TERMINATOR II: THE UNCENSORED AND UNABRIDGED FILMSCRIPT
PART VIII
-----------------------------------------------------------------
183
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BACK DOWN THE ROAD, THE HELICOPTER wreckage is a crumpled ball
of junk metal, unrecognizable. Behind it, the TANKER TRUCK
brakes hard, shuddering and groaning, trying to stop. The big
tires lock up in clouds of tire-smoke. The rig comes to a
shuddering stop just short of the wrecked chopper.
<-183A->
The shaken DRIVER jumps down. From behind the wreckage a cop
emerges, walking toward him.
Driver: "Goddamn, are you alri---"
<-183B->
SSSSHHCK! T-1000 drives a blade through the man's abdomen and
walks on past without slowing, or even looking at him.
<-183C->
It climbs into the open cab of the tanker. Releases the brake.
As the truck bellows and rolls forward we see the large blue
letters on the side which say "CRYOCO INC. LIQUID NITROGEN
SUPPLY".
-----------------------------------------------------------------
184
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AT THE SWAT VAN John and Terminator are carrying Sara out of the
wreck. Terminator has the M-79 slung over his shoulder, the
bandolier of grenades, and his .45 stuck in his waistband. John
has borrowed a 12 GAUGE RIOT GUN from the SWATs.
<-184A->
The pickup they passed seconds earlier pulls up to them. The
DRIVER, a Hispanic guy in his 50's, is getting out to help them.
Terminator and John...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
185
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hear a CRASH and look back as the helicopter wreckage is knocked
aside by the accelerating tanker truck.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
186
-----------------------------------------------------------------
John: "Holy shit. Come on, Mom... we gotta keep moving... come
on--"
Terminator (to the pickup owner): "We need your truck."
The guy seems to know better than to try and stop him as
Terminator slides Sara into the front seat and climbs behind the
wheel. John runs to the passenger side.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
187
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE TANKER ROARS, spewing smoke from its chrome stacks as it
shifts up through the gears.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
188
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Terminator slams the pickup in gear, checking the rear-view.
The tanker is a hundred feet behind them now, and really moving.
Terminator puts the throttle down, but the pickup is an old slug
loaded down by a heavy home-made wooden camper-shell. It
accelerates slowly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
189
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE TANKER slams into one end of the Swat van, spinning it out
of the way with a roar and screech of twisting metal. The 18-
wheeler shifts to a higher gear, still accelerating.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
190 Int. / Ext. Pickup truck
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With the tanker right behind them, Terminator cuts the wheel,
swerving the pickup back and forth across the lanes. The big rig
stays right on them, its tanker whiplashing violently.
John: "Faster! He's right on us!"
Terminator doesn't reply. He rapidly unslings the blooper,
still around his neck, and reaches for a grenade.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
191
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LOW ANGLE ON THE TRACTOR TRAILER as it roars right up to the
lens, filling frame with chrome and lights.
<-191A->
K-WHAM!! It rams the back of the pickup, sending it skidding.
<-191B->
Then the T-1000 pulls the tractor trailer up alongside the
pickup and crabs over, sandwiching it against the center divider.
The spinning chrome hubs tear into the passenger side door and
the guard rail screeches along the other side.
The pickup bucks and shakes insanely. It ricochets violently
between the big-rig and the divider. Horrible SCREECH of
tortured steel. Sparks pour in sheets of fire from both sides.
The windshield shatters as the door-posts buckle in. Metal and
glass shower in through the side windows. The frame twists and
buckles. John feels like the fillings are being shaken right out
of his teeth. The wooden camper disintegrates, falling away as
kindling behind them.
<-191C->
Int. Tanker cab
T-1000 holds the wheel hard over, mercilessly grinding the
pickup. The whole rig jerks and shakes with the violence of the
sustained hammering.
<-191D->
Int. / Ext. Pickup
Terminator slides toward the passenger side. Keeping his foot
on the gas he lifts John over him and puts him in the driver's
seat.
Terminator: "Drive for a minute."
