Was True Lies his swan song?

I found Eraser to be somewhat enjoyable as well, but True Lies is his last TRUE classic.

Arnold would look badass with a gray buzzcut. He should give that style a try.

Funny you mentioned Eraser, I re-watched it on Netflix and could barely sit through it, which compelled me to write my original post. There is a kind of emptiness and certain something missing in his movies from the mid-90's forward that I can't put my finger on.

I haven't seen Eraser in quite some time. I added it to my to-watch list on Netflix when I saw it had been uploaded but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I imagine it doesn't hold up (especially the CGI alligators), but I have a soft spot for B-grade '90s action no matter how dated and cheesy it is.

I definitely agree with your sentiment...Eraser, End of Days, The Sixth Day, Collateral Damage...there's something crucial missing from them compared to his pre-Eraser heyday. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there's a lack of fun, a winking, knowing sense of humor that makes them suffer in hindsight.

Not to mention he started working with REALLY subpar directors. Maybe he priced himself out of the market, or he wanted too much control on set, but he didn't do himself any favors with his script selection.

Totally agree,

I think there was just something about the 80's in film. Like blanket macho, violent characters were cool. By the 90's everyone went all Kurt Cobain and I think Arnold tried to keep up, playing the anti-hero in movies like End of Days.

I also think he became stale. Eraser was such a cardboard cutout action film. I think people forget how groundbreaking films like the Terminator, Predator, Total Recall, or heck even Conan the Barbarian actually were. His post True Lies films lack that originality. I mean did anyone not know exactly how Collateral Damage was going to go within 2 minutes of its starting?

As for his post gubernatorial comeback.... well he is 70. He needs to take roles that weren't written for a 1987 Arnold. I don't want to watch a senior citizen action star. There are plenty of roles out there for him (I thought he worked in Expendables, regardless of actual opinions of the films), but he needs to take them.

I definitely agree with your sentiment...Eraser, End of Days, The Sixth Day, Collateral Damage...there's something crucial missing from them compared to his pre-Eraser heyday.

Apart from The 6th Day, I didn't like those films any less than a lot of his earlier output. People think his heyday was 100% classics like Conan the Barbarian, T1+T2, Predator and Total Recall. They're forgetting Raw Deal, Red Heat, Conan the Destroyer...all good fun but no better than his 90s/00s flops.

The Job Interview Poem https://youtu.be/MtkmC4kCSTs

OP... the more I think about it, the more you are right. I was about to give you an argument that he had some other great films after that (the sixth day, end of days, T3). But honestly, T3 included, all those movies are very forgettable by the casuals.

True Lies, you're right; it was a fantastic movie. My 64 year old mother even loves it, she watches it every time it's on TV. It's a great movie. Good action, good comedy, some heart to the marriage sub-plot, Bill Paxton. It was just a good movie. IT kind of does feel like the end of the golden-era for Arnold with that one.

Honestly, I think it's the James Cameron / Schwarzenegger duo. Those two rock; Arnold doesn't bitch about Cameron's attitude with making films, and Cameron knows how to utilize Arnold's strong suites in acting. Unfortunately Cameron is delusional about the stupid Avatar films and would rather focus on those these days. I think he's a brilliant director, but I think Avatar is not as good as he thinks it is.

Arnold, I think he can do a lot still, I think he needs good directors/writers behind him. I actually enjoyed Genysis but it wasn't well-received with the critics and casual fans. I think they need to go back to the old-school, 80's theme, R-rated terminator action that people like. Genysis, my biggest quirk with it was that it felt too PG-13 for a Terminator movie.

Interesting bit about how Arnold may have priced himself out of the market after True Lies. I kind of believe it because he never made another must see movie again. Arnold was hot, I mean absolutely ON FIRE with Predator, Twins, Total Recall, and Terminator 2 in FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS! After that he had subpar movies/directors like Last Action Hero, Eraser, The 6th Day etc. And this last Terminator movie, why did he go with such a bad director? He very well may have priced himself out of the market after True Lies, I have his book and he brags in it about doubling his asking price every movie. He could only do that so long before there was a backlash. There's always an accountant or two in the backroom of the studio saying "enough is enough!"

Shall we play a game?

Oh I know...there was a lot of substandard dreck mixed in during his '80s/'90s heyday, but the point is that the dreck started becoming the norm and his "great" action films became nonexistent.

I actually thought The 6th Day was one of his more interesting post-heyday films. Not great by any means, but kinda interesting. Collateral Damage was decent but quickly forgotten.