10 Pre-2000 Movies With Special Effects That Still Hold Up Today

4. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Terminator 2 was an absolute game changer for Hollywood when it was released in 1991. After the success of The Terminator, James Cameron was given a significantly increased budget to bring his vision to the screen; and boy, did he spend it wisely. The story revolved around a vastly superior terminator, known as the T-1000, which was able to morph itself into various metallic objects such as knives and stabbing weapons. It was a great move by Cameron as we are given a completely different, and much more sinister, threat. It also gave him the chance to show off some of the amazing work done by the team at ILM. It is astounding to think that T2 was released 23 years ago, especially when you watch the number of spectacular effects scenes that played a pivotal role in the story. The best of these came right at the end when, after having been frozen by liquid nitrogen, the T-1000 is completely destroyed by a single bullet from Arnie's T-800. You would be forgiven for thinking that was the end, but Cameron has one more trick up his sleeve, as the T-1000 re-animates before our eyes and continues his relentless pursuit. It is perhaps one of the finest examples of special effects feeding directly into the story and it remains just as awe inspiring today as when you first watched it. It also happens to be Cameron's finest achievement and one he has still never bettered; and with his intention to continue with the Avatar universe, it appears that this will remain the case.