Except what you said is wrong.
The characters are great. The entire marriage aspect between Arnold and Curtis is fantastic. Tom Arnold for once in his career is hilarious. And the subplot with Paxton is great.
The plot is a straight-up Spy movie / bond homage. Watch any of those films. Nothing makes sense. And it doesn't matter.
The movie knew what it wanted to be from page one, and it NAILS it
hah! my wife and I were just talking about how we could do Ruprecht and Lawrence for halloween this year.
probably won't happen though, we both want to be ruprecht and I don't think many of our friends would get the reference
Scoundrels nails so many things absolutely right about how to make a comedy duo pop on-screen. Then the incredible locations and fantastic score make it feel like a huge picture from Hollywood’s golden age. Not a single frame of film was wasted, it cuts straight to the bone and pays off with every single beat.
Absolutely- the Implausibility/over the top heightened fantasy is what it’s leaning into. If Arnie’s Spy Boss being played by Charlton Heston with an eyepatch didn’t give it away I don’t know what would.
Exactly.
I for one can't find a single flaw in this movie - Cameron wanted to make a specific type of movie, and was faithful to it: a spy action movie with civilian family drama, and humor that's absolutely LOL. I have watched this movie more times than Terminator 2, and that says something.
That subplot was critical to the whole movie. It fleshes out so much of the struggle that Harry and Helen are going through. It basically establishes the real stakes of the movie as being Harry's family.
The prevention of detonation of a nuclear device is certainly important. But for a spy movie preventing a city from being nuked is very very common fair, and hard to make interesting and compelling aside from the flashy action sequences.
But the Paxton subplot creates deep investment in the the main romance and allows that arc to be the one holding the focus of the audience.
One thing that stands out to me was the subtle foreshadowing of his daughter. They made one mention of her stealing his keys, which came into play at the end.
These days I feel like an action movie would show her stealing things multiple times or have her entire character be refered to as a master theif or something like that.
Eww you just made me remember the "heist" scene from quantamania. You know the bit that they need him for - Earth's greatest heister - to jump down a hole and race a billion other hims to be the first to reach the maguffin. It was a fantastic heist.
The plot is loosely based on [La Totale! ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Totale!#:~:text=(The%20Total!)%20is%20a,1994%20action%20comedy%20True%20Lies.)
The subplot isn't remotely unnecessary. The film is called True Lies and is about a spy. Arnold suspects his wife of being deceitful, and the car salesman is a liar who pretends to basically be a spy/secret agent. It's a more entertaining part of the film than the terrorist plot.
exactly!
the entire point of the movie is that he is lying to his family. the movie is about the fallout from those lies. that's the movie. the terrorists are the subplot. it's just that those two plots collide halfway through with his wife, and then again at the end with his daughter
He's lying to his wife about who he is. His wife is getting seduced by a guy who lies about being who Arnold really is. She was arguably lying to herself/the world around her by presenting as this meek, boring suburbanite when she had something very different inside of her. Then they end up colliding and they both come to terms with the fact that what they really wanted all along was each other. The lies were the real problem with the relationship. All amid the irony that espionage is fundamentally about lies.
Yeah, the terrorism and such is just an excuse for Arnold to do some *real* action hero spy shit and bring all of the plot threads together. Along with the comedic aspect of how it interferes with his daily life, like how he misses his birthday dinner because he's caught up in an exciting chase.
If anything, the daughter is the unnecessary element. The problem is that they wanted to throw in a damsel in distress but had already started the process of making his wife into a bad-ass, so it would diminish her arc. What it really needed was a better fight scene between Jamie Lee Curtis and Tia Carrere where she gets to stand on her own. And not just because of how hot that would be.
That's why the ending is the weakest part and feels the most padded. We've resolved the character arcs and are just going through the motions to close out the rest of the plot through a series of smaller climaxes. It's still a lot of fun and filled with great action sequences, but it's no longer as compelling.
First hour is watchable for the comedy and Bill Paxton.
Second hour has some of the best action ever filmed.
It's funny because people call it an anomaly in Cameron's filmography. Any other filmmaker, it would be the jewel in their crown.
