Synopsis

Ten years after the first Terminator's attack, young John Connor becomes the target of a new, more advanced machine from the future. His mother, Sarah, is confined in a psychiatric hospital, while a reprogrammed Terminator is sent to protect John. As the trio races to prevent a nuclear apocalypse, they confront the possibility that the future can be changed.

Factoids & Trivia

• With an estimated budget of roughly $94-102 million, the production was the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release.

• The liquid-metal T-1000 represented a major advance in computer-generated imagery. Industrial Light & Magic combined digital effects with practical makeup, puppetry, miniatures, and optical compositing to create its transformations.

• The production expanded the visual-effects team that had worked on The Abyss. The T-1000's death sequence was among the last major effects completed before the film's release.

• The helicopter flying beneath an overpass during the chase was performed as a practical stunt rather than created entirely with computer imagery.

• Filming lasted from October 1990 through March 1991. The production had to account for the young actor playing John Connor growing noticeably during the lengthy shoot, including adjustments to his voice and blocking.

• Linda Hamilton's twin sister, Leslie Hamilton Gearren, helped create shots in which two versions of Sarah Connor appear together. Twin performers were also used for the T-1000's impersonation of a prison guard.

• Sound designer Gary Rydstrom created several of the T-1000's signature sounds with inexpensive household materials, including dog food, yogurt, flour, water, and compressed-air spray.

• The film won four Academy Awards at the 65th ceremony: sound editing, sound, makeup, and visual effects.

• In 2023, the Library of Congress selected Terminator 2: Judgment Day for preservation in the National Film Registry, recognizing its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.