Hear My Eyes - Terminator 2: Judgment Day, at Hamer Hall

When Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released 35 years ago, it was a movie well ahead of its time.

Its special effects were awesome.

Even looking at it now, it measures up well.

Those scenes of transformative liquid metal continue to impress.

Photos by Simon Aubor

And with the emergence of all powerful AI in recent years, the film’s backbone – man vs machine (humans at war with Skynet) – is particularly salient.

And remember, the opening scene had a location and date stamp of Los Angeles in 2029.

Notwithstanding the combative nature of US politics, I hope that three years from now the City of Angels won’t be looking like the wasteland depicted in the picture.

Hear My Eyes’ mantra is to sonically reframe classic cinematic works.

It does so by inviting contemporary musicians to compose new scores and perform them in grand concert halls and historic theatres.

It is a treatment that has been given to 22 features and six shorts, involving 43 artists, over a decade.

With T2, the lead composer and performer is Belgian electronic music producer, sound designer and engineer Peter Van Hoesen.

He is one of seven who operates from behind a desk, under the giant cinema screen where the movie is shown.

While respectful of the original score by Brad Fiedel, he brings his own brand of electronica to bear.

Before the movie itself kicks off, we are given a five-minute laser light show. Then lasers sync with the film, enhancing the viewing experience. 

The man responsible is Australian audiovisual artist Robin Fox, who works across live performance, exhibitions, public art and composition for contemporary dance.

Robin is the founding director of MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio).

Lest you think that he and his team have simply created a laser light show that is pretty to look at, it is also dramatic and, at one point, comedic.

The stage design is also worthy of mention.

Jackson Dickie has taken the shape-shifting that is the X-factor for the villain of the piece, the T-1000 robot as realised by Robert Patrick, and turned it into furniture.

It takes the form of a nine-metre-long liquid metal-like desk that ties in wonderfully with the movie, behind which the operators sit.

So, how does the whole “project”, a crossover between a live concert and a 4K film screening, under the artistic direction of Haydn Green, come together?

Overall, it stacks up well as an enhanced experience of a movie I have always thoroughly enjoyed watching.

On a few occasions I thought the electronic sounds overwhelmed the dialogue and the laser lights distracted me from concentrating on what was happening on screen. 

But they were the exception. The overwhelmimg feel was one of giving Terminator 2: Judgment Day even more bite … and that can only be good.

Hear My Eyes – Terminator 2: Judgment Day is on at Hamer Hall until 28^th February, 2026.

For more details and tickets, go to https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2026/contemporary-music/hear-my-eyes--terminator-2-judgment-day