The tech of 'Terminator 2' – an oral history (2017)

mmarkus_zhang about 2 hours ago 26 commentsRead Article on vfxblog.com

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macote•3 minutes ago

It's worth mentionning that Softimage was used for Terminator 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softimage_(company)

ortusdux•about 2 hours ago

Amazing writeup! I'll add that the custom squibs they made for the liquid metal bullet impacts are still one of the best practical effects ever.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/v6qjaj/bu...

dmurray•39 minutes ago

They also used a practical effect for the scenes where the T-1000 needed to appear on screen at the same time as a character it had shapeshifted into.

They cast identical twins for the roles.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/h9rzry/in_ter...

skullone•about 2 hours ago

Holy shit. I thought the bullet splashes were CGI. I'm even more impressed that they were real practical effects, that is indeed nextfuckinglevel

whycome•6 minutes ago

The 4K remaster of this is back in theatres next month for “Judgment Day” and the 35th anniversary.

https://www.fathomentertainment.com/news/fathom-entertainmen...

xnx•about 1 hour ago

Can anyone confirm that the helicopter flying over the underpass was actual flying and not VFX or a chopper on a trailer?

There are claims that the stunt pilot flew under (twice!), but it seems like no amount of skill could avoid weird uncontrollable effects from rotor wash.

rwmj•41 minutes ago

https://nedhardy.com/2023/02/12/terminator-2-helicopter/

ge96•18 minutes ago

It's interesting the bridge blocking the rotors didn't make it fall... maybe it's like a pressurized zone of air/ground effect... it's not a perfect vacuum

markus_zhang•40 minutes ago

I saw claims for that in multiple sources. I think they initially wanted to do CG but it was too hard back then so the pilot did it anyway.

raychis•about 1 hour ago

This was a fantastic read. I had no idea how much of Terminator 2 had to be invented from scratch. It's amazing to think that a lot of the tools and ideas that shaped modern VFX started with engineers just trying to solve one impossible problem after another.

Some films really do stand the test of time, I'm not really sure that contemporary CGI will really age as well.

k12sosse•9 minutes ago

Not the disaster of a print they have for the 4k masters. It's upscaled using 2010 tech and amazing deficient, but to Cameron, I'm the problem, so it actually looks better on DVD

ChrisArchitect•8 minutes ago

And back in theatres this year for the 35th anniversary, in time for Judgement Day (August 29).

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZgIESxakso

"The 4K and 3D presentation uses STUDIOCANAL’s acclaimed 2017 restoration and 3D conversion."

windowliker•25 minutes ago

Disappointed this only focuses on the contemporary technology used in making the (admittedly amazing) visual effects for T2 which have been addressed multiple times in various formats. When I first watched it as a kid the thing which grabbed me more was that gadget John Connor uses to hack the ATM and all the cool stuff in the Cyberdyne offices. It would be nice if someone wrote an article discussing that stuff, for the record and posterity's sake.

bluedino•12 minutes ago

It's not from the VFX team but someone wrote a clone of the ATM hacking program

https://bert.org/2021/01/04/t2-pin-cracking/

jmyeet•about 1 hour ago

I'm not sure that anyone under the age of 45-50 can truly appreciate just how big of a deal Terminator 2 was and how big movie releases can be. Like, nothing in the MCU era or the Star Wars prequels and sequels comes remotely close. Yes, they gross a lot of money but in terms of cultural significance, I've seen nothing close.

At the time I lived in a city when the local movie theaters would typically run major releases on 1, maybe 2 screens. Session times were like 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm 6 days a week and I think 1 less on Sundays. This was before the age of smaller theaters in the large multiplexes so a big movie theater might only have 4-8 screens.

3 weeks after T2 was released, it was still showing on screens in my local movie theater for 12-15 sessions a day, even on Sunday, from 8am til midnight. I actually waited a couple of weeks for the hype to die down and went on an 8am Sunday session knowing basically nothing (because that's how things worked then) and the movie theater was still full.

The CGI was a big part of it. It has some fan service to it. My movie theater cheered when Arnie came out of the bar wearing the leathers and hopped on the bike. But it's not overboard. It's actually a really great story, which is kinda unusual for a sequel. Like, James Cameron really has to be commended for that.

