Still keeping it in UK, let's now look at the great cover and coverage on Terminator 2: Judgment Day from UK's Empire Magazine, September 1991 issue. Next to the Starburst magazines, this is the best writeup in UK on the movie.
The introductory pages rave about T2's massive success, obliterating other films at the box office, and making back it's biggest budget of all time in 12 days. Now, Empire magazine is definitely a magazine where facts and professionalism are always present. Everything written about T2 here is absolutely correct, from John's age to the model numbers of the Terminators, T-800 and the T-1000. They even got the breakdown of the budget right:
Production and special effects $53 Mil
Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary $15 mil
James Cameron's salary $6 Mil
Interest charges to financers: $10 Mil
Expenses during Production $6 Mil
Payment for rights $10 Mil ($5 Mil to Gale Anne Hurd, $5 Mil to Hemdale)
The cover says "On location with the most expensive movie ever made!" which is correct, but they don't write from the actual set, they speak to Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron and Linda Hamilton in their trailers in Valencia, California.
Arnold talks about playing a good Terminator this time around, and this time he doesn't sound defensive about it, doesn't try to balance it with statements about how violent the Terminator character still is. Instead, he talks about how much more complex and interesting it is to play this character as a growing one. He said he wrote the script for the first time on the way to Cannes festival, as Cameron always said, and that he loves the twist of being a good guy right away.
Cameron comments on it as well, restating his stance on how a now idolized superstar and role model like Arnold Schwarzenegger could be anything but a good guy, however that was never the sole reason for the character twist, as Cameron confirms in a second magazine (first one being Film Review) that he did come up with the storyline years prior:
"At the time when The Terminator came out, it was fine for Arnold to play an absolute lethal cold-blooded killer. Now thought, we're seven years later, Arnold's role globally has changed and he is a great idol to children and people everywhere. I think it's very fortunate for me that the story I came up with many years ago involved a change of the character of the Terminator to where he is now essentially the hero of the film"
Cameron also talks about the way he managed to finish the film with what is said by the magazine to be the "shortest post-production time in the history of Hollywood" - he started cutting the film on the weekends as they were filming, starting with week one of the shoot.
They also talk about the T-1000, and ILM's ability to bring him to life. Larry Kasanoff, Cameron's partner in Lightstorm Entertainment, makeup artist Jeff Dawn and the stunt coordinator Joel Kramer are also interviewed.
Then there's a section dedicated to Linda Hamilton and an interview with her. She talks about how the role was grueling mentally, and that it had a shattering effect on her, causing her nightmares after finishing the shoot: "The film really took its toll". Of course, she also talks about her exhausting and unpleasant training for both her physique, gun handling and more, and admits that she was a bit overbuilt for a woman and so she trimmed down after the shoot. Linda ends with the statement: " I don't believe any women have done what I got to do in this film, in terms of just carrying it so far with my body. Not just muscle alone, but hauling myself around to the point where I lost my hearing and couldn't walk for three days. "
The magazine also reviews the film beautifully in this issue on a nice, two page spread, giving it 4 out of 5 stars
Back to Terminator Trilogy
