Few movies are quite as synonymous with their genre as Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film premiered in 1991, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, reversing his role in the original from villain to hero. Linda Hamilton reprized her role as Sarah Connor, and the cast is bolstered by Edward Furlong's John Connor and Robert Patrick's sensational T-1000.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a masterpiece, and arguably one of the greatest sci-fi action movies ever made. Many fans can reel off countless one-liners from the movie, and its grand action set pieces, like the incredible truck chase, are among the most memorable in the genre. The action scenes are a sight to behold, but Terminator 2 also boasts a strong story with time travel at its core. Sarah Connor's character arc is just as integral to the movie as the T-800 wrecking police cars with a minigun. The title also boasts an emotional payoff that feels earned and poignant.
As Terminator 2 is such a brilliant movie, it's surprisingly difficult to find other similar movies that don't feel like straight downgrades. It's arguably fair to say that there is no other movie quite like it, and the franchise has never reached the lofty highs of the 1991 movie again to this day. That said, several great titles still capture the magic of Terminator 2, whether with their themes, stories, or portrayals of the future.
10 Upgrade (2018)
Upgrade is the newest movie on our list, starring Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace in a gritty sci-fi thriller. He's brutally attacked by criminals, who leave him for dead with injuries so bad he can barely move.
Trace is not a cyborg or a supersoldier, but a wealthy benefactor offers him a way to heal himself. His company implants an AI chip in Trace's brain called STEM, which gives him strength and combat prowess far beyond those of any regular human.
Upgrade boasts some particularly visceral fight scenes and an exciting showcase of futuristic technology. The movie is quite different from Terminator 2, but worth watching as it feels like the reverse, as Trace becomes more in tune with STEM.
9 Timecop (1994)
Terminator 2 fans love the movie for the phenomenal action scenes and evolving relationship between the T-800 and John Connor. The time-travel aspect is more thoroughly explored in later movies, but you may enjoy Timecop if that part of the story is one of its biggest appeals.
Timecop stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Walker. Time travel exists but is policed in the future, and one rule prohibits people from traveling into the past to enrich their futures. Walker is on a case to stop a powerful senator from doing precisely that.
Timecop is low on the list because of its obvious differences from Terminator 2. Still, the movie exudes 90s charm with Van Damme as a charismatic action hero and a fun depiction of time travel.
8 Soldier (1998)
Soldier is a wild 90s sci-fi movie starring Kurt Russell as Todd 3465, the product of a brutal military training regime. Unfortunately for Todd, his superiors deem him obsolete and dump him on a waste planet as a new model takes his place.
While the story and setting are different from Terminator 2, it's easy to draw parallels between the T-800 and the more cutting-edge T-1000. A community living on the planet takes Todd in, but the calm is short-lived when the military returns with other plans.
Todd isn't a cyborg in Soldier and must rely on his combat experience to stand up to the authorities a second time. Russell is famously short on words in the 1998 film, though his growing relationship with the residents of Arcadia is one of the movie's highlights.
7 Looper (2012)
If you find the time travel aspect of Terminator 2 fascinating, you will quickly be able to draw parallels with Looper. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe. He's an assassin of sorts, with a unique way of dispatching his targets.
Joe isn't an ordinary killer for hire and works for criminal organizations in the future. They send people back into the past for him to kill and dispose of the evidence. However, Joe's life is turned upside down when his employers send an older version of himself, played by Bruce Willis, to be dispatched.
The concept of time travel and assassins in Looper is somewhat similar to Terminator 2, even without the cybernetic killing machines. Gordon-Levitt and Willis play off each other extraordinarily well, and the title has some fresh ideas about the future.
6 Universal Soldier (1992)
Universal Soldier is a violent, over-the-top 90s action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Luc. He died alongside another soldier, Andrew, played by Dolph Lundgren. However, the authorities never disposed of their bodies and brought them back many years later as part of the Universal Soldier program.
These resurrected soldiers are genetically enhanced and engineered to be compliant, with no memories of their pasts. Nevertheless, Luc and Andrew begin experiencing visions of their past lives, leading them into conflict once again.
