THE Terminator The franchise is among the most beloved sci-fi franchises in American cinema, but its recent releases have failed to reach the heights of its first sequel, and the films' villains have a lot to do with that. The Terminator arrived on the scene on the back of Arnold Schwarzenegger's intimidating and seemingly invincible T-800 model, who was easily one of the best villains of the 1980s. James Cameron was tasked with matching Arnold and Finally, he found a way to overcome it in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Cameron brought a new type of Terminator to life with the T-1000, a liquid metal Terminator that changed shape to approximate the appearance of a human, rather than wearing a realistic outer layer of skin. The liquid metal, known as mimetic polyalloy, made Robert Patrick's T-1000 terrifying on a new level, as he was even more unstoppable than Schwarzenegger's T-800. Patrick also played the villain with an unparalleled intensity that elevated the intimidation factor beyond Schwarzenegger's more stoic T-800. Unfortunately, the T-1000 created a major problem that the Terminator franchise has faced for over 30 years.
Terminator 2's T-1000 set the bar very high for future Terminator villains
Robert Patrick's Liquid Metal Terminator was perfectly terrifying
It's no exaggeration to say that Robert Patrick's T-1000 is among the greatest science fiction or horror villains of all time. The character's behavior, invulnerability, and complete lack of empathy or regret made him one of the most fearsome adversaries in film at that time, and there are precious few characters who have stood out in the decades since. T2 was released. However, with an inescapable and terrifying villain, there's really nowhere else to go but down, and it's a problem the Terminator franchise has suffered since then.
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The Terminator Franchise – Key Details |
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Film |
Release date |
Budget |
Gross box office |
RT Tomatometer Score |
RT Popcorn Meter Score |
|
The Terminator |
1984 |
US$6.4 million |
US$78.3 million |
100% |
89% |
|
Terminator 2: Judgment Day |
1991 |
US$102 million |
US$520 million |
91% |
95% |
|
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines |
2003 |
US$187.3 million |
US$433.4 million |
70% |
46% |
|
Terminator Salvation |
2009 |
US$200 million |
US$371.4 million |
33% |
53% |
|
Terminator Genesis |
2015 |
US$158 million |
US$440.6 million |
26% |
52% |
|
Terminator: Dark Fate |
2019 |
US$196 million |
US$261.6 million |
70% |
82% |
It's impossible to blame director James Cameron for creating such a monstrous villain for his high-profile sequel. There is no way for him to know that the Terminator the franchise would have been explored so thoroughly and for so long; he set out to make the best possible villain for his sequel, which in itself was a difficult task given how beloved and terrifying Schwarzenegger's T-800 was in the original. Terminator. Unfortunately for everyone who touched the franchise after him, he set the bar very high.
Terminator kept trying to replicate the T-1000's impact, but always failed
He's been copied, brought back, and “improved,” but no villain has ever matched him.
The near perfection of James Cameron's T-1000 hasn't stopped other filmmakers from trying to overcome the liquid metal threat. The next sequence introduced the TX, a kind of hybrid Terminator that had an endoskeleton like the T-800 models, but was coated with the T-1000's mimetic polyalloy, allowing it to transform into any human being. It was also loaded with futuristic weapons, but it still fell short of the T-1000's intimidation factor, as its endoskeleton was essentially a design step backwards, regardless of how many bells and whistles were added.
Later sequels made further attempts to replicate the success of the T-1000. The much maligned Terminator: Genesis literally tried to bring the T-1000 back, although thanks to headache-inducing time travel shenanigans he was recast and from another universe. Terminator: Dark Fate attempted the “two is better than one” tactic, as the Rev-9 Terminator was covered in mimetic polyalloy and, despite having an endoskeleton, was capable of splitting into two separate, independently functional units. None of the attempts came close to being as intimidating as Patrick's T-1000, especially considering the time period of T2launch.
The T-1000 isn't the only thing Terminator 2 did better than other sequels
It is by far the highest quality film in the entire Terminator franchise
The T-1000's villain may be the crown jewel, but Terminator 2: Judgment Day is widely considered the best sequel of all time for a number of reasons beyond its incomparable villain. The 1991 film was praised for its then-revolutionary techniques in visual and makeup effects (particularly pertaining to the T-1000) and elite action sequences, for example. The narrative of the sequence was excellent because it added to the background and lore of the Terminator universe without overcomplicating things or losing anything that made the original Terminator excellent.
THE Terminator the franchise will certainly survive, but it remains nearly impossible for any villain to match the T-1000.
The change in Schwarzenegger's character was also a celebrated evolution from the original film and more aligned with Schwarzenegger's growing popularity among families and the general moviegoing public (Kindergarten police officer released the previous year). Seeing an incredible sci-fi villain go from killer to protector was part of what made the narrative so compelling, but it would all have been for nothing if Robert Patrick's T-1000 wasn't such an incredibly effective antagonist. THE Terminator the franchise will certainly survive, but it remains nearly impossible for any villain to match the T-1000.