I have been to my fair share of film concerts over the years. Mostly with the score performed by a live symphony orchestra. But never have I experienced a film concert where the original score is thrown out and a brand-new, live score, is performed with the film played on a screen.
The film, the legendary iconic classic celebrating its 35th anniversary – Terminator 2: Judgement Day. This unique experience is brought to us by Melbourne’s Hear My Eyes and was hosted at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall.
Hear My Eyes has been reimagining film scores for a decade and this latest curated piece features Belgian electronic musician Peter Van Hoesen, with the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) Synthesiser Ensemble. Accompanying the unique music experience is a laser show created by Robin Fox that lit up Hamer Hall as the film was played.
To say I was curious about this experience would be an understatement. I adore T2 as a film, it is easily one of my favourites and is a movie that I can watch over and over again. To hear it with a new score is something I never thought I’d get to experience. However, the experience fell short and left me indifferent about what Hear My Eyes was trying to achieve.
For those that have never seen Terminator 2: Judgment Day, firstly, how dare you! Secondly, it is a 90s classic and a film that cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger as the biggest action star on the planet. Directed by James Cameron, T2 follows on from the events of The Terminator (1984) where a killer cyborg known as a Terminator, is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The reason, to prevent her from giving birth to a child, John Connor, that would grow up to become the leader of the human resistance in the fight against the machines.
Now, in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, there is a new threat, but this time it is against John Connor (Edward Furlong). John is just a teenager, but he is still on the path to lead the resistance. In a secondary effort to stop him, a new Terminator known as the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is sent back in time by the machines to kill him. But future John Connor sent back his own Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to protect his younger self. The result, a hero vs villain action film that has become a cult classic and arguably one of the best science fiction action films of all time.
The original score for this film was produced by Brad Fiedel. An electronic and industrial masterpiece that is filled with synthesisers and metallic percussion. Mixing the themes of friend and foe to create a score that feels apocalyptic and heroic at the same time. This score is fantastic, and I was curious to see how Hear My Eyes would reimagine it.
Walking into Hamer Hall, the stage was dimly lit with a large, liquid-metal like desk upon the stage. On the screen, a visual that also resembled liquid metal was being displayed. The pre-show music was what I could best describe as low-fi industrial. There were also red lasers shooting around the stage.
Eventually, the film was about to begin, and Peter Van Hoesen stepped onto stage. Approaching centre of the desk, Van Hoesen began to play his electronic score. Although his arrival garnered a resounding applause from the audience, the overture went on for far longer than I had hoped. Then, the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) also entered the stage, taking place at their own stations and continued with more of the overture. I would like to say I knew what they were each performing with, but I couldn’t see anything. Even from my Dress Circle vantage point, all I could make out was a set of synth keys and that was about it.
Eventually, the film began, and the packed Hamer Hall once again applauded. As soon as the future war against the machine’s scene began, so did the lasers. It was impressive, seeing bright, blue lasers, shoot out into the venue as the machines and humans fired their own laser weapons at each other. But as the concert experience continued, the spectacle grew old and became more of a distraction than an enhancement. Yes, there are some great moments where the lasers were used. Although overall, we could have easily done without them.
The music itself was mostly great. I appreciated the new themes the digital ensemble had created for Robert Patrick‘s character the T-1000. Swelling tones that slowly faded out as his liquid form took shape was very clever. I also liked the hard beats during the chase scenes that had me bopping along, which heightened the excitement and thrill of the chase unfolding on the screen. However, at times, it was hard to hear the new score over the film.
You know when something is so loud that it becomes hard to understand? Well, sadly, this was the case for the film portion of this experience. The mix was way too high for the film and not enough for the music. Dialogue was hard to understand because of how loud it was, and the action scenes were even louder again.
Film concerts should be all about the music and the film somewhat takes a backseat. But with this new Hear My Eyes experience, I feel they tried to balance it a little too much. Bringing the film and music levels up to match each other. It would have been much more enjoyable if the film was at a lower volume to what the musicians were creating. It sadly made the all-original score forgettable.
Another thing that would have made the event more enjoyable would be the ability to see what they were doing as they created this live score. Sitting in the dark, sometimes illuminated by lasers, they could just as well be sitting there doing nothing. It’s not like we could see. I know damn well they were all creating some incredible music, I just wish I would have been able to visualise how these tones came to be.
I can see why people enjoy these Hear My Eyes experiences and there were people that I heard at intermission talking on how much fun they were having. At the same time, I heard others talk of how loud it all was. So, there is definitely an audience for this kind of film concert, just not for me.
I left Hamer Hall with mixed feelings. On one hand, I enjoyed seeing Terminator 2: Judgement Day again with a whole new score in this Hear My Eyes experience that I understand is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. On the other hand, the vibe of the concert just didn’t hit right. Which is a real shame, because I can see the potential of something that could be incredible.
Hear My Eyes x Terminator 2: Judgement Day is currently on at at Art Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall until Sunday the 1st of March 2026. For the purpose of this review, we attended on Wednesday February 25th.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2026/contemporary-music/hear-my-eyes–terminator-2-judgment-day
https://www.hearmyeyes.com.au/events/terminator-2-judgement-day-a-new-concert-experience
Photography supplied.
