Mark Hamill Shares Behind the Scenes Insight on Iconic THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Scene

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Mark Hamill took to Twitter recently to share some amusing behind the scenes insight on an iconic scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. You know, the scene where he finds out Darth Vader was his father and screams out, “That’s not true, that’s impossible!”

In regards to that scream, this comment was posted on Twitter by a fan: “Random #StarWars filming question for the day. I don’t know how many takes @HamillHimself did for the ‘That’s not true, that’s impossible’ line in Empire after THE reveal, but it sounds like it would kill his voice. (Which is a good thing he chose to fall silently.) Did it?”

Hamill responded to that question with the following info: “It’s crucial to warm up vocally prior to any demanding challenges. FYI-In that scene- NOTHING could be heard over the deafening roar of the wind-machines. I spoke my lines based on Vader’s gestures, unable to hear a word he said. Everything was dubbed in later in post-production.”

You can check out those tweets below:

That’s pretty funny that he acted out the scene not being able to hear what Vader actor David Prowse was saying. Had Prowse not been making those hand gestures, Hamill would have no idea what in the hell to do!

I should also mention that the lines David Prowse said to Hamill while shooting this scene weren’t the same ones heard in The Empire Strikes Back. Prowse was instead told to say that Obi-Wan Kenobi was Luke’s father. Vader being Luke’s father was kept secret by Hamill, George Lucas and director Irvin Kershner. Hamill was only being told moments before the scene was shot.

Boston Dynamics Program Their Robot Dogs To Dance in Unison

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Boston Dynamics is one of the leading robot technology companies in the world. They are doing some incredible things with robot tech and will no doubt play a hand in the inevitable robot uprising. In the meantime, they are using their powers for some lighthearted fun as they program seven of their robotic dogs to dance in unison, which is something that has never been done before!

At first, it’s not quite clear what you’re looking at. The yellow robots, sitting in silence, are lined up so closely that they almost resemble deck chairs stacked on top of one another. Then, in time with the music, their arms shoot out into a fluid series of patterns, giving the appearance of a single, many-armed robot peacocking for the camera. Finally, the seven Spots separate, synchronizing their steps and appearing to play off of one another’s dance moves.

The steps are so perfectly timed, and the motions so smooth and harmonious, that you might think the robots are actually listening and responding to the music. But they’re not; they’re listening to their synchronized inner clocks. For all their sophisticated sensors, the robots don’t even know that music is playing. And their ability to move through space without stepping on one another’s toes is the result of painstaking positioning and programming, rather than Spot’s obstacle avoidance feature.

The end result is seamless, sleek, and even a bit startling. But hiding behind the curtain lie hours of choreography and engineering effort – all coming together for a 77-second performance.

Enjoy the video below!

Review: Get Ready For Compact Lightshows With The SK620 Keyboard

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Comfort and quality are always important when it comes to using anything for many hours. Keyboards are no different and Cooler Master has released a sweet little keyboard that has a lot more functionality than you’d expect. There are so many little features on it and it comes in such a small package that it’s quite surprising. There are some slight design flaws and its particular shape and size are definitely meant for a specific style, but it sure can fulfill those specific needs very well if this is what you want/need.

This keyboard works really well, easy setup, and easy to use for normal, average computer work. The press of the keys will feel a little softer than most modern keyboards and the actual design feels very nostalgic like classic keyboards. But the lower, mechanical keys add a fresh and very modern touch. It’s quite the hybrid of classic and modern keyboard design. It is also only 60% of the size of average keyboards. The number keypad all the way on the right is taken out and the arrows have been shoved into the CTRL, SHIFT, and ALT area on the right side. It can feel very odd and slightly disorienting at first, but after an hour or two of using it, it feels quite natural. I  wish the shift button on the right side was a little bigger or placed somewhere different. It’s also impressive how many alternative functions are already programmed into the keyboard. I wish there was a better and easier manual or guide to teach people how to use all the different functions, but it’s not terribly difficult to look up and understand.

This leads us to the actual functionality of the whole keyboard. If you’re fine with a minimalist setup and want to conserve some desk space, this is a fantastic keyboard. But if you are looking for something to further your gaming experience or even improve your work experience compared to your current keyboard, this probably isn’t what you need. This keyboard is clearly designed to look cool and function really well on its own. But if you’re planning gaming or typing sessions and you’re used to a larger keyboard, things will feel a bit cramped after a while. As for the RGB keyboard colors, it’s actually more extensive than I could ever want. There are over a dozen preset color functions and systems that you can rotate through. Those preset color settings can be altered by the keyboard itself without any help from additional software. You can also download and make very specific alterations with software, but it probably isn’t necessary for most users.

