Director The Terminator is also a classic in the eyes of most, but it's actually a quite different film from its first sequel. The Terminator is, at its heart, a slasher horror movie that happens to feature a cyborg as the killer. For Terminator 2, Cameron reinvented his creation as a primarily action and special effects-driven piece, while also not skimping on expanding the Terminator mythology.
While a minority exists that prefers The Terminator to Terminator 2, most fans would agree that Judgment Day is the superior film, building on the characters and premise of its predecessor, while utilizing its much larger budget to more fully realize a world in which both liquid metal villains and time travel exist. It also features what most would consider Arnold Schwarzenegger's best performance, transforming his hulking T-800 model Terminator from killer to protector.
As many terrific scenes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day offers, its extended cut, sometimes referred to the "special edition" of the film, adds on several more scenes worth seeing for any Terminator fan. While the theatrical cut remains Cameron's preferred version, he's been happy to let fans see what ended up on the cutting room floor.
Sarah Connor Gets Abused
The first new scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day's extended cut is about a minute long, and sees Sarah Connor get physically abused and beat up by the guards at the mental hospital she begins the film locked up inside. It serves to further illustrate the inhumane treatment she receives while there, and further justifies how vicious she is when making her escape from the facility later on.
Sarah Connor Is Visited by Kyle Reese, Sort Of
In a scene that many would argue should've remained in the Terminator 2 theatrical cut, Sarah has a dream while still locked inside the mental hospital in which she's visited by her dead true love Kyle Reese, John's time-traveling father. This dream version of Kyle tells Sarah to stay strong and protect their son, while also reminding her that the future isn't predestined and she can still stop judgment day. The dream then transitions into a shorter version of Sarah's nuclear explosion dream from later in the film.
The T-1000 Kills John Connor's Dog
In the T2 extended cut, there's a short additional scene after the T-1000 - pretending to be John Connor's foster mom - speaks on the phone with the T-800 - pretending to be John Connor. After the call ends, the T-1000 morphs back into his default form, goes out back, and kills John's barking dog Max. When he notices the name on the collar, he realizes he's been duped, as the T-800 referred to the dog as Wolfie. There's also another deleted scene after this that isn't technically part of the extended cut in which the T-1000 searches John's room, almost like a bloodhound. It's present only in the even longer unofficial variation of the extended cut included on some home video releases.
Sarah & John Enable the T-800's Learning Capability
The next additional scene in the extended cut of Terminator 2: Judgment Day is another one that arguably should've been left in the theatrical cut. Normally, this scene sees the T-800 patch up Sarah's wounds, and she in turn removes the bullets from his back. John inquires about whether the T-800 can learn, he says yes, and it's on to the next sequence. In this cut, it's necessary for an inhibitor switch to be reset on The T-800's U that Skynet put in place to prevent their foot soldiers from thinking too much. Once the T-800's U is removed, a traumatized Sarah considers destroying it, but John persuades her not to.
The T-800 Learns to Smile
In a short, but amusing scene in the Terminator 2 extended cut, Sarah, John, and the T-800 stop at a roadside store to get some gas and food. While there, John tries to get the T-800 to "lighten up" by teaching him to smile. The T-800 attempts to imitate the smile of a nearby man, and as seen in the image above, the result isn't exactly charming. Well, at least he tried.
Dyson Family Introduction
This two-minute scene provides an earlier introduction to Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson, the man most responsible for creating what would become Skynet. It's not a bad scene, and shines a further spotlight on the fact that Dyson is a good, caring person with no malevolent intentions toward humanity, but at the same time, it's not really necessary for the plot, and doesn't really tell the viewer anything of importance that they don't already know.
John & The T-800 Talk About Fear
There's a minute-long additional scene when Sarah, John, and the T-800 stop at her old friend's place to gather weapons and ammo, in which John Connor tells the T-800 what it was like growing up with Sarah as a mom, and asks his cyborg protector if he's afraid of death. The T-800 says no, as it's important he stay functional for the duration of his mission, but after that his existence doesn't really matter. The scene ends with the bit from the theatrical cut where the T-800 finds the MiniGun he uses later to blow up police cars.
Sarah, John, the T-800 & Dyson Destroy the Lab
When Sarah, John, the T-800, and Miles Dyson head to the Cyberdyne building to destroy Dyson's lab and all his work pertaining to Terminators and the creation of Skynet, there's an additional one-minute scene where the group is shown destroying things at the lab, in which Dyson personally destroys the neural net processor he's spent years perfecting with an axe.
Other Small Additions & Changes
There are also several other small additions and changes to other parts of Terminator 2: Judgment Day in the extended cut, but most are of little consequence to the final film. For example, the T-1000 is shown stealing another police car after he chases the T-800 and John through the canal in a semi truck. There's also an added dialogue exchange when John and the T-800 are on the way to stop Sarah from killing Dyson, in which John reiterates the importance of human life and that the Terminator should not kill.
Another small addition to the final battle in the steel mill serves to setup that the T-1000 has begun to lose control of his morphing, which pays off when he falls into the steel and frantically shape-shifts. This also plays into another small add, where John tells which Sarah is the real one when he notices the T-1000's feet morphing going haywire.
