1.TERMINATOR 2
It easily ranks at the very top of any number of lists because it is an achievement on numerous levels. From groundbreaking special effects, a powerful screenplay, amazing action sequences, and brilliant performances from the cast as a whole, TERMINATOR 2 will forever rank as the signature role from Schwarzenegger's career as well as one of the best movies of all time. However, if I were to truly look at all of Arnold's films, there is one I think is better...
2.True lies
This action comedy was directed by James Cameron and stars Schwarzenegger andJamie Lee Curtis. He plays Harry Tasker, a special opps agent whose family thinks he’s acomputer salesman. He’s always out of town doing his job, but finally realizes his wife (Curtis) is looking for excitement to make up for it. He sets up a plan to make it look like she’s part of a mission, but they end up kidnapped. Once she gets a taste of adventure, things in their relationship change quite a bit.
3.Terminator 2
A lot of people that has never seen the movie before might think that Arnold is the good guy here just like the other Terminatormovies, but this is one of the rare occasions Arnold play’s the bad guy, and he nails it. I love the style and atmosphere of the movie as well. Thishas much more of an horror movie feel in the style of Halloween or Friday the 13th with Arnold as the stalking slasher villain that will stop at nothing. Michael Biehn also does agood job in this movie as the hero Kyle Reese. It’s a shame his career didn’t turn out better. He could have been a good action hero in the every man genre like Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson.
4.Predator
Arnold leading a group of bad ass soldiers into the jungle to take on all comers, including an alien predator has gotta be the best pure all out machismo action flick! Arnold and his team could take out any other action team from the movies, including The Expendables guys led by Stallone!
5.Last Action Hero
This may not have been a very successful movie when rated against box office hits. However, the movie had a charm of its own due to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s presence. Director John McTiernancould have spun a better plot given his expertise in the creation of movies likeDie HardandDie Hard with a Vengeanceapart from playing to the strength of having one of the best action heroes of hisgeneration in the cast. For some reason though, the film didn’t quite live up to the audience’s expectations. Nonetheless, Arnold’s fans would definitely rate this movie as one of his top 10.
6.Conan the Barbarian
Making an enjoyable movie about a monosyllabic, sword-wielding barbarianis harder than it might seem — just ask the folks behind 2011’sConan the Barbarian, who attempted to update Robert E. Howard’s classic character for a new millennium and found themselves deluged with bad reviews for their trouble. But it isn’t impossible, as John Milius proved with his 1982Conan, starring Arnold Schwarzeneggeras the beefy barbarian, Max von Sydow as King Osiric, and James Earl Jones as the wonderfully named Thulsa Doom. It’s all very silly, of course, but that’s part of its charm; as Rob Vaux putit for Mania.com, “Its magnificence stems from the very properties we should be condemning with all our might.”
7.Total recall
Paul Verhoeven's science fiction movie was remade in 2012 and was missing the pulpy, over-the-top goodness that made the originalso good. Right on the line between the 80s and 90s, TOTAL RECALL is very dated in terms of visual effects and fashion, but it stillpacks a mean kick to the Kuato. You could dedicate a top 10 list to just moments from this movie from memorable quotes, memorable kills, to even reasons to love the three-breasted hooker.
8 .Commando
Commando is a shining example of the excesses and cheesiness of 80s action cinema. With its cheesy synth music, overuse of montages, clichéd ‘black ops soldier comes out of retirement’ story and huge over-the-top action scenes, it’s hard to find a more 80s action movie than Commando. The movie was also the ‘birth’of Schwarzenegger’s enduring on-screen persona. Previous roles in movies like Conan and The Terminator relied on his brawn and physique rather than his acting ability, and Commando gave the star to break out and begin injecting a bit more personality into his characters. Of course, this came in the guise of one-liners and cheesy quips instead of raw acting talent, but it was a trademark persona which would serve Schwarzenegger very well in the years to come.
9 .The running man
Very loosely based on the novel by Stephen King, Arnie plays the wrongly accused Ben Richards, who is arrested after refusing to gun down innocent civilians and forced to work in alabour camp by the totalitarian government of 2019. Escaping with the help of his buddies (and poor Chico), Richards is then recaptured and made to feature ineveryone’s favourite uber violent TV show,The Running Man– where fugitives are given a head start from an elite squad of killers, allwith ridiculous gimmicks. Arnold and friends must battle their way through each stage of the hellish game show, with the body count really totting up in this one.
10.Heat(1988)
One of Arnold’s lesser seen early movies, but still a good one. It’s a buddy cop movie with James Belushi and they have good chemistry together. Arnold even tries to do a Russian accent and that is pretty funny all on it’s own.
