1000 has developed an evil and nasty personality as explained by James Cameron:

"We saw the T-1000 as an advanced prototype, an experimental Terminator that could think and have a personality"

30. WHAT HAPPENED TO T-800'S BROKEN ARM ? CAN IT LEAD TO SKYNET'S DEVELOPMENT ?

There are two versions about what happens to the arm. In the novelization, Sarah and John go back and throw the arm to the molten steel as well. T2 extreme Text commentary confirms that as well. However, that seems to be unlikely since they both would try to get out of the Steel Mill as soon as possible to avoid the police and most importantly, they would not know what happened and where the arm was and it was well hidden behind the wheel anyway.

The second version says that the arm was found by the police and Federal Agents were informed. That version was presented by T2: Cybernetic dawn comic book, which also has a level of canonicity to it because Van Ling and Lightstorm Entertainment were involved. The agents confiscate the arm and transport it to Simi Valley in California for Network Developments.

The arm alone cannot lead to Skynet's creation though. It was certainly of great importance since the arm from the first T-800 was as guarded and as admired as the chip itself. In T2: Cybernetic dawn Sarah comments on the arm that Feds had acquired

"They could learn a lot from the arm...mechanical systems, alloys, peripheral electronics. But nothing about the machine's brain. Nothing could lead them to Skynet. Something else must give them the edge..."

31. WOULD T-1000 REASSEMBLE AFTER THAT GRENADE HIT ?

Yes. If you think about it, he did so immediately after landing in molten steel.

32. WHAT HAPPENED TO DR. SILBERMAN ?

The script, novelization and T2: Cybernetic dawn show the same thing. From the script:

The cops have shown up, as they always do. There are black-and-whites

everywhere, and ambulances are arriving. Two cops and an orderly are

required to subdue poor Doctor Silberman, who is raving at the top of

his lungs.



SILBERMAN

... it was all true and we're all going to die

and the changed, I saw him change!!



It's quite pathetic.

A nurse shoots him up with a sedative. They lead him away.

33. WHAT HAPPENED TO ENRIQUE ?

The T-1000 managed to track down Salceda Ranch and the very same night, right before going to Dyson's house, T-1000 arrived there and killed Enrique. There is an omitted but scripted and storyboarded scene of that. In his last ditch of effort, Enrique tries to kill T-1000 with a grenade, blowing his head off. The T-1000 then touches the head and reforms. The scene was also shown in T2: Cybernetic dawn comic book, which included creative input from van Ling and Lightstorm Entertainment.

34. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SKYNET ?

There's plenty of additional information about Skynet. Based on the remnants of the T-800 from the first movie, Miles Dyson develops a super microprocessor which eventually leads to groundbreaking technological breakthroughs allowing bombers and jets being controlled automatically, and also to the creation of Skynet. When Skynet learns at a geometric rate and becomes self aware, in panic people are trying to pull the plug on Skynet but Skynet counterattacks. It nukes Russia because he knew that Russia will fire its Nukes back at US. Frakes' novelization further expands Skynet's reasoning behind human holocaust

The ultimate dream of man, carried out by one of man's lowliest tools; eliminate evil men. But there was a touch of evil in all men, and SKYNET was having trouble separating the worst of them out. So the totality of humanity, with all of its biologic messiness, wasn't wanted. And to this machine-god, forgiveness just did not compute. Only cold retribution for the sins of the past.

The novelization also finally reveals the location of Skynet which is Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Same location is given by the script itself. Further information from the extended T2 script:

All these machines were controlled

by a kind of God, a low-rent self-

appointed God called Skynet. Skynet

was a supercomputer built for

strategic defense back in the

Nineties. Today we destroyed it in

its fortress in the Colorado Rockies,

and all its toys stopped

"The computer that controlled the machines, Skynet" - Sarah Connor

Skynet's core from T2: 3D

Skynet is housed in one mighty complex that also goes deep underground and contains multiple different facilitates inside, like assembly lines for 800 series Terminators, Flying and Ground Hunter Killers, Cold Storage room for fleshed 800s and in one instance the Time Displacement Complex. Due to the lack of budget and time, the complex did not make into the movie but finally made an appearance in T2 3D: Battle Across Time as a pyramid.

