T2 3-D: Battle Across Time

T2 3-D: Battle Across Time

The attraction's entrance at Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida
Area Hollywood
Status Operating
Cost $36 million[nb 1]
Soft opening date April 1996 (1996-04)[1]
Opening date April 27, 1996 (1996-04-27)
Universal Studios Hollywood
Area Upper Lot
Status Closed
Opening date May 6, 1999 (1999-05-06)
Closing date December 31, 2012 (2012-12-31)[2]
Replaced Fievel's Playland
An American Tail Theatre
Replaced by Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Universal Studios Japan
Area New York
Status Operating
Opening date March 31, 2001 (2001-03-31)
General statistics
Attraction type 3D and live action show
Theme Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Audience capacity 700 per show
Wheelchair accessible
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
Directed by
Produced by
  • Chuck Comisky (producer)
  • Jessica Huebner (associate producer)
  • Frank Kostenko Jr. (line producer)
  • Andrew Millstein (executive producer)
  • Scott Ross (executive producer)
Written by
Starring
Music by Brad Fiedel
Production
company
Landmark Entertainment[3]
Lightstorm Entertainment
Distributed by Universal Creative
Universal Studios
Release dates
  • April 27, 1996 (1996-04-27) (Florida)
Running time
 12 minutes
Language English
Budget $24,000,000[nb 2]

T2 3-D: Battle Across Time is an attraction at various Universal Studios parks around the world including those in Florida and Japan. The version of the ride at Universal Studios Hollywood closed in 2012.

The attraction is a mini-sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and reunites director James Cameron and the main cast from the movie, including Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Edward Furlong as John Connor, and Robert Patrick as the T-1000. The show was presented in two parts; a pre-show where a Cyberdyne Systems company hostess shows guests a brief video presentation about the company's innovations, and the main show, where live performers interact with a 3-D film.

History

The initial planning for T2 3-D: Battle Across Time began in the early 1990s. It was originally developed for Universal Studios Florida, with producers pushing for a second installation in Universal Studios Hollywood during development.[4][5] The original attraction cost a total of $60 million. With a total run time of 12 minutes, the film alone cost $24 million, making it one of the most expensive films per minute in the world.[6][7] The attraction opened in the Hollywood area of Universal Studios Florida on April 27, 1996,[8] to very positive reviews.[3] Additional venues were later announced for Universal Studios Hollywood and the upcoming Universal Studios Japan theme park.[3][9]

Construction for the Hollywood venue forced the closure of Fievel's Playland and An American Tail Theatre, which were built atop a parking structure. The attraction opened on the Upper Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood on May 6, 1999. In the year of the attraction's opening, attendance at Universal Studios Hollywood remained steady at 5.1 million; however, other parks in the region saw declines in revenue, such as Disneyland which experienced a 5% drop.[5][10] The Terminator stage was subsequently used for the annual Halloween Horror Nights event, with The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute being shown in 2009.

At Universal Studios Japan, the attraction was added as one of the debut attractions in the New York section of the park. It opened to the public on March 31, 2001.[5][11] California-based firm Technifex provided special effects and show equipment for the attraction.[12]

In late 2012, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that their version would close on December 31, 2012.[2] It was later announced Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem would replace the attraction.[13][14]

Experience

Queue

The queue features dozens of television monitors that show a series of video segments (which are being presented on the "Cyberdyne Information Network," or C.I.N.) about the latest innovations and products of Cyberdyne Systems. The video also includes several special musical segments, including two songs from the film; "Bad to the Bone" and "Guitars, Cadillacs", as well as a "live" video feed from Costa Rica of a performance of the song La Bamba. Mixed into the video cycle are live images of the waiting audience (in the manner of a closed-circuit security system) and two brief comical sketches of "customers" running afoul of Cyberdyne security – either being electrocuted by a security device or being arrested by security staff. Just before entering the pre-show auditorium, guests pass an unmanned kiosk where they pick up a pair of "safety visors" (which are polarized 3D glasses)[7] for use during the main show.