John: "Where you going?!"
Terminator slams the shattered windshield with the palm of his
hand. Held together by the plastic laminate, the windshield
flops out of its frame. It flies back over the top of the truck.
<-191E->
Terminator pushes his upper body out over the dashboard and
stands up. He turns and aims the M-79 one-handed.
<-191F->
POOM! The grenade misses the T-1000 by less than a foot. It
EXPLODES against the front bulkhead of the tanker, almost at the
top. Liquid nitrogen pours from the opening, swept back by the
60 mph windstream.
<-191G->
The big-rig swerves as T-1000 regains control. The tanker swings
like a pendulum behind the cab.
<-191H->
The pickup accelerates, getting back out in front by a few
yards. Behind it the big-rig is trailing a swirling comet-tail of
nitrogen vapor. It is gaining again.
Terminator, still standing, opens the breech and starts to
reload.
<-191I->
John cuts across the highway and takes an OFF RAMP.
<-191J->
T-1000 swerves the smoking behemoth across the lanes and down
the ramp after them, still accelerating. It is twenty feet
behind them and closing when Terminator closes the breech and
FIRES.
<-191K->
The grenade hits the front grill and EXPLODES. The radiator is
destroyed, along with half the hood. Steam blasts out, obscuring
the whole front of the truck.
<-191L->
The semi rams the back of the pickup again. Spewing smoke and
vapor like some demon locomotive, the tractor-trailer pounds into
the back of the pickup. Driving it right through the
intersection at the bottom of the ramp, and straight toward---
-----------------------------------------------------------------
192 Ext. Steel mill
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The chase has led them to an area of heavy industry.
The GATES are blasted off their hinges as the semi rams the
pickup right through them. Terminator struggles to reload amid
the chaos and impacts. He has THREE GRENADES LEFT on the
bandolier.
John isn't even steering. They are just being pushed. There's
nothing he can do. They are rocketing down the broad
thoroughfare which leads directly to the MAIN BUILDING of the
plant.
<-192A->
Terminator pulls himself onto the roof of the pickup. He leaps
to the bed, takes two powerful strides and-- Leaps onto the semi.
He climbs rapidly onto hood.
<-192B->
And FIRES POINT BLANK THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD. Right into T-
1000's face. The EXPLOSION blows out all the glass and fills the
cab with smoke and fire. Terminator grabs onto the air-horn as
the truck starts to SHUDDER AND SCREAM.
<-192C->
IT IS JACK-KNIFING. Almost dream-slow the cab begins to swing
sideways, until its tires are shrieking over the pavement. The
tractor is smashed back at right-angles to the tanker-trailer
which begins to slide broadside.
<-192D->
The juggernaut bucks and shudders as the tires are smoke
sideways across the pavement. It begins to topple. Terminator
holds on as the side of the cab becomes the top. With an unholy
scream, like the unoiled hubs of Hell, the whole rig slides on
its side at 60 mph toward the steel mill. A sheet of sparks
sixty feet wide trails behind it on the pavement.
<-192E->
John sees what's behind him, then snaps around to see the
building looming right in front. The huge rolling doors are
partly open. No choice. He steers right through them into the
mill, as--
<-192F->
Terminator, with one second to go, leaps from the cab-- He flies
through the open doors as--The tanker hits the building and--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
193 Int. Steel mill / Main aisle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Terminator slams to the floor of the mill and rolls, as-- The
tanker-trailer smashes into a massive concrete support at one
side of the doors. Thunderous carnage of twisting metal.
<-193A->
It splits wide open. A river of liquid nitrogen pours out at
minus 230.
<-193B->
John hits the brakes, sliding out of control. He slows almost
to a stop but hits a steel support column head-on. He and Sara
are slammed forward, hard.
<-193C->
Terminator, still clutching the M-79 blooper, rolls and slides
across the floor. He smashes through a railing and slams up
against the base of a massive machine.
