Terminator 2 30th anniversary

[Lee Mannering]

Well this has almost been a lives journey but its T2 time again but this time 30th anniversary so a bit more special.

Tonight we have a local projecting a 35 mm print
Tuesday we all go to the cinema to watch the remaster
Wedensday a few collectors descending here for a bbq and the S8 scope original on the Eumig HID
Thursday we go to watch the 3D in a deluxe home cinema.
Friday we all.need a rest!


No.pressure on the Eumig then....

[Larry Arpin]

Trivia time. Something to think about when watching. I worked on T2 doing the composite of the playground with the atomic bomb. I saw a picture of the atomic bomb model at the Skotak's. It was made of poly-fil, the stuffing pillows are made of. One guy was in the middle pushing up the top part and 2 guys on the sides pushing up the sides while turning it to look like it is rolling. The background plate was shot in Vistavision, 8 perfs of 35mm on it's side, for better resolution when printing down to 4 perf flat 35mm on the optical printer. When Cameron was directing the scene the camera kept jamming so he let Robert Skotak finish the scene. When I first started compositing the scene Cameron saw it and sent a fax back of the scene with a circle around the lower left hand corner and wrote "This area sucks". I wish I had the fax that he sent. A matte was made of the playground in 2 areas so when the flashes happened it would hit one part of the playground then another. For whatever reason, I don't remember, I used a frame of an overexposed part of the matte where both mattes are revealed. Robert Skotak liked it so much I had to repeat those same frames when Cameron decided he wanted 2 frames for each flash. On the bomb scene, there is a glow added to the slide, when the lady with the child starts to kneel down it is double framed. After seeing a few takes, Cameron decided he wanted smoke in the scene, so the Skotak's shot a smoke element, but on 4 perf 35mm. So that caused an extra step. Since everything was in 8 perfs all succeeding takes I had to make a sync mark on the film so I could rewind the film and take it to another printer to shoot the smoke element. After 20+ takes Cameron approved of a take, but Robert Skotak wanted me to try another take, I don't remember what he had asked me to do, but I did 2 takes making a change of my own. It was the 2nd take the wound up in the film. There were a few other shots that I worked on that wasn't so complicated. The tundish scene, a miniature, that I had to add some fire and glow elements to with a slight move. And a split screen of the melted metal, actually mercury, coming together with a smoke element. Then this was all scoped up at CFI for the final negative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjatJ36cJvM

[Tom Photiou]

I have a pretty good print of this Scope release from Derann, for those interested in screen shots they can be found here, go to the bottom of the screen and click the review.

https://super8database.com/films/4167

[Osi Osgood]

Larry! Such a wonderful read and it was awesome to read about your expertise!

[Lee Mannering]

Thank you Larry for a very interesting read which ill show our fan group later today sat in the cinema.

I'm in that club Tom as well. Seem to remember I twisted the staff arm to print 2 copies very late in the day one of which I had and someone else was lucky enough to get the other. It's a solid print although with the later grey stripe nice to have.

The 35mm print we watched last night still looks wonderful with flooded colour and sound to match. Today we all trot off to the Cinema to see the more recent clean up which is being shown around England for the anniversary.

[Rob Young]

Lee, I still remember watching this back in 1991 at the ripe old age of 20 and thinking that this movie changed visual effects forever; watching the T1000 rise up from that black & white tiled floor to fully form was the first time I think digital effects really became flawless and exciting. Whatever you make of CGI use subsequently, those scenes in T2 made me realize that optical effects were over.

And Larry, that story is just the stuff of legend.

I did own a brand new super 8 print back in the day and thought it was marvelous, despite it's imperfections.

And Lee, I can't wait to read your comparison of the film print vs the digital remaster (where is the remaster showing?)

Was the 35mm print a private collector? If so lucky so and so!!

Oh and on Friday, maybe a digital showing of T3?? A much underrated sequel. Personally I thought it was huge fun. Remember how there was very nearly an 8mm feature...?!

[Lee McCaffrey]

T2 for all of it's incredible computer effects is for the most part 'old school' optical effects and animatronics. Many of the T1000 scenes which people automatically think are CGI are in fact incredible Stan Winston puppets.
As far as I know the only T2 print available to screen commercially in the UK is the 70mm print which screens regularly at the Prince Charles Cinema. The 6-track magnetic sound is truly incredible, the only mix that comes close at home is the Dolby AC-3 track from the Japanese 'squeeze' laserdisc. It is rumoured to be the original theatrical CDS mix, later LDs and the first DVD featured a different AC-3 mix. More recent DVD and blu-ray releases have the 6.1 near field mix made by Gary Rydstrom, the sound designer for T2.
The 'remastered' DCP is an odd beast, it starts with a title card for the 3D conversion! It has been completely degrained and is very smooth, and the colour grade doesn't match the film colour timing (it never does). It has what appears to be the original sound mix and is insanely loud, but the bass isn't there in the way it is in the 70mm mix.

[Osi Osgood]

I agree Rob, it was another one of those rare "game changing" science fiction films!

[Lee Mannering]

Great read all of the above.

UK VUE chain ran it last night and very nice job as well somewhat cozy. We run up the projector here tonight for the S8 scope show.
Nice to have these little gatherings again with some long time Termy fans sharing our memories and even showing our old cinema tickets collected from over the years.
The 35mm show was given using two FP20's and I'm still missing mine having made way for the 4K side, just a teeny bit lighter!

[Lee Mannering]

Eumig didn't miss a beat and in full steam a fun evening. Last evening of Termy fun today with a visit to another home Cinema to watch Terminator 2 3D then we start recovery.

[Lee Mannering]

Think we have all be successfully TERMINATED but it was a fun 4 days.

SO which looked the best?
The 35mm home presentation was truly excellent.
Terminator 3D I loved at the cinema and this was just as good.
Super 8 Scope has a special place of its own of course.
Lastly it was clear the T2 Cinema was spoiled and presented over bright having previously been peaked for 3D. It was detailed fine but had lost so much of the the darker detail we used to enjoy. The sound was the best I have heard.
Good time tho.

[Phil Moors]

I once went to the Odeon in Hanley to watch a screening of all five Planet of the Apes films back to back. I’m talking about the 60’s/ 70’s films not the later CGI tripe. It was quite an endurance, particularly when it reached the final, Battle for the Planet of the Apes which is a bit weak.

But I can’t imagine watching the same film four nights on the trot? I’m glad I don’t feel the same about Ben Hur or Gone With The Wind.

Happy Screenings