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SCHWARZENEGGER,
ARNOLD (1947– ). Austrian actor.
Acted in as
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Conan, the Barbarian (John Milius 1982); Conan,
the Destroyer (Richard FLEISCHER 1984); The Terminator (James
CAMERON 1984); Red Sonja (Fleischer 1986); Predator (John
McTiernan 1987); The Running Man (Paul Michael Glaser 1987); Total
Recall (Paul VERHOEVEN 1989); Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron
1991); Last Action Hero (and produced) (McTiernan 1993); True Lies
(Cameron 1994); Junior (Ivan Reitman 1994); Eraser (Charles
Russell 1996); T2 3D: Battle through Time (short film for amusement park
ride) (John Bruno, Cameron, and Stan WINSTON 1996); Batman and Robin
(Joel SCHUMACHER 1997); Total Recall 2070 (tv series) (1999); End of
Days (Peter HYAMS 1999); The Sixth Day (and produced) (Roger
Spottiswoode 2000); Dr. Dolittle 2 (animated; voice) (Steve Carr 2001); Liberty's
Kids (animated tv series; voice) (2002); Terminator 3: Rise of the
Machines (and produced, uncredited) (Jonathan Mostow 2003); Around the
World in Eighty Days (Frank Coraci 2003).
Directed: "The
Switch" (and appeared in) (1990), episode of Tales from the Crypt.
Appeared in
documentaries: The Making of The Terminator (and hosted) (tv) (Drew
Cummings 1984); The Making of Total Recall (tv) (1990); The Making of
The Terminator: A Retrospective (video) (Jeff McQueen 1992); The Making
of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (tv) (David G. Hudson and Ed W. Marsh 1992); A
Century of Science Fiction (video) (Ted Newsom 1996); Arnold
Schwarzenegger: Hollywood Hero (tv) (Todd Baker 1999); End of Days: The
Beginning (video) (2000); The Making of Terminator 2: 3-D (tv) (Ted
Garvey 2000); Other Voices: Creating The Terminator (video) (Van Ling
2001); If It Bleeds We Can Kill It: The Making of Predator (video) (2001);
Imagining Total Recall (Jeffrey Schwartz 2001).
Does this
scheme seem too convoluted, too Machiavellian, for a mere film actor to
undertake? Yet Schwarzenegger's most impressive muscles were always those
inside of his skull. With half a dozen strikes against him—including a thick
Austrian accent, a cumbersome last name, an unfashionably muscle-bound look,
and absolutely no acting ability—he slowly but surely conquered the film
industry, making himself a dominating presence by means of his hard work,
persistence, and brilliant decisions.
And one of those brilliant decisions was to specialize in fantasy and science
fiction films, where he could learn his craft amidst colorful special effects
that rendered his gaffes less noticeable.
While more
than a little clumsiness is still evident in his performances as Conan,
Schwarzenegger deployed his embryonic talents to great effect in The
Terminator, as his laconic robot killer emerged as a cultural icon and the
phrase "I'll be back" became his defining catch-phrase. He steadily developed a
distinctive screen persona as a tough, cool customer in Predator, The
Running Man, and the action films Raw Deal (1986) and Red Heat
(1988), then cautiously but capably advanced into new territory, doing comedy
in Twins (1988) and alternating scenes of killing people with scenes of
bonding with adorable little moppets in Kindergarten Cop (1990). Rarely
bothering to take a producer credit, Schwarzenegger came to exercise complete
control over his films anyway, and after the double-barreled global triumphs of
Total Recall and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Schwarzenegger had
apparently reached the very pinnacle of his profession.
So, how does
one explain his decidedly uneven track record from 1992 to 2000, with only two
films—True Lies and Eraser—that were really suited to his
strengths? One can develop specific theories to account for specific failures.
Even in his most popular films, Schwarzenegger was never quite persuasive as a
family man, and one of the many false notes in Kindergarten Cop was his
final decision to give up police work for a full-time job teaching
kindergarten; hence, films that depended on his credibility as a compassionate
parental figure, like Jingle All the Way (1996) or The Sixth Day,
were unlikely to be satisfying. Perhaps Schwarzenegger was anxious to
interrogate and deepen his screen persona, which could explain Last Action
Hero, an action film that tells his audience that action films are empty,
superficial entertainments for brainless morons, thus guaranteeing its own
failure. Perhaps he briefly believed that he could do no wrong, leading to his
inexplicable and unappealing turn as a pregnant man in Junior. Perhaps
he was simply growing lazy and inattentive, so that he didn't demand a rewrite
of the screenplay for Batman and Robin that would make his villainous
Mr. Freeze less of an idiot and numbly learned his lines for End of Days
without noticing its innumerable logical flaws and unworkable conclusion. But
all of these explanations boil down to saying that Schwarzenegger was becoming
stupid in managing his film career, and I find that very hard to believe—hence,
the need for my conspiracy theory.
And it worked.
After agreeing to a project that would bring his career to a reasonably
successful and dignified conclusion—the serviceable though predictable Terminator
3—Schwarzenegger plunged into the California recall election as a
gubernatorial candidate and vanquished all his opponents with his usual
effortless efficiency, despite last-minute scandals involving alleged sexual
harassment of women and his purported admiration for Adolf Hitler. Having thus
triumphed in his greatest role, Terminator 4: Election Day,
Schwarzenegger seems well positioned for future successes, with only Article II
of the Constitution standing between him and the Presidency of the United
States. And if this seems an unlikely role for the Austrian-born
Schwarzenegger, one must remember that, twenty years ago, "famous Hollywood
actor" would have seemed an equally unlikely role for him to play. Hasta la
vista, America.
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