The Tech Behind Terminator 2: An Oral History of ILM's Liquid Metal Breakthrough

The tech of 'Terminator 2' – an oral history (2017)

I spoke with over a dozen ILM artists who invented the tools to realize the liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2. From coding custom software like Make Sticky to working with early Alias packages, this team overcame limited computing resources to create groundbreaking visual effects. Their journey from The Abyss to T2 reveals the intense collaboration and technical ingenuity that defined a new era in filmmaking.

"I'd point to a page and say, 'Oh, well that looks interesting. How are you going to do that?' And they're like, 'Oh, we don't know yet.'"