<-193D->
The semi cab swings about the trailer wreckage, into the
building, and shudders to a stop. Liquid nitrogen sprays over
the cab, flooding out around it in a HISSING WAVEFRONT OF
ULTRACOLD. Freezing vapor swirls everywhere, obscuring the wreck.
<-193E->
TERMINATOR lies still. A beat. Then he rolls weakly, rising on
one elbow to survey the scene.
<-193F->
IN THE WRECKED PICKUP, John stirs. He is stunned, and blood
runs from his nose. Dazed, he realizes he is in a steel mill.
There are sirens, and he can see men running... shouting. He
turns and sees what they are running from...
<-193G->
The wall of nitrogen vapor spreads from the demolished tanker.
It is a strange vista of fire and ice. The huge SMELTERS pour
out orange light and fire from the sides of the huge gallery,
while the freezing vapor rolls down the center.
<-193H->
TIGHT ON THE WRECK. A billowing gray cloud. Deep inside, the
shape of the cab is visible. A FIGURE emerges, pulling itself
out. It drops to the floor. The hissing, boiling river of
liquid nitrogen flows around its feet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
194
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The T-1000 staggers, moving slowly, painfully. It has finally
been affected by something. Its feet are freezing to the ground
as it walks...
<-194A->
CLINK! One of its feet breaks off at a glassy ankle. It
stumbles forward, and--
<-194B->
Its other foot snaps off. As it catches its balance on the
stump of its other ankle, the whole lower leg shatters at the
impact. It topples forward to its knees.
<-194C->
Catches itself on one hand. Liquid nitrogen flows around the
hand.
Now the hand is stuck to the pavement.
<-194D->
The T-1000 pulls and... CLINK! The hand snaps off at the wrist.
It looks stupidly at the glassy stump of a wrist. For the first
time we see an expression on its face we know to be a true one...
The expression is pain. Agony. Its mouth opens in a soundless
scream as the hoar-frost races up its legs, across its body.
<-194E->
And that's the position it freezes in. It has become a statue,
kneeling in the frozen vapor, that surprised look of agony frozen
on its face.
The liquid nitrogen stops flowing and begins to evaporate. 194F
Terminator, just beyond the boundary of the cold, can see the T-
1000 clearly.
<-194F->
He draws his .45 and aims.
Terminator: "Hasta la vista, baby."
<-194G->
K-POW! The single shot blows the T-1000 into a million diamonds
spraying up into the air. They shimmer across the ground for
twenty feet in all directions. Terminator lowers the gun,
satisfied. He looks like he needs a vacation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
195
-----------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN AND SARA have seen it from the pickup. She is in bad
shape. Conscious but very weak. He tries the door. It's jammed.
He kicks it open.
John: "Okay, Mom, we gotta get out now, come on. That's it."
He helps her slide down from the seat of the truck. Her knees
give way. John has to take a lot of her weight. He reaches in
and picks up the riot gun off the seat. They hobble toward the--
<-195A->
TERMINATOR. On his knees, he looks into the dissipating cloud
of vapor. The heat of the furnaces has evaporated all the liquid
nitrogen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
196
-----------------------------------------------------------------
INSERT, TIGHT ON THE FLOOR-- the T-1000 shards are melting,
liquefying. Hundreds of drops of mercury, spattered across the
floor. Orange light of the enormous blast-furnaces dances on
liquid metal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
197
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TERMINATOR struggles to rise. One arm is shattered, the hand
smashed and nearly useless. And some leg-servos are damaged. He
can barely stand. John and Sara arrive.
Terminator: "We don't have much time."
John: "What?"
Terminator points. John and Sara watch as--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
198
-----------------------------------------------------------------
INSERT, T-1000 DROPLETS are creeping together. Fusing into
larger blobs. These pools shiver and run together, soon forming a
central mass.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
199
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ON JOHN AND SARA, realizing it's not over.
John: "Come on! Let's go!"
Terminator gets one of Sara's arms over his shoulder and they
go. BEHIND THEM, something is moving.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
200
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A HEAD is forming up out of a pool of mercury. It rises, as
shoulders form, hunching up from the liquid mass. Half formed,
it turns to look straight at them.
