10 Amazing Movie Practical Effects And How They Did It
3. Terminator 2 - The Surgery Scene
Two entries for James Cameron on our list, very impressive for a man who admits he would use entirely digital techniques were he making his iconic films today. It seems that practical or digital, Cameron is a man forever chasing the cutting edge of special effects.
In this scene Sarah Connor is attempting to access the T-800s brain in order to allow the machine to learn human behaviour. Modern audiences would simply assume that this is the work of a green screen, or some other method of splicing two shots together, however they would be wrong in the best possible way.
The amazing trick is that the mirror is actually a window, and that is the real Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting with Linda Hamilton's twin sister Leslie. Nearest to the camera is the Linda Hamilton herself, mimicking the movements on a dummy. By matching the movements between the two sisters you don't even realise the closer head is obviously a fake.
The most amazing part is that this is actually a deleted scene, one which Cameron was very sad to not include in the theatrical cut, but to include it meant that several more scenes required inclusion in order for it to payoff.