Thrilling sci-fi action sequel has violence, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
a lot
Frequent profanity includes "f--k," "f--king," "motherf----r," "s--t," "bulls--t," "son of a bitch," "ass," "d--k," "dips--t," "d--kwad," "douchebag," "balls," "bozo," "lugnut," and "moron." Exclamations of "hell," "Jesus," "God," "dammit," and "goddamn." A 10-year-old child uses strong language, including "s--t."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Frequent violence and peril includes vehicle chases and crashes; gun, laser, and artillery fire; explosions and fires; stabbings; and physical fighting, including bones cracking. Blood spatter, bloody wounds, and skeletons are visible. Characters are killed by swords through the head (including mouth and eye with squelching noises), shot dead with multiple bullet wounds, knocked unconscious with objects, and thrown against walls and out of windows. Terminators are seen with extreme injuries, including holes in their bodies and being sliced in half, which heal back over on camera. One particularly gory scene sees a Terminator cut into their arm and peel back their skin to reveal the machinery below, and an arm gets stuck in a machine and part of it comes off. In a recurring nightmare, adults and children who are laughing and enjoying the rides on a playground burn alive from a nuclear explosion. A person puts out a cigarette on another's skin, and a character is thrown onto a hot stove. A child handles a gun and reloads it. Two kids play with toy guns in a parking lot. A guard licks the face of a restrained psychiatric patient; she's injected with tranquilizers, stunned with a Taser, and force-fed medication. Mention of acute schizo-affective disorder, depression, anxiety, and delusions. A person is stabbed with a syringe. A dog is killed off-screen, with a yelp heard and a bloody collar shown.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
A Pepsi can and Pepsi vending machine are clearly shown. Yamaha and Harley-Davidson motorbikes and Freightliner and Ford trucks are seen. Thorazine mentioned.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
A main character smokes cigarettes. A person smokes a cigar in a bar. Characters drink alcohol in a bar and at home, including tequila straight from the bottle. Thorazine mentioned.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Human life is valuable. It's important to persevere and never give up hope. It's in human nature to destroy our own race. Left unchecked, technological advancement can be dangerous, and it's important to take responsibility now for future potential pitfalls.
Diverse Representations
a little
Sarah Connor is portrayed as a strong, resilient woman whose desire to keep her son safe makes her even more determined and capable. Her son is unruly and street-smart but goes against stereotype in showing empathy and attempting to teach it to others. Lead characters are White. In a supporting role, inventor Miles is portrayed by Black actor Joe Morton; he puts himself in danger and sacrifices himself for a higher cause. Psychiatric workers and police are all men, and one calls a female character "sweetheart." Another calls her a "psycho" as a way to dismiss her.
John Connor is an unruly kid who steals and hacks but also uses his illegal skills to quickly solve problems. He has the confidence to take charge when the adults around him can't and follows his own moral compass, teaching the Terminator to value human life and not to kill others. Sarah Connor is strong and resilient, but her past experiences and fear for her son's safety have made her hardened and cold at times. She does everything she can to keep John safe but struggles to connect with him emotionally. The Terminator is portrayed as a protective father figure to John and doesn't kill innocent people, but that's only because it's part of his programming and instructions.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the first sequel to Arnold Schwarzenegger's sci-fi action hit The Terminator. It's extremely violent and has disturbing postapocalyptic imagery, including a recurring nightmare in which adults and children who are laughing in a playground are burned alive by a nuclear explosion. Characters are shot and killed, and blood is shown. There's stabbing, explosions, physical fighting, and frequent gory injuries to Terminators, which self-heal. There's lots of swearing, including "f--k," "s--t," and "bitch," and characters drink and smoke. Naked buttocks are visible when the Terminators make their first appearances, and there's kissing and hugging. The movie makes a point to address the issue of collateral damage, which is often glazed over in big action films. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I love all Terminator Movies, I grew up on them. kept me going so far!
What's the Story?
In TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time from the future again. But this time he switches sides to become the protector of the human race's future hope, John Connor (Edward Furlong). Meanwhile, Connor's mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton), who tries to spread the word about an upcoming apocalypse, is deemed insane and confined to an institution. Can the three work together to save John from his latest foe, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), and find a way to stop Skynet's futuristic technology before it gets out of hand?
This is the film that really showed what CGI effects could add to a movie, and, as such, can be considered a huge influence on subsequent big-budget action effects movies. Terminator 2: Judgment Day's greatest technical achievement is the shape-shifting T-1000 character, who pursues John Connor and makes it necessary for the original Terminator to act as John's protector. The film continually ratchets up the tension as the T-1000 comes closer and closer to destroying young John, making this film a thoroughly exciting thrill ride.
Though he plays the character with the same steely stoicism as in the original, Schwarzenegger obviously relishes the chance to be the "good guy" in this one, and the script offers him plenty of silly one-liners to provide the otherwise dark film with some levity. And Hamilton turns in a powerful performance as a desperate mother locked away because everyone thinks she's insane.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the development of potential killing machines like the ones shown in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. What do you think would happen in real life if machines like Terminators existed? Where do you think the responsibility lies? Is there a way to balance this kind of technological advancement with ethics?
What does this movie say about fate, destiny, and the future? Do you agree or disagree? What do you think stops the characters from giving up hope? Why is hope important to hold on to?
Why do you think violence is such a prominent feature in blockbuster action movies? Would anything have been lost from the story with half as much violence? Why, or why not?
The movie features a strong female lead. Why is it important to show women as lead characters, particularly in action films, which have traditionally been male-led? How does Sarah compare to female characters in other action movies you've seen? Why is it important to challenge on-screen stereotypes?
MPAA explanation:
strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language
Last updated:
August 29, 2024
Inclusion information powered by
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