John looks back in new terror as--
The T-1000 rises to man-height. It is still the mercury form,
but its features are forming rapidly. It takes its first step
after them. Sara stumbles and they pull her up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
201
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Terminator himself has a pronounced limp, dragging one leg with
a shattered ankle joint. John's the one pulling, straining,
driving them forward. They round a corner into--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
202 Int. Aisle between furnaces
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It is a maze of monstrous machinery. The heat is tremendous.
The air shivers with a pounding roar.
Sara cries out in pain and stumbles again.
John: "Come on, mom, you can do it! Come on!!"
They drag her up, and stagger on. Her leg is bathed in blood
and she is deathly pale. He looks back.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
203 Int. Main gallery
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The T-1000 steps INTO FRAME. Fully formed. The hell-fire light
glints on its impassive cop face. It walks forward. At first it
seems unaffected by its crystallization but--
<-203A->
ANGLE ON ITS hand as it touches a railing in passing. The
railing is covered with O.S.H.A. yellow-and-black safety tape.
The hand turns yellow and black, the color fading to normal by
about the elbow. It rips the hand from the railing with
difficulty. There is a sound like adhesive tape ripping off a
surface.
<-203B->
The T-1000 looks at its yellow and black striped hand. It wills
the hand back to normal. We see ripples of "static" or system
noise moving subtly over the surface of its body. It's starting
to "glitch".
<-203C->
TRACKING WITH THE T-1000'S FEET. With each step, the pattern of
the tile floor "invades" its lower legs. Fades as the foot is
lifted. Returns as it is set down. The foot is trying to meld
with the floor. The chameleonic function is out of control. The
T-1000 is losing it. It moves forward searching. It rounds the
corner, entering the aisle between the furnaces.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
204 Int. Aisle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Terminator sees the SILHOUETTE closing on them through the smoky
gloom. The T-1000 breaks into a loping run when it sees them.
Terminator turns Sara over to John.
Terminator: "Keep going."
John shakes his head, no. The T-1000 is almost on them.
Terminator: "RUN!"
John runs, dragging, half-carrying Sara as best he can. She can
barely stay conscious. Half-running, delirious, she stumbles and
drops to her knees. John pulls but she can't rise.
John (crying, shouting): "Come on, you gotta try... please, mom.
Get up!"
John looks back to see--
<-204A->
TERMINATOR trying to load the M-79. With his shattered hand, he
can barely maneuver his last grenade into the breech. T-1000
smacks the weapon out of his hands. It clatters to the floor.
he grenade spins across the floor, rolling under some machinery.
Terminator lunges, slamming the T-1000 against a wall with all
his weight. The battle is joined.
<-204B->
JOHN AND SARA have reached the back of the aisle. It is a cul-
de-sac, blocked on the end by the base of an IMMENSE SMELTER
CRUCIBLE. They turn to watch the titans battle in silhouette,
backlit by the molten sparks falling from the furnaces above.
The battle which will decide their fate.
<-204C->
Terminator grabs the T-1000 and hurls it with awesome force
against the opposite wall of the narrow alley. In less
time than it would take to turn...
<-204D->
...the T-1000 morphs through itself, from front to back... face
emerging from the back of its head.
<-204E->
It comes off the wall straight at Terminator, who smashes his
good fist into its face. The pile-driver blow buries
Terminator's fist almost to the elbow.
<-204F->
But the T-1000's head morphs in a split-second into a hand which
grips Terminator's wrist, and the head "emerges" somewhere else,
the geometry shifting faster than we can follow.
<-204G->
The T-1000 slams Terminator into a large machine, jamming his
arm into the moving works. A massive sliding bar SCISSORS HIS
ARM, smashing it into junk at the elbow, pinning him in the
machine. Terminator strains against the machine pinning him.
We hear his servos whining with overload. The T-1000 turns and
lopes toward Sara and John.
