"Bad" may be a bit harsh, but to me T-2 is still worlds above it. (I watched them both again last night!)
Here are the main reasons I think T-2 is a better movie:
1. Plot. The entire plot of T1 can be summed up as Arnie chasing Sarah. That premise (circumstances. Or fate, if you want to be thematic) is the driving force of everything in the movie. Except for the Reese/Sarah love story, which is character driven, but very small. T2, OTOH, is almost all character driven. The premise is still "Terminator comes to eliminate John", but Sarah trying to kill Dyson, Sarah & friends destoying Cyberdyne, John going back for his mom are major plot points that arise not from the initial premise but from decisions the characters make. Imo, this makes for a much stronger, more original, and unpredictable plot. 2. Character. We see T1!Sarah learn her future, but we don't really see her come to grips with it. T2!Sarah has that devlopment already embedded in her; we see echoes of it throughout T2, and we see her develop further with her conflict of trying to control her future vs. becoming something she hates. T1!Arnie is a mindless killer. T2!Arnie is a mindless killer also, but we see him (supposedly) "learn the value of human life", which makes for a far more multi-dimensional character. In some ways, John's arc in T2 parallels Sarah's in T1, but I think he has so many more issues to deal with. Though Reese had some interesting character points I would never ascribe him the depth of John, if only because we get to see so many more of John's issues, and the only issue of Reese's we really see is about Sarah. 3. Theme. I can't really ascribe a theme at all to T-1. You could say it's the "no fate but what we make bit", but as I said re: plot, you don't see the characters make their own fate, you see them react to their fate. Anyway, T2 not only has this theme, but also seriously contemplates the ugliness of humanity, most importantly in the form of the question: do ends justify means? The very same question is one of my favorites in Buffyverse: Giles killing Ben, Buffy sacrificing potentials, Wesley kidnapping Connor, Angel killing Drogyn, etc. T2 asks how far you can go down that road before losing your humanity and becoming the enemy you are fighting. Not to mention all the family themes, which imo are far strong than the love story in T1. 4. Script. T1 is full of lines like, "Come with me if you want to live." When T2 uses similar lines, it is with a sense of irony. It's intelligent 5. Costumes/effects/looks. Yes, this is partly because T2 is newer. But I also think T2 closer approached a timelessness that some few movies do actually manage to achieve, no matter how old.
So anyway, that's my manifesto.
I don't forgive you for liking T1 better, but I've decided not to disown you anyway. *loves*
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Here are the main reasons I think T-2 is a better movie:
1. Plot. The entire plot of T1 can be summed up as Arnie chasing Sarah. That premise (circumstances. Or fate, if you want to be thematic) is the driving force of everything in the movie. Except for the Reese/Sarah love story, which is character driven, but very small. T2, OTOH, is almost all character driven. The premise is still "Terminator comes to eliminate John", but Sarah trying to kill Dyson, Sarah & friends destoying Cyberdyne, John going back for his mom are major plot points that arise not from the initial premise but from decisions the characters make. Imo, this makes for a much stronger, more original, and unpredictable plot.
2. Character. We see T1!Sarah learn her future, but we don't really see her come to grips with it. T2!Sarah has that devlopment already embedded in her; we see echoes of it throughout T2, and we see her develop further with her conflict of trying to control her future vs. becoming something she hates. T1!Arnie is a mindless killer. T2!Arnie is a mindless killer also, but we see him (supposedly) "learn the value of human life", which makes for a far more multi-dimensional character. In some ways, John's arc in T2 parallels Sarah's in T1, but I think he has so many more issues to deal with. Though Reese had some interesting character points I would never ascribe him the depth of John, if only because we get to see so many more of John's issues, and the only issue of Reese's we really see is about Sarah.
3. Theme. I can't really ascribe a theme at all to T-1. You could say it's the "no fate but what we make bit", but as I said re: plot, you don't see the characters make their own fate, you see them react to their fate. Anyway, T2 not only has this theme, but also seriously contemplates the ugliness of humanity, most importantly in the form of the question: do ends justify means? The very same question is one of my favorites in Buffyverse: Giles killing Ben, Buffy sacrificing potentials, Wesley kidnapping Connor, Angel killing Drogyn, etc. T2 asks how far you can go down that road before losing your humanity and becoming the enemy you are fighting. Not to mention all the family themes, which imo are far strong than the love story in T1.
4. Script. T1 is full of lines like, "Come with me if you want to live." When T2 uses similar lines, it is with a sense of irony. It's intelligent
5. Costumes/effects/looks. Yes, this is partly because T2 is newer. But I also think T2 closer approached a timelessness that some few movies do actually manage to achieve, no matter how old.
So anyway, that's my manifesto.
I don't forgive you for liking T1 better, but I've decided not to disown you anyway. *loves*