I watched T2 on VHS (letterbox formatted I remember, so it must have been something special) at my friend's house when I was a little kid.
I didn't get to watch T1 until maybe 10+ years later and I remember it completely underwhelmed me. That's probably because of the order I saw it in and because I didn't grow up with it. There was so much hype and mystique built up from the glimpses and references to it in T2 that it could never have lived up to my imagination.
I do wish however, that I could have experienced T2 in the right order, and not known of the twist that Arnold was going to be the hero this time. Because I didn't watch T2, I didn't feel nor understand Sarah Connor's fear of the Terminator as it walked out of the elevator at the mental hospital.
T2 is a movie that remains amazing because of how it changed culture and informed culture. Everybody has been quoting that movie for 25 years and James Cameron did an amazing thing with how he wrote that film and created so many memorable moments.
If you look at a modern Marvel film, there's nothing to quote. There's nothing to imitate. Hell, there isn't even a coherent theme music to any of them. That's the biggest failing of those films.
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