Sara screams and hurls John into a gap between the machines. He
falls into a maze of pipes and girders.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
205 Int. Maze of machines
-----------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN turns to see her in the entrance of the narrow gap. She
could follow him but she doesn't. SUDDENLY a dark mass moves
toward him. John gasps as a huge steel counterweight, driven by
a chain 6 inches thick, slides toward him. He rolls out of its
way. When he looks back, he cannot see the opening.
John: "Mom! MOMMM!!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
206 Int. Aisle between furnaces
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TERMINATOR strains to reach a 6-foot steel bar lying near him.
Steel workers use them to move the red-hot ingots around. He
gets hold of the end and uses it as a lever. With titanic effort
he spreads the massive components which are holding him, and
withdraws his arm, which is severed at the elbow. Dangling junk
hangs from the crushed joint.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
207
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SARA has lost sight of John. It is as much of a goodbye as they
will have. She turns as the T-1000 closes on her. She is half-
slumped against the sooty machines, looking barely conscious.
She struggles to load a shell into the empty weapon. At the last
instant she whips up the RIOT GUN and FIRES.
(Some more omissions here. I guess these were too juicy even for
"Terminator 2" standards..., ED.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A207
-----------------------------------------------------------------
T-1000's face is blown open, but quickly reforms as it closes on
her. She fumbles to get another shell into the magazine but--
<-207A->
THUNK! A steel needle slams through her shoulder, pinning her.
The polymorphic killer cocks back its other hand. The index
finger extends as a gleaming needle, toward her eye...
T-1000: "Call to John. Now."
<-207C->
WHAM!! SOMETHING whistles down on the T-1000 with such force
that it cleaves its head and body in two down to the navel. The
6-foot steel bar is imbedded in its body. Terminator hurls the
killer off Sara.
<-207D->
The T-1000 pulls the steel shaft out of itself and attacks him
with fury. Swinging again and again. Hammering Terminator back.
Terminator falls back against the wall.
Behind the T-1000 is an enormous I-beam, hanging from two
chains. It is used to lift ingots into the smelters, and it runs
on a linear track.
<-207E->
The T-1000 grabs the I-beam and rolls it down the track.
Straight at Terminator. The two-ton girder smashes into his
chest, crushing the armor. The T-1000 pulls the I-beam back, and
then heaves it forward again. Terminator turns and takes the
second blow on the shoulder. We hear metal crush and break
inside him. He sags, turning to grip the wall... The third blow
slams into his back, smashing his spine and pelvis. We hear
servos ratcheting and failing. He drops to his knees, crucified
on a wall of machinery. The fourth blow is centered between his
shoulder blades. Sound of crushing metal. His skull is
partially caved in. He slides to the floor.
<-207F->
ON THE T-1000, emotionless as it walks forward.
<-207G->
TERMINATOR is a pathetic shape on the floor. He is trying to
crawl, feebly. Dragging his malfunctioning legs behind the
crushed spine. His arm stump screeches on the tile floor as he
inches himself forward. His exposed machine eye burns red with
determination.
We see his prize. He has the M-79, with the breech still open,
cradled in the crook of his ruined arm. His good hand, the
exposed steel one, is reaching for the last grenade, which is
visible under the skirt of the massive smelter base. His metal
fingers reach out for it as--
<-207H->
The T-1000 raises the heavy steel bar over his head and stabs it
down with unbelievable force. It punches into Terminator's back,
through a gap in the shattered armor. The T-1000 levers it back
and forth, widening the hole. Then it raises the pointed bar
again and slams it down. It punches right through. Emerging from
Terminator's chest. And into the floor. He is pinioned. The
cyborg sags face down and stops moving. The light goes out of
his eye.
Cut to:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
208 Int. Maze of machinery
-----------------------------------------------------------------
John scuttles like a rat through the guts of the smelter. Above
him, vast machines churn untended. He hears a voice... SARA'S.
Calling low and urgent to him.
SARA: "John? John? Can you hear me? Where are you?"
