Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of the greatest action films ever made, but a classic scene would've been cut if studio executives had their way. Terminator 2 is one of those films that's so beloved, to even talk about cutting material from it is likely to earn backlash from fans. At 2 hours and 17 minutes, the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 isn't exactly brief, but it doesn't feel long, due to a quick pace, nearly constant action or suspense scenes, and performances great enough to make the chattier scenes fly by.
Terminator 2 boasts so many memorable moments, including Sarah Connor's terrifying apocalyptic nightmare, the T-1000 chasing the T-800 and John through a canal while driving a semi truck, the T-1000's various morph effects, the final battle in the steel mill, the brave sacrifice of Miles Bennett Dyson, and many more. Terminator 2 is, depending on personal preference, even better than the first movie, but either way, it's an excellent companion piece, and just as fun today as it was in 1991.
Terminator 2 doesn't take very long to get into the good stuff either, with one of the first scenes treating fans to the sight of a naked T-800 beating the holy hell out of a few supposed tough guys at a biker bar, while demanding clothes, boots, and a motorcycle. Yet, there's an alternate universe where that scene didn't make the movie.
Terminator 2: The Classic Scene Studio Executives Tried to Cut
Terminator 2: Judgment Day was produced by Carolco Pictures. As pre-production commenced, director James Cameron's sequel saw its original assigned budget of $75 million expand to $88 million, and before all was said and done, the film would cost over $100 million to make. That made Terminator 2 one of the most expensive films ever made up until that point. While T2 was of course a critical and commercial smash, Carolco got nervous early on, and studio executives got the bright idea in their heads that a few scripted scenes should be cut to save money from the production. One of these proposed cuts was the biker bar scene, which has become an iconic part of the film.
It would seem that even fairly early on in his career, Cameron wasn't someone who appreciated studio notes, as he refused to cut the scenes, and Carolco executives then tried to persuade star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was by then good friends with Cameron, to talk the director into cutting out the biker bar. Schwarzenegger wasn't having it, saying "Only a studio guy would cut a scene out like that." It's likely fans of Terminator 2 would wholeheartedly agree with his assessment of the situation. This is why studio executive meddling rarely improves things.