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My next idea involves Back To The Future, but that could work as well.
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Jurassic Park or Terminator 2?
- Thread starter Lightning Count
- Start date
My next idea involves Back To The Future, but that could work as well.
T2 is a lesser retread of The Terminator.
Jurassic Park is a magical evergreen experience that is so good that its franchise is still surviving off of its greatness like some shitty trust fund kid.
Jurassic Park is a magical evergreen experience that is so good that its franchise is still surviving off of its greatness like some shitty trust fund kid.
I understand some peoples predisposition towards terminator but I think people forget just how seminal of a work Jurassic Park was for the industry. It literally shifted the trajectories and careers of influential special effects artists like Phil Tippett at ILM.
Comparing these movies is weird tho - one's a sequel and one stands alone on its own. They're gonna tick different boxes.
The answer is JP tho lol
Comparing these movies is weird tho - one's a sequel and one stands alone on its own. They're gonna tick different boxes.
The answer is JP tho lol
Jurassic park is "fun", I've seen it maybe 3-4 times. Terminator 2 is "orgasmic" every single time I watch it I've seen it maybe 15 times.
Yep. The only real challenger to me is Back to the Future. Both are nearly perfect fucking movies to me.
That's fair, I was just stating it as my own opinion.
As long as you don't put 3 over 2.
They are both in my top 10 of all time. JP gets the edge though because of 7 year old me seeing it in theatres. Didn't see T2 until shortly after it was out on video. The only better theatre experience was seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey in IMAX for the 50th anniversary. Also that John Williams score just edges out the Terminator theme too. Super close though.
T2 is one of the best action movies of all time.
JP has neither the best action nor the best sci-fi nor the best dialogue nor the best music etc lol
JP has neither the best action nor the best sci-fi nor the best dialogue nor the best music etc lol
For my childhood, I'd have to say Jurassic Park. That movie had a bunch of 5th graders suddenly start reading Crichton whereas I can't really recall watching T2 until later in life (though surely I did once it hit the rental shops).
As an adult, I've probably rewatched T2 more though.
As an adult, I've probably rewatched T2 more though.
I think Jurassic Park is an awesome adventure that climaxes with the stunningly crafted T-Rex outbreak. It's fantastic with fun characters and incredible dinosaurs and special effects.
That said, Terminator 2 just hits different for me. It's a masterpiece that builds up to an incredible crescendo. The feeling of impending doom is felt throughout the whole movie.
That said, Terminator 2 just hits different for me. It's a masterpiece that builds up to an incredible crescendo. The feeling of impending doom is felt throughout the whole movie.
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Jurassic Park. I have all films on each side but seeing Jurassic Park for the first time in the cinema was magical. The anticipation of seeing the first dinosaur on the big screen was intense.
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T2 is on another level compared to other wires of fiction. Even now most things are inferior.
I love them both but JP is damn well near the defining cinematic experience. Very few movies have had such a profound impact on so many people. Shit JW movies are still making a billion based almost entirely on nostalgia for the original. It's hard for anything to compare.
Having said all that T2 may be the best action movie ever and certainly deserves to be discussed among the all time greats.
Having said all that T2 may be the best action movie ever and certainly deserves to be discussed among the all time greats.
While T2 respectfully wins this one... How would it hold up to...say...LOTR: Fellowship?
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Jurassic Park literally defined my existence in the 90s. T2 was cool, sure, but it didn't have velociraptors and ironically outdid Cameron in the effects department.
Terminator 2 by a mile, didnt care much for JP at the time outside of a big "event". In fairness I was never really interested in dinosaurs and was already a solid Arnie / action movie fan by the time JP came out a few years later. However I used the hell out a Jurassic Park collectable cup full of off-brand coke while watching Terminator or Running Man or whatever at home.
If only T2 had ethical questions like not judging people based on previous experience and nature vs nurture, what constitutes humanity, if it is right to indoctrinate your child into your belief system, if you should judge / kill people based on what they might do rather than what they have already done and so on....but alas...
T2 set the stage. It was more unanimously beloved upon release, surpassing most people's already high expectations. JP was and has become a classic, but critics were comparing Spielberg's desire to show off the dinosaurs vs his restraint with the shark in Jaws. It was hyped to no end before release, and mostly lived up to its pretty lofty expectations. On home video (in the 90s) before incredible sound systems and video were a thing, JP was a little underwhelming, and only a film me and siblings sometimes would watch if we were patient enough to get through the slow beginning. T2 meanwhile shot out like a cannon, was as good on home video as in theater. Superior pacing, hooks an audience more, is less reliant on 'wow' factor, lighter on the sap
I also want to say in terms of structure and cinematic equivalents, you can probably find a number of films comparable as an experience to JP. I wouldn't say the same is true for T2, it really feels singular in what it does or any films that tried a similar experience fell well short.
