Terminator 2 was my favorite movie as a kid and probably still is. It's just the perfect movie. It had a gripping story and compelling characters. It has just enough action to be engaging without being over-the-top (because we actually care about the characters), it displayed groundbreaking visual effects for the time without ever relying on them. In fact, T2 is still one of the best-looking movies out there. It even looks better than some movies today, which is incredible considering it was made in 1991. The soundtrack was perfect. And of course, who can forget the memorable dialogue. How many times did we say "hasta la vista, baby" as kids on the playground?
I'm not really big on movies anymore... in fact I despise most of Hollywood. But T2 is just one of those movies that will always stick with me. I remember how it actually depressed me when I watched it as a kid. Perhaps because the somber, bittersweet ending made me yearn for more, despite the fact that the adventure felt truly, completely over. I remembered wanting it to end differently, while simultaneously realizing that there could be no other (or better) way for it to end. In the same way that John had to let go of his machine at the end, which was paradoxically the only thing in his life that ever resembled a true friend, we had to let go too and accept that the saga was over. The future was safe. Humanity would never see another Terminator, and we would never see another Terminator movie.
Then they went ahead and ruined it with two god awful sequels, and James Cameron is now making shitty over-the-top CGI porn with blue people. Fuck you, Hollywood.