Michael Biehn‘s Kyle Reese didn’t survive The Terminator (1984), his character heroically sacrificing himself so that Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) could live to fight another day and become the warrior goddess who would change the future and raise the savior of mankind.
Though that wasn’t really the end for the plucky Kyle Reese in the Terminator story, oh no, although James Cameron originally intended for Michael Biehn to feature in an extended future war scene – something which was scrapped due to time and budget constraints – Jim ultimately brought Michael back to the franchise for a cameo in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The role entailed a painfully fleeting, and emotionally draining, dream sequence involving the incarceration of Sarah Connor at the Pescadero mental hospital and her reunion with the love of her life, Kyle.
Sadly the scene was cut from the theatrical release of the movie; making it onto the special edition / director’s cut of the movie instead (for those fans who weren’t quite ready to let the legend of Kyle Reese die) – though it seems that the deleted scene nearly didn’t happen at all, as Michael Biehn apparently overslept and nearly missed it completely…
In an article in science fiction magazine Starlog from 1991, Marc Shapiro wrote:
“Things weren’t quite so pyrotechnic inside an L.A mental hospital a few weeks earlier, where Sarah’s incarceration in – and ultimate escape from – a psycho ward were chronicled. After a frustrating morning where things didn’t go right and Cameron was the picture of a troubled man (often burying his head in his hands like a forlorn Thinker), things have smoothed out during the afternoon dream sequence, in which Sarah is reunited with Reese (Biehn) and chases him down a fog-shrouded hospital corridor.
Marc Shapiro – Starlog
Dressed in a hospital gown, Hamilton is discussing the scene with Cameron while Cinematographer and Terminator veteran Adam Greenberg discusses the logistics of lighting and fog machine intensity at the other end of the hall.
It’s a relatively simple scene: Hamilton runs down the hall in pursuit of Reese. Gauging her speed with the various camera angles converging on her, however, takes a half-dozen rehearsals and several takes before a winded Hamilton is dismissed by Cameron and replaced by Biehn (who forgot he was shooting today and overslept). The actor goes through the same paces in a shot that will be married together in the final film.”
It’s a shame that the hospital dream sequence didn’t make it into the theatrical cut of the movie, though we completely understand that James Cameron had his vision of what would and would not work in the awesome T2 – having said that… we are certainly happy that the scene wasn’t scrapped altogether.
Click the video below for our full read-through of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day segment in Starlog…
Leave a comment…