In 1991, James Cameron plunged into mythology Terminator After the undisputed success of his first film. In seven years, the director has not been unemployed and has signed other monuments of the seventh art, of Abyss has Aliens, the return by the way Point Break. But when he announces Terminator II: The Last Judgmenteveryone wonders how he will be able to reinvent himself and continue the adventures of his characters. He then comes the idea of making his antagonist of the first film the kind of the second … and having him face another cybernetic killer.
This time, it was in 1995 that Skynet hoped to eradicate his enemy and leader of the resistance fighters: John Connor. Some time before its release, Terminator II is widely promoted as a very ambitious blockbuster with an astounding budget. More than $ 100 million were spent. In 2025, these budgets were quite common or even in the low average of the envelopes allocated to science fiction proposals. In the early 1990s, however, such a cost was unthinkable. It must be said that James Cameron did not facilitate the task of his teams.
A feat
When he starts to think about Terminator IIJames Cameron first has the desire to confront Sarah Connor with two Terminator. Deux Arnold Schwarzenegger, a nice and a bad guy. Over the discussion, he will hatch T-1000an improved version of its killer robot and especially with a new approach. This time, it is not the protruding muscles of the actor and culturalist who will instill terror with spectators. In the bonuses of the film, the director explains having had the idea of a Liquid steel Terminator in the 80s. But technologies and artifices of the time did not allow him to materialize this idea. “Clayation (clay animation) was the only thing I thought of, But I don’t think it would have been breathtaking enough ”.
His experience on Abyss will allow him to see things from another angle. The film involves a liquid creature which could be an interesting starting point to imagine a T-1000 intangible. Except that this time, Cameron will not be able to do without it if the result is not up to par. The character is omnipresent, he must use his particularity to build his story and his antagonist. It thus calls on the teams ofIndustrial Light and Magic (Star Wars) to develop a digital lining by Robert Patrick.
Subscribe to WorldOfSoftware
It will have been a colossal work, which required Post-production weeks, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The goal for Cameron was to immortalize the sets firstspecial effects and other actors before integrating the characters directly. The T-1000 scene crossing bars marks a turning point for industry. It shows that digital can support practical effects, push the boundaries of what cinema can do.
If the metamorphoses of the cyborg are entirely digital, the moments when it is injured by bullet are recreated thanks to pieces of aluminum and makeup. In the scene with the bars, Robert Patrick is filmed before the effect then directly after. During shooting, the actor has hit the bars with his dummy weapon. A failure that will ultimately be Keeping To add more realism to the scene. Without the work of Cameron and Ilm on Terminator II: Last Judgment, The Lord of the Rings could not have emerged under this almost ten years later, just like Avatar by James Cameron in 2009.
– See also –
🟣 To not miss any news on the Geek Journal, subscribe to Google News. And if you love us, .