I also want to say in terms of structure and cinematic equivalents, you can probably find a number of films comparable as an experience to JP. I wouldn't say the same is true for T2, it really feels singular in what it does or any films that tried a similar experience fell well short.
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I mean, T2 is clearly the better movie. Jurassic Park also sucks because it left out the more interesting parts of the book to focus on the ooh and the ah and then the running and screaming. T2 doesn't have a book it fails to live up to.
Still voting Jurassic Park though. How couldn't I. It's about dinosaurs and came out when I was eleven. I watched it four times in the cinema.
Terminator 2 came out when I was 9 so I wasn't allowed to see it in the cinema. Had to wait until it was on VHS, and even then I was too young to fully appreciate it.
(And since I'm 40 so at the edge of boomerlennial, I would argue T2 is much more a Gen X movie, given its higher age rating than JP)
Still voting Jurassic Park though. How couldn't I. It's about dinosaurs and came out when I was eleven. I watched it four times in the cinema.
Terminator 2 came out when I was 9 so I wasn't allowed to see it in the cinema. Had to wait until it was on VHS, and even then I was too young to fully appreciate it.
(And since I'm 40 so at the edge of boomerlennial, I would argue T2 is much more a Gen X movie, given its higher age rating than JP)
Both are great sci-fi flicks, but T2 has the edge for me.
Very well, but I'm not big on fantasy in the first place. I do think T1 is even better than 2 though. That is such a lean and mean movie. Pretty much perfect. The Tech Noir scene is phenomenal.
Very well, but I'm not big on fantasy in the first place. I do think T1 is even better than 2 though. That is such a lean and mean movie. Pretty much perfect. The Tech Noir scene is phenomenal.
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Tough one. Both represented films that had such massive impact on me. Jurassic Park represented the wonder of my childhood come to life, in sometimes brutal ways, while T2 was like the cold nihilism of reality slapping me in the face as a sort of wake up call.
T2 was also the first R-rated film I got to choose and watch without it being something I happened to watch that my parents were watching and let me watch, so even more so that it had these sort of existential themes about free will was something that really resonated with me.
Both are such great films though with cutting edge visual effects that still hold up pretty well. I think JP might be better as a story. The thriller components of both are top notch, along with the action. T2's themes and action I think top it.
The dread you can feel during T2, from the stakes to the villain to the world-building, I think set the bar for storytelling in media for me. It's something that is kind of an untangible that is tough for films to reach and all the following Terminator films just haven't captured.
I think for that, I put T2 on top, but I think from a technical direction, storytelling, writing, and acting perspective, I think I'd give a Best Picture award to JP over T2. If I was picking my favorite, most impactful film of the two, T2.
T2 was also the first R-rated film I got to choose and watch without it being something I happened to watch that my parents were watching and let me watch, so even more so that it had these sort of existential themes about free will was something that really resonated with me.
Both are such great films though with cutting edge visual effects that still hold up pretty well. I think JP might be better as a story. The thriller components of both are top notch, along with the action. T2's themes and action I think top it.
The dread you can feel during T2, from the stakes to the villain to the world-building, I think set the bar for storytelling in media for me. It's something that is kind of an untangible that is tough for films to reach and all the following Terminator films just haven't captured.
I think for that, I put T2 on top, but I think from a technical direction, storytelling, writing, and acting perspective, I think I'd give a Best Picture award to JP over T2. If I was picking my favorite, most impactful film of the two, T2.
Perhaps the best movie ever or T2? Yeah Jurassic gets this one fucking easily. A total masterpiece of suspense.
The T Rex paddock scene alone is leagues better than anything T2 has to offer. That's not really a slam though, it's one of the best sequences ever.
The T Rex paddock scene alone is leagues better than anything T2 has to offer. That's not really a slam though, it's one of the best sequences ever.
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The poll results show otherwise, Terminator 2 winning handily as it should.
I'll vote Jurassic Park, because as much as you can argue that T2 is the better film, Jurassic Park had a much bigger impact to me when I was a kid.
Both incredibly re-watchable, though. Although both have annoying kids. T2 wins on having fewer kids, if that's the metric we are considering.
Both incredibly re-watchable, though. Although both have annoying kids. T2 wins on having fewer kids, if that's the metric we are considering.
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Jurassic Park isn't even Spielberg's best monster feature, that would be Jaws.
One is one of the greatest action movies of all time. Other is JP