(Scene begins with a smartwatch screen and a finger as it taps the screen, and the 1994 American Gladiators plays as the scene cuts to a hand as it taps an app on his phone, as it opens a portal.)
(It cuts to James and the characters he’s played until it cut to his face and the credit of “James Faraci” is shown as it cuts to “The Last Of The Americans'” current iteration then slides away to different images of Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun and the characters they’ve played until it cut to their faces. The credits of “Paulo and Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca and Nick Yaun” are shown, then slide away to different images of Doug Yaun and Crosslyn Castillo, Nick Lopez and Jessica Lopez-Barkl, and the characters they’ve played, until it cuts to their faces.)
(After that, the credits “Doug Yaun and Crosslyn Castillo, Nick Lopez and Jessica Lopez-Barkl” are shown, as it then slides away to different images of Andrew Beach Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller and Olivia Horvath. Following this, the credits of “Andrew Beach, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Olivia Horvath” are shown as the 0:00-0:21 mark of the theme song plays.)
(Everything becomes a swirl of reds, whites, and blues, as the credits “Produced by First Choice Entertainment Productions in association with Manic-Expression.com"; “Executive Producers: James Faraci, Paulo Fonseca, Brenda Fonseca, Rebecca Yaun, Nick Yaun, Eric Kurtzke, Renee Miller, Andrew Beach & Olivia Horvath”; “Editing by Eric Kurtzke and James Faraci”; “Written and Directed by James Faraci” are shown, as the 0:21-0:26 mark of the theme song plays.)
(We then see an image of James as he jumps through the portal and lands with half of his team on his right. The other half on his left is on a black background. Finally, the title “THE LAST OF THE AMERICANS” is shown Lazer etched into Titanium as the last six seconds of the American Gladiators 1994 theme song plays.)
(Cut to James in his office)
TLOTA:
I’m James Faraci The Last Of The Americans, the views I’m about to express are that of my own and some of yours. And it’s time once again for another “American Icon” (Cut to Guitar music like “American Idiot” plays as James Faraci and Paulo Fonseca on guitars, Andrew Beach on Bass Guitar, and Nick Lopez on the Drums and the set is like the set of “American Idiot” except the colors are Patriotically Red, White, and Blue)
James Faraci (Singing):
All year we’re cheering American Icons! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Twelve months of heroes of Cinema! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) From John Wayne to Rocky Balboa (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Oh, hell yeah, we’re talking about them all! (The tune continues) [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me that’s good enough! (Drums play and the music continues.) We’re going to show off the hard work! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Even if it makes me look like a real jerk. (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) Now everyone get ready to celebrate with us! (Guitars play the tune for three seconds.) And make sure you have a dose of common sense. (The tune continues) [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me that’s good enough! (Drums play and the music continues with a guitar solo.) All year we’re cheering American Icons! Twelve months of heroes of Cinema! Information about them will be a lot, you’re going to know whether you like or not [Chorus] Welcome to the two hundred and fiftieth, hoping we’ll see two fifty-one! And we can finally be Okay! Humans dream of a better tomorrow, knowing it won’t be hollow! For me, that’s good enough! (Drums play, and the music continues and concludes, and the words “American Icons” are put up in different styles of text. The scene cuts to James physically.)
TLOTA:
And guess what, this is an American Cinematic Icon that has had multiple cuts, so here we go once again with “The Different Cuts.”
(Whistling version “The Lumberjack Song” is heard as the scene cuts to Team TLOTA dressed as Lumberjacks see a gigantic piece of film celluloid and James chops it down and the other members cut it to different lengths and on the ends sticking out of the back of the truck the words “The Different Cuts” are seen in differing syllables. as it cuts to clips of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” and James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” it is an amazing technological achievement in American Cinema. It remains a high point in the careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was able to tell a great continuation of the 1984 classic. It also started the long-lasting career of Character Actor Robert Patrick. But even though it is an amazing achievement in technology in Cinema, there are more cuts of this movie since it came out on so many different physical media formats. But the one everyone seems to like the best is called “The Ultimate Edition,” which has been seen as the best of the different cuts, even better than the theatrical cut. So today we’re going to see if the Theatrical cut can hold its own against The Ultimate edition. (Cut to James physically.)
TLOTA:
Let’s see who gets the first point when we talk about the Plot (Cut to the fires of Terminator 2 and the T-800 endoskeleton as it comes to the screen as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel plays and the word “The Plot” appears as it slam cuts to footage of Terminator 2 Judgment Day as James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
Set twelve years after the day that Sarah Conner had to take on the T-800 Terminator, her son John has reached a turning point in his life and is now having to take on a more advanced version of Terminator, the T-1000. However, the resistance to Skynet has sent someone who is meant to protect John and, in a twist, it’s a reprogrammed T-800, the same type of Terminator that hunted Sarah and killed Kyle Reese. Not helping is that Sarah Connor is now doing time in a mental facility, which was working on the beginning of a computer program that would be the genesis of Skynet, and Sarah is also a target for the T-1000 as well. And one of the themes of this movie is dealing with the issues of the trauma we all suffer when we have moments that scare us, and how far we suffer, and what we must do to get past our issues while trying to stop the genesis of a computer program that could ultimately destroy all of mankind. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
And while the plot still holds up and feels relevant today, the question is; Which cut works with the plot better? (Cut to footage of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (V.O.):
Honestly, all of these categories are going to be close calls, no question about it. And when it comes to the plot, the theatrical version feels a lot more focused on the characters, the development, and the story closely. The ultimate version seems to throw everything and the kitchen sink in the plot, and it feels like the plot takes it all in and delivers it no problems. So, in this case, there is a tie. (Cut to James Physically)
TLOTA:
So in the first of many cases in this movie, we have a tie. (Cut to the movie covers over a metal background with a line under both covers as both have a metal skull of the T-800 as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel plays. Cut to James physically.)
