Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Watch The Film Terminator 2: Judgment Day

By Naomi Gilliam

Terminator 2 - Judgment Day has stood the test of time as one of the most fun science fiction/action movies to come out. The movie takes a premise that is so simple, yet so complex, and blends it with some amazing cinematography. The acting is a little campy at some points, but it only serves to add to the charm of the movie.

This movie pits the ragtag group of John Conner, Sarah Conner, and the Terminator against a much more futuristic Terminator known as the T-1000. The T-1000 is a nearly indestructible robot from further into the future than the original Terminator.

The heroes of the story are trying to stop the global Armageddon that lead to the rise in the machines. They believe that if they can change a few things in the present, then the robots will never be able to rise up against the humans. By the end of the movie they think that they have succeeded. We find out later, in the next movie, that they only moved back the date of the robots taking over.

There are many aspects of fate to consider in this movie. Sarah was fated to be the mother of the savior of the human race. John was meant to be that savior. They never were given a choice in this. Sarah wasn't even pregnant yet when the first Terminator showed up, so she clearly had no idea what was in store for her.

There are other issues at play here as well. Sarah Conner is in a mental institute at the beginning of the movie. This could be seen as a sort of discussion on the state of mental health care in America. Though her story does seem very crazy, and she has become quite a violent woman, she actually isn't crazy. The audience knows that.

Everyone in the movie treats her like she is insane, at least in the beginning of the movie. This might be saying something about the state of mental health care systems. Even though her story is true, everyone treats her like she has a mental illness. She knows that she is a sitting duck in that hospital, as well, so she has some violent tendencies and wants to escape to help her son. This only furthers their theory that she is simply insane and not someone who is, in reality, trying to train the savior of the human race for what is going to be coming his way when he grows up.

The major issue of fate is that of John Conner. He is supposed to be this great savior of mankind, and yet he isn't even really sure that he believes it. He is just a kid trying to get by and living with a mother who is probably crazy. He has no idea what to believe, and yet the audience knows what to believe - he's going to kick some robot butt when he gets older.

Strangely, without those robots showing up in Terminator 2 - Judgment day, there would be a very different story. Instead of a story rife with adventure and excitement, it would be a story of a boy being raised by a crazy woman who is teaching him to be a militant. There would be a lot of issues that could follow this, but with the Terminators showing up it ends up being a story that is more action than a sad story of modern day life for a broken family.

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