The Road Warrior vs. Terminator 2

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It seems that these are the most influential action movies, that inspired action movies that we have seen since. At least that is what people say.

I think I like Terminator 2 better as it just had more of a story, and possibly a more interesting one, with a more interesting villain as a bonus, but The Road Warrior does have that future world and the final car chase, may have beaten any action scene in T2.

But what do you think?



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I took a day off from work to watch The Road Warrior at Cinerama.



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Beyond being "influential", they're almost too different to be comparable. On a personal level, I loved T2 instantly but don't consider it quite as good these days, while Mad Max 2 (we don't call it Road Warrior here, Yank) took a while to grow on me. The first Terminator is a better point of comparison anyway.
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Beyond being "influential", they're almost too different to be comparable.


I was going to post the same thing.


Iron, try comparing similar movies... I did a bunch that I titled "Clone Wars".
Stuff like Armageddon vs Deep Impact, or Dante's Peak vs Volcano.



Terminator 2 by a country mile, they're not even remotely in the same league.



All good people are asleep and dreaming.
Also, there were no Blue Heelers in T2.



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Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Actually after watching T2 again, I have a question about the plot.

SPOILER

How come the T-1000 threatened to kill Sarah Connor unless she called out for John, to get John to come back, when is able to imitate Sarah Connor's voice? If he can imitate voices, why does he need her to call John for him?



It seems that these are the most influential action movies, that inspired action movies that we have seen since. At least that is what people say.
Which people? I don't see it personally or any comparison but I was never really into the Mad Max movies (wtf is The Road Warrior?) so Terminator 2.



"The Road Warrior" inspired and influenced:

1- Tons of following movies
2- Rockstars and bands (Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Prince, metal bands)
3- Fashion

It was a phenomenon.

"T2" was just a fine action-packed and thrilling sequel to a low budgeted sci-fi masterpiece.



The Road Warrior for me.

Just my opinion, my goodness is T2 overrated on this forum.

For what it's worth, T1 was perfection - and better than any of the Mad Max films.

But T2 has been become overblown.



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Not sure how much said musicians and fashions are directly influenced by Road Warrior since it just seems like it's just branching off from the punk/New Wave fashions of the late-70s/early-80s.

Actually after watching T2 again, I have a question about the plot.

SPOILER

How come the T-1000 threatened to kill Sarah Connor unless she called out for John, to get John to come back, when is able to imitate Sarah Connor's voice? If he can imitate voices, why does he need her to call John for him?
My guess is that it was malfunctioning after being frozen and shattered (which might also explain why it leaves the T-800 with its arm stuck in the cogs instead of trying to finish it off).



When I was younger there was a lot of hype around Terminator 2. Everyone loved it. I liked it, but over time as my understanding of cinema grew I started to notice a lot of flaws in T2. I think it only has the surface level of production quality, and that matters more to the uninformed viewer because it's more apparent initially. Other than the quality of the lens and special effects I don't think T2 has any advantage over the original Terminator or Mad Max 2. I don't think the quality of the lens has much significance regarding the overall quality of the film. It makes the picture look crisp, but the lower quality lens gives movies like The Terminator and Mad Max 2 a gritty feel that works better with their themes and atmosphere . T2 looks a bit artificial to me in that regard, more commercialised for the masses and less authentic artistically. The biggest issue that makes T2 a downright unenjoyable experience for me today is Schwarzenegger's acting. He has too much dialogue, and it doesn't sound robotic so much as wooden. The other major issue for me is the writing. Mad Max 2 and The Terminator have better plots and characters than T2, but I also think they deal with reality with more intellectual honesty. I think it's just different when someone makes a b-movie versus a big production movie. There's less pressure, and more freedom. The time travelling plot in T2 didn't make as much sense, and the "liquid steel" technology of the more advanced T1000 wasn't plausible. There also wasn't really anything that T2 taught me. It wasn't insightful. It tried to deal with the issue of human beings bonding with machines, but it felt cliche to me and didn't delve very deeply into the trust issues between John and his mother or between the human protagonists and their cyborg ally. Mad Max 2 and The Terminator both dealt better with the issues of loneliness and trust.



That's a strong argument one would have to defend to say these are the most influential action movies. The two movies are nothing alike at all and have had their own indelible impact on movie history.

I remember after Mad Max 2 (Road Warrior) came out there were so many movies that were jumping on the bandwagon copying it's gritty style and look. The 80's was full of shameless knockoffs and parodies. Even the G.I. Joe toys I had were influenced by the movie with Road Pig being a blatant ripoff.

Road Warrior (MM2) was certainly popular, but I don't think it was anywhere near the summer blockbuster that T2 was. I mean even T2 was selling toys to little kids who should not have seen it because, after all, it was rated R...right? I just remember that film being in the mind of the culture for years after it came out through such mediums like arcade games. T2 is definitely a more polished, superior sequel to the original at least with the FX, and a big budget movie as opposed to MM2. Yet, off the top of my head, I don't know how influential it was, compared to MM2, at influencing other movies except for influencing other Terminator movies. I would be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on what movies they think were a direct influence from T2.

If I was stuck to choose one to watch I would choose Road Warrior over T2 as I honestly don't know how many times I have seen it. It was a unique piece of creative film writing, extraordinary characters, and a rare use of original-style fabricated vehicles to the point that they themselves were almost characters to the story line. The plot is something based more in reality in that it could almost be conceivable having bandits fighting for fuel if the world were stopped by war.



Well, I think there is a lot to be said about who these movies impact and how they impact society. A movie that's popular may influence a lot of people, but is it ifluencing people that will make movies themselves? A corporation may see that movie's financial success and comission another movie in the hopes of riding on it's success, but will that comissioned film maker be as inspired? I doubt T2 was inspired by another big budget hollywood movie. No, I suspect it was influenced more by some b-movie.



Honestly to me T2 feels less influential than it does the end of an era, the last really classic 80's style action film before Jurassic Park shifts blockbusters towards more family friendly CGI heavy fests.

I think if your really looking for a film with the most direct influence from that period then the original Diehard obviously stands out, we've seen variations on that formula of smalltime hero trapped in the middle of a tense terrorst/heist god knows how many times since.

I would say as well that in terms of dystopian action you can't underrated the influence of Escape From Newyork, I actually think that film had a bigger influence than Mad Max 2 helping to spawn the 80's obcession with urban grunge including the original Terminator.



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T2 doesn't feel anything like an '80s action movie to me - if anything, it's the first major '90s action movie and marks the transition away from '80s action into '90s blockbusters (especially since it's relatively light compared to its slasher-like predecessor)..



T2 doesn't feel anything like an '80s action movie to me - if anything, it's the first major '90s action movie and marks the transition away from '80s action into '90s blockbusters (especially since it's relatively light compared to its slasher-like predecessor)..
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