The Road Warrior vs. Terminator 2

I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.

Road Warrior was way better for me, than T2. I even liked Beyond Thunderdome...I don't remember what the third Terminator was even like, though I did see it.

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)..

How could you forget T3?

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.

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)..