This is one of those keyboards that definitely has a specific audience. If you have a smaller work or gaming space, or you want to change lots of colors of your keyboard on the fly, or you need to switch between Bluetooth and wired mode often, or you want a more classic keyboard feel, The SK620 can really fill those needs/wants. Outside of all that, this keyboard probably isn’t better than the current keyboard experience you’re having.

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HOT WHEELS Meet MEGA with New Buildable Cars and Trucks

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Hot Wheels is known for their cool die-cast cars and thanks to a new partnership with Mattel’s construction brand MEGA, you’ll get to build some vehicles inspired by some of the most iconic Hot Wheels cars. This includes theTiger Shark monster truck and Twin Mill. The new line of MEGA Construx Hot Wheels Collector products are now available at Target with Bone Shaker and Tiger Shark monster trucks kicking things off for $19.99.

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There’s also Rockin’ Racers for $9.99 each, Rodger Dodger and Racing monster truck for $24.99, Racer & Kart for $14.99 per pair, and the Car Customizer package for $39.99.

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Then, in the fall, a large-scale racer version of Bone Shaker will be available this fall for $69.99.

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Star Wars: Visions Gets Special Look Trailer, Reveal Titles for Each Short

Star Wars: Visions Trailer

During Anime Expo Lite Disney announced more details about the upcoming Star Wars: Visions anime series. It will see seven Japanese animation studios that will each create different short films for Lucasfilm. Each short will stream exclusively on Disney+. 

MORE: Star Wars: Visions Sneak Peek to Debut at Anime Expo Lite

The anime studios collaborating with Disney are Kamikaze Douga, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Studio Colorido (Twin Engine), Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Science Saru, and Production IG. Disney says each studio will use “their signature animation and storytelling styles to realize their own visions of the galaxy far, far away.”

Check out the first Star Wars: Visions special look trailer below:

Here are the studio and name of each upcoming short:

  • Kamikaze Douga – The Duel,
  • Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – Lop and Ochō
  • Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – Tatooine Rhapsody
  • Trigger – The Twins
  • Trigger – The Elder
  • Kinema Citrus – The Village Bride
  • Science Saru – Akakiri
  • Science Saru – T0-B1
  • Production IG – The Ninth Jedi

MORE: Star Wars: Visions & A Droid Story Coming to Disney+

Disney says each Star Wars: Visions short will feature Japanese sensibilities while also aligning “with the tone and spirit of Star Wars storytelling,” and notes that “from the beginning, stories told in the Star Wars galaxy have counted Japanese mythology and the films of Akira Kurosawa among their many influences, and these new visions will further explore that cultural heritage through the unique animation style and perspective of each anime studio.”

The post Star Wars: Visions Gets Special Look Trailer, Reveal Titles for Each Short appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Kevin Feige Talks Scarlett Johansson’s MCU Future After Black Widow

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Just because Black Widow is dead in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe it doesn’t mean that Scarlett Johansson won’t work with Marvel anymore after Black Widow releases on July 9 in theaters and on Disney+.

RELATED: Black Widow Review – Scarlett Johansson Shines in MCU Spy Flick

“Marvel is always about new beginnings and Scarlett Johansson is such an amazing partner for us,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said of the actress to ET. “She was a producer on this film. She was the one that brought us our amazing director, Cate Shortland, and I am excited to continue working with her in any way possible if we’re so lucky.”

As far as future MCU additions, Feige is hoping that fan events in “the near future” will be suitable places for cast announcements.

“We’ll see what happens with upcoming gatherings and fan events where we can release more news,” Feige said of when to expect more Marvel news. “I hope sometime in the near future.”

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ComingSoon’s Black Widow review says that the film “serves as an interesting piece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon” that “is well worth the watch even if you’re just a casual fan.” Beyond a goodbye to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, the film is “an introduction to several great Marvel heroes and villains as well as an exciting spy flick in its own right.”

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Mac Miller’s Brother Gets Machine Gun Kelly Movie to Change Its Name

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(Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Interscope Records )

The upcoming Machine Gun Kelly film that stars the artist as a fictional rapper will no longer be called Good News, a reference to the Mac Miller song of the same name.