Pre-show

The pre-show room

The pre-show is hosted in the "Miles Bennett Dyson Memorial Auditorium" by Kimberley Duncan and other Cyberdyne Systems Directors of Community Relations and Media Control. Here, the audience stands and views a promotional video about Cyberdyne's numerous technological innovations, which includes several references to the Terminator universe. The pre-show was updated in 2015[15] to include video footage that is more about the future, as the previous preshow was very outdated and showed a "future" where almost all of the futuristic technologies already existed in current day 2015. However, footage from the old pre-show, like the parts with John and Sarah Connor interrupting the presentation to warn the guests, remain.

Main show

Guests are ushered from the pre-show auditorium into a large theater that seats 700 where they are to see a demonstration of Cyberdyne's newest creation, robotic soldiers called T-70 Terminators. Once guests are seated, they put on their "safety visors" to watch a demonstration of the Terminators in action. However, John and Sarah arrive and disrupt the proceedings, followed by a T-1000 Terminator from the future (its appearance as the helicopter pilot), whom they engage with automatic-weapons. Kimberley Duncan is killed by the T-1000 while attempting to stop it. A second Terminator, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, bursts through the movie screen "time portal" on his signature Harley-Davidson motorcycle – via actual actor/stunt double riding into auditorium – to rescue John. He takes John back through the portal and into the future war between humans and machines, with the T-1000 in pursuit. After defeating it, John and the Terminator make their way across the war ravaged landscape as they head towards Skynet. Along the way, they are chased by a Flying Hunter-Killer, four mini Hunter-Killers, and a Terminator endoskeleton.[16][17]

The duo successfully penetrate and descend with the audience into the Skynet core, where they battle the "T-1000000", a giant liquid-metal spider-like construct similar to a very large T-1000. The Terminator finally sends John back to the present while he stays behind to blow up Skynet and the T-1000000. Water is squirted from the ceiling onto the riders. The show ends with the ground-shaking destruction of Skynet, leaving Sarah and John alone in the present time once again. During the explosion, the seats of the auditorium lurch with a sudden drop, giving guests a final scare. Sarah finishes the show by saying that she feels that she owes her life to the Terminator for saving John's life. During this narration, a terminator endoskeleton's face fills the screen, which morphs into Schwarzenegger's face before the film fades to black, during which John and Sarah mysteriously disappear.[16][17]

Production

T-1000000
T-70
Two new Terminator characters were created for the attraction: T-1000000 (top) and T-70 (bottom).

The initial planning for T2 3-D: Battle Across Time began in the early 1990s. Jay Stein, Universal Parks & Resorts' Chairman and CEO at the time, asked Gary Goddard and his team at Landmark Entertainment to develop a stunt show based around the Terminator franchise. Goodard sought permission from MCA Planning and Development (later Universal Creative) to morph this concept into a theater-based presentation featuring a 3-D film, live action and pyrotechnics. After a year-and-a-half of development, MCA Planning and Development and Landmark Entertainment approached James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment for ultimate approval. Although Cameron was originally against the idea of Universal taking his Terminator franchise and converting it into a ride, he found the storyboards and the whole concept to be "great", so the project was green-lit.[1]

A full-scale mock-up duplicating the dimensions of the planned Florida venue was created in an airplane hangar at the Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley.[17] The set consists of a stage surrounded by a triptych of adjoined silver screens.[4] Each of these three screens measured 23 by 50 feet (7.0 by 15.2 m).[17] A total of six Iwerks projectors[18] were used to run the 3-D, 70mm film simultaneously at 30 frames per second.[17] Several elements of T2 3-D: Battle Across Time have been patented by Universal, including the seat drop effect, the blending of live action and film, the trio of projection screens, and the simulated assault weapons.[19][20][21][22]

The film was shot at the abandoned Eagle Mountain iron ore mine, just north of Desert Center in California.[17][23] The cast and crew from the first two Terminator films returned for the shoot, including Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Robert Patrick as T-1000, and Edward Furlong as John Connor.[5][7] To achieve the 3-D effect on a 70mm projected film, a two-camera rig weighing 450 pounds (200 kg) was used.[17]

As a sequel to the 1991 film, T2 3-D: Battle Across Time introduced two new Terminator characters. The first is the Cyberdyne's latest invention, the T-1000000.[24] It is a large spider-like[24] version of the T-1000 that defends Skynet's CPU from attack. Like the T-1000, it is made of mimetic polyalloy, allowing it to form its legs into stabbing weapons. The only known T-1000000 was destroyed when Skynet's core was destroyed.

