Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Belgian electronic musician Peter van Hoesen and the MESS Synthesiser Ensemble performed a new live score to Terminator 2: Judgement Day at Hamer Hall.
Given our present-day geopolitical and technological reality, James Cameron’s 1991 sci-fi was a fitting choice for the latest edition of Hear My Eyes. Amid AI’s relentless march towards sentience, we also find ourselves at a time of heightened nuclear anxiety, with the Doomsday Clock recently moving forward by 5 seconds. The Terminator franchise is very much a product of the latter Cold War era. To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger (as T-800) on humankind: “It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves”. Grim, huh?
A Robin Fox laser show and a sparse industrial soundscape set the tone for the evening. Peter van Hoesen and the MESS Ensemble performed from behind a large podium that resembled liquid metal (of course). They first hit full flight during the film’s opening credits with a work of taut, industrial techno evocative of riding out the apocalypse at Sub Club; probably not a terrible idea.
Photograph by Simon Aubor
As with previous iterations of Hear My Eyes, the music served to augment rather than overshadow the film, ebbing and flowing as needed. Lasers punctuated key moments, such as gunshots, throughout. The slinky, propulsive track played during Sarah Connor’s jailbreak scene was one of many highlights, while the cacophonous final crescendo of synths and mechanical noises excellently underscored the action of the film’s finale.
The film screening with live score format is a very, very good one, and there should be more of it. By connecting van Hoesen with MESS and Fox, the Hear My Eyes team have pulled off their most ambitious project to date, and given their audience a one of a kind experience.
Is Terminator 2: Judgement Day the greatest action movie of all time? Its pairing with van Hoesen’s live score certainly made a persuasive argument.
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