Written and directed by Tim Sutton, the upcoming film starts production next week and will star musician and actor Machine Gun Kelly as a troubled rapper in his final days. The film appeared to be inspired by the recent trend of talented young rappers passing away at the height of their careers including Miller, Lil Peep, Juice Wrld, XXXTentacion, and others.

The film’s title was viewed as disrespectful by many fans of the late rapper, including Mac Miller’s brother, Miller McCormick. “F— you. F— your movie,” wrote McCormick on Instagram. “At least change the title.”

That’s exactly what has happened, although the Machine Gun Kelly movie doesn’t have a replacement title set just yet.

“Our film is about a fictional musician on the rise with a troubled life. It’s not in any way a biopic or based on any artist’s true life,” producer Rivulet Media told Entertainment Weekly. “We realize the title, which was intended as an homage to Mac Miller, and other artists gone too soon, feels disrespectful. We’ve heard from many people on social media who have found offense with the title so, without hesitation, we will change it.”

Tim Sutton will direct the film, which starts production next week.

The post Mac Miller’s Brother Gets Machine Gun Kelly Movie to Change Its Name appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

The Suicide Squad Wants to Add Depth to DC’s Dumbest Character

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The Suicide Squad has one of the wildest comic book rosters ever assembled ranging from fan-favorite characters to the obscure and maligned. This is by design of course, and director James Gunn specifically wanted to bring in the dumbest DC character of all time, which wound up being Polka-Dot Man (played by David Dastmalchian in the film).

RELATED: The Suicide Squad Trailer Features New Action-Packed Footage

“Polka-Dot Man is great, but I did think I needed a character who’s thought of as one of the dumbest ever,” Gunn told GamesRadar. “So I went and looked online, ‘Who’s the dumbest DC character of all time?’ and it was Polka-Dot Man. We’ve turned that character who’s a sad, pathetic character into a character who’s depressed because people think he’s stupid. He has a very tragic story that you learn about throughout the film – to be able to add depth to characters who are thought of as the silliest is a fun thing for me to do.”

While new additions like Polka-Dot Man are a large part of The Suicide Squad‘s cast, there are also plenty of returning stars. These include Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey), Jai Courtney (Honest Thief), Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad), and Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Rick Flag, and Amanda Waller, respectively,

RELATED: The Suicide Squad Post-Credits Scene Confirmed by James Gunn

New actors include Idris Elba (Avengers: Infinity War), John Cena (Peacemaker),  Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who), Dastmalchian (Dune), Daniela Melchior (Parque Mayer), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), Alice Braga (Elysium), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Joaquín Cosio (Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse), Juan Diego Botto (The Europeans), Storm Reid (Euphoria), Nathan Fillion (The Rookie), Steve Agee (Brightburn), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), Mayling Ng (Wonder Woman), Flula Borg (Ralph Breaks the Internet), Jennifer Holland (Peacemaker), Tinashe Kajese (Valor) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo).

The film is set to release on August 6, 2021.

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Josh Lawson Discusses Directing and Writing Long Story Short

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Long Story Short is now available in theaters, digitally on demand and to buy. The second feature film directed by actor Josh Lawson (Mortal Kombat), who also wrote its story, it stars Rafe Spall (The Big Short), Zahra Newman (Truth), Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Dena Kaplan, and Noni Hazlehurst.

“Serial procrastinator Teddy (Rafe Spall) wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life,” reads the synopsis. “Watching his future flash before his eyes, Teddy must make every second count if he is to win back the woman he loves in this feel-good comedy about second chances.”

RELATED: Exclusive Long Story Short Clip – Rafe Spall Stars in Feel-Good Comedy

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with director Josh Lawson about Long Story Short, how he came up with the idea, and how it puts a unique spin on the romantic comedy.

Tyler Treese: Josh, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. I watched the film earlier today and it was incredible. Great job.

Josh Lawson: Oh, thanks, man. I really appreciate that. Thank you.

This is your second feature film that you’ve directed. What lessons did you learn from your first experience that you were able to implement here and improve upon?

Well, so many, but the one that springs to mind first is that I think I got a lot better this time at not fighting every single battle or at least knowing which battles were worth fighting. I think on The Little Death, I’d never directed a feature before and I really wouldn’t let go of anything. I felt like I couldn’t compromise on anything. And it ultimately made the experience pretty painful because making a film is all about compromise. It’s all about sacrificing things because you just don’t have nearly as much as you want. And so if you don’t let go of this stuff, it becomes just crushing. And so this time I think I was like I’m never going to get everything I want and it’s going to be hard, but it doesn’t have to be painful. So I think I had a bit more fun just generally with this one.

