Look, I know that calculating the trajectories for intergalactic travel can be difficult, but I have arrived in completely the wrong place. London you said, not Tokyo! Oh my goodness, I spend 24 Earth years preparing to work in the United Kingdom, and somehow I end up on the other side of the planet in Japan? Really, guys, come on.
Even though I am in totally the wrong place, I have settled in... adequately. Apparently being able to speak English is quite a valuable thing in Tokyo, so using my training, I was able to secure a job in a school teaching young Earthlings. Damn, life would be so much easier if I had arrived at my intended destination though! Everything here is written in Kanji, so half the time I have no idea what's what. Recently I ate a sweet which turned out to be fish flavour. It was horrible.
However, I have not forgotten my mission. Obviously given my less-than-ideal start, I have been a little delayed in my report, but I still have access to this planet's information network, so the mission will be completed as expected. Preliminary research suggests that the website called IMDB is the best source of information for the task at hand. Earthlings seem to love watching films, so hopefully there will be some good ones.
[1/52] Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a 1991 Sci-Fi Action film directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong. How appropriate that the first film I review on Earth was made in the same Earth-year that I was born! Anyway, the story of this film truly is epic - the opening scenes of this film show a terrifying post-apocalyptic world where machines (Terminators) wage war against the humans, led by a man called John Connor. The backstory is narrated by John's mother, Sarah Connor, which provides an excellent 'way in' to the world that the film takes place in. Years earlier, we see two separate Terminators (the T800 and T1000) arrive from the future, disguise themselves as humans, and begin searching for John. One of the Terminators is disguised as a police officer, which offers the audience an interesting look at the roles of power and authority in society. Using some clever techniques, the film establishes an immediate sense of foreboding, such as giving the viewer more information than the characters. Likewise, we are encouraged to root for the characters of John and Sarah straight off the bat, after seeing John's uncaring foster parents, and the abusive staff at the mental hospital respectively. In a dream, Sarah sees a children's playground destroyed by a nuclear blast on August 29th 1997 (Judgement Day), with her unable to speak or make any noise to warn anyone. Knowing just what is at stake haunts Sarah every night, and the audience too is haunted by the powerful imagery of the playground burning seen in the opening titles. Elsewhere, a scientist called Miles Dyson examines remnants of a Terminator (one sent back to kill Sarah when she was younger), while the two Terminators close in on John at an arcade. The Terminators trap John, but in an exciting twist, the T800 attacks the T1000 in order to protect him, and John flees to the car park. He escapes on his motorbike, but the T1000 gives chase in a towing lorry, leading to an incredible action sequence featuring some amazing stunts and a compelling, exciting score. In the nick of time, the T800 saves John and escapes with him, but the T1000 survives, since he is made of liquid metal (for which the CGI is absolutely mind-blowing, especially considering that this film is 24 years old). Such care, effort, and creativity has gone into the design of the T1000, making the liquid metal effect visually memorable (such as the scene where the foster parent is stabbed through the carton of milk), while also suiting the genre and tone of the film. In the mental hospital, Sarah plans her escape, while the T800 tells John that his mother is in danger. During this scene, we find that the T800 must obey John's instructions, and after nearly getting two people killed, John tells the Terminator not to kill anyone, and they set off to rescue Sarah. Escaping from her room, Sarah fights her way past the hospital security, but does not realise that the T1000 has infiltrated the building and is looking for her. After a tense chase sequence with exceptional, claustrophobic camerawork, Sarah runs into the T800 and is terrified that it is going to kill everyone. Finally John manages to calm her, but the T1000 finds them, and after a creative and iconic scene inside a lift, they flee in a stolen car. Once they are safely far enough away from the T1000, Sarah yells at John and makes him cry, prompting the T800 to ask "What's wrong with your eyes?". Roughly at this point in the film, the tone becomes more philosophical and sometimes comedic, and focuses on the bond between John and the T800... human and machine. As the three of them head to Mexico, Sarah attempts to destroy the T800, but John stops her. By the time they reach Sarah's weapon cache at the Mexican border, they are an unconventional family, and John enjoys teaching the T800 how to seem more human (by saying "No problemo" and "Hasta la vista, baby"). Looking at the two of them, Sarah realises that the Terminator has become the father figure that John never had. Once she falls asleep, she has the same nightmare about the nuclear explosion on Judgement Day, and decides the only way to stop it is to hunt down and kill the scientist Miles Dyson. Getting to his house, Sarah tries to kill him, but can't go through with it, and John and the T800 show up to explain why she was trying to kill an innocent man because of something he is yet to do. Learning of the apocalyptic horror in the future, Miles agrees to help break into his lab and destroy all of his research so that Judgement Day will never occur. Entering the building, they trigger a silent alarm which brings armed police and helicopters to the area, making their task much more difficult. The T800 holds off the police using the weapons from Sarah Connor's cache (including a minigun and a grenade launcher) while the others plant explosives and retrieve the parts from the old Terminator. Miles is shot and wounded by the police, so stays behind in order to detonate the explosives, while Sarah, John and the T800 fight their way out of the building. Escaping in an armoured police van that the T800 steals, the three of them are pursued by the T1000 in a helicopter, who was alerted to their whereabouts over police radio. Keeping John safe under a pile of bullet-proof vests, Sarah engages the T1000 in the helicopter in an exhilarating and intense action sequence, but is injured, and the van and helicopter crash. Not harmed, the T1000 commandeers a nearby lorry carrying liquid Nitrogen, while the T800, John and a wounded Sarah quickly steal another van. Ordering John to take the next exit, the T800 climbs to the back of the van and attacks the Terminator, causing the lorry to crash as the vehicles reach a steelworks. While walking towards John and Sarah, the still functioning T1000 is doused in liquid Nitrogen, causing it to freeze and break apart, which makes for an absolutely fantastic and memorable death... although the fight is still not over. Parts of the T1000 start re-forming, and John and Sarah are chased deep into the steelworks while the T800 fights the seemingly unstoppable Terminator. Losing an arm, the T800 is defeated, and John and Sarah are cornered above a pit of molten steel. Emptying an entire clip of shotgun shells into the T1000, Sarah nearly manages to knock it into the molten steel, but is one shell short. At the very last second, the T800 appears behind them and fires a grenade launcher at the Terminator, causing it to explode and fall into the pit, finally killing it. Seeing that the molten steel is capable of destroying the Terminator, they dispose of the old Terminator parts, and realise that the T800 must also be destroyed to prevent Judgement Day. Embracing John, the T800 says "I know now why you cry, but it's something I can never do", before Sarah lowers him into the pit. The last we see of the T800 is his outstretched hand, and just before it is consumed by the molten steel, it makes a thumbs up.
How can a Sci-Fi Action film have so much creativity, style and heart? Apart from being a thrilling and confident blockbuster with practical and special effects so impossibly good that they still look realistic today, this film has themes of family, humanity, perspective and anti-violence... all without being too overbearing or scattered. No wonder this film is one of the best on the planet; it blends suspense and action with philosophy and humour, it has subtle set ups with rewarding pay-offs, it doesn't treat the audience like idiots, and it is all tied together with exceptional pacing, acting, music, shot composition and directing. Knowing that there are films on this planet as good as Terminator 2: Judgement Day has made me very excited about watching the remaining 51 films.
Yeah, so overall I have had an interesting experience on Earth so far, how are things back on TX4? Okay I hope?
Until next week's report, this is MuiXViuM signing off.