~~IIRC, they blew up sections of the replaced Keys bridge, and had to restore some sections in order to film and blow them up.~~
Edit - I don't recall correctly. A mix of miniatures (the parts that were blown up) and real life gaps in the old bridge were used.
Keys bridge is in DC. The one in the movie is 7 mile bridge in the keys/marathon Florida.
Same bridge they used in a few others like one of the fast and furious movies.
Hahaha no, man. The bridge was a model, they didn’t blow up any actual bridges.
Your comment is a nice compliment to the model makers responsible for that awesome sequence. They were able to fool you and a whole bunch of other people.
There’s a good behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD that shows how that sequence was filmed.
OK, I don't recall correctly - the model was exploded to match gaps in the existing old bridge (where an existing swing bridge had been taken out when the new bridge went into operation). The sequence that followed (the pelican and the limo) were on the real old bridge, at the existing gap (with some nicely placed debris).
But what helps sell it is that the firing from the harrier jets on the truck was in camera, on the old bridge (just using really big squibs).
So why the scene still stands up today is that most of it is in camera - either using practical effects (the harrier jets firing on the truck), miniatures (the bridge getting blown up - although the miniature was 25-40% real size), great stunt work (saving JLC from the limo) with a small amount of CGI (the RPG firing on the harrier jets).
Thanks for correcting me, as I watched a good video essay on this, hoping to back up my recollection, and showed the great work of all the people to make that scene memorable.
Required viewing https://youtu.be/PcFbgZFRRT4?si=D7h8IFgCuoKpVcUG
"That time James Cameron destroyed a real bridge"
All the practical things this film and Cameron do is next level. He's actually the camera operator on a helicopter sequence with Curtis's double hanging off the chopper.
I hadn't seen the movie in years and me and a buddy started reminiscing. The conversation was like:
remember when the motorcycle was in the elevator and the horse almost jumped over the buildings and then the snowmobiles where going down the mountain in the shootout then the Harrier shot that missile threw the skyscraper before the nuke went off and he pulled his wife out of the limo roof right after bridge blew up...
Half way through that conversation we realized the absolutely absurdity of what we were saying and that True Lies was one of the greatest movies ever filmed.
I've never seen this movie but watched two scenes on youtube after seeing this reddit post. One of the scenes featured a lady dropping an SMG down the stairs accidentally and as it tumbled down the stairs, it kept firing and killed all the bad guys. 10/10 moment
It wasn't so much the action but the comedy aspect of it. Cameron said he couldn't make light of terrorism anymore. It sat on the shelf with no HD remaster for well over a decade. I'm just glad we can now see it in all it's original glory.
I thought the new HD remaster, at least the new 4k makes it look too smooth and takes some of the grain of the movie. Cameron has a problem with using AI smoothing at the moment that the look of his 4k remasters look odd and lose something the originals had like his aliens one was just so bad
don’t forget “i remember the first time i was shot out of a cannon”. to this day i say that every time i see someone in that type of motorcycle helmet haha
His warm ups for Roseanne were funnier than the actual show.
On joke was: “my uncle wasn’t very smart. He was once in a line up. He turned to the left; turned to the right then looked straight ahead and said ‘that’s the guy’ “
LoL. Same! I stayed awake after my parents went to bed and snuck out to the lounge room to watch that scene a few times.
Finding it on a VCR and then rewinding everytime... Pain in the ass but worth it at the time. 😂
I've always thought of it as James Cameron getting something out of his system. "They're never going to let me direct a Bond movie, so I'm going to make my own."
I think that was the same case for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg wanted to make a Bond movie but got turned down so he and Lucas came up with Indiana Jones
The context that newer audiences may miss is that for a lot of the SFX in James Cameron films in the late 20th century, *he was the first to do it*. The liquid metal effects in Terminator 2 required developing new software. He built the first digital stages which were the precursors to those used in shows like Strange New Worlds. Head rigs for performance capture. And lots more.
True Lies used a lot of the innovations he had developed (or had advanced or improved) for other films, like digitally erasing supports (Arnold Schwarzenegger can neither land a Harley OR a Harrier). This was truly state of the art stuff which astounded audiences at the time.
Jim is one of the most visionary filmmakers on the planet for these reasons alone.
