Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) [PILF-2187]

The Movie:
Terminator 2 is one of those movies that has universal appeal, even for a science fiction film. Winner of 4 Academy Awards, the tale of John Connor evolves through one of the most exciting action spectacles of the 1990s.

And that's where I run into problems whenever I sit town to tackle reviewing this movie. Where do I begin? Do I talk about the endearing Father-Son relationship that develops between John and the T-800? The complete reinvention of all of the main characters carried over from the first Terminator? The special effects? There's almost too much to tackle for an amateur such as myself.

I guess I'll lay it down like this: I love this movie from start to finish. It's fast paced, exciting, and a technical marvel all in one. James Cameron's story about killer robots from the future couldn't feel more endearing and believable. It's one of the few action films I hold up as a "flawless movie." Take that as you will, but everything about this movie captivates me to no end. Will it mean the same to you? Probably not, because I'm sure there's a thousand better movies out there that came out before and after T2, but this will forever remain in my mind as the pinnacle of action-sci fi. I couldn't ask for a better movie. I could throw in a plot summary and talk about how entertaining and frantic the movie is, but chances are you already know, and if you don't, stop reading. Step away from the computer, and go buy a copy of this movie, whether it be on Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, or even VHS. Don't wait.

Video:
Alright, I'm turning off preechy mode now, it's time to get serious.

Framed at a 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio, the first squeeze release of Terminator 2 is a strong indication of why squeeze LDs should have been the future for the format. With a little tightening of the transfer process, this format could have really been something more than it was.
This film was never very colorful, so it may never be a reference quality film, but having seen 5 different releases of this film, Terminator 2 looks exactly as it was meant to be seen on home video. Blues and blacks seem as strong as Laserdisc could possibly reproduce them, and signal noise never seems to intrude more than in a few odd cases.
Watching this on a 29 inch LED 1080p television through a DVDO Iscan Ultra processor hooked in through S-video though, I did notice a couple scenes, specifically those set across the border and those set in the mental facility seemed unnaturally smooth. I fear that who ever supervised this transfer was a tad bit heavy handed with DNR. Other than that, this transfer seems pretty solid.

Audio:
Released to theaters originally with 70mm 6 track audio, as well as 6 track Cinema Digital Sound, Terminator 2 is truly a reference quality release on Laserdisc. Encoded in both Dolby Surround and AC-3 Dolby Digital, Terminator 2 swallows you whole and doesn't spit you out till the credits start rolling. Every explosion is packed with lots of forceful low frequency effect, every lightning crackle and steam hiss echoes throughout your entire soundfield. It's as if this film doesn't know how to stop. Dialogue never gets lost in the shuffle of things and everything feels right.
Except for one scene. When Cyberdyne explodes outwards, you here debris fly outwards in your surrounds, when debris seems to fall directly in front of the building, and not where the sound exists. It's a minor flaw that just struck me as weird, and probably dates back to the original sound design of the film, and as such should not be counted against this Laserdisc's track.

Overall:
Now we get down to the bottom line. Is the squeeze format really worth the extra cost? Ultimately, for most collectors, no. The step up in visual quality isn't great enough to drop everything and plunk down 60+ dollars on this release, when you can get the normal, extended, or remastered standard letterboxed releases for a fraction of the cost. Put for those of us who watch Laserdiscs on a regular basis, or on a projector and or HDTV, this release is a god send. YOU CAN READ ALL OF THE CREDITS AT THE END. Get it as more of a collector's piece rather than a great way to watch the film unless you're a die hard fan.

Great review! I've seen the other Japanese Squeeze LD (PILF-2555) and it remains the best looking laserdisc I've ever seen. AC-3 track sounds awesome too.

I was curious if you could expand on your comment about " The complete reinvention of all of the main characters carried over from the first Terminator?" The only ones that really come to mind that were carried over are Dr. Silberman and Sarah Connor. Sarah's character is radically different in T2 than in the first movie but I've always felt it was all part of her arc. I don't see it as reinvention as much as development directly resulting from the events in the first movie.

How do both of the anamorphic enhanced Laserdiscs of T2 compare to say the very early DVD versions?

Early DVDs were non-anamporphic, but I don't own a copy, so I can't make an honest comparison.

ufmatt, when I said that, I mainly meant to say that Sarah, a main character, went from helpless young woman in the first movie, to complete and total badass in the Terminator 2. It was an interesting change of pace, as is essentially brought a brand new character to the plate for the sequel. It was probably part of her character arc, but it still is a complete turn around.

The first US DVD of T2 was anamorphic and the first RSDL dual layered DVD to be released. It's also the only DVD to have the original CDS sound mix since it was so altered in later editions. It's overly bright, video-looking and super edge enhanced.

Oh, see, I'm basing it on the LDDB article for the US AC-3 Laserdisc we have on the site

*judgment.

I tried to do a quick comparison between the THX Squeeze disc and the Ultimate Edition DVD. On a 34" 16:9 display they looked very similar. The LD seemed to have a bit more noise compared to the DVD which looked like there was some DNR applied. The text on the screen in the T-800 POV shots did look sharper and more defined in the DVD.

Thanks for the comparison! Do you think you could take a picture or 2 of the THX Squeeze Laserdisc and the Ultimate Edition DVD of the exact same scene? I know taking a direct picture with the camera on the screen won't paint the full story in terms of quality but I'd still love to see it if you wouldn't mind.

Also, when you say the Laserdisc has a bit more noise/grain overall, is that actuelly an advantage to the LD? since noise on LD generally tends to look very organic and as we all know DNR removes detail.

And what DVD player did you use for the Ultimate Edition DVD? Was it a progressive scan upconverting player? Because if so, in a way, that would give a slightly unfair advantage to the DVD version.