Lit by the fireworks of countless explosions and blinking red-alert panels, these two futuristic sequels from director James Cameron look sensational in laserdisc's CAV format, in which crystalline freeze frames and slow motion let you dissect each obsessively detailed shot. (Cameron himself supervised both transfers.) But are these versions worth more than twice the price of the non-CAV videodisc editions also in release?
With T2, you'll feel duped if you shell out the extra bucks. CAV
effects seem useful only in the ''morphing'' scenes, where
Schwarzenegger's robotic rival changes form. And the sole
supplementary-section booty is a making-of documentary that plays
like an extended E! channel trailer. FoxVideo's Aliens, however,
delivers plenty of grainily atmospheric slime for the buck. It
reinserts 17 minutes of scenes trimmed from theatrical prints, and
most of that footage genuinely improves the movie by fleshing out
Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character. There's also a meaty interview
with Cameron and a gallery of ; production photos, script excerpts,
storyboards, and effects explanations, even if all the annotation may
ultimately serve Cameron's ego better than it serves most movie
buffs.
Terminator 2: B
Aliens: B+
