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20 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Terminator 2: Judgment Day

With Terminator: Dark Fate out - we look back at the best Terminator movie of all time.

20 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Terminator 2: Judgment Day

By Alex Christian

15 September 2021

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one of the best movies of the 90s. Hell, it's one of the best movies ever.

The Terminator franchise that has had its ups and its downs. The first two movies are stone-cold classics, the third passable at best and the rest... well, we'd rather go back in time and erase their very existence.

You're about to read 20 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know about Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Here's two things we did know, even before we set about writing this.

1. It was rated a '15' in the UK. And 2. It was released in the UK around about the same time as Suburban Commando.

How do we know this? Because as the members of our family aged 15 and over were enjoying Arnie's sci-fi mega hit, those of us below the requisite age were stuck with Hulk Hogan's "comedy" misfire.

Some 30 years later and we're still sulking. Perhaps time to move on.

Best 90s films: the best 90s movies - from T2 to The Matrix
Thebest Arnold Schwarzenegger movies

1. There's a link to the abyss

You can just about make out the lowercase 'b' that rolls into a lowercase 'p' on the pumps in the gas station forecourt. This is the logo for "Benthic Petroleum" the company that owned the submersible drilling rig in James Cameron's The Abyss. Yeah, of course you can buy t-shirts, caps, mugs etc, with the emblem on. Look.

2. An alternate ending exists

An alternate ending - including some serious dungarees - was included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases. It shows the year 2027 in which Skynet, the war and Judgment Day never happened. John Connor is now a senator and has a daughter, who is seen playing in a park. You can see it here. For some reason the guy in the orange dungarees reminds us of AC Slater. Don't worry, that doesn't count as one of the facts.

3. Linda Hamilton has a twin, who's in the film

Linda Hamilton's twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren portrayed Sarah when Linda was playing the T-1000's imitation of Sarah.

4. There's a link to Fast times...

You know the shopping mall in which the two Terminators descend on John? That's Santa Monica Place, the exterior of which was used as Ridgemont Mall in Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

5. Everything in the fire was burned for real

The opening war scene was shot at a demolished steel plant at Fontana, on the outskirts of San Bernardino, east of LA. The twisted bikes, burned-out cars and blackened cinders are debris from the Universal Studio fire of 1989, when a disgruntled security guard torched the backlot.

6. Judgement Day beat The Terminator in just two days

Let's talk money. The film's budget was $102 million, the highest ever at the time. The movie earned $204.8 million in the United States and Canada alone, and $519.8 million worldwide. It was the highest grossing film of 1991, beating Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The original Terminator grossed only $38 million in the U.S. in its theatrical run, making Terminator 2's 434% increase a record for a sequel. T2 actually outperformed the full gross of the original movie within 2 days of release.

7. Michael Biehn was originally in the movie

In 1993, the Special Edition cut of the film was released containing 17 minutes of unseen footage including this scene in which Michael Biehn reprises his role as Kyle Reese in a dream sequence. Oh and the SkyNet Edition, released in 2009, saw a limited collector's edition encased in an Endoskull. This picture of lines and lines of skull DVD cases is worth a look, for cyberlolz.

8. There was a short-lived T2 Comic

The film was adapted by Marvel Comics as a three issue miniseries. Didn't get your mitts on them? Fear not, they haven't exactly soared in value.

9. The Terminator ride is the most expensive 12 minutes, ever

In 1996, Cameron directed an attraction at Universal Studios Theme Park, called T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, that saw the return of Schwarzenegger, Hamilton, Patrick, and Furlong to their roles. Costing $60 million to produce, with a run time of only twelve minutes, it became the most expensive venture per minute in the history of film. It includes the rather wonderful moment at 6 minutes 25 seconds, where Arnie uses a shotgun as a baseball bat against a mini flying saucer. You can see that, and all the footage, here.

10. There's a link to Rodney king

James Cameron says that not only was the biker bar scene filmed across the street from where LAPD officers beat up Rodney King, but that they were filming the night of the beating.

11. Robert Patrick and Linda Hamilton were ripped for their roles

Robert Patrick trained with a rigorous running regime in order to appear to run at high speeds without showing fatigue, while Linda Hamilton trained for three hours a day, six days a week for 13 weeks before filming. She learned judo and heavy military techniques and maintained a demanding non-fat diet losing 12 pounds. Because of this punishing regime, she declined to reprise her role for T3.

12. The melting scene was freezing for the actors

The substance used instead of melted steel (which would've been too dangerous to use) actually needed to be kept cool to maintain the right density. This meant that the temperature on set was cold, so the actors had to be sprayed with fake sweat.

13. Cameron name-checks his dog

James Cameron once owned a dog named “Wolfie” (the fake dog name the Terminator uses on the phone). “Wolfie” was short for Beowulf.

14. There's a link to Gremlins 2

Identical twins Don Stanton and Dan Stanton played the hospital security guard and the T-1000 (top). They also appear in Good Morning Vietnam (middle) and Gremlins 2 (bottom).

15. Arnie wore bermudas for his nude scene

For the scene where Arnie walks into a biker bar in the nude, the big man was actually wearing rather hideous Bermuda shorts and it's worth checking them out in this shot and this shot. A female passer-by actually wandered onto the bar set looking for a drink. Seeing Arnold dressed only in shorts, Schwarzenegger, without missing a beat, told her it was male stripper night.

16. The T-1000 was nearly played by Billy Idol

Cameron's original pick to play the T-1000 was rock musician Billy Idol, and storyboards had the robot resembling him, but a serious motorcycle accident prevented Idol from accepting the role. Then JC thought of casting Michael Biehn in the role with the explanation that Skynet managed to clone Reese's body and use it for a new Terminator. He wisely dropped this Face/Off-esque idea after deciding the audience would find it too confusing.

17. Arnold was given a plane as a gift

That's right, Schwarzenegger was given an (albeit used) plane as a gift for being in this movie. It was given to him by producer Mario Kassar. The Gulfstream III was worth around $14 million.

18. There's A Link To Predator

The gun is the exact same prop. Mind blown.

19. Linda Hamilton suffered hearing loss shooting the movie

Linda Hamilton suffered permanent hearing loss in one ear during the elevator shootout because she had not replaced her ear plugs after removing them between takes.