A Quick Breakdown on the Movie Career of Arnold Schwarzenegger: what’s worth seeing, and what you should catch on late-night AMC.

Hercules in New York: Arnold’s first film after already achieving super-stardom in the world of professional bodybuilding. His Austrian accent so thick, in the original theatrical release, his lines were dubbed over by another actor, just so you could understand what he was saying. Later versions restored original indecipherable version, much to the delight of Arnold fanatics everywhere.
This film is so poor, it deserves recognition as being the only true cult-worthy film in Arnold’s arsenal. With later films, studios will recognize his true earning potential and increase production value so that his films actually look like a real movie, not something made in your neighbor’s basement.

Conan the Barbarian & the Destroyer: (1982 & 1984, respectively) Arnold’s first true breath-through performance. A role that was ideally and singularly crafted for the unbelievably sculpted physique of the Austrian Oak. Arnold’s first exposure to big budget work, plus the mythical setting helps to cover up Arnold’s still confused English, despite work with a dialect coach on set.

The Terminator: (1984)The first Arnold film that one really should see. Director James Cameron has a vision that extends beyond the persona of Schwarzenegger, and works to craft a sci-fi thriller that will truly stand the test of time, casting Arnold as the from-the-future cyborg assassin sent to kill Sarah Conner. In the first installment, Arnold acts as the bad guy, a noteworthy moment, since 1994’s sequel has a significant role reversal.

Commando: (1985) is Hollywood’s first blatant attempt to capitalize on Arnold’s obvious star power as the ultimate action hero, casting Arnold as the all-American war hero who goes out to kick butt in order to save his daughter from the clutches of the evil powers. This film would join Hercules in the cult-tastic category if it didn’t take itself so seriously. Born in the age of Rocky, Rambo and Street Fighter, Hollywood required its action heroes to be sweaty, muscular and the epitome of testosterone-pumping machismo. This film ends up looking goofy because of cheesy pyrotechnics and cheap stunts that do more to diminish the Arnold’s capabilities than to build them up.

Predator: (1987)is our first must-see. This film follows in the same vein of tradition as Commando, but where ___________’s Commando decided it was “mission accomplished” to have Arnold strutting around shirtless, Predator takes the antics to the next level, the same way director Cameron does with the Terminator films: he creates a legend surrounding the antagonist (Predator) which lives on to this day through the Predator film franchise. (The latest installment being Alien Vs. Predator.)
The dialogue in this film is ridiculous and ludacris as ever, but when the film really starts to revolve around the monster hunting his prey, Arnold shows himself to be capable of more as an actor than just flexing. He creates a real sense of tension and anticipation which carries the film all of the way until its final show-down between man and monster.

Total Recall: (1990) Is often times hailed as one of Arnold’s greatest action films. I disagree. Between a scantily clad Sharon Stone and Academy Award-winning effects, it left little time for a good movie to develop, even if it was about mutants trying to overthrow the evil human tyranny on the planet Mars. Again, real wide appeal to the subject matter. Worth seeing, but this still shows Ah-nold just before he hits his mainstream appeal.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day: (1991) Cameron’s second and most infamous chapter in the Terminator legacy, and Arnold’s greatest film success.
Here, the most important change we find in this film is Arnold now playing the good guy, sent back in time (again) to protect Sarah Conner instead of killing her. (You can imagine the poor girl’s confusion.) Full of state-of-the-art special effects which to this day are still stunning to see, this film has earned its place in the catalog of American cinema, not only as the signature role for Arnold Schwarzenegger, but also in the genre of action/science-fiction. This film ushers in the Era of Arnold, to be demonstrated by a slew of films rushed into production over the next decade.

Junior/Twins: (1988/1994) Begin to show us the other, family-friendly side of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don’t know whose idea this was: Arnold’s or his agents, but these two films, pairing him with comic dissimilar Danny Devito begin Arnold’s string of family films which go on to include Kindergarten Cop, Red Heat and Jingle All the Way which are films that the entire family is encouraged to watch and enjoy. Most often these films center on the fish-out-of-water story, putting the large, muscular Austrian in the most uncomfortable, comical circumstance imaginable, and letting the rest of the movie make itself. (i.e.: a pregnant Arnold, (Junior) paternal twins Schwarzenegger and Devito (Twins) a hard-nosed cop forced to work with children (Kindergarten Cop) or the loving father, too devoted to his job who is forced to compete against Sinbad for an elusive Christmas present for his son (Jingle all the Way.)

