It took 7 long years prior to director James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger went back to “The Terminator” for 1991’s “Judgment Day.” The wait was rewarding; it is perhaps one of the finest sequels ever made. Everything in the follow-up was bigger and badder, and in an audio commentary, author William Wisher joked that the opening scene “cost as much as the whole first movie.”
The scene begins in modern-day Los Angeles– vehicles on a highway, followed by children enjoying a playground– before the sunny day is eclipsed by a hellish future darkness, revealing it all burned to a crisp, as we find out of a nuclear fire that killed three billions lives in 1997. The ensuing nightmarish war versus the machines was called “Judgment Day,” and the battle still raves on in 2029, in an unforgettable prelude which includes a first time on-screen look by the leader of the resistance: Sarah Connor’s boy, John.
“I constantly really loved this series– as little as it remains in the general context of the film,” Wisher states in the film’s audio commentary. “To be able to see John Connor … was actually essential, because it makes him real.”
An alternate ending to the film, which was never used, would have acted as the best bookend to that outstanding opening scene. It’s a utopian time, with “the dark future that never ever came,” and while Sarah Connor lives with understanding of the scary of what might have been, she is still able to delight in a bit of peace enjoying her boy and granddaughter live and be free … on a playground.
Source: https://www.looper.com/958599/the-best-opening-scenes-in-90s-movies/