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Clearly whomever did the Blu-ray transfer for “Terminator
2: Judgment Day” has never heard the saying “less is more”.
Drowning in a sea of DNR “T2” is still an improvement on
the original DVD but the video has so many issues that,
if this were a human being, I’d suggest intensive therapy.
***
Fans of the “Terminator” saga know this film all too
well as Lion’s Gate has been exploiting their most popular
title for some time issuing it in every permutation and
variation known to man and some known only to extra terrestrial
creatures. If you haven’t purchased or seen this before
then this film is essential. James Cameron added an epic
scope to “T2” missing from the tight thriller “The Terminator”.
While the first film was a perfect B-movie with the imagination
of an A-movie, “T2” manages to have the best of both worlds
so-to-speak. Although the visual effect sin “T2” have become
dated a bit with the improvement of CGI over the last decade
and a half, the film still holds up remarkably well even
if Cameron and co-writer William Wisher struggle a bit too
hard for relevance and try to make their Tin Man have a
heart. ***
Set over a decade after the original film, “T2” finds
Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in a mental institution and
often in restraints because she insists that what happened
in the first film was real. Everyone believes she is delusional
of course and that means that her son John has been taken
away from her and put into foster care with a pair of caring
parents (Zander Berekely and ). John predictably gets into
a lot of trouble and often commits criminal acts but in
his heart he’s still a good kid. Lo and behold Skynet hasn’t
given up on rubbing out the Connors and sends back the T-1000
(Robert Patrick) a new type of Terminator that uses liquid
metal to morph into any shape it wants to making it a major
threat because it can blend into ANY background. ***
In the future John sends back a copy of the earlier
Terminator model (Arnold) to save himself in the past and
prevent Skynet from changing the course of history and snuffing
out humanity in the process. The Terminator’s job is simply
to eliminate the T1000 (harder than it sounds) and save
John but the boy insists on saving his mother now that he
knows she isn’t delusional. ---
Image & Sound:
“T2” arrives buried in DNR (digital noise reduction)that
makes the film almost into an impressionist painting. That
wouldn’t be a problem if that was James Cameron’s intention
but it wasn’t. The fact is that “T2” looks better and worse
than the DVD special editions that Lion’s Gate has been
coughing up as often as a smoker spits up green flem. ***
Skin textures look as if they have been buffed with
a waxing machine they are so smooth. They look unnatural
like it’s watching wax museum figures come to life. Detail
IS better here but that’s not through any effort to make
the film look as sharp as possible—it’s by default due to
the Blu-ray format and in spite of the efforts of whomever
did the transfer for this monstrosity. Colors are more accurate
than previous editions and sharpness is maintained by overuse
of edge enhancement to compensate for the heavy handed use
of DNR. Whatever idiot at Lion’s Gate approved this release
needs to see an optometrist pronto. Many major studios have
begun to back away from the over use of DNR because videophiles
the current prime audience for Blu-ray have raised a major
stink about the overuse of DNR. While it is essential to
help manage grain and allow films to look good and consistent
in the Blu-ray format, I’m sure it was never intended to
be used like grease paint. ***
The good news is that the 6.1 Dolby TrueHD sound track
sounds marvelous and is pretty close to perfection.
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