1995 vs 1994
Many home media covers and many resources found across the internet ascertain that TTerminator 2: Judgment Day is set in the year 1995. Despite these claims, there is only one piece of evidence in the whole of Terminator 2: Judgment Day that infers that the "present-day" part of the movie is set in 1995.
1995 Evidence #1
[Source - Terminator 2: Judgment Day]
Taken from the scene where the T-1000 queries John Connor in the laptop computer found in the LAPD patrol car it acquires shortly after arriving via a chrono-sphere, the above screen capture clearly states that John is 10 years old, which would, therefore, suggest that the "present-day" part of the movie is set in 1995. However, this and subsequent screen captures of the patrol cars computer were not mentioned in the revised final shooting script and were likely added to the movie in post-production to show how the T-1000 discovered John's address. Although the date of birth shown - February 28th, 1985 is chronologically in line with Johns alleged conception, of May 13th, 1984, the above image is the only evidence found within the movie supporting it to be set in 1995.
Conversely, found throughout Terminator 2: Judgment Day there are many pieces of evidence that state that the "present-day" part of the movie is actually set in 1994.
1994 Evidence #1
John - "Who sent you?"
Terminator - "You did. Thirty-five years from now you reprogrammed me to be your protector here, in this time."[Source - Terminator 2: Judgment Day]
The first piece of evidence comes from the reprogrammed Terminator, shortly after he rescues John from the T-1000 in the flood tunnels. The reprogrammed Terminator states that it was sent back in time 35 years from the present date. The reprogrammed Terminator is known to have been sent back in time from July 11th, 2029 (see July 11th, 2029 below). Thirty-five years before 2029 would place the "present-day" part of the movie in 1994.
1994 Evidence #2
Terminator - "In three years, Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned. Afterward, they fly with a perfect operational record. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes online August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14am Eastern Time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."[Source - Terminator 2: Judgment Day]
The second piece of evidence supporting the movie is set in 1994 again comes, again, from the reprogrammed Terminator, this time while driving the station wagon towards Salceda Ranch. In this scene, the Terminator relates to Sarah and John that Judgment Day will occur in three years. Three years before 1997 would again place the "present-day" part of the movie in 1994.
1994 Evidence #3
Doctor Silberman - "This next patient is interesting, I have been following her case for years. 29 year old female diagnosed with acute schizoaffective disorder. Usual indicators; depression, anxiety, violent acting out, delusions of persecution. The delusional architecture is fairly unique. She believes that a machine called a Terminator, which looks human of course, was sent back through time to kill her. And also that the father of her child was a soldier sent to protect her, and he was from the future too, the year 2029 if I remember correctly."[Source - Terminator 2: Judgment Day]
The third piece of evidence supporting the movie is set in 1994 comes from Doctor Silberman, in the scene where he is introducing interns at the Pescadero State Hospital to Sarah Connor. In The Terminator (set in 1984), Sarah is described as a 19-year-old young woman, therefore ten years later in 1994, she would be ten years older at 29, as Silberman states.
1994 Evidence #4
The fourth piece of evidence supporting 1994 as the date for the present-day scenes in Terminator 2: Judgment Day can also be found in one of the movie's pre-release teasers. In the teaser in question, which shows a T-800 endoskeleton being assembled, the following text is shown...
Ten years ago they sent a machine from the future to kill Sarah Connor... They failed. Now, they have a new target the future leader of the resistance her son, John...
A fifth piece of evidence that also suggests Terminator 2: Judgment Day was set in 1994, however, to identify the evidence one must look to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. This evidence comes in the form of a pattern. The Terminator is confirmed to take place in May 1984, with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines taking place in July 2004. If, as highlighted in the Complete Chronology, Terminator 2: Judgment Day occurred in June 1994, this would mean that there is a 121 (10 years, 1 month) month period between each time incursion.
