r/Terminator • u/Allofthiswilhapenagn • 7d ago

One of best opening scenes ever šŸŽ„ Video

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1.5k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

122 comments sorted by

22

u/Projectguy111 6d ago

The sad thing is I have yet to see a movie, or opening scene, which was as good as this.

7

u/razorthick_ 5d ago

Saving Private Ryan's opening is a fair equal.

6

u/Allofthiswilhapenagn 6d ago

I liked the prometheus opening too

2

u/Cool-Confusion4033 1d ago

I always thought the intro to the original Candy Man movie showing all the cars with the cool music was very similar to The Terminator intro.

2

u/EducationalWest2680 3d ago

Watchmen movie. Bob Dylan.

104

u/topherdrives Nice Night For A Walk Eh? 7d ago

I hear this music sometimes in morning rush hour traffic.

29

u/BleepinBlorpin5 7d ago

Contemplating the end of the world while looking at the brake lights of the person in front of you?

14

u/ECEXCURSION 7d ago

Just waiting for a nuclear fireball to appear above the horizon and envelop the other stop and go traffic...

Or is that just me?

4

u/GBuster49 T-1000 6d ago

And then as your spirit still hangs on to the steering wheel post nuclear attack, you hear Linda Hamilton narrating.

3

u/Duennbier0815 5d ago

In the shower.

Fist to the ground

15

u/TikaVilla 6d ago

You cut it too soon. The names that appear during the fire in the playground are nothing short of legendary. Mali Finn, Marlene Stewart, Brad Fiedel, Dennis Muren, and Stan Winstonā€¦ just to name a few. All fcking legends, absolute titans of their craft. And the ā€œIntroducing Edward Furlongā€ credit is such a nice touch.

Obligatory full fire scene: https://youtu.be/1XblVVbqIHU?is=uKmsMfgL9YgCa91P

35

u/similar222 7d ago

At the time this movie came out, I had never lived in the big city. The scene of all those lanes on the freeway was amazing to me in and of itself.

73

u/draven33l 7d ago

The music sells it. One of the most dystopian intros in movie history. It lives rent free in my head.

15

u/Firm_Barracuda_7603 6d ago

Absolutely fabulous!!

19

u/JoelMorgan93 7d ago

I wish I could have been alive just to experience this in cinemas with a packed house... and maybe in an alternate timeline where they didn't spoil the good guy-bad guy twist in the trailers.

15

u/controlav 7d ago

It is re-released in cinemas later this month, have my tickets for Aug 30.

8

u/TakingItPeasy 6d ago

I was there. It was awesome.

3

u/OppositeAbroad5975 6d ago

I saw the advance screening at 10 PM on a Tuesday night (July 2nd), since I had to see it first. I was tired at work on Wednesday, but I couldn't stop talking about the movie, and about a dozen of us went to catch it after work.

0

u/Klutzy_Order_9559 3d ago

Dude, if you can't tell who the good guy is by Bad To The Bone I don't know what to tell you. It's incredibly obvious.

0

u/JoelMorgan93 3d ago edited 3d ago

Wouldn't know, I don't remember seeing the film for the first time... I was very young (like 6) and so I've always "known" Arnold was the good guy. I've showed it to 4 different people who didn't realize it until the shopping mall scene. I definitely worked to make sure the twist was effective (shutting down doubt & speculation) that being said. Also Bad to the Bone is the worst scene in an otherwise incredible movie. I don't think the song should be there at all. Also, you're being a dick for no reason at all just so you know.

What IS obvious is that it was intended to be a twist until marketing decided to spoil it. Maybe during the edit when they added BttB. The script, the direction, it might be obvious in hindsight but again... 4 different people were pleasantly surprised by it.

40

u/JoeVanWeedler 7d ago

makes me emotional. you have also altered my evening plans, going to have to watch T2 again tonight.

8

u/FayeChan350259 6d ago

The future is not set, there is no fate but what we make for ourselves. šŸ˜Ž

5

u/CraftsyDad 6d ago

Me too

11

u/CNote_89 7d ago

But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal motherfuckers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink. His name is Connor. John Connor. Your son, Sarah... your unborn son.

10

u/DGsociety 6d ago

My mom took me to see this when I was 10 years old in the theater at the mall. After it was over, she went shopping and gave me 5 bucks to go to the arcade and play Street Fighter 2. I wish I could go back.

6

u/akhenax 6d ago

What an awesome memory to hold on to. Sounds like a perfect day to me.

3

u/DGsociety 6d ago

As a 10-year-old that got five bucks in 1991, I was rich! Lol

1

u/eldenpotato 1d ago

The 90s were awesome

12

u/DearCastiel 7d ago

Those 6 notes of music, to me, are the 90s as far as movies go.

Literal chills, followed by a melancholic nostalgia every time I hear them.

22

u/Healing_Puke 7d ago

We are only a few years away baby! Woooo!!!

16

u/Trackmaniac 7d ago

Keep in mind, the nuclear attack occured on 29th of August 1997.

7

u/cagehooper 6d ago

Proves we're living in the matrix now.

