Aliens confirmed that James Cameron could make the hell out of a sequel, but it was Terminator 2: Judgment Day - the follow-up to 1984's The Terminator - that near on confirmed him as the sequel master. What could have felt like a pointless return to the world of The Terminator, then, emerges as quite the opposite; in fact, Terminator 2 is so good in absolutely every way - the script, the action, the special effects, the acting - that it pretty much eclipses the first movie as something of a test run. Without a doubt, it's Cameron's masterpiece. The stroke of genius that made this movie so downright brilliant, though? Role reversal. This time Arnie's T-8000 plays the good guy, and its in his relationship with young John Connor (an annoying but appropriate Edward Furlong) that cements the movie as a classic. Most will remember Judgment Day for the groundbreaking SFX that allowed its terrifying antagonist, the T-1000, to change shape at will, but praise also needs to be handed to Linda Hamilton, who effortlessly transforms her once lowly Sarah Connor into one of cinema's biggest badasses.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
