Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[gerald]

In the fight scene in the steel mill between the two Terminators, the set was dressed with rubber so the actors would not hurt themselves when being flung around.

[veronica]

(at around 1h 3 mins) The world-famous phrase "Hasta la vista, baby" is translated to "Sayonara, baby" in the Spanish version of the film, to preserve the humorous nature.

[ken]

Many people have often stated that Robert Patrick's performance as the T-1000 terrified them.

[tammy]

(at around 1h 50 mins) Franchise Trademark: The Terminator loses its left arm, and hauls itself forward with its right.

[fred]

William Wisher, co-writer and long-time friend of writer/director James Cameron, finally got a full screenplay credit for this movie. He had only received an "additional dialogue by" credit for The Terminator (1984) despite writing half the screenplay (Gale Anne Hurd got the co-credit for that movie, even though she only did script editing and did not write a single line of the screenplay). Wisher basically wrote the first half of the T2 screenplay, and Cameron the second half.

[scarlett]

The Cyberdyne building in the movie is in fact a two-story structure in Fremont, California. A phony third floor was constructed on top for the movie. Much of the structure was rebuilt after the filming, and the building exists to this day.

[ethel]

In the first three Terminator films, the villainous character's death is greeted with the word "terminated" in some way: In The Terminator (1984), Sarah Connor says " You're terminated, f#cker!" as she destroys the T-800. In T2, John Connor asks "is it dead?" (of the melted T-1000) to which The Terminator replies "Terminated". In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), the T-850 says "You are terminated" to the T-X before they explode.

[kristina]

Because of the amount of make-up Arnold Schwarzenegger had to wear for the climax, he was blind in one eye and had no depth perception.

[lynn]

For the sound of T-1000 passing through metal bars, sound designer Gary Rydstrom simply inverted an open can of dog food and recorded the close-packed food as it oozed slowly out (he jokingly stated that "they spent $6 million on special effects, I spent only 35 cents on a can of dog food"). When transforming and flowing like mercury, the "metallic" sound was the spraying of Dust-Off into a mixture of flour and water, with a condom-sealed microphone submerged in the goo. For the sound of bullets striking the T-1000, inverted glass was slammed into a container of yogurt, creating a combo sound of hard edge and goop.

[liam]

Dean Norris has a small role as S.W.A.T. team leader. Norris had previously worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger in science fiction film Total Recall (1990), which he played the mutant Martian freedom fighter Tony.

[veronica]

The artificial substance used instead of melted steel (which would have been far too dangerous to use, or even impossible) actually needed to be kept pretty cool to maintain the right density. This meant that the temperature on set was quite cold, so the actors had to be sprayed with fake sweat in between takes.

[duane]

Arnold Schwarzenegger was given a slightly used Gulfstream III airplane (worth about US $14 million) by producer Mario Kassar, for accepting the role in this film.

[carla]

In 2008, a television series based on the Terminator films entitled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008) premiered in the United States on January 13, 2008. The series takes place two years after Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and ignores Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and the series followed Sarah (Lena Headey) and John Connor (Thomas Dekker) and a female Terminator called Cameron Phillips (Summer Glau) as they travel forward eight years across time, as they set out to continue the fight against Skynet and to stop Judgment Day from happening. The series ran for two seasons and was canceled on April 10, 2009.

[frances]

It is revealed on the DVD audio commentary that the Terminator's alternate source of power in the steel mill comes from thermocouples, which convert the heat from the surroundings into electrical power which Terminator can use.

[janice]

Robert Patrick reprised his role as the T-1000 in a cameo at the fictional police station in the Schwarzenegger action spoof, Last Action Hero (1993).

[javier]

Scenes filmed but not included in DVD or Special Edition releases: 1) After a resistance soldier destroys an endoskeleton, another soldier enters into view and picks up the plasma rifle. 2) When the T-1000 asks the location of the Galleria, the two girls giggle in disbelief. He replies, "I am kind of new here." 3) After the Terminator injures the gatehouse guard, John says "Sorry" to that poor bloke. 4) The nurse asks the T-1000 (as Lewis) what he is carrying. He replies, "Just some trash." before dragging the real body into the closet. 5) When the T-1000 arrives at Sarah's cell, Douglas, the guard whom Sarah beat up, is screaming for his release. The T-1000 ignores him, and changes back to his default form. 6) During the escape from the asylum, Sarah asks the Terminator whether the T-1000 can be destroyed. Terminator answers that this is unknown (this shot was in the trailer).

[kenneth]

Linda Hamilton received weapons training from former Israeli commando Uzi Gal and personal physical training from Anthony Cortés for three hours a day, six days a week for thirteen weeks before filming. Under both, she trained intensely with weapons, weights and learned judo and heavy military training techniques. She had to maintain a demanding non-fat diet, even during filming, and lost twelve pounds. After training, she was able to impress director James Cameron by hitting every mark with a machine gun on a shooting range despite having no weapon experience beforehand, and she got a special compliment from Arnold Schwarzenegger (a former bodybuilder) on the first day of filming for her ripped physique. Because of this punishing regimen, she declined to reprise her role for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). Ironically, her identical twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren was only required to "hit the gym" for a few hours a week, and the difference is noticeable in the two scenes in which they appear together.

[michele]

Due to the tight schedules, there were three editors involved - Mark Goldblatt, Conrad Buff IV and Richard A. Harris - who all worked on separate segments of the film.

[claude]

James Cameron fought over the ending with Mario Kassar. Cameron wanted to end the film with an alternate Coda Ending (that showed the older Sarah in future) as a bookend, but Kassar wanted to end the film in an another way (as a measure for possible sequels), and demanded a test screening. Cameron eventually relented when test audiences and Kassar himself reacted negatively over the coda ending, commenting that it was way too positive compared to bleak and dark tone of the rest of the movie, and almost seemed to come from a different movie. He chose the more ambiguous existing ending, arguing that it didn't let the audience off the hook so easily, and implying that the struggle for the future is an ongoing one.

[kristen]

(at around 26 mins) When the Terminator arrives at the mall to look for John, he is carrying a box of roses with a gun (shotgun) inside. The theme song for the movie, "You Could Be Mine", is by Guns N' Roses.