But there was another aspect too and that was Linda Hamilton. This was one of the first mainstream big-budget movies that changed the way women were portrayed in film. Lots of people had posters of her wearing the sunglasses, carrying weapons, etc. It was actually a really big deal.

The 90s really was a golden era for movies. Like I used to go 1-2 times a week and just watch whatever was on, basically. I don't think I've been to a movie theater since Avengers End Game and even in the 2010s it was a 2-3 times a year thing max.

But it is amazing how much they did with CGI in the early 1990s for T2.

markus_zhang•2 minutes ago

My initiation was the first Alien movie on VCR. I watched it maybe in 1990 or 1991, but definitely before I reach 10 years old. It was also the first movie that I watched. The movie scared the shit out of me for months afterwards.

When looking back, all these movies (Alien, Terminator 2, and Jurassic park) were very well done. They never tried to achieve anything that was out of reach back then, and story-wise they were simply very entertaining. They didn't rely on, say, pornography (some movies clearly had too many naked men/women) to appease to their customers. The characters felt like real human-being who can hate and love strongly. They were done so well that it felt like nature. Movies nowadays couldn't do that anymore, somehow.

windowliker•16 minutes ago

This is true, it was a big cultural moment, but the level to which they sold the absolute heck out of that film should not be understated. It was one of the first times I can clearly remember where a film came along at roughly the same time as all the secondary IP like games and merch, and seemingly more and more kept coming. Another film from around that time which had a similar media blitz was Alien 3, released the year after.

mateo411•43 minutes ago

> But there was another aspect too and that was Linda Hamilton. This was one of the first mainstream big-budget movies that changed the way women were portrayed in film. Lots of people had posters of her wearing the sunglasses, carrying weapons, etc. It was actually a really big deal.

Yes, a strong female character in big budget movies wasn't a common theme. Aliens 2 also had a strong female protagonist played by Sigourney Weaver. The movie was also directed by James Cameron.

Terminator 2 was a huge cultural phenomenon. I remember going to the movie theater with my Dad to see it. I think it was the first R rated movie I saw in the theater, so it was something that we bonded over. Many of my friends had a similar experience.

timedude•5 minutes ago

T2 and Robocop.

xnx•about 1 hour ago

I saw it in theaters, but was too young to be tuned in to the cultural significance. As someone who has watched it 6-7 times (including on laserdisc and as recently as 3 weeks ago), I can attest that it is a perfect movie. Frame for frame, everything is done with a purpose.

wiredfool•about 1 hour ago

I think Jurassic Park was pretty similar craziness. Definitely pushing the CGI aspect, and super super popular.

xoxxala•8 minutes ago

Like T2, Jurassic Park is a blend of CGI with practical effects and animatronics. JP only had 63 CGI scenes with many more practical effects.

https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20027-why-jurassic-park-s-s...

chasd00•13 minutes ago

i would like to see a plot of the population of paleontologists starting from about 6-10 years after Jurassic Park was released. I suspect we'd see a bump starting around the time all the kids who saw Jurassic Park when it came out started graduating college.

Forgeties79•about 1 hour ago

Jurassic Park really is a great example of “movie magic.”

lgl•about 1 hour ago

45yo here, pretty much just testifying that this is exactly what I remember, and I was young at the time.

I still listen to Guns'n Roses "You should be mine" frequently mostly due to that movie.

Also, Robert Patrick is the best terminator.

xienze•about 1 hour ago

> I'm not sure that anyone under the age of 45-50 can truly appreciate just how big of a deal Terminator 2 was and how big movie releases can be.

100% agreed. Really was a magical time.

For me what "infinite CGI" has done is completely dull the wow factor of literally any movie. Decades ago the effects of T2 and others blew everyone's minds in a way people who weren't around can't comprehend. CGI was brand new and special effects really felt like you were witnessing elaborate magic tricks (since that's what they were).

Now we've seen movies do basically everything and the answer to "how'd they do that???" is just "yeah they used CGI." And CGI still doesn't feel grounded in reality like practical effects do.