Another, sixth piece of evidence can also be found in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, in the scene where the T-850 takes John Connor and Kate Brewster to the Green Lawns Cemetery to where John's mother, Sarah Connors remains supposedly reside. After the T-850 reveals the coffin to actually be a cache of weapons we get the following exchange between John and Kate:
Kate Brewster - "What happened to her?"
John Connor - "Leukemia."
Kate Brewster - "I'm sorry."
John Connor - "We were in Baja when she was diagnosed. They only gave her six months, but she fought for three years. Long enough to make sure."[Source - Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines]
According to the plaque on Sarah Connor's grave, and John Connor's dialogue in this scene, Sarah died in 1997. John states she fought for three years after being diagnosed, meaning she was diagnosed in 1994. If Terminator 2: Judgment Day was set in 1995, Sarah would have been diagnosed before the events of the movie and as such her leukaemia would have been a factor in her care at Pescadero State Hospital. However, if Terminator 2: Judgment Day was set in 1994, Sarah would have been diagnosed following the events of the movie, as inferred in this scene.
Because the first two pieces of evidence showing that the present-day scenes of Terminator 2: Judgment Day were set in 1994 identified above were written into the script by creator James Cameron and his co-writer William Wisher Jr. and survived through the process of filming and editing the movie, and because there is more evidence for the "present-day" part of the movie being set in 1994, references to the events depicted in Terminator 2: Judgment Day on this website will, therefore, state the year of these events to be 1994, not 1995.
John Connors Heritage
It is commonly believed by fans, and heavily inferred in the Terminator movies that John Connor's father was Sergeant Kyle Reese, of the Human Resistance unit Tech Comm who was sent back in time to May 12th, 1984 to protect Sarah Connor from termination. However, it is possible, though highly unlikely that John's father may actually be Stan Morsky, the lawyer who phoned Sarah Connor on May 12th, 1984 to cancel their date for that night. It is inferred, though not outright stated that Morsky (voiced by director James Cameron) and Sarah may have been dating for some time prior to the events of May 12th, leading to the possibility that Sarah may have already been pregnant by Morsky before her fateful meeting with Kyle Reese in the Tech-Noir nightclub.
The reason for such ambiguity regards John Connor's parentage ultimately comes from the following exchange in The Terminator, between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese after they have escaped the West Highland Police Station...
John Connors Heritage Evidence #1
Sarah Connor - "I don't suppose you know who the father is, so I don't tell him to get lost when I meet him?"
Kyle Reese - "John never said much about him. I know he dies before the 'war'-"
Sarah Connor - "Wait I don't wanna know."
[Source - The Terminator]
Later, on May 13th, while hiding in the Tiki Motel Sarah and Kyle have sexual intercourse, and in the early hours of May 14th, while battling against the series 800 Terminator sent back through time to terminate Sarah, Kyle dies. Together these occurrences infer, though do not state that Kyle is John's father. However, if Sarah was already pregnant by Morsky before meeting Kyle and if Morsky died before the "war" (Judgment Day), it is possible he may have been John's father all along.
There is also another unprovable theory that John may have existed in the first timeline (see Preliminary Timelines) with Morsky as his father, with all subsequent iterations of the timeline having Kyle Reese as John's father.
However in the closing moments of The Terminator while recording onto audio-tape her experiences and knowledge for her unborn son, a six month pregnant Sarah state's the following...
John Connors Heritage Evidence #2
Sarah Connor - "Should I tell you about your father? Boy, that's a tough one. Will it affect your decision to send him here, knowing that he is your father? If you don't send Kyle you can never be? God, a person could go crazy thinking about this. I suppose I will tell you, I owe him that. Maybe it'll help if you knew that in the few hours we had together, we loved a lifetime's worth."
[Source - The Terminator]
In the above statement, Sarah seems confident that Kyle Reese is, in fact, John's father, heavily suggesting there is no possibility that Stan Morsky could be, suggesting that either she and Morsky had not had sexual relations before May 12th, 1984, or that prior to meeting Kyle Reese Sarah could have been a virgin.