When I sat down to watch this, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and it’s quite the ride and there’s a lot of funny moments, but it gets quite emotional and I wound up crying by the end because of the different, very relatable themes. Was it a goal of yours to really bring out emotions in the viewer?

Yeah. I don’t know if it was ever a conscious goal to make people cry, per se. I mean, I can tell you, I cried writing and I would cry watching it back or there were times on set I cried. But I cry at everything so I didn’t really think that it would make people cry. I hoped that audiences would be moved, but I’ll cry at TV commercials and stuff. Like I’m a soft touch. It felt real. And like the stakes are real and, and to deal with the inevitable part of life — death — and that’s why it sort of why the film is bookended at the cemetery because that’s ultimately where we’re all going.

There’s no fighting it. That is the finish line. So the movie is sort of asking you, “What are you going to do before you get here?” And because this is it. I don’t want to make you morbid and you don’t have to think about this every day, but you should know that there is an expiry date on this thing called life. So, you know, chop chop, because the clock is ticking. So yeah, the stakes are high. And I think the reason, if it’s emotional at all, is because it feels truthful. It’s really because it came from a very real place in my life where I was really struggling, looking at my own life going, “Oh my God, I don’t think I’m doing the best I can with this life. I feel like I’m wasting it.”

I now look back on some of the things I’ve done and I wish I’d done more and I’m not in love and I don’t have a family and I’m getting older. And look at all these gray hairs in my beard now and holy shit. And all those fears were bubbling inside me as I was tapping away at the laptop. So I’m glad I connected with you because I think there may not be any more common human thing than the fear of getting older and ultimately dying. The fear of dying might be the most common shared fear of humanity. And so hopefully it connects with people in the same way it did with you.

Yeah. And one of the common themes and the struggles that we see in the film is juggling a career and also dealing with your personal life with your family. He has a strained relationship with his wife because he feels he has to focus on his job. He has to be a provider. And ultimately, that winds up harming the things that he actually values the most. Can you speak to a little bit about that focus and how you connected with that personally?

Well, I’m very much a workaholic. That’s the thing that I wrestle with all the time. I focus very much on work and not as much on the things that, let’s face it, are probably much more important: friendships, family, and all that sort of stuff. So that was really me chastising myself going “God, come on, stop it. Yes, work is important. It’s wonderful to have purpose. And it’s lovely to create things that are yours, but that shouldn’t be the only thing in life.” That should be on one end of the Seesaw. And on the other end should be all this other stuff that I haven’t focused on. But right now it’s just like an elephant on one end of the seesaw and sort of a mouse on the other, and it just feels very unbalanced.  But I also think at this point in age in the Western world, we focus very much on work and on the success of work and money. Never before have we focused so much on the importance of wealth and how do we get wealth from work? There’s this idea that you are not worth as much as a person if you don’t have enough money in your bank account.

We’ve been talking to China and Korea about their versions of this. They’re interested in doing their own versions and both of those cultures have responded a lot to the workaholism part of the film. They’re like, “In our culture, we focus very much on work and that’s what connected with us is this idea that we’ve become obsessed with work.” And so it may not just be the Western world. It sounds like it might be just a human thing that we’re on the hamster wheel. And it’s never enough. That’s the other thing in the film. You get these promotions and it’s like, “Oh yeah, but if I get the next promotion, then I will honestly take my foot off the accelerator” but then he gets it and then it’s like, “Oh no, then there’s another promotion. You don’t understand. I’m so close to making partner.” That’s the trap. The carrot gets dangled in front of you forever. And then you look down and you’ve got the golden handcuffs on. For sure it came from a real place. It was just about me trying to unshackle myself from the obsession with work and focus on more permanent joys in life.

The film has such a unique mechanic of time moving forward every few minutes exactly a year. And I love that it’s on his anniversary so he just looks like the biggest deadbeat forgetting his anniversary each year. And it’s really unique implementation because we have some Groundhog Day elements, which gets mentioned in the film, but it’s still its own thing. How’d you come up with that idea?

Initially, I had the idea that he wakes up like Groundhog Day, and each time he wakes up, it was a new year. I was struggling with that because I thought it was lagging. There’s all this time, you know, to get through the day to get through the next day, I was like, “It needs to be faster.” This whole thing is about life slipping away. It should go by in a blink of an eye. And so when I had the idea of just going, “It shouldn’t be waking up. It should be every few minutes.” He should sort of think he’s getting a hold of it, but by the time he’s walked through the next door, it’s the next year, and he’s like, “Oh, no, not again.”