The demonstration featured as the premise for the film involves several large practical effects robots called T-70s, designed as mechanical soldiers, with large miniguns on their arms. They are the earliest terminator models shown to have a humanoid form with arms and legs, and are a direct predecessor to Schwarzenegger's T-800. The T-70s stand 8 feet (2.4 m) tall and line the walls of the arena.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Cost of the venue only
  2. ↑ Cost of the film only

References

  1. 1 2 Goddard, Gary. "Gary Goddard Q&A" (Interview). JamesCameronOnline. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Terminator 2: 3D". Universal Studios Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Brien, Tim (May 17, 1999). "New family rides add plenty of capacity". Amusement Business. 111 (20): 17–20.
  4. 1 2 The Making of Terminator 2: 3D. Universal City, California: Zaloom Mayfield Productions. 2000.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "King of the World: The Complete Works of James Cameron". Total Film (special supplement). London UK: Future Publishing Ltd (January 2010 (pub. Dec 2009)).
  6. ↑ Lancaster, Kurt (January 1, 1999). Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments with Interactive and Virtual Environments. McFarland. ISBN 0786406348.
  7. 1 2 3 Boyar, Jay (May 10, 1996). "'3-d' Is A True Continuation, Not A Rehash". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ Huijs, Maurice J.R. (2001). "Terminator 2 3D Timeline". Hope Of The Future. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Tim. "Universal Studios Japan will break ground Oct. 28; set to open in 2001". Amusement Business. 110 (42): 34.
  10. ↑ O'Brien, Tim (December 27, 1999). "Top North American parks set new attendance mark". Amusement Business. 111 (51): 3.
  11. ↑ "Universal Japan tickets on sale; to cost $47.91". Amusement Business. 113 (6): 17. February 12, 2001.
  12. ↑ Emmons, Natasha (March 5, 2001). "No expense spared to wow locals with park attractions". Amusement Business. 113 (9): 18.
  13. ↑ Painter, Alysia Gray (March 12, 2013). "Universal Studios Announces "Despicable Me" Attraction". NBC Southern California. NBCUniversal. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Universal Studios Hollywood Announces New Details Regarding Plans for Highly Anticipated "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem" Attraction" (Press release). Universal Studios Hollywood. June 11, 2013.
  15. ↑ Dougherty, Andrew. "New T-2 3D Pre-Show". Theme Park Insider. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Shenot, Christine (May 10, 1996). "The Terminator Hits Town". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Heuring, David (1996). "T2:3D Will Debut at Universal Studios Florida". On Production. Variety.
  18. ↑ Zoltak, James (March 1, 2004). "In My Office: Bob Chambers". Amusement Business. 116 (9): 2.
  19. ↑ US patent 5829201, Schelter, James & Masi, Frank, "Theater with seat and wheelchair platform movement", published November 3, 1998, assigned to Universal Studios
  20. ↑ US patent 5833544, Corbin et al., "Film and live action theater", published November 10, 1998, assigned to Universal Studios
  21. ↑ US patent 5964064, Goddard, Gary & Bezark, Adam, "Theater with multiple screen three dimensional film projection system", published October 12, 1999, assigned to Universal Studios
  22. ↑ US patent 6099316, Levy et al., "Simulated assault weapon", published August 8, 2000, assigned to Universal Studios
  23. ↑ Shenot, Christine (March 18, 1996). "Terminator Will Be Back – Ride To Debut In Spring". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  24. 1 2 Boyar, Jay (April 29, 1996). "He's Back, With Shaq, In '3-d'". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
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