Decades before Dark Fate, the iconic T2 trio reunited for an epic Battle Across Time.
The year was 1996, and the Terminator franchise hadn’t birthed a new installment since Terminator 2: Judgment Day five years prior. In April of that year, however, a brand new Terminator adventure arrived on the big screen, only it wasn’t playing in theaters nationwide. Titled T2-3D: Battle Across Time, the sequel was exclusive to Universal Studios theme parks.
Premiering at Universal Studios Florida before arriving in Universal Hollywood and later Universal Japan, T2-3D: Battle Across Time was immediately special because it was not only directed by James Cameron himself, but it saw Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong and Robert Patrick all reprising their roles from Terminator 2.
Blending live action with a 3D film up on the screen, T2-3D: Battle Across Time kicks off – after a short pre-show intro video that features both Hamilton and Furlong – with a Cyberdyne presentation that gets interrupted by performers playing Sarah and John Connor, the T-800 and the T-1000. The T-800 shows up to save John Connor from the evil T-1000 and the duo seemingly drives off on a motorcycle directly onto the screen and into the future war between humans and machines, which is when the film portion of the experience begins.
A whopping $24 million was spent on the 12-minute short film – for the sake of comparison, the entire original Terminator film cost a mere $6.4 million to make back in the ’80s! – which sees John and the T-800 traversing the futuristic wasteland and evading/defeating various machines before ultimately ending up at their destination: the Skynet facility.
The live stage show resumes for the final battle, wherein the multi-legged, liquid metal “T-1000000” (a brand new creation for the attraction) defends Skynet’s CPU from being destroyed; it’s pretty spectacular to witness, as the live performers directly interact with the massive 3D monster on the screen. Skynet is ultimately blown up, filling the room with smoke.
Unfortunately, the Battle Across Time attraction has since closed up shop in both Florida and Hollywood – the Florida attraction had an admirably long run at the park, lasting from 1996 all the way until October 2017 – but it’s still in operation in Japan. And thanks to the magical powers of YouTube, you can relive the experience no matter where you’re located.
Virtually experience T2-3D: Battle Across Time in its entirety below!
