HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Haha thanks for the expanded thoughts, but you know I was just busting right? As a fellow reviewer I totally support your score even if I would have put it higher. For me it's not a five but at least a strong 4+ and I think the film has a lot more to offer than just a rehash of T1. There is a lot more character development here to go along with the groundbreaking effects and action. But this is YOUR review not mine! =)

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I heard this has much better PQ than the HD DVDs. The superior technical specs of Blu-ray should put this over the edge.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

er, most reviewers said that the HD-DVD (non-US) version of T2 was better than the original BD version. (for e.g., see here):

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/28389...-judgment-day/

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/681/terminator2_ge.html

That BD version was mpeg-2, whereas the HD-DVD was VC-1.

Since the new BD T2 is also VC-1, i doubt it will be "technically better" than the HD-DVD. This looks like a case of upgrading the Bd version to equal the PQ of the HD DVD version.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Thanks for your reply and I do hope you understand I was not coming down on your review, but simply disagreeing with one item in it: the evaluation of the movie itself. On something like that, we can all agree to disagree.

I do find the points you make reasonable and I can see where Furlong could be fingernails on a chalkboard for some (though I thought he was good in the role). I do believe that the idea of having the young John Connor in T2 was a very natural thing to do. The actors had aged some and Sarah was already pregnant in T1, I think the natural progression of the storyline required John Connor as a child in T2.

I do agree that T1 was first an action/thriller with some romance thrown in. They dispensed with it totally in T2.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Actually, there is a "dream sequence" in the Special Edition version which allows Sarah to interact briefly with Kyle on a romantic level. So I don't think the phrase " ... dispensed with it totally in T2' is warranted. It *was* mostly dispensed with, though ...

The reason I have to mention this is due to the fact that my wife gives this movie a 4 star rating with that scene included; but only a 2-and-a-half-star rating otherwise.

To me, it's a four star plus movie either way ...

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I just read most of the DVDBeaver review and it looks like they've really made the film a PITA to watch. When inserting the disc it automatically tries to connect to the internet and you have to cancel out of that. Access to some of the extras also sounds like a real PITA.

Just give me lean and simple and intuitive menus please. Don't try to wow me. You know what really wows me? A stop button that allows me to resume the film at the point I stopped. Yup, I have simple needs.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Funny, I remember original terminiator as being quite popular in the theaters when I saw it. It put Arnold on the map.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

This is one of our favorite films (I have the two-disc Ultimate Edition on DVD and my girlfriend, who's moving in with me, has the Extreme Edition on DVD) so I'll no doubt be picking this up. Thanks for the great review!

cheers,
Phil

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Ditto. It was a "sleeper" hit of 1984, caused quite a bit of buzz at the time.


IMO that's putting it a bit strongly. Arnie was well-known as a bodybuilder then, and was reasonably well known for his movie roles. I'd say the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film put him on the map as an actor, though Terminator certainly vaulted his career forward.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Before T1, I thought of the Guv as a body-builder who wanted to be an actor. I was not a fan of his previous movies. Then I saw T1 and thought, Wow, that was good. Even then I thought that the Terminator was tailor made for him, that it didn't require an actor with a wide-range. But I got interested in watching more Arnold movies after T1.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

The second disc of that release is what was released under the Optimum label in the UK (Optimum is a division of Studio Canal).

I spent a couple of hours comparing the Studio Canal HD DVD to the original Lionsgate Blu-ray back in the day. The Studio Canal transfer/encode is somewhat better than the original Lionsgate disc. Sharper, a bit more detailed, a bit more depth to the image.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I agree about the menus potentially being a PITA, but after a little time with it, I was able to get around without a problem. That said, it's definitely a pain when I put in a Blu-ray to play a movie and it takes several minutes trying to access the internet to download stuff I don't even want. Of course, you can set the Blu-ray player not to access the internet without your permission, but even there you're bringing up extra menus and screens rather than just, you know, playing the movie...

