Apocalyptic Vision in James Cameron’s The Terminator 2: The Judgement Day

Abstract

This research has been conducted on James Cameron’s movie The Terminator 2: The Judgement Day which has been explored from the perspective of apocalyptic vision. The Apocalyptic writings in literature especially prevailed from post-Exilic Jewish culture and remained popular among early Christians, puritans and created sensation even in the modern era in 2012. Apocalypse occurs due to different factors. Such as natural disaster, pestilence, extra terrestrial attack, environmental degradation, nuclear war and technological singularity. Here the writer and director Cameron means to say that it is because of humans’ obsessive nature to invent new and advanced scientific technology, we will equip the world only with machines. And these machines will one day in the future be self intelligent, especially skynets. Then they learn that humanity is threat for their existence. Consequently, they form military defense and wage war against humans. That day will be called The Judgement Day where most of the humanity will be destroyed. After that apocalypse new civilization will have to be started just like John Connor starts in Terminator2: Judgement Day. In the movie we see Cyber Dine Company inventing advanced technologies, nuclear holocaust, advanced Cyborg Assassins sent by self-intelligent machine, Skynet, to fight against humans. Even in the beginning of the movie we see the nuclear holocaust in the war between humans and machines where John Connor is seen as a future commando leading his military troop. So, Cameron here wants to make sure about the impending apocalypse which occurs in the future and glorious new world with new civilization after destruction. This is what we call Apocalypse.