Terminator 2 – Judgement Day

Would you believe that today’s Colombo kids are still in love with the Terminator franchise of movies? Yes they are. I teach 3 groups of Colombo kids and – there are kids from Grade 1 up to Grade 9 – and all of them, irrespective of their age levels, love to watch Terminator on the multimedia screen. I was surprised myself as this movie is so old and it came when we were kids. (The Terminator (1) appeared in 1984.) With all the high tech Computer-generated imagery (CGI) and 3D animation that are available today, what is the big secret behind kids’ allure to the Terminator?

I showed a part of the Terminator 2 – Judgment Day, the scene where the lethal cyborg T 1000 chasing John Connor in a big truck to the students and asked if they would like to see the rest of it or see Rio instead. Everyone said they would go for T2 as they had already seen Rio in theater or on TV.

They enjoyed every bit of T2 and learnt a lot of English terms as well. I never thought that it would be this effective. Kids even wanted to draw Arnold Schwarzenegger. He became their instant hero. When I left for a tea shop for the interval, I told the kids “I will be back!” in Schwarzenegger tone jokingly and the kids now want me to say it every day when I go for tea.

I am surprised that how James Cameron managed to do that much of super graphic work in an era (1991) where there was less computer graphics those days. Even today those graphic work in T2 would be a challenge to the graphic artists.

After T2, they insisted in watching Terminator 3, The Rise of the Machines as well. Now we are in the last parts of the movie with the English classes. After that they want to see Terminator 4, Terminator Salvation as well. But I suggested they see The Terminator, the first in the franchise instead. They should know where it all started. What I don’t like about the first movie is that its environment is too dirty.

The problem with the Terminator series is that they come with a lot of American slang and filthy words. To avoid them, I had to be extra careful. There is nothing wrong teenagers learning some slang though. Slang too is needed once you grow up.

Believe me, still there is a Terminator 2 game machine in Realty Plaza shopping mall in Ja Ela. Realty Plaza being a new shopping mall I can’t understand why they did not go for newer games.
I can remember, in American Reunion (The latest of the American Pie franchise,) one guy saying that the Terminator 2 is the best ever movie made.  Well, I was in that cult for some time too.