Video Watchdog was a mini magazine (and by mini I'm talking about its size) which reviewed home video releases. It was a bi-monthly mag, published between 1990 and 2017. It focused mostly on scifi and horror
In its #10 issue, published for March/April of 1992, it featured T2 on its cover and reviewed both Aliens Special Edition and T2 Terminator 2: Judgment Day which had both arrived on laserdisc in December of 1991.
The reviewer not only reviews the new releases, but also takes time to review both the first film and its, at the time, latest laserdisc release (stellar reviews for both). When it comes to T2, he's presenting a more double sided approach to it. On one hand, the reviewer reiterates that whatever (what he considered as) shortcomings that it may have, they don't detract from the enjoyment of the film. His critique is in two areas: One is editing. Specifically, he says Sarah's sequence with the detectives is wrongly edited as it gives John no time to grief his foster parents in the scene it "interrupts", and that the detectives couldn't have known that John's foster parents were murdered minutes after it happened. Well, unfortunately the reviewer did not pay attention to the film and the actual editing, and the subtlety of storytelling went by him like it does for some.
He assumes that the scenes happen in real time, while there's a clear, subtle indication that they don't. After John and the Terminator hang up on Jeanelle/T-1000, we cut to the revelation that the T-1000 is Jeanelle. It then cuts to John and Terminator in the middle of a conversation. So there's one editing clue right there, we cut in on characters in different spaces, and obviously having a discussion for some time now, as we're clearly joining in the middle of it with an answer/response from John to something we haven't heard. It is like switching a TV channel. So there is one time lapse right there. Also consider the undescribed, but significant time the dog is barking like crazy at night. He is barking ever since the T-1000 got there, so before even Todd came back from wherever he was when Jeanelle was surprised and killed. The simple assumption there is that someone called the cops before the T-1000 killed the dog, or that cops came to the house to question Voidts and John and found out what happened. Anyway. The conversation between John and the Terminator is cut then by the scene with the detectives at Pescadero showing Sarah the photos. In this scene they inform Sarah that John's foster parents were murdered. The detectives were clearly there for the Terminator character (and the novelizations spells this fact out, which I think is clear without words on the screen to say it). They would have been there and then regardless of John and his foster parents. The detectives realized the 1984 killer resurfaced. They assumingly got a call that the legal guardians of Connor were just found dead. Next we cut to John and Terminator in a different setup, clearly indicating significant time has passed not only because they seem rested in very different position and in different spaces (John resting on a car, deep in thoughts), but because John is clearly telling Terminator the story of his life and spilling his emotional hurt to him. And he isn't at the beginning of it. All this makes it very clear, and in a subtle and organic way, that it all does not happen in real time in mere minutes. It's very surprising to me that a professional reviewer and movie watcher would misread the scenes so much. Perhaps he haven't seen it enough times and didn't recall it as well.
As for John's grief, we see terror on the frozen John when the Terminator tells him that his foster parents are dead, and his eyes and face goes dark with the news. He does take the news hard. Again, most likely the reviewer did not remember the film well yet, as he claimed something wasn't there when it was. Then we jump to another scene, where, again, there is an implication of some time passing. And John is a special kid who learned how to take what life throws at you differently than your average person. He faces the unbelievable, deals with it for a minute and moves on to think tactically. What I just wrote is specifically stated in the script and novelization. John deals with everything fast
The second area the reviewer pointed out as an example of rushed writing is Terminator recounting the history to come to Sarah. Now, there actually is a discrepancy here stemming from two teams counting 10 years from a different point, but it isn't at all what the reviewer describes. He gets completely tangled up with his misconceptions and miscalculations (for one example, he claims 85+10 equals 96). The actual discrepancy is in the interpretation of the premise of "10 years later" - that the team that created the police computer readout, took the "10 years later" tagline as counting from John's birth. And well, John was said to be 10 years old - which was a contradiction in itself - 10 years later from John's birth is not the same thing at all as 10 years later from the first film's events, so in the fever of shooting, the two versions were used in the film. All the dates the T-800 says ("35 years from now..." = 2029 ; "In three years..." = 1997) fit perfectly with the "10 years from the events of the first film" angle, if the film is taking place in 1994. But, the police computer says it's 1995 because 10 years here were counted from John's birth in 1985. But again, the reviewer gets tangled up in some incorrect calculations and statements anyway.
But to be fair, all this aside, he praises the film and its actors highly, and says that after reading its Screenplay book with, he was even more in awe. But isn't as impressed with this edition of it on laserdisc (mainly its aspect ratio and extras)
It is a bit odd to see that back in the days the review magazine did not have a single screenshot from the release whatsoever and only used behind the scenes publicity shots, but it wasn't so easy back then. There are two used but those are republished from the Screenplay book
Go back to http://www.jamescamerononline.com/TerminatorTrilogy.htm
