50 Reasons Why Terminator 2 Is The Greatest Film Of All Time

46. Even Machines Have Tempers

Much of the film's thematic basis asks whether a machine can become "human", and Cameron manages to have fun with it during some of the more outlandish machine-based moments. One of the funniest occurs when, after crashing the helicopter, the T-1000 emerges from the wreckage to find a trucker checking if he is alright. The T-1000 barely lets him finish his sentence before running him through with a blade arm, while wearing an exasperated, pissed-off expression that one wouldn't typically expect from an emotionless machine.

47. "Hasta La Vista, Baby!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXhbm4IXdsE&feature=player_embedded It's one of the best-known, most-parodied film quotes of all time, and serves as an infinitely badass way to dispatch a villain. It also precipitates one of the stupidest - but most awesome - moves in the entire film; the T-1000, now frozen in liquid nitrogen, is shot to bits, allowing him to reform once the hot steel mill allows his shards to melt a little. Why not just grab his frozen body and quickly lob it in the hot steel? I guess that's not as dramatic, but hey, no film is perfect.

48. Extended Cut: T-1000 Malfunctions

An unnecessary but nevertheless cool scene has the T-1000 showing signs of malfunctioning after he has reformed in the steel mill; his limbs stick to objects and, in the style of a chameleon, his "skin" defaults to that colour. It's quirky and pretty cool, though it's easy to understand why it was it was trimmed for pacing reasons.

49. T-1000's "Past Lives"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1TUuJvnfyo&feature=player_embedded When the T-1000 is finally defeated and falls into the liquid metal, there is a fairly disturbing moment showing all of the past lives that he has mimicked, ending with the liquid metal "mannequin" version, which I have to say somewhat resembles an Oscar statuette. I wonder, was this an intentional subliminal message to Oscar voters? After all, it did end up winning the Best Visual Effects Oscar...
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Contributor

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.