Luc is not a cyborg, but fans of Terminator 2 will still enjoy Universal Soldier for its early 90s charm, cheesy one-liners, and wild action sequences. Van Damme also treats audiences to his trademark martial arts prowess.
5 Predator (1987)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a huge part of what makes Terminator 2 so iconic. While Predator predates it by several years, it still features a deadly killing machine, even if it's an alien one.
Schwarzenegger stars in Predator as Dutch. He leads a team of hardened military commandos into the jungle and behind enemy lines on a rescue mission. However, the team discovers that the real threat isn't even human, as a foe with advanced weaponry and technology threatens to kill them one by one.
The setting and story of Predator are very different from Terminator 2. Nevertheless, they both feature an opponent who is an unstoppable force, who won't be defeated by conventional means.
4 Aliens (1986)
Aliens is a sci-fi horror classic, with a charming retro-future aesthetic featuring some of the most terrifying creatures in movie history. The 1986 movie takes its franchise in a more action-oriented direction, like Terminator, with a similar dynamic between our heroes.
Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley. The authorities dismiss her account of events from the original movie but ask her to return to LV426 when communication with the colony there goes dark. Ripley returns to face the xenomorphs alongside a group of gung-ho marines, though the aliens prove to be more than a match for the soldiers, who suddenly seem woefully unprepared.
Ripley also meets Newt (Carrie Henn), an unlikely survivor, and quickly assumes a guardian role. Aliens is full of great sci-fi action set-pieces, with a foe just as deadly as any Terminator.
3 Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
Fans drawn to Terminator 2 for the intense action will find a lot to love in any of the classic Die Hard movies. However, Die Hard with a Vengeance remains a great choice, as the action is spread across New York City, and John McClane (Bruce Willis) is forced to team up with Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson).
Our heroes are drawn into a sadistic game of Simon Says, instigated by Simon (Jeremy Irons). He's planted deadly bombs across the city, forcing McClane and Zeus to jump through hoops to disarm them. McClane quickly realizes there's more to the game than meets the eye, but will he be able to stop Simon in time?
Die Hard with a Vengeance lacks the time travel story, and McClane is just a regular cop, even if he's tough. Still, the movie offers fast-paced 90s action at its finest, with thrilling scenes Terminator fans are sure to love.
2 Dredd (2012)
Dredd may seem like an unusual pick, as while Karl Urban is brilliant as Judge Dredd, he is not a Terminator. Still, Dredd is like an unstoppable force in a frenetic action story that doesn't relent until the credits roll.
Dredd is a veteran Judge and is assigned Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) as a partner to show her the ropes. The pair investigate a triple homicide at the Peach Trees apartment complex, and make an arrest. That action angers Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), the drug lord in charge of the building, who initiates a lockdown, trapping our heroes inside.
Dredd is a brutal, nonstop sci-fi action movie where Dredd and Anderson face impossible odds. They are outnumbered and outgunned, but the movie makes the list for its gritty take on the future and superb set pieces.
1 Robocop (1987)
Fans of 80s and 90s action movies likely saw this coming, but Robocop shares many elements with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, offering a surprisingly bleak portrayal of the future of law enforcement. Peter Weller stars as Murphy, an officer brought back from the brink.
Murphy was horrifically injured on the job, but survived after scientists put what was left of him in a robotic body. They also installed safeguards that force him to follow directives. Robocop quickly becomes the police force's greatest weapon against crime. He's resistant to gunfire and deadly efficient, but there's more to those safeguards than meets the eye.
Robocop is surprisingly violent at times, full of graphic deaths and intense action scenes. It's fairly different from Terminator 2 on the surface, though it has a multilayered story. While Robocop is formidable in a gunfight, his partner, Lewis (Nancy Allen), is just a regular cop, and the movie explores Murphy's humanity just as much as his combat proficiency.
- Release Date
- July 3, 1991
- Runtime
- 137 minutes
- Director
- James Cameron
- Writers
- James Cameron, William Wisher Jr.