So there is this sort of mania that Teddy goes through because it’s never-ending. And so for that 60 minutes, essentially after he wakes up for the very first time, and then he goes through year after year after year, we don’t leave him. We’re with him for those 60 minutes. We experience his curse in real-time, essentially, as he gets through the years of his life. But there’s a moment in the film where he says, “I haven’t peed for like eight years.” He hasn’t even been to the fucking bathroom. He woke up and it’s now eight years later. That’s how quick it all is.

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I loved the snappy pacing to it. The film’s pretty concise. It’s like 95 minutes long. And there’s never a scene where it drags. What really went into editing and making sure that every scene had a purpose and was impactful?

I’m pretty brutal in the edit suite, to be honest. I’m a big fan of a concise film. I desperately don’t want to make a film where you can walk away and go, “Well, that was good, but it could’ve lost 10 minutes.” I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. That really is it. I know that’s sort of part of what the film is about, but it’s true. I really don’t want to waste anyone’s time. I know that time is precious to people and I don’t want to waste it. So if you make the commitment to sit down and watch any one of my films, and in this case, Long Story Short, I promise you, I won’t waste your time right.

Now, love it or hate it — and I hope you love it — but I don’t think you can walk away going, “Oh, well, that was boring.” I hope it’s not boring. I think it moves too quickly to be accused of being boring. We also live in the Netflix world where if you don’t get the audience’s attention in the first five to 10 minutes, you’ve probably lost them and they’ve moved onto the next thing in their queue. So you’ve got to be a little smarter about how quickly you engage an audience now and how you keep their attention. Unfortunately, the audiences are like goldfish now, because we are just so inundated with content. So if you don’t have something major happen every five minutes, you might lose them.

So you’ve got to be really diligent about where you put those plot points and how fast they come. That’s one of the reasons why he keeps jumping every few minutes because I just didn’t want to lose the audience. So every time I went, “Oh, we might be losing the audience here.” I’d go jump him to the next year. Get into the next year now. So that the audience is like, “Holy, shit it’s another one.” And then we just keep stimulating them with new problems and plot devices and scenery or whatever we can do. Just keep moving it forward so we do not lose the audience. It’s got to be a wild ride so when the credits roll at the end, you sort of catch your breath and go, “Holy shit, it’s already over. Wow.” That is a long story short. If you call a movie Long Story Short it’s your job, I think at that point you have to make it feel kind of short.

Mortal Kombat came out recently and your performance as Kano has been so praised. Can you talk a little bit about that reception?

Look, I can say, I think with a hand on my heart it’s probably the best reviews I’ve ever received in my career (laughs) for Mortal Kombat, which I can promise you. It was not what I was expecting. I did not expect. Not that I thought I was bad in it, I just didn’t think anyone would notice. I’m very, very pleased that people responded to Kano. I’ll be honest, most of the time I’m used to terrible reviews of my career for the most part. So to get some positive reviews has been a lovely change. It’s been nice to feel like the work was appreciated.

The post Josh Lawson Discusses Directing and Writing Long Story Short appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

30 Years Later Sarah Connor Is Still Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s MVP

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Ah, the summer of 1991. I remember it well. My family lived in Michigan at the time, and my dad was temporarily deployed for a year and currently stationed somewhere in Guam. Yeah, I was a military brat with military brat friends and spent much of that year exploring and playing in the nearby woods.

Yet, while we were running around like idiots, one of the most exciting pop culture events was occurring at the local movie theater — and we had no idea. At that point, movies had yet to consume my life. I recall seeing The Rocketeer that summer season, diving headfirst into Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when it hit video the following Spring and going bananas over Steven Spielberg’s Hook that Christmas … but that was about it. So, when my friends started talking about a shape-shifting robot duking it out with the guy from Kindergarten Cop in a little movie called Terminator 2: Judgment Day, my genuine, no BS reaction was, “Well, who wants to see that?”

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As it turns out, quite a lot of people wanted to see that, which is why T2, as it was dubbed, eventually grossed a massive $520 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest blockbusters of its day.

