Let's begin November 1991 with UK's Starburst. Mind you, this is already a 6th month of a heavy Terminator 2: Judgment Day coverage !!! 6th month. Incredible. November, while still covering T2 heavily and featured it on magazine covers all over the globe, did start to show a sign of slowing down a bit, although the heavy T2 media coverage would continue until about March of 1992!
Starburst #159 was published in November of 1991 in UK, and continued an interview with James Cameron from the previous issue ( see it HERE). This is exactly the kind of rarities and treats I'm referring to when talking about golden nuggets in vintage magazines. This is an extensive interview with James Cameron about T2, large enough to be spread into two separate issues, and it's never been published and isn't well known or quoted.
Starburst asks some interesting questions, as in the last issue. For example, he actually even asks Cameron about the time travel loops and paradoxes, since of course, the sci-fi debate about breaking the loop in T2 was a subject of conversation even back then, and how did or could the loop be broken, which was scantly addressed by Cameron in the press before and alluded to in the novelization. But this time, Cameron does simply state that "that's the problem I've always wrestled with and decided never to address". He did say if he was a novelist he would go more into it, but as it is a science-fiction topic and element, as time travel to the past will never be possible, the explanation for how it would actually work is impossible then. The interesting thing is, up to that point Cameron was very adamant that T2 is an absolute ending to the saga, while here, for the first time, he does say that the good ending is only implied but not a sure thing: "the moment of decision to act (Sarah changing the future) is the critical moment, not whether the act is successful in itself. The question is never answered whether fate or free will will prevail. But we're left with the impression that free will is triumphant. That's intentional."
This great interview also contains Jim Cameron's explanation as to how T-800 could disobey John Connor's direct order not to self terminate: " The Terminator's last act in the film is his first act of free will. He has been ordered not to kill himself but he does. It's It's the first time his learning evolution has reached a point where he can say 'Screw You' to someone's authority".
Cameron is also asked about all the creative team behind the first film returning for T2 (see more HERE). Jim Cameron: "That was very important. I wanted to get a bit of the original magic back. These people would be the most committed because they had a sense of pride and authorship in T1."
There's so much interesting ground covered. Cameron for the first time mentions the T2 Animated Series that his company Lightstorm was developing, he praises RoboCop and calls Paul Verhoeven a class act, and talk about the similarity of ending between T2 and Alien 3.
Anyway, this mag and it's obscure interview with Jim Cameron are quite a treat and one of the reasons why it's so fun to dig into them and collect them.
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