The Terminator is one af my favourite films of the eighties. Although I think that T2 and T3 are both reasonably good action flicks, I don't think either are fitting sequels. Here's why:
- In the opening text in the original film, it says the final battle would not be fought in the future, it would be fought in the present. That's 1984 - not 1991 or 2003.
- Reese, talking about the nuclear war, says "a few years from now". To me that would suggest judgment day is 1987-1989. 1997 is over a decade away from 1984, more than "a few years".
- The Terminator is supposed to be an infiltration unit - difficult to spot. Surely then they should all look different, and not all look like Austrian bodybuilders? The one that appears in Reese's flashback (flashforward?) is a different actor, and in fact, I've read that Henrikson was to be orignally cast as the Terminator.
- The 800 series are new (in 2029), replacing the old 600 series that had rubber skin. If Skynet was defeated then, how could they go on to develop even newer T-1000s and T-Xs?
- After Reese went through, the humans were supposed to blow up the time travel facility. "It's just him, and me". So how did all these other Terminators get through?
- And if only living tissue, or a metal skeleton surrounded by living tissue, can time travel, how can these "liquid metal" terminators be sent back in time?
- If in the future they had some reprogrammed T-800s at their disposal, why did they send a human back to 1984? (Oh, and if you could just knock my mum up while you're there, that'd be good thanks).
- Arnie only had about 6 lines in the original film (not counting the bits where the Terminator was impersonating someone else) and it worked in his portrayal of a relentless unstoppable killing machine. I'm not really happy with the friendly chatty Terminator that appears in the other two films.
- Silberman being a criminal psychologist in the original, then being Sarah's doctor in T2 and seemingly unable to remember anything about Reese also doesn't really fit right.
The only fitting sequel I would have liked to have seen is the war against the machines, the tide turning in favour of the humans, and the the final victory with Reese being sent back in time. But then again, this is just my opinion (and I thought Temple of Doom was the best Indy film, so what do I know? )
