When you think of “80’s action hero,” no actor comes to mind quicker than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The hulking strong man was universally recognized for his over-the-top action scenes, cheesy one-liners, and distinct accent. Many of his films have gone on to either be considered some of the greatest action movies of all-time for their stunts and technology, or at the very least, cult classics for their sheer ridiculousness.
Schwarzenegger was highly prolific in the movie scene all the way till the mid-2000’s, when he became Governor of California from 2003-2011. While it was thought at the time to be the official end of his acting career, he has since returned after his political career ended, even coming back to reprise some of his more iconic characters, the latest being as the T-800 in the Terminator sequel Terminator: Dark Fate.
Schwarzenegger has plenty of iconic characters to his name. But which ones stand out as among the best? Did all of his classics age well? To coincide with the release of Terminator: Dark Fate, here are ten of Schwarzenegger’s best (ranked).
Honorable Mention
Batman and Robin is worth mentioning because it is a very entertaining movie, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s filled with plenty of Schwarzenegger’s cheesy one-liners and silly action sequences… but unlike most other movies, we’re more so laughing at him and the cast, as opposed to with them. The film falls under the “So Bad It’s Good” territory (though for many, it’s just bad) and because of that, I can’t in good conscience add it to the list, but it’s at least worth noting.
10) The Last Stand
Schwarzenegger’s first film after his time as Governator is still his best post-political outing. It’s by no means a perfect film. Tonally, it can be a bit jumbled at times, and it probably would have served better at being around 90 minutes as opposed to nearly 110 minutes, but when it hits, it hits well. Directed by Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon - best known for modern classics of Korean cinema such as I Saw the Devil and The Good, the Bad, and the Weird, the film is at its best when it gets into its action sequences, with many of them being well choreographed and over-the-top. Plus it contains a solid supporting cast that includes Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whittaker, and Jaimie Alexander. While it didn’t hit as hard as some of the other films on this list, it served as a fun return to acting for the action hero.
9) Twins
Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play long-lost brothers and couldn’t be any more different in this buddy comedy. It’s a ridiculous concept that leans very heavily into the novelty of its whacky premise, but it’s still a lot of fun for what it is. Like Schwarzenegger, DeVito is also incredibly well-known for his insanely over-the-top characters, being loud, crude, rude, and cantankerous at every chance he can get, and here he makes the perfect foil for Schwarzenegger’s deadpan cheesy one-liners. It can be a bit sentimental and has an air of predictability in terms of narrative, but there are some pretty solid laughs that come from Schwarzenegger and DeVito’s back and forths, and this served as a fun kick-off to a trio of collaborations between Schwarzenegger and director Ivan Reitman.
8) Kindergarten Cop
The second collaboration between Schwarzenegger and Reitman is arguably just a tad more memorable than his first. Once again mixing silliness and sentimentality, this finds Schwarzenegger as a cop who goes undercover as a substitute teacher in order to get closer to a woman who witnessed a murder by her ex-husband. As you can imagine, hijinks ensue as the hard-nosed Schwarzenegger has to learn how to deal with a bunch of bratty kids who ask him dumb questions and look to annoy him at every chance they can get. Out of all of Schwarzenegger’s films, this is close to the top of the ones with more of a cult following. And despite moments of predictability and cheesy sentimentality, it can be very funny at times, with Schwarzenegger’s over-the-top reactions to the children being some of the film’s highlights.
7) The Running Man
In a post-apocalyptic world (taking place in 2017… glad we got past that) a television game show ran by a totalitarian police state forces a bunch of criminals to run from the hands of professional killers. Schwarzenegger plays a cop who was framed for murder that finds himself on the show, while actual game show host Richard Dawson plays the film’s ruthless game show host. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this film is filled with goofy-looking special effects that don’t really age well at times, but it contains a ridiculous enough premise and a cast that are clearly having fun with the material to make it a dumb, fun action movie. While it was a moderate box office success and received mixed reviews at the time of its release, it went on to become another cult classic for Schwarzenegger.
6) True Lies
Schwarzenegger and director James Cameron are universally known for their collaborations on The Terminator films (more on those shortly) but they did have one other collaboration together that’s somewhat forgotten but definitely worth mentioning. This action comedy sees Schwarzenegger as a secret agent who lives a double life unbeknownst to his wife, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who thinks he’s a boring salesman. And soon she inadvertently finds herself wrapped up in his other life when a terrorist organization soon threatens them all. The biggest strike this movie has going for it is that it’s definitely way too long, with a nearly two-and-a-half hour runtime that’s felt multiple times. But it’s often quite funny, especially thanks to a great cast that includes Tom Arnold and Bill Paxton in fantastic supporting roles, and contains plenty of fun action sequences, including an explosive finale.