<-208A->
He crawls out of the shadows. Onto a landing next to one of the
SMELTER CRUCIBLES. Molten steel glows bright orange in the
crucible of the furnace. Heat shimmers the air, giving
everything a hallucinatory quality.
John sees Sara nearby, limping toward him. She can barely move,
her leg bathed in blood. He runs toward her. SARA (gasping) Help
me, honey...
TIGHT ON SARA, her stoic face, as she hobbles forward, reaching
out to him. Something rises behind her, OUT OF FOCUS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
209
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANOTHER, IDENTICAL, SARA... but this one has a shotgun. Aimed
right at us.
<-209A->
JOHN freezes. Which is which? He looks down. The first Sara's
feet are melding with the floor, sucking and fusing with the
tiles as she walks. They have the color and pattern of the tiles
up to the knee.
John (screaming): "SHOOT!!!!"
<-209B->
John dives aside. The Sara-form spins, changing into you-know-
who. Sara starts unloading the shotgun into it. BOOM! It
staggers back. K-CHAK. She chambers another round. BOOM! It
staggers again. K-CHAK. BOOM! And again. And again.
<-209C->
The T-1000 is blown back a step and Sara advances a step with
each shot. The 209C craters in the T-1000's body "heal" slowly.
Its power is waning. She FIRES again. And again. Her eyes
blazing with feral intensity. She walks it back, right to the
edge of the pit of MOLTEN STEEL.
K-CHAK... CLICK. She's empty. The T-1000 is right at the edge.
In a second it will recover its composure, as its crater hits
close slowly. She has failed. Now it will kill them both.
Except...
<-209D->
TIGHT INSERT as steel fingers slide a grenade into the bore of
the M-79.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
210
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CLOSEUP TERMINATOR, lying on the floor among the machines. It
raises its head. Half human flesh, half chrome skull. Its red eye
gazes right at us as-- It snaps the breech closed with a flick of
its wrist and-- The muzzle is right in the lens as it-- FIRES.
<-210A->
The T-1000 takes the round in the belly. The grenade EXPLODES
inside its body. A huge hole is blown clean through it, and it
is ripped open and peeled back, half inside out. It topples into
the molten steel and--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
211
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The T-1000's head and upper body reappear above the molten
steel. It is screaming. A terrifying, inhuman siren of a
scream. It is changing, morphing, transforming into anything and
everything it's ever been so rapidly the eye can barely follow...
We catch a glimpse of Janelle Voight checkered with linoleum tile
colors, Lewis the Guard with knives exploding from his face,
other faces, switching at a stroboscopic rate now... a face every
two frames until they merge into one face--
The chrome figure screams and slips beneath the surface of the
molten steel. We see liquid silver running in dissipating whorls
over the superheated surface... until it vanishes, swirling into
nothing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
212
-----------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN runs to Sara. She stands staring into the pit. The empty
shotgun slips from her fingers. Clatters to the floor. He sees
that she's okay and he runs to the fallen Terminator.
<-212A->
The crippled cyborg is trying to rise. Its servos whine and
stutter. It pathetically lifts itself to a kneeling position,
collapses... tries again. John lifts for all he's worth. Sara
joins them, helping. They help the crippled machine get on its
feet. It can barely stand. It walks to the edge of the pit.
Terminator looks down and sees that it is over. John unzips
Sara's back-pack and takes out the hand of the first terminator.
John (to Terminator): "Will it melt in there?"
Terminator: "Yes. Throw it in."
He does. It sinks in the lava. Vanishes.
Terminator: "And the chip."
John takes it out of his pocket. Looks at it. Tosses it into
the smelter.
SARA: "It's finally over."
Terminator: "No. There is another chip."
He touches a metal finger to the side of his head. John
suddenly understands what he means. Terminator looks at Sara.
They both know what must be done. John shakes his head. Tears
are streaming down his face.
John: "No!"
TIGHT CLOSE-UP TERMINATOR, turning toward John.
Terminator: "I have to go away, John. It must end here... or I
am the future."
The human side of his face is in shadow, so we see mostly the
chrome skull and the red eye.
