Terminator 2: The opening scene of James Cameron’s sci-fi masterpiece cost as much as the entire first film!

Forced to stretch his creativity due to an apparent lack of resources, James Cameron managed to deliver a masterpiece of an SF film with The Terminator, while brilliantly laying the groundwork for a franchise that, unfortunately, never took off over the years. But this is clearly not the case with Terminator 2, which entered the pantheon of action movies through the front door, as exciting as it is with iconic scenes, revolutionary special effects.

Between Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has probably never been in better form, this time playing the Terminator on the right side of the fence, the transformation of a fragile Sarah Connor in her early days into an absolute icon of bad movie heroines, her staging that was not. A little old and seemingly strong themes (nothing for the future of humanity), not to mention the company’s budget – actually colossal -, Terminator 2 It is superior to its predecessor in many ways.

The series, which is more expensive than the first film alone!

With a budget of just $6.4 million, the first opus grossed over $78 million at the international box office. Enough for Cameron with the ultra-comfortable envelope of his second film, which this time has increased to $102 million.

Of this financial income, a portion is reserved to create the brilliant opening sequence Terminator 2 is colossal. It actually cost no less than $6.4 million, the entire budget of the first part of the saga! In total, $53 million, more than half of the total budget was spent on T2’s special effects.

Here it is again for fun…

The opening scene of the film, which depicts the coming war in 2029, was actually the last scene shot. It was filmed in the middle of an abandoned steel mill located in Fontana, California, on a plot of land measuring approximately 800 m². The site was created from the wreckage of burned cars as well as bicycles and cars from the 1989 Universal Studios lot fire. Along with the creation of the miniatures, visual effects such as laser shots were mostly done by Fantasy II Film Effects, a company run by the brilliant craftsman Gene Warren Jr.