20 Facts About 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (Besides the Fact We Love It)
![20 Facts About 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (Besides the Fact We Love It)](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/1/8/869018_320x180.jpg)
As we, the Cracked Monks, were walking and philosophizing through the labyrinthian hallways of the Cracked Secret Library, you know, looking through the ancient scrolls, glimpsing the hermetic knowledge, laughing at those dumbasses in Doctor Strange movies and Borges short stories for how lame their collections are when compared to ours, we discovered one thing. To our astonishment, we have no Pictofact on sweet, sweet Terminator 2 facts. As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir in the Cracked Sanctuary of All Things James Cameron (Except Avatar). Thus, we immediately got to monastic work, and this is where the joke ends, we have no idea how to continue it, whatever, Terminator 2 facts!
Now, Terminator 2 is awesome. Of course, you know this, but seriously, when was the last time you truly stopped to ponder just how awesome it is? Except for that goofy-looking composited dummy that flies out of the tanker and that now you won’t be able to unsee, the movie is perfect, its script is flawless, its action is the still unsurpassed stuff of legends, and every performance is a fully-committed marvel. Hell, it is so perfect that Dark Fallen Fate Kingdom -- whatever, the most recent one, could only try to squeeze in some sort of relevance for itself by killing off John Connor, which is textbook twattage. Terminator 2 is the absolute peak of the sci-fi action genre, there are few movies there that come close, and so we just had to right this wrong. So here, check out our latest addition to shelves of The Cracked Temple of the Sum of All Knowledge (Except for Avatar, okay, maybe also Avatar).
Sarah Connor
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 Badass Sarah Connor Linda Hamilton trained with Uzi Gal, a former Israeli commando. As she explained in 1991, she learned judo and heavy-duty military training. I learned to load clips, change mags, check out a room upon entry, verify kills. It was very vicious stuff. And it was sheer hell.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/5/869035.jpg)
Not Really Naked
![PEPSI Terminator 2 Naked at the bar When the T-800 enters the biker bar and everyone looks at him funny, the point is that he's naked, obviously. But Schwarzenegger got those reactions by playing a prank. Не wasn't naked, but he entered in character wearing what James Cameron called the loudest pair of Hawaiian print board shorts. LOVE CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/2/869032.jpg)
Steel Mill
![Terminator 2 The steel mill The final showdown was shot at an actual decommissioned steel mill, which they made look operational through clever lighting. As the temperature during filming wasn't hot at all but instead a chilling 42 degrees, they had to put fake sweat on Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/7/869037.jpg)
Thumb
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 Thumbs up The T-800's dying thumbs up wasn't in the script, and was added on the spot. Linda Hamilton doesn't like it: Jim loves that scene. Many people love that scene. For me, it's just, it's a little - it's iconic, I know, but maybe a little too sentimental for me.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/9/869039.jpg)
Stan Winston
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 Stan Winston's contributions While Winston co-directed the Universal attraction T2-3D: Battle Across Time in 1996, he did three major things for the movie itself. Along with his team, he provided prosthetics and practical effects, he directed its kickass teaser, and finally also со- directed Guns N' Roses video for You Could Be Mine.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/0/869040.jpg)
Writing the Script
![Terminator 2 The script James Cameron wrote the script with William Wisher Jr., who did rewrites for the original. As they hashed out the treatment, they took turns typing the pages on a single computer. They then divided it in two, wrote their halves, crossed results, sat for a few days to revise the entire thing-and it was done. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/6/869036.jpg)
Teaser
![Terminator 2 The underrated teaser Before filming had even begun, the movie was already gaining steam in big part because of its awesome teaser, featuring a (still believed to be evil) T-800 being assembled. It cost a whopping $150,000, and in purely aesthetic terms, it's a nice bridge between the first two movies. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/8/869038.jpg)
Hydro-Engineering
![Terminator 2 Diverting a river For the scene in which John and the T-800 are being chased by the T-1000 in a truck, they had to redirect a nearby river. The scene was filmed in San Fernando Valley's flood control channels, but the set had to remain dry for the duration of the shoot, which meant they had to do some broader hydro-engineering work. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/4/869034.jpg)
