Thought Arnold on the movie poster was a black guy when I was a kid

I guess they did have the contrast set quite extreme for the poster. Makes him look a bit different.

That might be part of where the idea for Tropic Thunder came from

He did look different on the cover. I never got to see this til I was 10. But I remember seeing the VHS case in the video store at age 5 or 6 and knowing it was Arnold but thinking he looked really weird. It's better than the covers of Running Man, Total Recall, and Last Action Hero where it's just a big a big close up of Arnold's face. Not that I hate those movies but those VHS covers were terrible. It barely even tells you anything about the movie except that Arnold is in it. Should've all gone with a better image.

It happens. As a kid I thought Hulk Hogan was black, due to his outrageous sunbed (ab)use. Ironically, he was later caught dropping n-bombs on tape.

Whatchu tawkin bout, Threadkiller?