You know True Lies is going to be awesome when the start of the film is Arnold in a tuxedo being asked to see his invitation, to which Arnold responds, “Sure, here’s my invitation,” and blows something up. Take note, movie makers, that is how you start a flick!
In True Lies Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Harry, an undercover spy trying to take down terrorists. To his family, though, he’s just a salesman who travels all the time. So his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) feels neglected and bored by Harry being gone all the time, and decides to get into some shenanigans of her own while Harry is out being a spy and kicking butt.
There are so many great things about True Lies. For starters, it has a great cast. Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold are all very funny in this flick. We even get to see Bill Paxton and a young Eliza Dushku. Then there’s the rugged Charlton Heston and sexy Tia Carrere. Another great thing about his flick is the dancing from Jamie Lee Curtis. Who knew that was coming? Here she is, a housewife in baggy clothing, and then you turn around and BAM! She’s doing a sexy dance in her undies! It is all very good.
True Lies is the best example of the Bro Code being executed to perfection. Tom Arnold is the guy everyone should want as their bro. Gibson (Tom) was constantly covering for Harry (Arnold) with his wife. He was there for him when Harry thought Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) was cheating on him. Gibson went along with Harry when he wanted to kidnap a guy for personal reasons. He was ready and willing to sign some papers and/or knock out a guy when Harry was stealing a fighter plane. He is just the best bro to have around when you are a spy and/or are always in sticky situations. He’s loyal and ready to go along with whatever you need to do. He deserves The Best Bro of the Year Award, as he’s definitely the MVB of Arnold’s team.
Action wise, you definitely won’t be disappointed by True Lies. Arnold blows a lot of things up and kills so many guys that you’d have to use an abacus to keep track of it all. He’s such a super badass spy that he doesn’t even get out of breath or break a sweat. That’s professionalism, people.
The flick starts off with a great run of action and ends with a lengthy bout, but the middle is where it suffers. True Lies is also classified as a comedy and so the action is quite on the lower end during the second act, but it keeps you interested by being funny and quick paced. Arnold has a way of turning even normal, boring lines into comedy gold. Overall, this is a great film and one of my favorite Arnold movies. If you haven’t seen it, it’s time you do. And if you have seen it, it’s time to watch it again because it is great.
Time until real action starts: ~ 12 minutes
Baddies: Terrorists!
Triple Best: This is a truly, truly rare occasion. You may never again see a movie that will have a best line, best kill, and best explosion wrapped into one. In the end of the film, Arnold is flying a fighter plane and the bad guy had fallen onto the missile and gets stuck on it. Arnold says, “You’re fired,” and shoots the missile with the terrorist on it (best line). The missile flies through the building in front of them and hits a helicopter full of terrorists on the other side (best kills). It explodes into a massive fireball (best explosion). Holy crap! Nothing is better than blowing up a helicopter full of terrorists with a terrorist attached to a missile. It was so awesome. You can see part of it in the YouTube clip below.
2nd Best Line: Arnold says, “Cool off,” as he sticks the head of a guy he just killed in the urinal.
2nd Best Kill: A terrorist has Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) as a hostage, using her as a shield. He tells Arnold to put down his gun, but I guess he forgot who he was talking to. Without any hesitation, Arnold shoots the guy in the head right over Helen’s shoulder. Then he calmly tells her to duck next time as she freaks out that she was almost shot.
2nd Best Explosion: There are so many good explosions and kills in True Lies. During the final battle, the baddies are driving across a super long bridge with Arnold in hot pursuit. The good guys shoot four missiles at the bridge blowing it to pieces and blowing several of the trucks up in the air.
Action Rating: 4 Arnolds Chewing Out Horses, out of 5
Illustration by Alex Langley. Rocket Llama World Headquarters
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
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True Lies was the kind of total package action flick that only James Cameron could deliver (or maybe Michael Bay). From horse chases all the way up to Harrier Jets – it is quite a ride. This movie was also made in the very small window of time where a hack like Tom Arnold could actually book a role like this. Oh yeah, Eliza Dushku was sporting the biggest motorcycle helmet I've ever seen. Could they gave faked it smaller somehow. I think Bill Paxton was the best thing about this movie – sorry, I know it's Arnold month.
shortened url = http://3.ly/Lies or http://3.ly/TrueLies
I love True Lies…it’s my favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. This movie has it all….a butt load of Cameron action scenes, romance, family values, a totally hot strip tease by Jamie Lee Curtis and plenty of humor provided by Tom Arnold and Bill Paxton. I wish the Governator would quit politics and get back to making movies…..I miss him! James Cameron has been spending years bringing Avatar to the big screen when he could have filmed two sequels to Lies by now.