by Blake Sorensen
Rider’s shot at meeting Arnold ultimately failed (maybe next time he’ll buy lotto tickets online instead), but it showed how well Arnie still resonates with the public.
Schwarzenegger’s ongoing appeal has its roots in the classic movies that made him a household name. In the ’80s and early ’90s, no other action star could fill a cinema like Arnold. With the body of a Greek god, an endearing accent and a name that few could pronounce, his tough-guy one-man-army persona dominated action films for the best part of two decades. Despite arriving as an Austrian immigrant in the sixties and speaking very little English, he managed to build a wildly successful movie career and was one of the highest paid action heroes of the ’80s.
These days his movies may not draw a crowd quite like they used to, but his classic movies are still the stuff of legend decades later. We pay tribute to everyone’s favourite screen hero with his most iconic and memorable roles.
1) Pumping Iron (1977)
In Pumping Iron we get to see glimpses of the real Arnold Schwarzenegger; the hyper-competitive, passive-aggressive charmer who would do anything to get what he wants. It focuses on the build up to the 1975 Mr. Olympia professional bodybuilding competition, and although it profiles several other contestants, Arnold undoubtedly steals the show. He explains the mind games he plays to dominate his opposition while seemingly coming off as a nice guy at the same time. As a partly-scripted documentary, this movie is the closest you’ll get to knowing the real Arnold.
Memorable line: ‘Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.’
2) Conan the Barbarian (1982)
When his mother is beheaded by evil cult leader Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), a young Conan (Schwarzenegger) is forced into slavery and grows up alone. Conan’s brutal manual labour helps him grow into a massive barbarian. His master also trains him to become a gladiator. It turns out that being a huge pro-fighter is very useful when setting out on a quest for revenge, and Conan hunts Thulsa to pay him back for murdering his mother. Arnold barely speaks in this movie, instead letting his actions do the talking. He’s perfectly cast as Conan and it’s hard to imagine anyone else nailing it as well as Arnold did.
Ironically, playing the role of lonely orphan Conan seems to have prepared Arnold for the isolation he would experience later in life, which he’s taken to like a duck to water.
Memorable line: ‘To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.’
3) The Terminator (1984)
In arguably his most iconic role, Arnold plays a cyborg assassin from the future sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), to prevent the birth of her son, John Connor. In the future, John leads a human resistance to victory over artificially intelligent machines which have killed or enslaved most of mankind. This is the role Arnold was born to play, and he excels as a remorseless ice-cold killer. He has very little dialogue in this role, but that only serves to make his near-indestructible character more inhuman and unsettling. The Terminator is a timeless classic and the tension that Arnold brings will keep you biting your nails right up until the end.
Memorable line: ‘I’ll be back.’
4) Commando (1985)
Commando is a true Arnold fan favourite, littered with unforgettable quotes, gratuitously violent shoot-people-in-the-face-point-blank-and-still-miss action sequences and an unintentionally hilarious bad guy named Bennett, who is more Village People than villain. It starts with retired Colonel John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) and his daughter (Alyssa Milano) living peacefully, before a team of mercenaries kidnap his daughter in order to coerce Matrix into fighting for them. Matrix refuses, instead embarking on a rescue mission, while pretty much killing everyone he comes across at the same time. He drops dad-grade puns the whole movie, which for some reason only make it better.
Commando is the ultimate kill-‘em-all movie and nobody does it better than Schwarzenegger.
Memorable line: ‘I eat Green Berets for breakfast. And right now, I’m very hungry!’
5) Predator (1987)
Set in the jungles of Central America, Predator is a sci-fi thriller where a technologically advanced alien hunter prowls the jungle for trophy kills. Major ‘Dutch’ Schaefer (Schwarzenegger) and his paramilitary crew happen to be there on a rescue mission. The Predator hunts Dutch and his crew, picking them off one by one with his hi-tech weapons and infra-red vision. This is a truly memorable Arnold movie, with tonnes of suspenseful action, a great soundtrack, super quotable one-liners and quite possibly the manliest handshake of all time.
Memorable line: ‘GET TO THE CHOPPER!’