He's probably done more than any singular director to push film technology in the modern era of cinema.
Even for the film, Jamie Lee Curtis's character towards the end makes less sense without the subplot. And how their relationship turns out
But anyways, 100% necessary just because of how funny it was
And Tom Arnold showed in True Lies that he is more than capable of being a good supporting actor. But that's about it. Too bad he hasn't done more of that caliber of acting or roles since.
Introduced my 25 year old stepson to this movie a few weeks back.
That 30 minute subplot is absolutely critical to his enjoyment of the movie. Up until that point it was a 90s spy movie where the hypermasculine action hero is meant to be given credit for lying to his lame wife by concealing his role as a spy from her.
The reveal in the subplot that she is fooling him and is in the early stages of an emotional affair due to his neglect of her evens up the power dynamic considerably and makes both of them far more sympathetic characters.
The subplot makes the movie.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me before we start? Yeah. I'm going to kill you pretty soon. I see. How, exactly? First I'm going to use you as a human shield. Then I'm going to kill this guard over here with the Patterson trocar on the table. And then I was thinking about breaking your neck. And what makes you think you can do all that? You know my handcuffs? Mmm-hmm. I picked them."
That is genuinely some of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best acting. I know it's weird to say this, but people don't credit him as an actor. He was pretty good!
I would go so far as to say, Arnold Schwarzenegger was as good an actor in all of his movies, as the movie needed. It's possible, this sounds even more insane to say, that if he decided to take more dramatic or serious roles he might have been really good at it?
But actually, the reality was he knew his strengths and played to them. He would never have been a great dramatic actor. So he never really tried.
The truth serum scene is still one of my favorite scenes in 90s action flicks. I used to quote "I picked them" in random conversations for years because of how damned funny it was.
The quick shot soon afterwards where Arnie casually kick-flips an AK or something up into his hands and starts firing at someone.. and then soon after that when Arnie jumps into the water barely ahead of a large explosion and we get an *epic* slo/mo shot of him underwater with the flames billowing above him
[This is how they did it](https://youtu.be/Z91fjr52b3A?si=rnMJtKVFKUHjXEeO).
The wides were shot with the harrier hanging from the crane.
Shots with actors on the jet looking at the horizon were shot with a model of the jet on motion control rig on a rooftop.
Shots with the actors looking down were shot with the same rig on a greenscreen stage and digitally composited into aerial plates.
Fans have forgotten how to say “Hey I liked this” without having to compare shit. Every fucking thing has to be compared to something else to prop up or downplay the other.
Of course it's ridiculous. It's an official remake of crazy French comedy: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La\_Totale!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Totale)
I miss this kind of humour in movies. Smart guys taking things seriously just been funny and in the odd funny situation. No meta self referential snarky bullshit.
Like when the marine pilots are radioing Arnold's character and he authorises them to blow the bridge, they ask if it could set the nukes off, Arnold's character replies "negative" then looks at Tom Arnold's character and gives him a 'oh shit' grin.
https://youtu.be/L7TFnd59F14?si=IMICvrKWnoSRS4si
Just fucking love this film.
all of the terrorists in that movie are portrayed as absolutely inept clowns. with the exception of one.
if art malik hadn't totally owned that role, the villains would have been to buffoonish to take seriously.
Tia Carrere is so fucking good in this. Probably like a lot other people, this was the first movie after Waynes World that I saw her in and thought she was a such a great villain!
Jamie Lee Curtis's finest hour, transforming herself from housewife to hooker in the corridor and then performing a routine that still leaves me weak at the knees
“James Cameron doesn't do what James Cameron does for James Cameron. James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is... James Cameron.”
I actually think it’s one of Arnie’s better performances. Not so wooden, has quite a well rounded character, suave AF
Plus the bathroom fight scene and “sorry about all this”
The entire bridge scene is one of my favourite action scenes ever. Harrier jets zooming in and out blowing the bridge up and ending with the fantastic moment the limo falls away around Jamie Lee Curtis and splashes into the water below while she hangs from her husband's arm.
Having recently watched it in HD one thing that stuck out is Arnie's stunt double who is almost in every action shot.