Therefore, because of Sarah's determination that Kyle Reese is John's father all inferences and references to John's parentage found on this website will refer to Kyle Reese as John Connor's father.
Kyle Reese's Birthdate
As mentioned in the Complete Chronology the 5th draft script for The Terminator claims that Kyle Reese was 26 years old when he was sent back in time from 2029, inferring that he was born (if using Michael Biehn's birthdate of July 31st into account) in 2002.
In both Terminator Salvation (set in 2018) and Terminator Genisys (set in 2017), Kyle Reese is portrayed as a teenager by (the late) Anton Yelchin and Bryant Prince, respectively. These depictions support the aforementioned script reference to Reese's age.
However, in The Terminator Reese states that he was born before Judgment Day (which he refers to as 'the war') and grew up after it. According to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Reese told Sarah Connor that Judgment Day occurred on August 29th, 1997, which would infer that Reese was born (at the very latest) in 1996. However, if this was the case then this would mean that in 2017/18 Reese would have been in his early twenties, and in his early/mid-thirties when he was sent back in time from 2029.
Skynet's Origins
One of the inconsistencies found throughout the Terminator movie franchise relates to the technology that evolves into the artificial intelligence antagonist of the franchise; Skynet. In a deleted scene from The Terminator Kyle Reese relates to Sarah that Skynet was developed from a technology called "molecular memory", yet in its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day it is inferred that Skynet would have been developed as a form of Neural Network technology, based upon Miles Bennett Dyson's reverse engineering of the damaged Neural Network Processor from the Terminator that was sent back in time to 1984 to terminate Sarah Connor.
Although no longer considered canon, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines inferred that Skynet was a computer program, which unlike previous incarnations of the AI antagonist could not be shut down or turned off. This concept was taken further with Terminator: Genisys, were Skynet was revealed to be another form of a program called an application. The reason for the ever-changing description of Skynet's origins comes from the inevitable contamination of the timeline from repeated incursions from the future, as well as the evolution of real-world technologies.
The Skynet from the timeline that Kyle Reese and the Terminator originated from was likely developed using "molecular memory", but the Terminators presence in the timeline would have, if not stopped by Miles Bennet Dyson's sacrifice in 1994, led to Skynet being developed from the reverse engineering of its damaged Neural Network Processor. As a result of Dyson's sacrifice, his team could no longer reproduce the same AI, and after being merged with CRS (Cyber Research Systems), the team's work into AI was redirected away from that of a super-computer and toward that of a computer program.
July 24th, 2004
As with Terminator 2: Judgment Day there is no on-screen text confirming the date of which the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines occur, there is evidence of the date in question in the actual movie, although in all fairness the evidence can be easily missed. This can be seen from the POV (Point of View) of the series 850 Terminator immediately after it has acquired clothes. This scene also relates that the T-850 (and by extension the T-X) was sent back in time from October 28th, 2033.
2004, Evidence #1
July 11th, 2029
The Future War scenes shown in the first two Terminator movies are shown to be set in "Los Angeles 2029". Yet the opening scene from Terminator 2: Judgment Day is in actuality set on July 11th, 2029. Although this date is not shown anywhere in any edition of the movie, the date is sourced from the revised final shooting script for the movie in relation to the Future War and Future Coda scenes, the latter of which is included in the Ultimate Edition DVD of the movie. The script, available courtesy of ScreenplayDB shows that both of the aforementioned scenes share the same date, with the latter scene intended to have replaced the former as a result of the events depicted in the movie.
It is also shown in an earlier draft of the script that an omitted scene, chronicled on Hope for the Future, and included in an earlier draft of the script dated 05/10/90, was to include extra scenes showing Kyle Reese being sent back to 1984. However in this earlier draft of the script the date of the future war scenes was August 11th, 2029.
Because the July 11th, 2029 date was used in the revised final shooting script, which was the script used for making the movie its date is included in relation to the associated scenes mentioned above in all of the timelines.
