Terminator 2 (1991) is rated higher than The Terminator (1984)

it's like the difference between Alien (1979) vs. Aliens (1986).
Personally, I prefer Alien. (and Alien 3).
But, yes, T2 is worth at least an 8.5, enormously entertaining.

You get different opinions on this hownos. Personally I think the first film is a lot better then the T2, I prefer the punkier, more downboat and dour feel to it. The unhappy ending and how Arnie is just a unstoppable killing machine (until the end). Still James Cameron's greatest work imo. Although I adore Aliens, T2 and True Lies.

They are both great, but I prefer the first film.

Michael Biehn > Edward Furlong
Arnold (84) > Arnold (91)
I personally like Linda Hamilton better in the first, rather than commando Sarah Connor, but it's close.
Lance Henriksen, Paul Winfield, and Bill Paxton > the supporting cast of T2, IMO.


The first one has more horror elements, which appeals to me. Some of the visuals are just unbelievably great, such as the terminator infiltrating the camp, in the future. The image from Reese's point of view of red eyes in the dark, firing a plasma weapon everywhere is straight out of Cameron's nightmare, which gave him the idea for the film, and it is great.

I believe the action set pieces in the first one to be better as well. They are more gritty and terrifying, especially the scene at "Tech Noir" and the police station massacre. Arnold going room to room, slaughtering all these cops mercilessly is mind blowing, especially the first time you see it.

I also like the dialogue better in the first. There are a lot of quotable lines, and Michael Biehn is fantastic with his performance, trying to make everyone believe that his story is true.

My rating would be:

T1 - 9.5
T2 - 9.0

I recently purchased the new remastered bluray of T2. Aside from the consistently stellar visual effects, captivating multi-layered story, iconic performances as well as the way so many minor details click into place to make the finished product so much better, it's a pretty dang good movie.

T2 is 10/10 for me.

They're equal for me, just really different films. The first is basically Sci Fi Horror vs pure action for the second.

Yes. T2 was excellent.

Yes ! If you enjoyed T1, I don't know why you wouldn't like T2. I'm stunned you haven't seen it. The Robert Patrick character, while having no lines, is excellent, and watching Linda Hamilton having to trust Arnold is rather amusing. It's all very exciting, and I don't even like Edward Furlong. He always looks like a little stoner, (although I did get a kick out of Pecker, and American History X is a really good movie).