The One Fix James Cameron Made To Terminator 2 For Its 3D Release

Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800 in Terminator 2

It's no secret that the Terminator franchise has been troubled for more than a decade. Other filmmakers have tried to effectively keep James Cameron's franchise going, but none of the later installments have measured up to those original two movies that Cameron helmed. In case you need a reminder of that, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is back in theaters starting today, and it's been fully converted for 3D screening. For those of you hoping that Terminator 2 3D also added extra scenes, you're out of luck. However, Cameron did take this opportunity to fix a continuity mistake during the scene when the T-1000 is driving after John Connor in a tow truck. Cameron explained:

There are no new scenes, nothing's been shortened or extended. But there's one shot that always bothered me in the film, where the tow truck crashes down into the drainage canal and its windshields pop out, and then in the next shot the windshields are back in. So we digitally put the windshields back in place. That's the only fix! Because, frankly, if I could have done it at the time, I would have. That's kind of how I decide whether I'm going to manipulate a film or not. If the technology had existed at the time, I would have fixed that shot.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day was a pioneering movie in the realm of visual effects thanks to its CGI work, but as James Cameron mentioned to EW, the movie-making technology at the time wasn't sophisticated enough to add in digital windshields. Evidently this wasn't an issue big enough to tackle for a later home release, but with Terminator 2 back in theaters, Cameron decided this was the perfect time to fix that pesky continuity error. Other than that, the movie will flow exactly the same way, only this time, Terminator fans can watch the events unfold as a 3D spectacle.

You can check out Terminator 2's truck chase sequence below, and pay attention at the 1:58 to see the windshields clearly popping off as the truck hits the pavement.

More than 25 years after its initial release, Terminator 2: Judgement Day remains not just one of the best entries in the Terminator franchise (often considered the best entry, depending on who you ask), but also a classic sci-fi movie. After Terminator 2's release, James Cameron vacated the director's chair and wasn't directly involved in the making of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys. However, Cameron has expressed interest in helping relaunch the Terminator franchise, although he won't be directing again due to his work on the Avatar sequels. According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the next movie will begin shooting next March.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on the future of the Terminator franchise. In the meantime, you can catch Terminator 2: Judgement Day 3D in select theaters for the next week.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.