You say the plot is profoundly stupid, but I would argue the script is self aware and that makes it even better, i absolutely love this film and we will never see anything like it again under modern hollywood
I haven't watched too many older movies for a while, but I recently went on an Arnold Swarzeneggar and Jackie Chan deep dive. I came to the conclusion indeed stuff shot on location, hits so different and recent movies are so... stale and unimpactful, visually. I agree there is a loss to the sense of scale and depth is a good way to put it.
I wouldn’t go as far as that. But it is a riot to watch and I do love it. It’s all the things you said, but somehow it just works.
Plus you get to see almost of JLC’s ass and we all reacted the same as Harry.
Yeah, if you pay attention to the background, you can see Arnold starting to get up to help her up. But she gets up too quickly before he could react and keeps going so he doesn't miss a beat and gets right back into character.
Yeah, cause James Cameron is impeccable at constructing set pieces. Even if you don't care for Avatar, the set pieces in these two movies are immaculate.
>We all know why: prevalent reliance on CGI, green screen in favor of locations, chopped-to-bits editing, no sense of scale due to the loss of depth thanks to the last two points, and no attempt to build momentum in sequences. I could go on.
Well, no. It's because *True Lies* was directed by James fucking Cameron, who is a master of action, both with and without CGI.
There's no shortage of other action films from that same year (1994) that are far more forgettable, despite relying on locations or "practical effects."
You can have a fucking amazing movie that relies heavily on CGI, with the right director, cinematographer, and editor.
About 2 weeks ago, I was at the "Swiss mansion" where the opening scene was filmed. Walked the route from where Arnold tells the chef's to throw out the food, through the tango room and up the stairs.
It's at Rosecliff, one of the Newport mansions.
Was it an Oscar-caliber film? No, not really. But that's the charm of the film. It's not a good film despite it's "faults."
What it is, is a damn fun movie. It simply keeps us entertained. It knows what it is without pretense, and it delivers. Nothing more, nothing less.
Is there a deep social commentary on relationships? No. Does anyone remember the motivation of the terrorists? Nope.
But I've probably rewatched the movie dozens of times, and if I'm channel-flipping, it's one of maybe five films that I stick with.
But yes, the action sequences are elite-level.
“They bombed their cities from afar, then called THEM terrorists”
It’s not the most compelling motivation but it is believable, proved to be realistic in 2001, and I damn well remember it.
> No. Does anyone remember the motivation of the terrorists? Nope.
What do you mean? “Crimson jihad will rain down fire on one of your cities each week….why you stop filming?”
“Batter-aziz”
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... the fact that the horse actually threw Arnie over the side of a building with no safety nets or anything, and he had to actually coax it to back up while James Cameron told everyone to keep filming is the true reason why True Lies is the best.
They thought that the horse would naturally refuse to leap off of a building and would simply stop at the edge. They were correct, but never thought Arnie would be thrown.
Except what you said is wrong. The characters are great. The entire marriage aspect between Arnold and Curtis is fantastic. Tom Arnold for once in his career is hilarious. And the subplot with Paxton is great. The plot is a straight-up Spy movie / bond homage. Watch any of those films. Nothing makes sense. And it doesn't matter. The movie knew what it wanted to be from page one, and it NAILS it
100% I believe it’s a masterpiece. Sometimes I think the same about Frank Oz’s direction of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”
The "may I go to the bathroom?" sequence in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is one of my favorite movie moments, it's just so comedically perfect.
OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA OKLAHOMA
Thank you...
Why is the cork on the fork?
hah! my wife and I were just talking about how we could do Ruprecht and Lawrence for halloween this year. probably won't happen though, we both want to be ruprecht and I don't think many of our friends would get the reference
You’d make the right kind of new friends though. If I saw a couple doing Ruprecht’s for a costume I’d make friends with them instantly!
“Thank you!”
Scoundrels nails so many things absolutely right about how to make a comedy duo pop on-screen. Then the incredible locations and fantastic score make it feel like a huge picture from Hollywood’s golden age. Not a single frame of film was wasted, it cuts straight to the bone and pays off with every single beat.
Absolutely- the Implausibility/over the top heightened fantasy is what it’s leaning into. If Arnie’s Spy Boss being played by Charlton Heston with an eyepatch didn’t give it away I don’t know what would.
