34. Extended Cut: The Chip
A brilliant moment which underpins the technophobic tension inherent in the trio's dynamic; John and Sarah decide to switch the T-800's chip from read-only to write so that the T-800 can learn things and become a more convincing human. Sarah, in the extended cut, is overwhelmed by her trust issues, and decides to smash the chip with a hammer, but John stops her after an intense argument. One cannot imagine why this wasn't included in the original version, because it's such an exceptional and important scene. Linda Hamilton's smouldering intensity is especially praise-worthy.
35. Political Waxing
One of the film's more intriguing narrative elements involves the scary scenario outlined by the T-800 as the trio are driving through New Mexico, that in the future Skynet will become self-aware and launch missiles against Russia, under the guise of an American declaration of war. Most sinister and frightening is that in the Russian counter attack, anyone trying to shut Skynet down will of course be eliminated. This injection of a political undercurrent manages to be intelligent and engaging without drawing us away from what is at its heart a character-driven story.
36. It's Philosophical
It isn't something you expect from high-budget summer blockbusters, but alongside Christopher Nolan, James Cameron is one of the few action directors keen to inject food-for-thought into his explosive high-wire films. One particularly telling scene is during the road trip portion of the film, as they arrive in New Mexico. John notices 2 kids playing with guns, causing the T-800 to astutely observe that "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves". To parallel the large-scale destruction of the adult-driven mechanised mayhem with two children playing with guns makes an interesting point about human instinct, regardless of age. Even better, though, is the lengthy mid-film respite, as Sarah and co. visit some of her friends in the state. It's brave for an action film to trust its audience to stay invested during a long interlude like this, free of effects and instead very meditative, but it totally works, particularly during one revelatory moment...
37. Machine As Surrogate Father
As the T-800 and John search through a weapons bunker at Sarah's friends' hideout, it becomes apparent that they are in their own way a father-son unit, bonding and fixing a car together, as they try to understand each other, and with the T-800's chip now able to write new information, for it to become more "human". This effect is so pronounced that even the sceptical Sarah notes their behaviour and remarks, "It would never shout at him or get drunk and hit him", and "In an insane world, it was the sanest choice." Surely unexpected for a film of this type, it is a touching and poignant moment, and one which provides greater emotional investment for the film's climax.
38. Miles Dyson
One of the film's most interesting and complex characters, Miles Dyson (played by Joe Morton) would eventually precipitate the rise of the machines through his development of the neuro-net processor, and so Sarah takes it upon herself to try and assassinate him. It asks a complex moral question; can one change their ways with knowledge of the future? We get the impression - especially in the extended scene in which he shuts his computer off to spend time with his loving family - that he is a good man with nothing but noble intentions, and it doesn't take much time for him to turn on his heel and attempt to destroy his life's work at Cyberdyne. That he goes out in a literal blaze of glory doing so, then, is redemption enough, even if the later films reduced this sacrifice's importance, which itself tied in with the aforementioned riffing on human nature, and whether we can avoid a seemingly predestined path. Character actor Morton is excellent here.