7. True Lies (1994)
Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron re-teamed for an often-overlooked entry on the director's industry-changing filmography; a spy caper that adheres to many archetypes of the genre but has a hell of a lot of fun in doing so. Featuring possibly Arnie's best performance and a Golden Globe-winning turn from Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies has humor, action and thrills from start to finish. As with any spy movie, True Lies has an abundance of plot. Despite the questionable nature of Harry Tasker using government resources to spy on his wife to see if she's having an affair, the husband and wife team find themselves embroiled in a plot by terrorist cell Crimson Jihad to detonate a nuclear weapon that involves the kidnapping of their daughter and double-crosses aplenty. Besides the two leads the supporting cast also shine; Bill Paxton is great as the weaselly conman posing as a spy to get Curtis into bed, Tia Carrere is suitably sultry as a terrorist-backed art dealer, Tom Arnold is surprisingly not annoying as Arnie's sidekick, and even Charlton Heston pops up for an eyepatch-wearing cameo. Art Malik's terrorist leader is disappointingly two-dimensional, but he gets his comeuppance in gloriously spectacular fashion. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, True Lies delivers plenty of memorable action moments. Arnie chasing a terrorist on horseback through a building is suitably over the top, the chase along the Overseas Highway is edge of the seat stuff, and seeing The Austrian Oak commandeer a Harrier jet to rescue his daughter is ridiculous, but mightily entertaining. Coupled with some classic one-liners, Curtis' memorable dance scene and even Arnie doing the tango, True Lies is popcorn entertainment of the highest form.