11 Things You Never Knew About James Cameron's 'Terminator 2'
It's hard to believe it's been more than 25 years since "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" first exploded onto the big screen. Like a good sequel is supposed to, it took everything that was great about the original and dialed it up to (at least) eleventy, while further cementing Arnold Schwarzenegger's reputation as one of the great Hollywood badasses.
In honor of the film returning to theaters this week in a shiny, new 3D release, here are 11 things you need to know about one of the best sequels in the history of ever. Thanks, James Cameron!
1. Robert Patrick wasn't actually the first choice to portray the T-1000.
Cameron originally had his eyes on musician Billy Idol, but Idol had to drop out after having a motorcycle accident.
2. Cameron also reportedly mulled over the idea of casting "The Terminator" actor Michael Biehn (pictured) as the liquid-metal villain, with the explanation that Skynet had cloned the late Kyle Reese and turned him into a Terminator. Biehn did appear in "T2," in a deleted scene, where his character came to Sarah Connor in a dream.
3. Because "Hasta la vista, baby" doesn't have quite the same impact when the entire film is dubbed in Spanish, the Spanish version of "Terminator 2" changed that line to say "Sayonara, baby."
4. Cameron revealed that the biker bar sequence was filmed across the street from where the infamous LAPD beating of Rodney King took place. Apparently the filming was taking place while the beating was happening.
5. During the filming of that biker bar scene, a random passerby wandered onto set confused as to why Schwarzenegger was walking around wearing nothing but Bermuda shorts. The actor nonchalantly informed her that it was male stripper night at the bar.
6.Edward Furlong was only 13 when he was cast in the role of John Connor. Not only did he visibly age over the course of the near six-month shoot, but Furlong's voice also dropped, forcing him to rerecord a great deal of dialogue during post-production.
7. As effects-driven as this movie was, Cameron relied on twin actors to save time and money whenever scenes called for body doubles. In the scene where the T-1000 is disguised as Sarah Connor, Linda Hamilton played the T-1000 while her sister, Leslie Hamilton Gearren, played Sarah. The two also appeared during Sarah's nightmare sequence, with Leslie playing the younger version of Sarah.8. When our heroes are refueling their car after fleeing into the desert, a gas pump can be seen sporting the logo for Benthic Petroleum, the fictional company that owned the oil rig in "The Abyss." Does this mean the two movies take place in the same universe?
9. If the mini-gun Schwarzenegger's T-800 wields during the Cyberdyne shootout looks familiar, that's because the exact same prop gun was also used by Jesse Ventura's character in 1987's "Predator." Neither character had time to bleed.
10. While the original "Terminator" was a decent box office success in 1984, this sequel managed to top that gross in its first two days of release. The film went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 1991. (At the time, it was also the most expensive movie ever made.)
11. The "Terminator 2" Blu-ray includes an alternate ending that showcases the happy, Terminator-free future that the Connors created by defeating Skynet. But as the sequels have shown us, that future never came to pass.