Back when he was one of the biggest and most well-paid star in Hollywood of the late ’80s and early ’90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was not exactly the most respected actor of his generation. His movies were popular in theaters and on home video; they were also largely dismissed as violent junk food, with Schwarzenegger himself treated like a joke, little more than a ridiculous accent housed in a cartoonishly swollen body.
30 years later, though, most of his violent junk food has aged like fine wine, and matured into some of the most beloved exemplars of their era. A decade ago, when I wrote a piece here on ScreenCrush insisting that Arnold Schwarzenegger was a serious and undervalued artist, that felt like a bold take. Now it feels like conventional wisdom — as evidenced by the fact that people keep remaking or sequelizing his films; in just the last few years we’ve gotten a new version of Red Sonja and The Running Man, sequels to The Terminator and Predator, a True Lies TV series, and even a direct-to-video sequel to Jingle All the Way starring Larry the Cable Guy. (Admittedly, not all of these films were winners.)
The Villain (1979)
If you want an undiscovered gem from the Schwarzenegger filmography, seek out this oddity that teams a young Arnold with an aging Kirk Douglas and a beautiful Ann-Margaret in a slapstick Western directed by Smokey and the Bandit’s Hal Needham. It’s one of the few movies I’ve ever seen to attempt to recreate the style and tone of a Road Runner cartoon in live-action — and it actually kind of pulls it off. While it’s hard to find on streaming, the movie is available on YouTube.
Conan the Destroyer (1984)
The second Conan has a poorer reputation than it deserves, probably because fans of the grim, bloody original were not expecting a sequel that was a lot closer in tone to a Marvel Comic come to life. When it’s not being compared to the first Conan, though, I think it works pretty well. The action’s solid, the fantasy elements are fun (two of the Conan comic writers, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, dreamed up the story), and the comedy is genuinely funny
Raw Deal (1986)
Most of the other Schwarzenegger vehicles from this period — The Terminator, Commando, Predator — became ’80s classics. The forgotten production of that mid-’80s era is Raw Deal, which is rougher around the edges than most of those other titles. That might be considered a plus or a minus depending on your point of view. I think it’s a plus; A little grit looks good on this kind of B movie. The plot about Arnold undercover in the mob is about as generic as it comes, but the early scene where Schwarzenegger scolds his drunken wife after she throws a cake at his head is rightfully legendary
Last Action Hero (1993)
Heavily overshadowed at the box office by Jurassic Park, which opened in theaters one week before it and became the biggest film of 1993, Last Action Hero quickly faded into semi-obscurity. It’s worth another look. There aren’t too many blockbusters with this level of self-critique, from writer Shane Black making fun of the outlandish action films that earned him millions of dollars, to Schwarzenegger interrogating his own image as both fictional cop Jack Slater and as Hollywood star “Arnold Schwarzenegger,” the guy who plays Slater and, in one riveting scene encounters his own fictional double. Last Action Hero’s cutesy moppet sidekick is definitely a weaker variation on the same schtick from Terminator 2, but the satire and fake trailers are on point. Last Action Hero is available on digital.
Junior (1994)
Obviously, Junior was intended as a spiritual sequel to the shockingly popular Twins, with Arnold and co-star Danny DeVito reuniting with director Ivan Reitman for another family comedy. In that regard, it’s probably a failure; it’s not as funny as Twins nor as conventionally entertaining, and it’s so strange — Arnold plays a scientist who impregnates himself to test the efficacy of a new fertility drug — that it’s not really something you can show to a child. But Junior is also so weird it’s hard to discount it entirely. Scholars and culture critics who love to write about the gender politics in popular ’90s rom-coms really need to check out Junior and have their minds blown. The movie is currently available on digital.
The 6th Day (2000)
Another shameless attempt to recreate a past success (Total Recall, in this case), that yielded a less conventionally satisfying movie and a wholly fascinating text bubbling with themes that resonate with most of Schwarzenegger’s ’90s movies — including ideas about marriage (Schwarzenegger’s real one was in crisis at the time), fatherhood, and doubles (for fun, go see how many Schwarzenegger movies feature dual performances, or “good” and “bad” Arnolds in opposition). Also, at one point, Arnold tells the bad guy he should go clone himself “so you can go f— yourself!” which justifies the time and money investment that goes into watching The 6th Day all by itself. The film is currently available on digital.
Escape Plan (2013)
Although Sylvester Stallone and Schwarzenegger appeared together briefly in The Expendables franchise, their first joint cinematic enterprise was this shamelessly entertaining pulp thriller about an expert in prison design (Stallone) who gets locked up in the most secure jail on the planet and has to find a way out with the help of a fellow inmate, played by Schwarzenegger. There’s nothing fancy here; it’s so meat and potatoes they might as well have called Sly’s character Jack Meat and Arnold’s Gustav Potatoes. Still, the two stars work well together and Schwarzenegger once again sneaks in some buried subtext about bad fathers and husbands imprisoned by their own poor decisions. Escape Plan is available on Pluto TV and Prime Video.
Sabotage (2014)
The action films Schwarzenegger made after his dalliance in politics are really interesting in general, because they follow a star trying to recapture his old glory while simultaneously looking for relevancy in modern culture while he also worked through all sorts of issues in his personal life. Sabotage, for instance, was shot shortly after Schwarzenegger separated from Maria Shriver. In it, he plays a haunted soldier, cut off from his family, consumed with grief and regret. Schwarzenegger’s grizzled performance deepens David Ayer’s violent variation on an Agatha Christie mystery, with the members of Schwarzenegger’s elite DEA unit getting picked off one-by-one over some stolen cartel money. The final scene, which turns Arnold into an old-school Western gunslinger, is one of the most meaningful moments of the star’s entire career. Sabotage is streaming on Pluto TV and Roku Channel.
Maggie (2015)
The 2010s were one of the worst periods of Schwarzenegger’s career from a box office perspective, but from a creative one it yielded some fascinating movies. What’s an action hero in his 60s to do in a shrinking marketplace? Try other genres! Maggie is a horror/domestic drama hybrid, with Ahhnuld as a father who must decide whether to kill his daughter after she gets infected with a zombie virus. Once again, the subtext of Schwarzenegger’s own life bubbles through every scene in a million interesting ways. Maggie is currently on HBO Max.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
On Letterboxd, Terminator: Dark Fate has a lower average rating than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and evenTerminator: Salvation. How? Why? How?!? Once Arnold shows up in this sequel that imagines a dark fate where John Connor dies young and the events of T3, Salvation, and Genisys never happen, he makes his scenes count, with some hilarious comic relief and still more overt references to his complicated private life. The action doesn’t rate with James Cameron’s Terminator 2 — but what action movie rates with James Cameron’s Terminator 2? Not too many. Dark Fate is available on Paramount+.