TLOTA:
And now, we move on to the biggest category, which might be the category that could prove the final decision as to which cut is the best. The Editing
(Cut to the fires of Terminator 2 and the T-800 endoskeleton as it comes to the screen as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel and the word “Editing” appears as it slam cuts to footage of Terminator 2 Judgment Day as James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
When it comes to the theatrical cut, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” it has its focus on the story of how Sarah must overcome her mental issues, the reformed T-800 to protect John Connor from the T-1000, and the stopping of Skynet, and it is very solidly performed. In the Ultimate Edition, the expansion of the scenes doesn’t hurt the progression of the plot, but some moments add more depth to the movie. However, some moments were not put into either version. For example, there’s a scene of Sarah getting the crap beaten out of her by the staff at the hospital, a scene involving the CPU of the T-800, a scene in which, after reforming, the T-1000 malfunctions, and a scene of the return of Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese to tell her to keep fighting, and a controversial different ending. I say it’s controversial because it could’ve ended the franchise right then and there. We find Sarah fully recovered from her issues; John is a US Senator and has a daughter, and the world is not an apocalyptic nightmare. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
If James Cameron had stuck with the alternate ending, then that would have ended everything on a good note, and it would have ended the right then and there. But the ending we got does have its merits without having it being shown. But which cut is the better one? (Cut to footage of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (V.O.):
I can honestly say that the Theatrical Cut is better because, for all the added moments, The Ultimate Cut has moments that we like. I have to admit that the Theatrical cut is better because it’s more enjoyable. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
So for now, the theatrical cut is ahead two to one.
(Cut to the movie covers over a metal background with a line under both covers as the Theatrical Cut has two metal skull of the T-800 and the Ultimate Cut has one metal skull of the T-800 as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel plays. Cut to James physically.)
TLOTA:
Of course, effects and editing are essential, but you still need actors to play the characters, so let’s see which cut uses the characters to their best performances
(Cut to the fires of Terminator 2 and the T-800 endoskeleton as it comes to the screen as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel and the word “Cast and Characters” appear as it slam cuts to footage of Terminator 2 Judgment Day as James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
Both cuts of this movie have a great cast. Arnold Schwarzenegger was at his peak. He wanted to show his character now as a hero, partly because of parent groups and partly because he became a parent at that time and wanted his kids to see a friendlier Terminator T-800. We also get a great performance as Sarah Connor, who must go through a point where she must fight for her sanity. Edward Furlong convincingly plays John Connor, who must grow up from the disenfranchised kid he is and come to terms with everything, and this was his big role. Next up, we have Robert Patrick as the T-1000, and the fact that the T-1000 is a police officer is a sign for anyone like John that not even the police are not going to keep you safe from me, kid. Then we come to Joe Morton’s Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson, who discovers that the technology he’s developing will now lead to the rise of Skynet. It’s solid performances from everyone all around. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
So again, we have tied, but the theatrical cut is up to three. Why is that? (Cut to footage of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (V.O.):
I think it has to do with the fact that both cuts have shown the development from either where they were at the end of the first movie or from the first act with the likes of John Connor, the reprogrammed T-800, and Myles Bennett Dyson. Both cuts are so good that anything that should’ve been said has been said about the performances. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
Though we’ve tied in this category, again, the Theatrical Cut has three, and the Ultimate Cut has two
(Cut to the movie covers over a metal background with a line under both covers as the Theatrical Cut has three metal skulls of the T-800 and the Ultimate Cut has two metal skulls of the T-800 as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel plays. Cut to James physically.)
TLOTA:
And now for the ultimate decider, which one has more re-watchability
(Cut to the fires of Terminator 2 and the T-800 endoskeleton as it comes to the screen as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel and the word “The Re-Watch Factor” appear as it slam cuts to footage of Terminator 2 Judgment Day as James does a voiceover.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
Both cuts have re-watch ability and I do enjoy both cuts, You can tell that in every scene that James Cameron has a great idea, no matter which cut it is, his is a vision that cannot be denied and everything worked in both cuts, if the theatrical cut is on, I will check it out, if the Ultimate Cut is on, I will check it out. Both are so good that I can’t decide and won’t decide, so as I had predicted, this category ends in a tie. Because both are great, however, ultimately, the Ultimate Cut is not the best cut, and the theatrical cut is, for all intents and purposes, the better cut, just by the fact that it didn’t need to show how Sarah Connor is mistreated by the Insane Asylum though I wished that they had left Kyle Reese’s cameo in the Theatrical cut. However, both cuts are awesome, but by a thin margin, the theatrical cut is great. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
And with this, I can call the theatrical cut the superior cut of Terminator 2: Judgement Day
(Cut to the movie covers over a metal background with a line under both covers as the Theatrical Cut has four metal skulls of the T-800 and the Ultimate Cut has three metal skulls of the T-800 as the infamous beat from Brad Fiedel plays. Cut to the moment in which the T-800 pulls out a gun and says “Hasta La Vista, Baby” and fired destroying the Ultimate Cut of Terminator 2 Cut to James physically.)
TLOTA: Now, as for the sequels, I think they all had good ideas, but if I could play Devil’s Advocate, I could connect the right plot points to make something that could do what the others were trying to do. I am more than willing to try it soon. Maybe next week, I’m James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and That’s My Opinion.
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