The Deleted Terminator 2 Scene That Changes Everything About Sarah Connor
Canadian director James Cameron is responsible for directing two of the most iconic sequels ever; Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Whilst both are incredible movies that equal, if not surpass their predecessors, famed perfectionist Cameron wasn’t fully happy with either. No director is ever truly satisfied with their work — just look at George Lucas and all his fiddling with his Star Wars movies — but Cameron took it a step further by creating Director’s Cut versions of his sequels.
The Director’s Cut of Terminator 2: Judgment Day features an additional 16 minutes of footage, and includes one sequence that should have never been cut. As amazing as this film is, it has never really made much sense why Sarah Connor is suddenly determined to break out of Pescadero State Hospital. Scenes are shown with her psych review going badly and her being denied a transfer to minimum security, but her desperation to leave on exactly that day when two new Terminators just so happen to have arrived in 1995, is one heck of a coincidence. The truth is, although cut from the theatrical release, there is a sequence that does a better job at explaining her sudden drive to get back to her son.
What is Terminator 2: Judgment Day About?
Set in the year 1984, The Terminator saw a killing machine from the future arrive in ‘80s Los Angeles with one mission, to find and terminate Sarah Connor. The reasoning for this is that Sarah’s unborn son, John, will eventually lead humanity's rebellion against its machine overlord, Skynet. Luckily for Sarah, the resistance sends a lone warrior back to protect her. Initially afraid of Kyle Reese, the two ultimately fall in love and have sex before Kyle is tragically killed, leaving Sarah to face down the Terminator alone. Afterwards it is revealed that she is now pregnant, opening up one of cinema's best paradoxes.
The sequel picks up ten years later, with Sarah now incarcerated in a mental institution for attempting to blow up a computer factory, and John living in foster care. Having failed the first time, Skynet decides to send a new and more advanced Terminator, the T-1000, back through time. Its target, the young John Connor. As before, a protector is sent back, though this time rather than being human, it is an older model Terminator, the very same model that hunted Sarah previously. As the T-800 tries to keep John safe, the two break Sarah out of hospital and a war for the prevention of the dark future begins.
Michael Biehn's Surprise Return, and Why Audiences Never Saw It
If you watch the Theatrical Cut of Terminator 2, Sarah’s decision to attempt to escape from Pescadero Hospital when she does seems like a happy accident. However, the Director’s Cut reveals that, after her initial introduction where she enquires about the condition of Doctor Silberman’s knee, she is restrained and given a sedative. The drug induces a dream sequence that really never should have been cut.
In the dream, Sarah awakens in her hospital room to the voice of Kyle Reese. He stands before her dressed exactly as he was in The Terminator. She is immediately wary of the vision, stating that he’s dead. Kyle ignores this, though, and begins to ask “where’s John”, to which Sarah bitterly replies, “they took him away from me.” Again, Kyle doesn’t acknowledge her words, instead urging, “Where’s John? He’s the target now.” Sarah agrees with the latter statement saying that she knows, before Kyle insists that she has to protect him. This remark causes her to have a mini breakdown as she laments, “You tell me how to do that, he doesn’t even believe me anymore. I’ve lost him!” Kyle then provides her with reassurance, reminding her of her strength and throwing her own words to him “on your feet soldier,” back to her, before affirming his love for her.
As the pair embrace, Kyle answers Sarah’s plea that she needs him with a reminder from the past. He tells her, “remember the message, the future is not set, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” With the message delivered, he shifts from the bed to the door and as Sarah begs him , “stay with me,” Kyle simply replies, “there’s not much time left in the world Sarah” before disappearing down the hospital corridor. Sarah frantically follows, racing down the halls until she reaches a door. She bursts out and is faced with a playground full of kids playing, right before a blistering light appears in the sky. It is here the dream ends, with that end moment picked up later and showing the full devastation of the nuclear fire that is to arrive on August 29th 1997. Although we do get Sarah’s later dream (or nightmare) in the theatrical cut, it remains a massive shame that this initial sequence was removed.
The scene was a late fatality from the film as glimpses of Michael Biehn as Kyle can be seen in some of the original trailers. This caused some awkward conversations for the actor with friends when he would later have to tell them all that his scene had been cut. The reasons given for removing it are tied to pacing. The opening act of Terminator 2 is one near-fluid flow from character to character, setting up everyone’s circumstances, and although this scene does a brilliant job at setting up Sarah, it is a little slow, and does break up that punchy pacing during the Director’s Cut. However, its emotional content, which has been known to make this writer weep on several occasions, more than makes up for any lag.
How Sarah’s Dream Changes T2’s Narrative
The three minute scene acts as a wonderful early emotional hook that gives Sarah and Kyle a more tender goodbye than they were given in the original movie. It also helps explain exactly where John and Sarah are in terms of their relationship, offering more depth than John’s flippant comments to his friend, Tim. Obviously it is not the real Kyle brought back to life, but his appearance gives Sarah’s subconscious the voice it needs, and in remembering the ‘no fate’ messaging, it stirs her out of her depression and invigorates her drive to get back to John. The concept that the future is not set is also likely an early spark for her later idea to track down and assassinate the man responsible for Skynet, Miles Dyson.
One could argue that the visit from the police where she learns that a new T-800 is back is what spurs her into action, but it is clear that her escape plan is already in motion when they arrive to interview her. Similarly, audiences can read Silberman’s refusal to move her to minimum security, despite all her good behaviour, as the thing that sets her off, but this also doesn’t quite make sense. Given how ferocious she is, and how well she does enact her eventual escape, at any point over the previous six months, rather than playing the model patient, she could have broken out. That she waits until then to leave only truly makes sense after having watched the dream scene as it is Kyle’s words that snap her out of her depressive and apathetic state.
Which Version of T2 Is Better, Theatrical Or Director’s Cut?
One of the great movie debates is based around whether a Director’s Cut is ever better than the theatrical version. The argument is that anything cut was removed for good reason, and while this is the case for a lot of films, the extended version of Terminator 2 has a lot to offer. Yes, there are some fleeting moments, such as the T-1000 glitching during its reformation after falling in the liquid nitrogen, and John Connor teaching the T-800 how to smile that add little to the overall film, but there are others that enrich the story.
In addition to Sarah’s dream, another key moment that was cut sees John and Sarah reset the T-800’s chip so that it can begin learning on its own. Sarah then attempts to destroy the switch, before being talked down by John. The scene shows the commanding presence of John while also explaining the later language tutorial that John gives the machine. The T-800 learning on its own is the easiest narrative point to explain away without the Director’s Cut, but it does help strengthen the extended version.
In all honesty, with a film like Terminator 2, whether you watch the theatrical or Director’s Cut, you are still getting an incredible action spectacle. The key point of difference is that, although very present in the cinema release, the emotional components are greatly enriched in the longer version.