As for the box office performance of The Terminator, I would agree it could be called a "sleeper." It was not a blockbuster or a major hit. Given how low its budget was, it was able to recoup its costs and do okay. It had two significant impacts before hitting video - it established James Cameron as an action writer/director where before he had crewed special effects units for films like Escape From New York. (And I wouldn't count Piranha 2: The Spawning as putting him on the map in this way...) For this reason, Cameron wound up involved both in Rambo: First Blood Part II and ALIENS, and his career developed from there.

The second big impact was that it established that Arnold Schwarzenegger could be convincing as something other than Conan, which he had already played in two movies. Schwarzenegger had actually made his first impact onscreen in two movies in the 70s, one being Pumping Iron and the other being Stay Hungry. (This is not counting other appearances he did at the time - these two were the ones that showcased his personality and paved the way for the Conan movies.)

I would equate the box office performance of The Terminator with what used to happen in the 1980s when a really cool new TV show went on the air. For the first season or two of the show, the ratings would be okay, but not spectacular, and the show would usually be at the best you would ever see of it. (For example, Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and even Dallas in its early days) For that first year, the show was considered "hip" and interesting, and the "cool people" were the ones talking about it in school or at work, etc. Word of mouth would spread, and by the time the show would come back for the 2nd season, you'd see the ratings go through the roof. At which point, the show would be considered "trendy", and everyone would be talking about it. Of course, by that time, the show had usually lost whatever edge it had and the initial fans of the show had moved on to the next new thing. (Miami Vice is a great example of this from the time. The show was groundbreaking during its initial season, but it usually ranked somewhere in the 20s - not counting the pilot movie. When it came back for its 2nd season, it was regularly in the top 10, but the bloom was definitely off the rose...)

How does this apply to The Terminator? In the way that the film wasn't a smash hit, but did create buzz for Cameron and Schwarzenegger. By the time it hit home video, there was enough word of mouth going around that the movie's popularity really went up. (This was cited in the reasoning behind doing a sequel in articles I read about it in the late 80s.) I still have a copy of a front page article from the spring of 1985 of the LA READER, talking about three new directors or teams that were people to watch. One was Michael Dinner (who had just done Heaven Help Us), the second was the team of Joel and Ethan Coen (whose Blood Simple had just come out), and the third was James Cameron, who talked about his experiences on The Terminator.

When T2 came out in July '91, it was a true smash hit, building on the box office that Cameron had achieved on ALIENS and The Abyss. And it's still doing great business - if it weren't, there wouldn't be so many home video releases. But ever since '91, the first Terminator movie has been in the second one's shadow. I personally was very happy to see the SE that MGM put out a few years ago, as it finally included the deleted scenes and gave it a little attention. And I was happy to see it ported over to Blu-ray with the same features.

As far as The Terminator or its sequel being romantic stories, I can only say that at the time the first one came out, nobody was saying anything like that. The attention for the first film went to the action sequences and Cameron's eye for detail. When the SE of T2 came out, I remember being stunned by the cast talking about all the romance in the first film and how that deleted dream sequence with Michael Biehn was so critical. Of course, if people enjoy that aspect of the films, I'm not saying that they're wrong to do so. I just didn't have the same experience of them. But then, that's the point of the forum, right? We all post our thoughts and hopefully learn from each other.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I actually remember almost EVERYONE in my class in high school talking about seeing T1 in the theater. It had a very big buzz at least among my crowd in NYC. I also remember Entertainment Tonight doing a piece on it stating that it was a low budget phenomenon or something similar.

edit...

The Terminator (1984)

grossed more than 6 times it's budget. not bad.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

So is the Japanese version the way to go in terms of picture quality?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

So am I reading this right...the special features are only accessible by watching the film? That really sucks if true.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I'd like to own both the theatrical version and the extended edition. I don't especially care about special features, but audio and video quality are very important to me, and it sounds like this new "Skynet Edition" is lacking in the video department.

