This is one of those forgotten books. Over a decade ago it was a pretty well known book among the Terminator fans but it seems like many don't seem to recognize it nowadays.
This one is part of a series written by authors from BFI, the British Film Institute, who is also the publisher of the series . The series, Modern Classics, analyzes movies which were important in film history (The Terminator has been selected by the US Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry).
The Terminator got its own spotlight in 1996 (reprinted in 1998), authored by Sean French. The book is relatively short (72 pages) and like the other books in the series, its basically an analysis of the film, its sub contexts, themes and influences. It's like a reading a very lengthy and detailed essay on a book.
Years ago the general consensus was that the author isn't much of a T2 fan, but upon rereading the book, I don't see it being the case at all. On the contrary, the author mentions T2 quite often and is full of praises for it. Perhaps authors opinion that Jim Cameron was a different person at the time of making T2 and being more Hollywood was taken as criticism, but judging by the authors high opinion on T2, I think all he meant to say was that T2 was obviously in line with huge summer blockbusters and was one of them as oppose to the first film, which isn't a negative thing at all.
The book contains black and white pictures throughout. It's easy to find and costs next to nothing. Is it worth picking up? Depends. Again, 'it's very much an essay exploring themes and possible themes of the film. It's worth reading at least once, but is it a must have?