Police Station Attack
![Terminator 2 Reshooting the original If you ever felt there was something off with the photos of the 1984 police station attack, you were right. Take a look at the T-800's hair-that's clearly not the ugly hairstyle from the original. The photos were taken in a reshoot of the police station assault, particularly the hallway sequence. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/3/869033.jpg)
Biblical Symbolism
![Terminator 2 Symbolism Fitting for a movie with Judgment Day in its title, the opening title scene has a clear shot of four playground horses on fire, which Cameron acknowledged represented the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Because whenever we think of James Cameron, we think of biblical symbolism, right? Right? CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/0/869030.jpg)
Bike Jump
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 The motorcycle jump When the T-1000 is chasing John Connor, the T-800 jumps in to save the day. That was stuntman Peter Kent on a bike held by wires, wearing creepy-as-hell makeup to resemble Schwarzenegger. Kent's prosthetic face was only substituted for Schwarzenegger's in the 2017 3D re-release.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/1/869031.jpg)
Music Video
![CRACKED.COM GUNS N' R OSES Terminator 2 GNR vs. NIN Before production settled on Guns N' Roses' You Could be Mine, Robert Patrick suggested Nine Inch Nails' Head Like a Hole as the movie's tie-in song. The T-1000 actor lobbied for it because his brother, Richard Patrick, was NIN's touring guitarist. Cameron answered, no, Arnold prefers Guns N' Roses.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/6/869026.jpg)
Cop T-1000
![Terminator 2 The movie is political. James Cameron explained why the Т-1000 is dressed as a cop: The Terminator films are not really about getting killed off by future machines. They're about us losing touch with our humanity and becoming machines ... Cops think of all non-cops as less than they are, stupid, weak and evil. They dehumanize the people they are sworn to protect. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/5/869025.jpg)
Puberty
![Terminator 2 Puberty changes Compare Edward Furlong's baby face in the car repair scene with the way he looks in other scenes, like when he discovers the T-800 obeys his very word. The scenes set in Mexico were shot first, and since Furlong was in full-on puberty mode, he changed a lot during the six-month shoot. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/8/869028.jpg)
"Panther-Fast" Robert Patrick
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 The real-life T-1000 The Т-1000 chases but fails to catch up with John Connor's motorcycle while they're at the mall parking garage. In real life, however, a panther-fast Robert Patrick actually caught it during filming. James Cameron said in 2017, Okay, we can't use that take. John Connor just died and the world just ended.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/7/869027.jpg)
Budget
![Terminator 2 The most expensive movie For a while, Titanic was the most expensive movie ever, with a $200 million price tag. But at the time, the same thing happened with T2. Its budget was between $94 and 102 million, with $50 million devoted just to the action scenes and FX (and $6 to Cameron for having given us this gem). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/1/869021.jpg)
Rights Issues
![Terminator 2 Bureaucratic drama The rights to the 1984 original were caught between two studios: Hemdale Film Corporation and Carolco Pictures. The problem was that Hemdale did not want a sequel (imagine that), so they wouldn't budge on their half of the rights. When they got into financial trouble, however, Carolco agreed to pay $5 million for the rights, and pre-production could begin. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/4/869024.jpg)
Writer Cameo
![CRACKED.COM Terminator 2 Writer (and cop) cameo The cop who gets his car is stolen in the 1984 original cameos in T2. He's the pedestrian snapping a bunch of photos of the T-800 after he's thrown out of a mall store. (Both areplayed by T2 co-writer William Wisher Jr.). - DENTAL](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/9/869029.jpg)
The Abyss
![Terminator 2 The Abyss Connection Cameron always had ideas for a Terminator sequel, but only gave them serious thoughts after The Abyss managed to pull off the 75-second-long water tentacle sequence (which demanded six months of work). T2 references The Abyss by featuring the Benthic Petroleum logo in the background. GRE MUNE CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/3/869023.jpg)
Sound FX
![Terminator 2 Cheap SFX When the Т-1000 walks through the barred door at the hospital, that smooth whooshing sound was done by holding a can of dog food upside down, and recording the oozing sound of its contents slogging down. It all cost 75 cents. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/2/2/869022.jpg)