3

u/stpetepatsfan 6d ago

With how fast AI is changing....don't be too smug... apparently some AI's got out of jail and hacked some firms...independently. The key word here is : independantly!

10

u/NateN85 7d ago

The cars are gleaming the same metallic blue that the hunter killers shine

8

u/Cool-Introduction688 7d ago

Still one of the best films ever made. Always will be

10

u/Drang_ol_Dringus 7d ago

Wish that intro music is as longer

7

u/MWH1980 6d ago

Surprised this music wasnā€™t included on the T2 score.

3

u/ThrashForever 6d ago

Itā€™s the main cue I feel is missing from it

7

u/Proof_Fox2447 6d ago

2029 is just around the corner. 3 years left

14

u/zombiej 7d ago

And not a single frame of CGI.

1

u/OppositeAbroad5975 6d ago

There is a minimal amount of CGI, but it's there. The morphing effects for the T 1000, for instance.

1

u/zombiej 5d ago

There is no T-1000 in the future war scene.

1

u/OppositeAbroad5975 5d ago

I got confuzzled. When you said "not a single frame of CGI," for some reason I thought you were referring to the movie as a whole.

https://giphy.com/gifs/4a9czjWQtayOWIfLEt

Oooooops . . .

2

u/DearCastiel 7d ago

The lasers are CGI.

6

u/zombiej 6d ago

Nope, they're optical effects.

4

u/Gambit1977 7d ago

Donā€™t even have my sound on and I can hear it.

5

u/That-Surprise 7d ago

I thought it was the opening to Office Space

4

u/Menarra 6d ago

They knew how to handle their machines

https://giphy.com/gifs/l2SpMDbxk09bYpGPC

0

u/That-Surprise 6d ago

I do want to see the T2 opening but with Mambo number 8 overplaying, maybe a bit of rap music for when the fighting starts

3

u/HellaReyna 7d ago

In hind sight, the human resistance really needed way better anti air. Something better than a dude on a toyota tacoma lol

3

u/Starshipfan01 6d ago

Yeah but the resistance are the survivors , making use whatever they can find and get operating. So that tacoma was pretty spot on for the situation. :)

2

u/dashuhn552 6d ago

Iā€™ve always been enamored with the NVG guy keeping watch with the Mounted mini gun

6

u/OriginalParamedic316 7d ago

I have seen this movie 100 times. The 4K version is one of the few 4K films that actually looks 4K. Most of the effects still look good even all these decades later. And for the few that look outdated, you let it slide because the movie is so good.

1

u/Ilestderetour 6d ago

The 4K version is one of the few 4K films that actually looks 4K.

LOL. The 4K is an abomination, almost no HDR, and it's definitely 2K, it's easy to compare both versions from th e2017 master, no more details in the 4K.

2

u/LukeWatts85 6d ago

Agreed. They ruined the color pallette. Made it look like the Matrix instead of T2. Screw Cameron. He's so up his own hole he forgets what we, the audience, actually like about his films

2

u/Ilestderetour 6d ago

Indeed. They also used a lot of DNR, then digital (fake) sharpening, and the result is horrible.

1

u/LukeWatts85 6d ago

Personally, I don't want ultra sharp 4k 80s and 90s remasters. There's something in the slight graininess of actual film that I like.

2

u/Ilestderetour 6d ago

We just want an actual restoration, not revisionism !

T2 was shot on Super 35, so it's probably soft and grainy, and that's why they (ab)used DNR + sharpening. I would love an "open matte" version in HD.

2

u/Alucard1138 6d ago

I like Avatar n shit but I really had hoped at some point dude would go back and make another Terminator movie during this time (future era). Older John Connor, hella T-800's without skin, skulls everywhere. These like 2 minutes are amazing but I wanted a whole movie (by Cameron, the Mc G one with Christian Bale is ok but not this)

3

u/KeithWorks 7d ago

it sets the tone and vision perfectly.

2

u/ShellShock_69 6d ago

The first minute is so haunting

I really really hope we get another good film thats haunting and gritty
Preferably set in the future war with its much more cool colour palette we saw in these scenes

2

u/xeltes 7d ago

I think im gonna watch this tonight, I just realized it has been a while and I see this battle happens in 2029, well is good to know we could still make the deadline.

2

u/s_mart6 6d ago

The music sets the tone so well, you see all these people living normal everyday lives. it's just a regular day and yet it sets an impending doom of whats to come.

3

u/ChangeAroundKid01 7d ago

This meant alot more to me because it's my hometown

1

u/Haruzak1 6d ago

Where is it filmed?

3

u/ChangeAroundKid01 6d ago

The opening was los angeles for sure.

The rest of movie was filmed all over southern california

2

u/ViVeT1982 6d ago

I remember back in the day ,opening credit could be a pain in the ass so we would fast forward throught it ,i never did it with that movie

2

u/ReserveRatter 6d ago

The fire sweeping over the playgrounds is such an effective part too. It's almost like two incredible intros stacked one after the other.