The first scene I ever saw was that bit where the T-1000 rose out of the floor to kill that poor security guard — part of a demo reel showing off the film’s FX during the Academy Awards. And yet, I don’t think I actually saw the film until a friend of mine lent me his copy around summer 1994. The only reason I watched it at the time was because everyone I knew was talking about True Lies, which, one of my friends exclaimed, was from the same guy who made Terminator 2.

Naturally, after watching T2, my young teenage mind exploded. The action. The ambition. The FX. Everything worked so well. Is it wrong to suggest that the opening sequence ranks among the best opening sequences in cinema history? I mean, imagine watching 1984’s The Terminator and then stumbling across this:

My brother and I often discuss which films we would love to have seen in theaters on opening night, and T2 definitely ranks up there alongside Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aliens, and Predator as a guaranteed, “Holy s—, I can’t believe what I’m watching” type of film.

However, perhaps the greatest aspect of T2 is its rewatch factor. Here is a blockbuster summer film packed to the brim with thought-provoking ideas that work perfectly in tandem with its astonishing action and well-developed characters.

Speaking on that last point, and finally arriving at, well, the point of this particular article (beyond merely praising a film that has been showered with praise since its release), while Terminator 2 is very clearly an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, the MVP of the pic is Linda Hamilton’s chiseled-to-the-brink-of-insanity Sarah Connor.

Not exactly a hot take, I know, but Sarah’s role (and, by default, Hamilton’s performance) typically get lost amongst the aforementioned conversations about the FX, action, and spectacle. Indeed, as a kid, I paid very little attention to Sarah and only recognized the pivotal role she plays in the story once my mind morphed from a junk-consuming blob to a complex organ capable of retaining information vital to the survival of my species.

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What makes Sarah unique is her journey. And while T2 works largely as a standalone film, the original Terminator is necessary viewing if only to witness Sarah’s shocking transformation from the mousy waitress to steely-eyed badass:

Or, at least that’s how the film initially sets her up — as (in trailer guy voice) a badass warrior with some kickin’ deltoids.

As the story progresses, however, we see that Sarah’s knowledge of the future has quite literally nuked her present life. She cares for her son, John, the future leader of mankind, but only because he’s the key to her mission. Throughout the film, we see Sarah as a disconnected individual whose compassion for humanity has dissolved into a pure rage to the point where she quite literally becomes a friggin’ terminator:

I can’t remember who first pointed it out to me, but notice how the red dot sight on Sarah’s gun literally looks like the eyes of a T-800:

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

That’s one of those subtle visual cues I somehow missed over the course of 2,000 viewings, mostly because I wasn’t really looking for it (and also because, as stated, my mind was equal to that of a hamster’s). Much of my attention remained fixed on Arnold, John, the T-1000, and the spectacle, so much so that I paid little thought to how the plot more or less revolves around Sarah’s actions.

She provides the voice-over for cripes sake!

Still, it’s these little details that make Terminator 2 such a landmark film and are sorely missed in the many disappointing sequels that followed. James Cameron, as he did with Aliens, certainly ups the action and scale of the production but also takes the time to further expand his characters. My brother constantly noted how Edward Furlong’s John Connor slowly develops as a leader throughout the film — his refusal to kill is ultimately what makes him the proper commander of the resistance, even over more physically capable characters like Sarah — while Arnold’s soulless killing machine is given more dimension as he learns to, well, learn and better understand human compassion. His increased empathy works in direct contrast to Sarah’s increased ruthlessness. It’s fascinating stuff.

Perhaps the emotional peak of Sarah’s journey arrives after she fails to kill Miles Dyson. (The bit occurs right around the 2:40 mark in the clip below.)

As a great many others have pointed out in other articles, after her emotional reconnection with John (and the world), Cameron dresses Sarah in the same trench coat style Kyle Reese wore in the original Terminator. It’s a cool visual flourish that subtly reinforces the character’s growth.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Everything in Terminator 2 works in conjunction to bring real emotion to the film’s superb climax:

Perfection.

The only downside to T2 is that it led to four truly awful films. While Hamilton would eventually return in Terminator: Dark Fate, in which her character leaps out of a truck to blast a terrifying robot without much difficulty before dropping an “I’ll be back,” by then the series, like Sarah, had morphed into a pale imitation of its former self and completely lost sight of the nuances that made The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day such beloved classics.

So, while we may never get another great Terminator film, we can still salute T2 as one of the best blockbusters of the modern age, thank James Cameron for giving us an action-packed journey full of style, substance, and soul, and salute Linda Hamilton as one of the more complex and memorable action heroes of all time.

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