True Lies: (1994)The age of high excess and big budget for Arnold’s film projects. Co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, we see a confident and comfortable Arnold, now completely aware that he will never speak without his distinct accent, but also aware that it no longer matters. Arnold has staying power, and he rides high on a slew of successful films, and it is now the order of the day for each successive film to out do the last with larger stunts, more elaborate destruction and ever deeper pockets. Example: High-suspense Harrier jet sequence which features two different female characters clinging to the outside of the plane while Arnold blasts his way through skyscrapers to kill the bad guys. Good stuff.

Eraser: (1996)marks the beginning of the end for Arnold. His greatest achievements behind him, this is his last valid effort to reclaim his mantle as the legendary figure of action films. Co-starring Vanessa Williams, this plot become inversely less fantastic and therefore less believable, and would have to join the C-list of Arnold’s films, lodged somewhere on the shelf between Commando and True Lies.

Batman Forever: (1997)Arnold plays the comic villan Mr. Freeze in the last installment of the 1990’s chapters of the Batman films. By this time, the public’s attention span for Batman films has waned, and despite every attempt to woo in an audience with increasingly elaborate special effects (and a fresh-from-the-ER George Clooney as the slickest Bruce Wayne yet) the response to this film is luke warm, effectively ending the existence of Batman until 2005’s triumphant Batman Returns with a darker, more realistic interpretation.

End of Days (1999): is Arnold’s stab at the ever popular end-of-the-world apocalypcial horror show that has always brought in the audiences. Kudos for having Gabriel Byrne as thte devil incarnate, but somehow dropping Ah-nold into the middle of a vast religious conspiracy to prevent Satan from roaming the earth just seemed a little too ridiculous. Somehow.

The Sixth Day: (2000) is Arnold’s last decent action film. Set in the near-future, this movie deals with the soon-to-be headlines issue of cloning, pitting one Arnold Schwarzenegger against the other, therefore answering the ultimate question: what is strong enough to take down Arnold Schwarzenegger? Only another Arnold Schwarzenegger. I understand this isn’t a great film, but its one I always enjoy watching, partly because the spirit of the film isn’t too dark, but also because the filmmakers understood not to take themselves too seriously.

Collateral Damage: (2002)Arnold’s last free-for-all action flick before being elected to office as the governor of California. Production on this film had already wrapped by the time of September 11, 2001, and a great deal of debate began to occur, since the central theme of this movie was terrorists killing Arnold’s family, and then, of course, Arnold exacting his revenge.
The plot for this film is weak, and an obviously aging Arnold shows a quiet desperation to retain control of his title as “king of action.” Nearly thirty years since his silver screen premiere, not even the four-time Mr. Olympia is able to remain the king forever.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: (2003) is meant to pick up another eight years or so after Terminator 2, no doubt hoping to capture much of the same energy and mystery surrounding Arnold’s Terminator and the entire storyline. The Terminator returns from the future once again to protect the young Joe Conner from assassination by the this-time female robotic counterpart. In the end, the world is plunged into nuclear war, and history will be played out in the same way that the first two films foresaw, yet the Terminator succeeds in his mission, ensuring that Conner survives the war to organize the human rebellion against the machines, just in time to send a robot back in time to protect his mother from being killed by a more youthful version of the Schwarzen-robot. Whew. Talk about writing yourself into a corner… An aging Schwarzenegger has heart surgery prior to filming, obviously making his training more difficult. Ah, the joys of aging.

Yes, I am aware that there are plenty of Arnold films that we have overlooked here, (such as Running Man or Last Action Hero, but this should hopefully cover his greatest and most memorable film roles, and hopefully go to show just a portion of the impact he has had on the late part of the twentieth century both as a film star, and as a popular icon to millions of people world-wide.

T.