From The Terminator to Titanic, you can always rely on writer-director James Cameron to show you something you've never seen on the big screen before. The guy may not consistently pen the most scintillating dialogue in the world (and, especially in this movie, he doesn't seem to have a particularly high regard for women), but as a director of kinetic, push-the-envelope action sequences, he is in a class by himself. In True Lies, the highlight is a breathtaking third-act jet and car chase through the Florida Keys. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a covert intelligence agent... whose wife of 15 years (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finds out that he's not really a computer salesman and who becomes mixed up in a case involving nuclear arms smuggling. Tom Arnold is surprisingly funny and engaging as Schwarzenegger's longtime spy partner, and Bill Paxton is a smarmy used-car salesman whom Arnold thinks is having an affair with his wife. Purely in terms of spectacular action and high-tech hardware, True Lies is a blast. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com [show more]
Long before Arnold Schwarzenegger began to shamelessly whore himself at the alter of political hypocracy, support illegal invasions and gleefully send inmates to their deaths on shaky evidence, the Austrian Oak was loved by a great many people. And in spite of his recent turn to the dark side, the body building son of a Nazi storm trooper will always have 'Predator' and the 'Terminator' films to his eternal credit.
1994 was the year the rot set in for both Schwarzenegger and writer/director James Cameron, with their third and (to date) last collaboration; 'True Lies'. Like a thin piece of leftover Turkey sandwiched between the stale bread slices of 'Junior' and 'The Last Action Hero', this trite, often overblown action-comedy is intermittently enjoyable nonsense based on some French film which you can"t get a hold of for love nor money, (maybe Cameron bought all the copies when he remade it). Arnie gives his usual non-performance, though I liked the nod to 'Predator' ("do it...DO IT!") Tom Arnold works surprisingly well as his sidekick and Cameron"s old mate Bill Paxton is quite funny as a sleazy fake spy. Brit TV actor Art Malik goes Uncle Tom as an Islamic terrorist, Eliza Duskhu makes her debut as Arnie"s daughter and Chuck Heston turns up, inexplicably, as a Moshe Dayan impersonator. I can"t for the life of me understand why people go on about Jamie Lee Curtis being hot, when its obvious that Tia Carrera, though not as good an actress, is so hot it ought to be illegal, Tia plays her role with such verve and bitchiness that you can"t help but want to see more of her character.
'True Lies' is a film riddled with absurdities that continue to mount up like an inharmonious crescendo of noise and increasingly unbelievable stunts: The bridge Harrier jump jet sequence was excellent, though the horse in the city gag was old even when Dennis 'McCould' Weaver did it back in the 70s. Worth watching as an example of why less is more, 'True Lies' is as oxymoronic a pairing as 'Arnie & Acting'.
Non-stop spoof 007 movie, with truly amazing special effects. Arnie's acting is as bad as ever, but the storyline moves it along at a fast pace. The last hour is frenetic, with superb Harrier jump jet sequences which simply have to be seen to be believed. The bridge sequence is another hot spot with again unbelievable effects. Some very funny sections throughout, and Jamie Lee Curtis's 'prostitute spy' scene in the bedroom certainly turned my head ! Overall, an excellent fun family movie (the violence is well tamed) - rating:
Storyline: 8/10
Effects : 10/10
Acting : 6/10
Humour : 7/10
Overall : 8/10
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