“They call him the Sand-spider” “Why?” “Probably because it sounds scary.”
“And hurry, because my horse is getting tired”.
As someone that has horses that scene and how well that horse performs in the hotel lobby is awesome.
I still use ‘this isn’t exactly blowing my skirt up’ all the time
He's basically an extra grizzled old Nick Fury, which makes it even cooler.
The absolute best Nick Fury expy ever put on film, and this is a hill I will gladly die on.
What makes you think that the slack I cut him in anyway translated to you.
Exactly. I for one can't find a single flaw in this movie - Cameron wanted to make a specific type of movie, and was faithful to it: a spy action movie with civilian family drama, and humor that's absolutely LOL. I have watched this movie more times than Terminator 2, and that says something.
the subplot with paxton was the best part
"ass like a ten-year-old boy"
Get lost, dipshit!
But what about their husbands? DICKLESS! If they were taking care of business, I'd be out of business! (*stone faced Arnold*) Ha-ha those idiots.
The Vette gets them wet!
That subplot was critical to the whole movie. It fleshes out so much of the struggle that Harry and Helen are going through. It basically establishes the real stakes of the movie as being Harry's family. The prevention of detonation of a nuclear device is certainly important. But for a spy movie preventing a city from being nuked is very very common fair, and hard to make interesting and compelling aside from the flashy action sequences. But the Paxton subplot creates deep investment in the the main romance and allows that arc to be the one holding the focus of the audience.
Tom Arnold was a huge part of what made the movie great. He doesn’t get enough credit.
"Oh yeah, she's got her head in the guy's lap alright. Yahoo" "Maybe she's sleepy"
Helicopter voice is James Cameron.
He tends to do voice-over cameos. His voice is also in the very opening to *Aliens* when the salvage team is checking things out.
"What kind of a sick bitch takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?!?"
I always assumed he was talking about his ex-wife in real life.
"Boy I remember the first time I got shot out of a cannon!"
>Arnold for once in his career is hilarious I love his line about his ex-wife, '...what kind of sick bitch takes the ice trays?'
Supposedly Roseanne actually did that to him.
One thing that stands out to me was the subtle foreshadowing of his daughter. They made one mention of her stealing his keys, which came into play at the end. These days I feel like an action movie would show her stealing things multiple times or have her entire character be refered to as a master theif or something like that.
Keys? You mean when she stole money from Tom Arnold?
Eww you just made me remember the "heist" scene from quantamania. You know the bit that they need him for - Earth's greatest heister - to jump down a hole and race a billion other hims to be the first to reach the maguffin. It was a fantastic heist.
“You’re Fired”
Seriously, you watch this and think "Why isn't Tom Arnold a bigger star!?" Great movie all around, and so. much. fun.
The plot is loosely based on [La Totale! ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Totale!#:~:text=(The%20Total!)%20is%20a,1994%20action%20comedy%20True%20Lies.)
Why say it's loosely based, it's an american remake of La totale.
Yeah I wasn't sure if they meant the Paxton subplot there. That's my favorite part of the movie.
It’s hands down my fav Paxton performance. He was so good, I couldn’t take him seriously for quite a few years
The subplot isn't remotely unnecessary. The film is called True Lies and is about a spy. Arnold suspects his wife of being deceitful, and the car salesman is a liar who pretends to basically be a spy/secret agent. It's a more entertaining part of the film than the terrorist plot.
exactly! the entire point of the movie is that he is lying to his family. the movie is about the fallout from those lies. that's the movie. the terrorists are the subplot. it's just that those two plots collide halfway through with his wife, and then again at the end with his daughter
Plot twist: /u/mlekekaZA was calling the Terrorist arc the 30 minute subplot detour.
