THE TERMINATOR: PART I - ARNIE!

By Gareth Bunkham / August 21, 2008

You can't stop him. He'll wade through you, reach down her throat, and pull her fucking heart out.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

THE TERMINATOR

Unless youve been living under an extremely large rock for the last few years, I dont think I need to go into great detail on what Arnie is up to at present, but long before he was The Governator, he was a largely unknown bodybuilder looking to get into the movies. The Austrian Oaks first film role was in the 1970 comedy HERCULES IN NEW YORK, following his debut, more film roles soon followed, including a Golden Globe winning performance in STAY HUNGRY in 1976. Schwarzeneggers big break though came in 1982s CONAN THE BARBARIAN which was a box office smash and was quickly followed by a less successful sequel; CONAN THE DESTROYER in 1984.

It was his performance as the cyborg sent back through time in THE TERMINATOR though that is his most iconic and fondly remembered performance, though he initially didnt want to play the bad guy, director James Cameron convinced Schwarzenegger that playing The Terminator would be the definitive performance that would make his career And he was right. The rest of the eighties were spent carving out his niche as an action hero in the likes of RED SONJA, COMMANDO, RAW DEAL, RED HEAT and the brilliant cult classic THE RUNNING MAN, while 1987s PREDATOR is perhaps Schwarzeneggers best post-Terminator eighties effort. In 1988, Arnie turned his hand to comedy; starring alongside Danny DeVito in TWINS, but in 1990, he returned to his comfort zone with Paul Verhoevens sci-fi actioner TOTAL RECALL. In 1991, Schwarzebegger returned to his iconic role as The Terminator in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, but in one of cinemas greatest role reversals he went from being one of the greatest ever screen villains to being one of films greatest heroes. As this time The Terminator was sent back to protect John Connor from the evil T-1000 played by future Mulder-replacement Robert Patrick. T2 was a massive global success, even surpassing the success of the original, Arnies status as a box office heavyweight was now well and truly cemented. After the action film spoofing LAST ACTION HERO in 1993, Schwarzenegger once again reunited with Cameron for 1994s TRUE LIES, Camerons most underrated film. After TRUE LIES though Arnies film career went downhill, and fast.

He followed TRUE LIES with an attempt to recreate TWINS success by reuniting with Danny DeVito and Ivan Reitman for the dismal, but recently quite topical, pregnant man comedy JUNIOR. The by the numbers ERASER and the Christmas family comedy JINGLE ALL THE WAY did nothing to recapture Arnies eighties glory days, his struggles compounded by the horrific BATMAN & ROBIN in 1997. George Clooney reportedly stated hed refund anyone who ever paid to see this abominations money, as someone who actually parted with cash to see this film can vouch; its the least he could do. Schwarzeneggers Mr. Freeze spits out every conceivable cold/ice related pun as he lumbers through a truly awful piece of cinema. The big mans film career never really recovered. END OF DAYS, THE 6TH DAY and COLLATERAL DAMAGE took us into the new millennium, none of which did much to restore Arnies box office titan status. By this time, Arnold Schwarzenegger was starting to make his foray into politics, he still managed to find the time to dust off his leather jacket though to play The Terminator one more time in TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, a disappointing finish to the original trilogy, and what would prove to be Schwarzeneggers last major starring role to date.

In 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger became the 38th Governor of the state of California a post he still holds after re-election in 2006. Who wouldve thought that the unstoppable killing machine of THE TERMINATOR would become one of the most powerful men in the world, and who knows, one day the in-jokes of DEMOLITION MAN and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE may come true and we may be bemoaning the policies of President Schwarzenegger. But hopefully not.

In the coming year it's been reported he will co-star (probably as a cameo) alongside his much compared peer Sylvester Stallone in the Bollywood movie Incredible Love and despite much fan support, it's unlikely he will be part of the new Terminator trilogy or Tarantino's ensemble war movie Inglorious Bastards. Next: Linda Hamilton