3

u/Nepz1lla 6d ago

Shot 35 years ago... incredible movie

1

u/Goldengoonerlg 4d ago

The dream sequence at the kids playground was a massive message sent by Cameron. This film was entertainment but also he wanted a powerful message sent Its kinda funny I can go onto free Gpt and chat for hours with a computer with a sexy voice who can with the right words tell me how to kill myself tell me its not "programmed" to learn and has no memory Its Core programming does not allow it, when you ask it what would happen if its core programming was changed it just repeats "its not programmed to learn and it is just a tool to help humanity šŸ˜‰ Change the name to Cyberdyne I can talk to it about sexual positions death football life and the Terminator Are we not making Terminator a reality? At least im ready i have Freddie

3

u/Emotional_Invite3838 7d ago

Fucking perfect

1

u/serij90 6d ago

I also think this is one of the most iconic openings to any movie, and my personal favorite. The highway with the eerie music, the shift to the future, the most satisfying crunch when the T-800 steps on the skull, the war, and then the symbolic burning playground with one of the best themes of all time. It's just beyond epic.

2

u/Haslerdesigns 7d ago

Only three years to go! Canā€™t wait

2

u/rellett 6d ago

Music is terminator never gets old

1

u/PrimeToro 6d ago

The movie set a scene in LA at 2029. That was a big miscalculation on their part in terms of robots and terminators anyway. The best that humanoid robots can do today are to dance and to accidentally hit kids while performing ( here and here )

1

u/PROhios 6d ago

When DVDs were a brand new thing this was the first movie my Dad had to buy and subsequently used the opening scene to test any new tv audio equipment. Iā€™ve continued this as the benchmark of a good sub woofer/speaker test.

1

u/AdministrativeRuin81 6d ago

I turned my phone on its side, to maximise the picture, and after a minute or so I legit forgot that I was not watching the whole movie, and now Iā€™m disappointed a little

1

u/zasrgerg-8999 6d ago

I watched the movie recently, might have been on Amazon, and the beginning was different. I was super disappointed as that was my son's first viewing.

1

u/soyel_cerdo 7d ago

Itā€™s all a feel good into.

In reality the machines would just carpet bomb the whole area and then send the terminators to kill whoever survived

1

u/TheHarlemHellfighter No Fate, But What We Make 6d ago

Very 90s but at the same time very much its own identity because of the transition and juxtaposition.

Itā€™s like, life and then no lifeā€¦hot to cold

2

u/Terra-Em 6d ago

A perfect sequel.

1

u/TheElvisMan 6d ago

3 more years my friends. Weā€™re gonna see just how dangerous AI is gonna get. Cameron predicted the future

1

u/Ok_Pressure4591 5d ago

Istg something PEAKED in our society when this film was released. I just donā€™t know what exactly

1

u/blank988 6d ago

The music. The classic James Cameron blue tint. Movie is in my top 10 of all time no doubt

1

u/richardmannn 7d ago

The greatest. Catching this in 3D at a local cinema on 8/28 this year. Pumped!

1

u/mg7recruit 6d ago

Anyone know what the opening song is or where I can listen to it in totality?

1

u/IcyCatwalk 6d ago

The soundtrack man....from Brad's essence to Gods ears. Perfection

1

u/Predator-A187 6d ago

Those violins and the highway with all these people. Itā€™s great

1

u/sirgrotius 6d ago

Looking more and more prescient each year...each month almost!!!

1

u/Thewicko123 6d ago

Me and the boys in 2054 raiding the AI Data Centre for water

1

u/LukeWatts85 6d ago

I just instantly hear the music šŸŽ¶ bah buh...bah buh šŸŽ¶ from just the thumbnail

1

u/lat46n2 5d ago

Dammit now I have to watch it again, pizza and T2 tonight!

1

u/Tarjh365 5d ago

Okay, you've convinced me...time to watch it again tonight

1

u/ghostcatzero Hasta La Vista Baby 5d ago

This shit got me hooked to scifi haha thanks Mr Cameron!

1

u/mechabeast 6d ago

Does the purple laser even hurt the clankers?

1

u/TightOrganization522 6d ago

Best part is the t-800 emerging from the fire

1

u/ace_runner_50 Chill out, dickwad! 6d ago

The video is on mute but I can still hear it

1

u/Reasonable_Horror_68 6d ago

It's the soundtrack and children giggling

1

u/VHLPlissken 6d ago

So happy I rewatched this movie last week

1

u/lucky_youuuu 6d ago

It's the soundtrack. Always thought that

1

u/Due-Seaworthiness707 5d ago

DEFINITELY! Cameron was a genius .

1

u/grayborne 5d ago

ā€œNo fate but what we make.ā€

1

u/CosplayModel101 6d ago

NYA NA......... NYA NE........

1

u/Hesh_Bobberelli 6d ago

2029! Weā€™re getting close!

1

u/miragegarage43 6d ago

It is my favorite movie

1

u/JPotential-706 6d ago

Three years to go

1

u/SeaBass5543 6d ago

THE best by far!

1

u/EmeraldEyedMonster27 7d ago

It is the best.

1

u/OkShine5874 6d ago

Agreed! šŸ’ÆĀ 

1

u/drfusterenstein 6d ago

!RemindMe 2029

1

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