6) The Running Man (1987)
Hilariously set in 2019, The Running Man is a game show that gives prisoners the chance at freedom. There’s one catch, however; they are pursued by armed ‘stalkers’, and failing to escape will likely end in a gruesome, televised death. Arnold is Ben Richards, who is framed for a massacre and ends up fighting for his life on the popular show. Richards is hell bent on being the first contestant to escape, and in the process takes down the dreaded stalkers in various awesomely violent ways. The host of the show also doesn’t escape his attention, and meets a very fitting end. Although Arnold’s character doesn’t deviate from the usual, his comical yellow onesie makes you realise this movie is definitely a product of its time and doesn’t take itself too seriously, despite its very sinister premise.
Memorable Arnold quote: ‘I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I’m going to ram it into your stomach!’
7) Total Recall (1990)
Total Recall received a lot of criticism when it was released, but over time people have come to appreciate it and it’s even recently been given a 4K makeover. Arnold plays the role of Douglas Quaid, a labourer who dreams of visiting Mars. He decides to have a trip to Mars implanted in his memory. Things go wrong when the memory implant fails, and Quaid realises his life as he knows it isn’t real. He discovers he previously lived a different life as a secret agent and now his former employers want him dead!
Memorable Arnold quote: ‘If I am not me, then who the hell am I?’
8) Kindergarten Cop (1991)
After tiring of being typecast in the same role each movie, Arnold decided to branch out and show his range as an actor with movies like Kindergarten Cop. While this movie isn’t particularly good, it represents a significant (and perhaps unfortunate) chapter in the Schwarzenegger back catalogue. Kindergarten Cop sees Detective John Kimble go undercover as a teacher in an effort to put a dangerous criminal in jail. We get to see Arnie struggle to control a room of unruly kids and although every Schwarzenegger fan has seen this movie, it’s probably not worth more than one watch.
Kindergarten Cop (and Twins… and Junior… and Jingle All The Way… and…) was a questionable career move, and probably only proved what we already knew; that Arnold should stick to what he’s best known for.
Memorable Arnold quote: ‘It’s not a tumour!’
9) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992)
Terminator 2 introduced one of the most terrifying villains of all time; a virtually indestructible liquid metal assassin, whose only reason for existing is to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong). Who other than Arnold could possibly face off against such a formidable enemy? Unlike The Terminator where Arnold was the assassin, in T2 he plays the role of protector, shielding John Connor from the relentless T-1000. Arnold’s T-800 cyborg is a reprogrammed version of the same model seen in the original Terminator film, and learns to become more human as the movie progresses. Arnold’s deadpan, wooden character was likely not too difficult for him to master, as he again proved he was perfectly cast as the Terminator.
With a memorable soundtrack and special effects that still hold their own in 2020, this movie was ground breaking and is widely considered a sci-fi masterpiece.
Memorable line: ‘Come with me if you want to live.’
10) True Lies (1994)
In this action-comedy, Arnold plays a spy named Harry Tasker, who’s convinced his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) that he’s a salesman. He’s tasked with tracking down a terrorist in the possession of nukes, while trying to keep his bored wife interested at the same time. Having to balance saving the world with saving his marriage is no mean feat. Arnold proves he’s made for action-comedies as he effortlessly channels a wise-cracking, skull-crushing James Bond.
Memorable line: ‘This is the problem with terrorists. They’re really inconsiderate when it comes to people’s schedules.’
11) Batman & Robin (1997)
Everyone makes mistakes. Unfortunately for some, their mistakes are immortalised forever in one of the worst films in memory. Not even an all-star cast boasting Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone and Chris O’Donnell could save this film. Arnold’s villainous Mr Freeze character is just Arnold painted grey and wearing blue glow sticks. He spends the movie trying to freeze Gotham City for some reason, while spitting out horrible puns. So-bad-they’re-good jokes may have worked in Commando, but here it’s hard not to wince every time Mr Freeze opens his mouth.
It’s worth watching this cringe-fest, but definitely only once.
Memorable line: ‘Let’s kick some ice!’
You had a good list going, arguably in the wrong order but then you ended on Batman? No Eraser, Raw Deal, Red Heat? Even 6th day, Jingle all the way, red sonja or last action hero would have been better number 10s!