John: "Don't do it. Please... don't go--"
Terminator puts his hand on John's shoulder. He moves slightly
and the human side of his face comes into the light. He reaches
toward John's face. His metal finger touches the tear trickling
down his cheek.
Terminator: "I know now why you cry, though it is something I
can never do. (to both of them) Goodbye."
SARA: "Are you afraid?"
Terminator: "Yes."
He turns and steps off the edge.
(Un the actual film, he is lowered into the liquid mass of
molten lava by means of a crane, which is done by Sara, ED.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
213
-----------------------------------------------------------------
They watch him sink into the lava. He disappears... the metal
hand sinking last... at the last second it forms into a fist
with the thumb extended... a final thumbs up. Then it is gone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
214
-----------------------------------------------------------------
HOLD ON JOHN AND SARA, watching through the heat ripples as we--
Dissolve to:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
215 THE SUN, PURE IN A CLOUDLESS SKY
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tilting down reveals that we are in a park, very green. People
are casually dressed, having fun. Cycling, reading... children
are playing in a playground.
Beyond the line of trees we see the skyline of Washington, D.C.,
with the Capital Building and the Washington monument. The
skyline is subtly changed, with a lot of new buildings, advanced
high-rises. A CARD APPEARS.
July 11, 2029
WE BOOM DOWN AND TRACK LATERALLY through a playground in the
foreground. Children swinging on swings. Sliding down slides.
Timeless things that 4 decades of technical advancement will not
change. As we track we hear:
SARA (v.o.): "August 29th 1997 came and went. Nothing much
happened. Michael Jackson turned forty. There was no Judgment
Day. People went to work as they always do, laughed, complained,
watched TV, made love."
We pass a jungle gym, neither melted nor burned, but full of
kids swinging and yelling raucously. Past it we drop down to see
a boy pumping the pedals of a tricycle.
SARA (V.O.): "I wanted to run down the street yelling... to grab
them all and say "Every day from this day on is a gift. Use it
well!" Instead I got drunk."
STILL TRACKING we come to rest on an elderly woman seated on a
bench. It is SARA, now 64 years old. The world has aged her,
but she seems at peace in this moment. She speaks into a
microcassette recorder.
SARA (V.O.): "That was thirty years ago. But the dark future
which never came still exists for me, and it always will, like
the traces of a dream lingering in the morning light. And the
war against the machines goes on. Or, to be more precise, the
war against those who build the wrong machines."
There is a man in his forties playing with two small children
nearby. He turns. It is John Conner. Though he has the same
stern features in adulthood, there is no eye-patch, no scarring.
He is far from the haggard man of grim destiny we saw in the
world that might have been. But there is still penetrating
intelligence, even wisdom, in his eyes.
SARA (V.O.): "John fights the war differently than it was
foretold. Here, on the battlefield of the Senate, the weapons
are common sense... and hope. A FOUR-YEAR OLD GIRL runs to her to
have her shoelace tied.
Girl: "Tie me, grandma."
Grandma Sara smiles. It is the only time we have seen her smile
so far. She bends as the little girl puts her foot up on the
bench. She ties as we hear:
SARA (V.O.): "The luxury of hope was given to me by the
Terminator. Because if a machine can learn the value of human
life... maybe we can too."
Sara ruffles the kid's hair as she runs off to play with her
dad.
Fade out.
Now go and rent the film at your local video shop. It's worth
while, specially for the utterly droolinvokingly special effects.
To use the words Stefan said before: "If you haven't seen it, you
haven't lived."
Disclaimer
The text of the articles is identical to the originals like they appeared
in old ST NEWS issues. Please take into consideration that the author(s)
was (were) a lot younger and less responsible back then. So bad jokes,
bad English, youthful arrogance, insults, bravura, over-crediting and
tastelessness should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Any contact
and/or payment information, as well as deadlines/release dates of any
kind should be regarded as outdated. Due to the fact that these pages are
not actually contained in an Atari executable here, references to scroll
texts, featured demo screens and hidden articles may also be irrelevant.