One of the true heavyweights of the Hollywood action movie scene, Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully considered a legend today. After all, this is the man who pretty much dominated the box office all throughout the eighties and nineties with hit after hit after hit. And even when he took a break from acting to go enter the world of politics during the 2000’s, he’d eventually find his way back to the screen again where he belonged so that he could give us more classics like those mentioned below.
Detective Jack Slater, Last Action Hero (1993)
By the time 1993 came around, the idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger being the perennial action hero was so ingrained into the public consciousness, it had almost become stale. And that was why in Last Action Hero he took the opportunity to play around with this a little bit and have some fun. Yes, this was a full blown parody of an Arnold movie, one in which a kid watching is sucked right into the screen. And it made for a great cult classic of a film.
And this one also marked a whole new venture for the Austrian superstar in other ways too because not only was he the star of the show on screen, he was also the main man behind the camera as well. Not as a director, but as the person who approved everything and everyone including the director, the cast, the script, the budget, and even the financing and marketing of things.
U.S. Marshal John Kruger, Eraser (1996)
Eraser might not be the biggest hit Arnold Schwarzenegger ever did in the action genre as by the time 1996 came around audiences were starting to get a little fatigued by these kinds of movies. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t absolutely knock it out the park as it has all the elements of a classic Arnold performance. Big guns. Check. Big muscles. Double check. Quippy one liners. Triple check. Basically it’s all here.
As it happened though, he almost didn’t star in this one at all. No, before the role was offered to him it was actually offered to his main rival in eighties and nineties action, Sylvester Stallone. When Sly decided to turn it down to star in Cop Land instead though, it left the door open for Arnold to enter and do what he did best, bring the thrills on a big scale.
Detective John Kimble, Kindergarten Cop (1990)
While action may be the thing he’s best known for, Arnold Schwarzenegger has also proven himself to be very adept at starting in comedies too. In fact, when the former genre wasn’t producing the same levels of hits for him during the mid to late nineties, he was able to segue over to the latter with ease and remain strong at the box office. And it’s in Kindergarten Cop that arguably his best comedic role as it’s here he plays an undercover cop who’s pretending to be the teacher for a classroom full of kids.
Needless to say then, this is a beloved entry into the Schwarzenegger canon, not only for fans but for the man himself. Hell, when asked in an interview what was his favourite movie to work on, he would name this one. And the reason Arnold loved it so much was simple. He loved getting to work with the kids all day and have fun with them.
Captain Benjamin Stuart Richards, The Running Man (1987)
The eighties filmography of Arnold Schwarzenegger has a lot of classics in it. Really it’s just hits stacked up on top of hits pretty much. And right there in the middle of that list is one of the best films he ever starred in, The Running Man. And the reason it’s one of his best is because Arnold gets to let loose here as a man starring in a dystopian reality TV show where the goal is for him to survive being hunted down by trained killers.
Obviously this one has gained a lot more appreciation over the years then as it predicted audiences excitement for reality TV and the general bloodlust they get when violence is offered up. But then what else would you expect from a story that was originally written by horror legend Stephen King, albeit under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.
Colonel John Matrix, Commando (1985)
Commando doesn’t have a complicated plot. But then it doesn’t need to. No, the only thing you need to know in order to enjoy this one is that it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger who’s out to save his kidnapped daughter, and that the way he’s going to do this is by shooting a lot of bad guys. Yes, it’s big dumb fun in the best possible way. And that’s why it’s still enjoyed by audiences to this day.
But while you might look at his performance here and think of Arnold as something of a meathead, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. No, according to his co-star Alyssa Milano, he would be very protective of her on set, always making sure to help her with her homework and taking care that she wasn’t getting too stressed out with the filming.
Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Barbarian (1982)
If there was one movie which represented Arnold Schwarzenegger’s arrival in the action movie scene then it was probably Conan the Barbarian as this was the one which saw him take up the titular role of the iconic sword and sorcery warrior first created by Robert E. Howard back in the thirties. And he certainly looks the part here as, basically being a walking stack of muscles, the Austrian fully sells the idea that he’s a legendary warrior.
So devoted to his performance would he be in fact, he’d spend two hours a day for three months training how to use his sword alone. And that was nothing compared to the training he also had to do in martial arts and even horseback riding on top of this, something he later claimed was just as intense as the training he’d done back when he was a bodybuilder.
Agent Harry Tasker/Harry Rehnquist, True Lies (1994)
After finding a great directorial partner in James Cameron during the eighties, Arnold Schwarzenegger would always find himself eager to work with him again. And that was why when the opportunity came up for him to play a role in one of his movies in 1994 that was equal parts action and comedy, he jumped at the chance. Thank god he did then because that choice gave us True Lies, the tale of a spy living a double life as a regular family man.
Of course, this required all the usual training from Arnold in order to make sure he could take on the action scenes which were required of him. But this was old hat for him by then. The real challenge, as it happened, came when he had to learn ballroom dancing for a scene which takes place midway through the movie.
Douglas Quaid/Agent Carl Hauser, Total Recall (1990)
If you were to ask one hundred people what their favourite Arnold Schwarzenegger movie was, a good portion would probably say it was Total Recall. And that’s because this one is a bona fide sci fi classic full of thrills, spills, twists, and turns from the minute one right up until the closing credits. Yes, playing a dual role of a family man who may or may not turn out to be a memory wiped spy, Arnold gets a lot to sink his teeth into here.
Interestingly though, while it’s considered a classic today, this one only came about because, after not getting the role of Robocop in 1987 and deciding that he really wanted to work with that film’s director, Paul Verhoeven, Arnold was able to get the whole thing arranged and the movie greenlit a couple of years later.
Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, Predator (1987)
One of the greatest action movies ever made, Predator has a simple premise. And that premise is what if we take a bunch of commandos, drop them in the jungle, and then flip the script on them by having them be hunted by an alien. Yes, it’s as wild as it sounds, and with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role here as the main commando, it’s also as fun as you’d imagine.
What you might not know is that there was another action legend in this movie. And no we’re not talking about Carl Weathers. Rather we’re talking about the man who was, for a little while during filming at least, playing the role of the predator, none other than The Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
T-800/T-850 Terminator, The Terminator Franchise (1984-*)
Easily the most iconic part Arnold Schwarzenegger ever played, the terminator is the role that skyrocketed him towards superstardom on a level few others have ever seen. And that’s why, to this day, he’s always happy to return to The Terminator franchise to play a new version of that killer robot, something he’s done on five separate occasions now.
That said, it almost wasn’t this way. No, initially Arnold has some reservations about playing the villain. In fact he was only convinced to do so when director James Cameron pointed out to him that, yes, he would be the bad guy. But he’d also be the title character and the one everyone was talking about by the time the credits were rolling.
Honourable mention: Trent “Trench” Mauser, The Expendables (2010)
While it may not have a movie which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, his cameo role in The Expendables did allow him to first share the screen with many of his contemporaries. That’s right, more than just an Arnold movie, this one was a celebration of the modern-day action hero which included Stallone, Statham, JCVD and Dolph Lundgren.
In fact, this one would end up branching off into a whole franchise of its own. And when it came time for those sequels to be made, you better bet that Arnold was available to play a fully fleshed out role this time around.
So there you have it, a look at some of the most unforgettable roles from Arnold Schwarzenegger. And the thing is, he’s not done yet. No, for as much as he’s given us already, he continues to work even now to this very day. So who knows what else might qualify for a list like this at some point in the (far) future? I guess time will tell.