Should I buy (a) the old Lionsgate release of the theatrical version and the UK release of the extended edition, or (b) the Japanese release containing both (which was featured in DVD Beaver's comparison of various T2 releases)?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I'm buying the Japanese disc to replace my Lionsgate and UK versions, so you're more than welcome to by the later two from me if you wish!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

StevenW, you read that correctly. The featurettes and interviews from the SD discs have been placed into the PIP interactive menu on the Blu-ray. In order to see them, you have to be watching the movie. That's part of the reason I recommended people hang on to their SD editions - so they could watch that stuff separately, and so that they would have everything, as I don't think all the featurettes were included in the PIP.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I guess I'll send my skynet edition back to amazon and order the Japanese edition. Sigh to the old DNR

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

That definitely does suck. This release just keeps sounding worse and worse. At this point, the only really attractive thing about it is the DTS-MA track, but the PQ on my Studio Canal HD-DVD is apparently much better and it has a DTS track as well so I think I'll just stick with it after all. Too bad as I was really looking forward to this release.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Brent, where did you hear that about the Studio Canal HD-DVD? The only comparisons I've seen have been with the Japanese Blu-Ray and the previous Lionsgate one. Just curious.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Wonder if I will have a Skull-box waiting for me when I get home tonight, anyone get theirs delivered yet?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

^^

I did (well... not the skull). Thanks again Sam.

I spot checked the disc and while the image may appear a tad soft, it is definitely an upgrade from the standard DVD. The sound is fantastic. If anyone was considering this as a purchase, I would suggest people rent to see if the transfer is a problem for them before making a final decision to pass.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

How much is that Japanese edition will cost you?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Well I sprung for the $19.99 Skynet ed. Will post my thoughts tonight. I figure at that price when the inevitable triple-dip BD comes out (and really, it wouldn't be T2 until it's had a triple dip or more on the current home video format) it will be a relatively painless upgrade.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

At the time of the Studio Canal HD-DVD release, it was praised over at AVS for the huge improvement in PQ over the U.S. Lionsgate release. I've watched it a couple times and while it's not the best looking HD-DVD or Blu-Ray in my collection I still find it to have very nice PQ. If this Skynet release is a downgrade from that, which it apparently is, I guess I'll just hold on to my HD-DVD a little while longer.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

Sooooo.... I bought this BD today and it's the first disc which doesn't play in my machine! Has anyone else had a problem? I hope this isn't the first case where I have to "upgrade software" or something. Here's what happens:


First it has to boot up (takes forever too), and there's wording that says something about "Skynet has detected a 1x player not hooked up to the Internet... please use a Profile 2.0 player for optimal performance and full access to content" (or some such thing)...

Then the MENU comes on and I hit PLAY SPECIAL EDITION...

Then I have to sit through the LIONSGATE INTRO...

Then I sit through the THX LOGO..

Then I sit through the STUDIO CANAL LOGO...

Then, when the STUDIO CANAL LOGO goes to black (at 23 seconds), nothing else comes up and the screen stays still with the counter at 23 seconds.

What's all this crap about Profile 2.0?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

^ The message is saying that you need a 2.0 player to see the special features (the Picture in Picture stuff, etc) but, to me, that doesn't mean that you won't be able to view the disc.

The disc not playing sounds like a firmware problem to me but I'm certainly no expert. If you go to the website of the manufacturer of the player, you can burn the firmware update to a disc. If you don't want to burn the disc yourself, you can probably call them and get it sent to you for free.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I guess I'll calm down about it eventually and do what I have to do, but right now I'm pretty pissed off about it. This is utter NONSENSE, this "update firmware" charade, if that's what the deal is. How can anyone expect Blu-ray to ever take off significantly with problems like this? This is a game I don't want to play, nor should we have to.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: T2 Judgment Day - Skynet Edition

I have heard others with 1.1 players not being able to play it. I guess you need a player that can do the internet like the p3 or the panasonic 35,55,60, and 80 etc.

Jacob