5) Total Recall
Schwarzenegger stars as a man in the distant future who has troubling dreams about the planet Mars, and ultimately decides to take a trip there, discovering he’s a secret agent who had his memory erased. Another cut sci-fi film of Schwarzenegger’s that feels like it goes hand-in-hand with The Running Man, Total Recall definitely takes itself way more seriously than The Running Man, but doesn’t mean it’s still not a great time. Based on the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” this was directed by Paul Verhoeven who was also responsible for violent action thrillers such as RoboCop and Starship Troopers, and this is very much in that same vein as those films. Though the film also boasts a very layered plot that makes it a great piece of storytelling, in addition to being an overall excellent action movie, making it a modern sci-fi classic.
4) The Terminator
The Terminator series has gone on to become one of Schwarzenegger’s most beloved franchise, with six films going having been made in the series. Though none of the sequels have ever lived up to the standards set by both the original film and its direct sequel (more on that one in a moment). Though while Schwarzenegger’s T-800 is widely regarded as a protagonist in many iterations of the franchise, it’s almost easy to forget at times he was the antagonist of the first film, being the android that goes back in time to kill Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Conner. Schwarzenegger is at his most menacing here, being completely stone cold as he (literally) heartlessly rips through anyone and anything that gets in his way. While the second film is often considered the better of the first two, the film that started it all is still very enjoyable in its own right.
3) Predator
The Terminator is by far Schwarzenegger’s most iconic franchise, but Predator is not too far behind it. What’s funny about it though is that while it spawned quite a few sequels, reboots, and crossovers with the Alien franchise, the original is the only one to actually feature Schwarzenegger, despite being one of his most iconic movies. If there’s one film in Schwarzenegger’s filmography that I’d call “raw,” this would be it. This contains some of the most brutal action scenes in his filmography, and the way in which this is filmed gives a sense of disorientation of being lost in the jungle, the same way Schwarzenegger and his crew feel as they begin to get picked apart one by one by the titular creature. While Predator received mixed-to-negative reviews at the time of its release, it’s since gone on to become a staple in the action genre and one of Schwarzenegger’s best.
2) Commando
Depending on the way you look at it, Commando is technically not really a good film. Honestly, it probably wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is if Schwarzenegger wasn’t involved. Yet why is it so high on this list? Because when if you had to pick a movie that is the most “Schwarzeneggerist" (I probably just made that word up), this is it. This is everything Arnold is known for cranked up to eleven, non-stop for nearly 90 straight minutes. That’s it. The cheesy one-liners are nearly every other line. The villains are ridiculously cartoonish and over-the-top. And the action scenes are so absolutely insane that you can’t help but crack a smile at watching it. It’s a movie that knows exactly what it is and has as much fun with it as possible. In fact, some even classify it as a pure action-comedy since it’s so ridiculously self-aware at times. In terms of storytelling, it’s not exactly amazing, but that’s almost kind of the point. It just wants to showcase everything that Arnold is known for and do it in the most entertaining way possible. And you know what? It works.
1) Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The first Terminator film was so successful that talks of a sequel were imminent. Yet in hindsight, it’s almost hard to believe that it took seven years for one to get off the ground, mainly due to issues with technology at the time. Though the wait certainly was worth it, as we wound up getting one hell of a sequel that really improved on its predecessor and then some. If there’s one word to sum up Judgment Day, it would be “iconic.” The moment we first see Schwarzenegger walking around in his now famous leather jacket as “Bad to the Bone” begins to play is still one of the coolest moments in movie history, while the film gave us plenty of famous Schwarzenegger quotes, including the best of the bunch, “Hasta la vista, baby.” The action set pieces are top-notch here, while the technology to bring the film’s antagonist, the T-1000 to life were revolutionary at the time, and still hold up well to this day. The film is a somber tale, yet has an extra level of charm to it through its interactions between Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong’s John Conner that allow it to evoke a wide range of emotions, rather than just pure terror. And the film features Linda Hamilton at her all-time best as a now badass Sarah Conner, undergoing a huge transformation from the scared waitress we met in the first film. Thrilling, emotional, funny, and above-all revolutionary, Judgment Day is not only one of the best action films of all-time and one of the best sequels of all-time, but it’s also Schwarzenegger’s finest moment.