A Devastating Denouement (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
The relentless ending to Terminator 2: Judgment Day still stays in the memory nearly 20 years on from its 1991 release. The T-800 (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and T-1000 (Robert Patrick, in a role he’s unlikely to better) have gone toe-to-toe throughout the film, and the climax plays out in the warehouse scene in which Cameron once again juxtaposes the increasing role of machinery in our lives with his characters’ quests to either save humanity or discover their own. The sequence (which starts approximately 1:40 into the above trailer) is exhilarating, and it ends on a sentimental note, with a rare profound remark from Arnie: “Now I know why you cry.”
Ship Happens (Titanic)
Seemingly against all odds, 1997′s Titanic wasn’t the unmitigated disaster that many movie buffs had predicted. It was certainly a box office smash; the $200 million film (which was costlier to make than the ship itself) has grossed close to $2 billion, making it the top draw of all time (adjusted for inflation). Cameron shows a surprisingly deft touch throughout, choosing to focus on the characters’ relationships instead of just conjuring massive set pieces. Still, the epic scenes depicting the ship’s sinking are probably the most memorable ones. While the actors may not have relished Cameron’s exacting demands for realism — Kate Winslet developed pneumonia while filming the water scenes — the viewer is gripped throughout, and the movie’s record-tying 11 Oscars justified Cameron’s triumphant call of, “I’m king of the world!”
Next: The Queen is Dead (Aliens)
