Thursday, April 24, 2014

Ask Me a Question: Terminator 2 w/Robert Patrick

As I navigate the seas of social media and work on getting the word out on the Van Damme double feature while traveling to 3 cons in a month, I'll be taking a break to attend yet another throwback screening at the Arclight Hollywood to see one of the greatest sequels of all time, Terminator 2:  Judgment Day.  If you'll recall, The Terminator and Aliens screened not long ago sans guests while T2 was a winner in an audience choice poll and has the T-1000 himself, Robert Patrick, stopping by to introduce 1991's highest grossing movie and my first R rated flick in a theater.  In addition to T2, Patrick has popped up in everything from Die Hard 2: Die Harder to Double Dragon to Walk the Line and Gangster Squad while appearing on TV in X-Files and The Unit.  Since his first credit in 1986, Patrick has convincingly played heroic, nefarious, fatherly and amusing opposite Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Denzel Washington, Demi Moore and Harrison Ford while being directed by the likes of James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Robert Rodriguez and James Mangold.

Judgement Day takes place years after the first as soldier and father of the future Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) and Sarah Connor's (Linda Hamilton) son John (Edward Furlong) has been targeted for termination.  Patrick plays the more advanced than Arnold's T-800 model, the shape shifting, liquid metal T-1000 that is the ultimate infiltration unit that can imitate nearly any form and has a penchant for turning his limbs into huge knives and stabbing weapons.  Picking up many of the same beats from the original, T2 is a huge, groundbreaking, exciting, action packed, visual roller coaster compared to the low budget, tech noir B-movie masterpiece of the first.  Upon release the film took in half a billion dollars in theaters alone and ushered in a new era of digital f/x.  In 1996, Universal Studios unveiled a part live action, part 3D film that reunited the main cast for an amusement park attraction that ran for 15 years.  I'm sure it will look fantastic on the big screen and I'll bet Mr. Patrick will have some great stories to share.

*UPDATED*

The Los Angeles Times just announced their line up for the 5th annual Hero Complex festival.  Years past have seen guests like Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Richard Donner, Warren Beatty, Peter Weller, John Carpenter, Roland Emmerich and many more attend.  This year centers on future set Science Fiction with double bills of The Terminator and sequel Judgement Day with writer/director James Cameron appearing as well as Alien and Aliens with star Sigourney Weaver.  Coincidentally, I've seen Terminator, Aliens and Judgement Day on the big screen all in the last couple of months and just saw Weaver discuss Aliens at Calgary Expo.  I guess that just shows you how dang popular these movies are.

Arclight Presents Terminator 2:  Judgement Day with special introduction by co-star and T-1000 Robert Patrick was a great night out.  My friend helped rope Patrick in and he was a very cool guy and accommodating to the dozens of fans looking for a handshake or photo.  Patrick's teenage children had never seen the flick and were in attendance as well.  To begin, Patrick welcomed the crowd and mentioned a few tidbits about the production like studying predators in the wild to develop his often imitated run to show no wasted movement, catching up to the camera car doing 13 miles per hour, James Cameron telling him they were making history when doing the "walk out of fire" shot and hitting Arnold with a padded metal pipe a little too hard in a fight scene.  He listed Cop Land, Walk the Line and Gangster Squad as some of his personal favorite movies and roles while giving props to director James Mangold.  After the flick, Patrick told us he hadn't watched the film in at least 20 years and that the steel mill was chopped, shipped and reassembled in China!  I had some shirts made up for the night and gave some to him and his family, he really seemed to like them and so I'm hoping to trade him additional shirts for a sit down interview.  Which would be a first for Dammaged Goods! 

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