Skynet is still working under the Cyberdyne name. Not only is he still naming his machines with the Cyberdyne Systems designations, but it also uses the Cyberdyne logos, as suggested in Van Ling's animations showing the logo on top of the pyramid. The complex also made an appearance in T2: Nuclear Twilight comic book

35. WHAT DOES HASTA LA VISTA MEAN ?

"See You Later " in Spanish. Also, note the subliminal lighting on T-800. According to the T2 extreme DVD text commentary, since it was a very human moment for T-800, his damaged, mechanical side is in the shadow. Also, the mechanical part is lit with cold blue, and the human side with warm colors. For more about the depth and artistry of T2 visit http://www.jamescamerononline.com/T2Complexity.htm

36. WHAT CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE TIMELINE ?

One way or another, the future was altered by the events in T2. Novelization points out that it didn't happen the first time around, and instead, Sarah and John went into South America and waited until Judgment Day happened in 1997. Also, since Sarah and John went on record as terrorists who attacked Cyberdyne, such thing would surely be on records and Skynet would know about Cyberdyne attacks or Dyson's kidnapping by Connors. Yet, T-1000 had no clue that they will head for Cyberdyne and only found out about it through the radio. If he'd knew it'll happen, he would wait for them there.

The last deleted scene, the original ending, showed 2029 free of war, Sarah being a single grandmother and happy John Connor as being a father and senator.

The scene was cut for several reason. The scene was too much of a contrast to the rest of the movie visually and narratively. The aged makeup on Linda Hamilton wasn't satisfactory for James Cameron either.

Yet another different reason is given in T2 Extreme DVD commentary. James Cameron states that he didn't want to be so blatantly obvious in showing that it all ended well. He said the audience 'got it' without seeing the scene. That would point out that the happy ending actually did take place in the intended Cameron's story, and its also included in the novelization.

James Cameron furthermore explains:

Basically, what I wanted to say in Terminator 2 was that everything is meant to be a certain way, everything has already been written. You can call it karma or destiny, whatever. So I asked myself a hypothetical question: what if you could you grab a line of history like it's a rope stretched between two points, and just pull it out of the way? If you can pull it just a little bit out of the way then cut it at that moment, maybe you could change it and history could go in a slightly different direction. Like the catastrophe theory. If you could actually do that you would get a future that no longer exists except in the memories of the people who are here now. They have a memory of a future that will never happen, which is curious, because it defies our Newtonian view of the world. But couldn't it be possible? That became my point of departure. It's like the Terminator is an anomaly of our time because he's the only one who has memories of a time that will never exist. His particular future does not exist anymore.

Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that Sarah hired a private detective to find Kyle Reese in this altered, war-free future but he couldn't find him and Sarah eventually called him off. It's very likely that the chain of events that led to Kyle's birth in the original future didn't happen this time around. Remember that Kyle said that he grew up after the war in the ruins. With no war it's possible that his parents haven't even met. For more on the coda ending visit http://jamescamerononline.com/T2Ending.htm

37. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MACHINES THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE SCREEN ?

Since the opening scene was cut down to only one third of what was scripted, designed and sculpted, several machines that appeared in the latter scenes that were cut didn't make it to the screen, although appeared later in the Arcade game, Pinball and T2 comics.

Centurion

One of fan favorites, Hunter-Killer Centurion is Skynet's largest mobile, walker-style ground Hunter Killer unit. It is an autonomous combination platform packing advanced targeting systems, heavy armor and heavy firepower. Used primarily in an anti-vehicle role or deployed in small squadrons to hunt down and terminate humans, the Hunter Killer Centurion is the most expensive (in terms of materials, power and time) Hunter Killer unit produced by Skynet. Due to its large size and the tenacious defending of its posts, this Hunter Killer unit soon gained the nickname "Centurion" from Tech-Com members who had faced it. The Hunter Killer Centurion has a central waist unit that houses a miniature high efficiency fusion reactor and the transmission systems.

