The Terminator vs Terminator 2 Judgement Day

Whilst we've had a discussion on the shitty sequels after. Which of James Cameron's original two science fiction classics do you prefer?

Terminator 2 mania gripped me in the 90s...first saw it in religious education classes. Had the toys and played the arcade game relentlessy. Best r-rated kids flick ever.

T2 is a classic, but the original is still the best. It's also much more of a horror movie than any they've done since. Let's face it, it's Halloween with a cyborg.

T1 was more original.

T3

Red Sonja.

Both are brill, both are paced fantastically. However T1 contains what I think is the most menacing antagonist in movie history - a role and performance that Arnie never topped. No humour, no winking at the audience - even in the quiet scenes you can almost feel him still bearing down on our heroes. Such a shame to see what the series has been reduced to recently.

The FX in the 1st film are very dated, but like with the best of classic-era Who I don't give a stuff.

I watched T1, 2, and 3 the day before yesterday. I hadn't seen either in years. T2 used to be my favorite, but this time I preferred T1. I just didn't really buy the ending where Arnie sacrificed himself. It makes you wonder if the machines really are that bad, and that maybe they shouldn't wiped from existence. But nothing else in the first two movies even remotely points in that direction. They should have just had Arnie grab Doggett and have them both fall into the melted metal at the same time. (There was never any question that it was in his programming to sacrifice himself to save John's life from the other terminator - but to simply stop the machines from existing - I don't buy it.)

This was the first time I saw T3 - It was more a remake of T2 than a sequel. They just changed it by making the evil terminator a hot girl and gave it an alternate ending. It was ok, but not up to the quality of the first 2 movies.

I've always liked RoboCop more.

I’m going for T1 as well. It’s a more atmospheric action thriller more reliant on grit as opposed to gloss, and as Iank says, is effectively a horror film under the guise of an action sci-fi, thus making it more distinctive within its genre. T2 is great, regardless.

The rest are utterly awful, mind.

I like 'em both but voted for T1 as I slightly prefer it.

However, don't forget about this influential little episode:

The Outer Limits: Soldier, 1964.

The Outer Limits (original series) rules! I got the whole thing on VHS and DVD. Now that I think about it Demon with a Glass Hand was probably also influential.

Fendelman wrote:The Outer Limits (original series) rules! I got the whole thing on VHS and DVD. Now that I think about it Demon with a Glass Hand was probably also influential.

Yes, what a grand old series! (the 60's Outer Limits, not the boring '90s version of the show) and I do believe both Soldier and Demon with a Glass Hand were used in the lawsuit by writer Harlan Ellison against James Cameron for ripping off his ideas in The Terminator.