In James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, what date does the title event refer to?

In James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the title event is dated August 29, 1997.

The date refers to the moment when Skynet becomes self-aware and launches a nuclear attack, beginning the future war between humanity and machines. Sarah Connor has spent years preparing her son John for this catastrophe, while the film’s central mission attempts to prevent it.

The movie changes the expected course of events by having the reprogrammed T-800 protect John Connor and by targeting the technology that will lead to Skynet. The date is a fictional future date within the film’s original timeline, not the movie’s release date. Terminator 2 reached cinemas in 1991, six years before the Judgment Day described in its story.