Silverfish

Non humanoid HK units designed to penetrate areas unavailable for other units and blow up when they acquire their target. Appeared in T2 Arcade Game

HK Bomber

The Hunter Killer Bomber is a larger, more powerful version of the Aerial Hunter-Killer. Designed as a Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) heavy assault platform, the Hunter Killer Bomber features two additional engine pods to support its greater size and weight. Also featured is a larger, more enhanced gun platform, with more Phased Plasma Cannons than the Aerial Hunter Killer, and additional armor, giving the Hunter Killer Bomber greater resilience to Tech-Com weapons.

38. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WEAPONS USED IN THE MOVIE ?

T- 800

Detonics M1911A1 Series 70 Hybrid pistol built with a Colt slide Winchester 1887

M79 grenade launcher MM1 grenade launcher

Handheld GE M134 Minigun Series 70 slide Colt Commando CAR-15

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

T-1000:

Beretta 92FS Browning Hi-Power Mklll

MP5K

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

Sarah:

Detonics M1911A1 Series 70 Hybrid pistol built with a Colt Series 70 slide Colt AR-15 Sporter II Carbine

Beretta 92FS Inox Detonics Custom 1911,

Colt AR-15 Sporter 1 Carbine Remington 870 Police Combat with Folding Stock

39. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE VEHICLE USED IN THE MOVIE ?

T - 800 drove

1990 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy FLSTF 1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria

1979 Ford LTD Country Squire 1982 Ford Bronco

Chevrolet Step Van 1982 Chevrolet S-10

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

T - 1000 drove/piloted

1987 Freightliner FLA 9664, 1987 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1,

Jetranger 1984 Kawasaki Police 1000,

Freightliner FLC 120 64,

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

John drove

1990 Honda XR 100 1982 Chevrolet S-1

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................

Sarah drove

1979 Ford LTD Country Squire

40. WHERE ARE SOME OF THE LOCATIONS OF THE MOVIE ?

See http://www.jamescamerononline.com/Terminator2Locations1.htm

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1991 Carolco Pictures



Director: James Cameron



Writer: James Cameron and William wisher

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton

Screens taken from The Making of T2 (1991) Directed by Van Ling



Producers: Andrew Vajna, Mario Kassar, Gale Ann Hurd



Release Date: July 3, 1991

Running Time: 2 hrs. 17 min.

MPAA Rating: R Production Budget: $102 million



BOX OFFICE



Opening Weekend: $31,765,506



Domestic: $204,843,345

Foreign: $315,000,000



Worldwide: $519,843,345



AWARDS





Academy Awards





6 Nominations, 4 Wins



won:



Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing

Best Effects, Visual Effects

Best Makeup

Best Sound



Nominated:



Best Cinematography

Best Film Editing



People's Choice Awards



won:



Favorite Motion Picture

MTV Movie Awards



Won:



Best Action Sequence: For the L.A. freeway chase.

Best Breakthrough Performance: Edward Furlong

Best Female Performance: Linda Hamilton



Best Male Performance: Arnold Schwarzenegger



Best Movie



Most Desirable Female: Linda Hamilton



Nominated:



Best Movie Song: "Guns N' Roses" for the song: "You Could Be Mine".

Best Villain: Robert Patrick



Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films





won:



Best Actress

Best Director

Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Best Science Fiction Film

Best Special Effects



nominated:



Best Actor: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Best Make-Up

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Patrick

Best Writing



American Cinema Editors



nominated:



Best Edited Feature Film



American Society of Cinematographers



Nominated:



Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases: Adam Greenberg



Awards of the Japanese Academy



Nominated:



Best Foreign Film



BAFTA Awards



Won:



Best Sound

Best Special Visual Effects



Nominated:



Best Production Design



British Society of Cinematographers



Nominated:



Best Cinematography Award: Adam Greenberg





Golden Screen , Germany - won



Hugo Awards



Won:



Best Dramatic Presentation



Mainichi Film Concours



Won:



Best Foreign Language Film



Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - won



Young Artist Awards



Nominated:



Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Motion Picture: Danny Cooksey

DVD Exclusive Awards

Nominated (Extreme DVD):

Best Menu design: Van Ling

Best Games and Interactivities: Chris Brown

Online Film Critics Society Awards

Nominated (Ultimate Edition):

Best DVD Special Features