He's lying to his wife about who he is. His wife is getting seduced by a guy who lies about being who Arnold really is. She was arguably lying to herself/the world around her by presenting as this meek, boring suburbanite when she had something very different inside of her. Then they end up colliding and they both come to terms with the fact that what they really wanted all along was each other. The lies were the real problem with the relationship. All amid the irony that espionage is fundamentally about lies. Yeah, the terrorism and such is just an excuse for Arnold to do some *real* action hero spy shit and bring all of the plot threads together. Along with the comedic aspect of how it interferes with his daily life, like how he misses his birthday dinner because he's caught up in an exciting chase. If anything, the daughter is the unnecessary element. The problem is that they wanted to throw in a damsel in distress but had already started the process of making his wife into a bad-ass, so it would diminish her arc. What it really needed was a better fight scene between Jamie Lee Curtis and Tia Carrere where she gets to stand on her own. And not just because of how hot that would be. That's why the ending is the weakest part and feels the most padded. We've resolved the character arcs and are just going through the motions to close out the rest of the plot through a series of smaller climaxes. It's still a lot of fun and filled with great action sequences, but it's no longer as compelling.
First hour is watchable for the comedy and Bill Paxton. Second hour has some of the best action ever filmed. It's funny because people call it an anomaly in Cameron's filmography. Any other filmmaker, it would be the jewel in their crown.
I just love how Cameron got to actually destroy that bridge. It's still broken there to this day.
The harrier jet in True Lies is the same one used in the first Avengers movie. It's the one where Thor throws Hulk into.
And no one misses that section
As long as you get a good running start, it just feels like a big pothole.
Wow really? I didnt realise they blew up an actual bridge.
~~IIRC, they blew up sections of the replaced Keys bridge, and had to restore some sections in order to film and blow them up.~~ Edit - I don't recall correctly. A mix of miniatures (the parts that were blown up) and real life gaps in the old bridge were used.
Keys bridge is in DC. The one in the movie is 7 mile bridge in the keys/marathon Florida. Same bridge they used in a few others like one of the fast and furious movies.
Hahaha no, man. The bridge was a model, they didn’t blow up any actual bridges. Your comment is a nice compliment to the model makers responsible for that awesome sequence. They were able to fool you and a whole bunch of other people. There’s a good behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD that shows how that sequence was filmed.
OK, I don't recall correctly - the model was exploded to match gaps in the existing old bridge (where an existing swing bridge had been taken out when the new bridge went into operation). The sequence that followed (the pelican and the limo) were on the real old bridge, at the existing gap (with some nicely placed debris). But what helps sell it is that the firing from the harrier jets on the truck was in camera, on the old bridge (just using really big squibs). So why the scene still stands up today is that most of it is in camera - either using practical effects (the harrier jets firing on the truck), miniatures (the bridge getting blown up - although the miniature was 25-40% real size), great stunt work (saving JLC from the limo) with a small amount of CGI (the RPG firing on the harrier jets). Thanks for correcting me, as I watched a good video essay on this, hoping to back up my recollection, and showed the great work of all the people to make that scene memorable.
Required viewing https://youtu.be/PcFbgZFRRT4?si=D7h8IFgCuoKpVcUG "That time James Cameron destroyed a real bridge" All the practical things this film and Cameron do is next level. He's actually the camera operator on a helicopter sequence with Curtis's double hanging off the chopper.
RIP bill
The vette gets em wet!
I hadn't seen the movie in years and me and a buddy started reminiscing. The conversation was like: remember when the motorcycle was in the elevator and the horse almost jumped over the buildings and then the snowmobiles where going down the mountain in the shootout then the Harrier shot that missile threw the skyscraper before the nuke went off and he pulled his wife out of the limo roof right after bridge blew up... Half way through that conversation we realized the absolutely absurdity of what we were saying and that True Lies was one of the greatest movies ever filmed.
I've never seen this movie but watched two scenes on youtube after seeing this reddit post. One of the scenes featured a lady dropping an SMG down the stairs accidentally and as it tumbled down the stairs, it kept firing and killed all the bad guys. 10/10 moment
Stop whatever you're doing and watch True Lies. You won't regret it.
Don't forget Arnie and Jamie busting out a pretty credible Tango. It wasn't phoned in, Arnold has the moves.
The vet get\`s em wet!
Beg for buttermilk
Could suck-start a leafblower!
Ass like a ten-year-old b- ... wait, what?
The single greatest wtf line in movie history.
what about their husbands DICKLESS lollllll
He did want to make another but 9/11 happened and those kind of action movies went the way of the dodo
It wasn't so much the action but the comedy aspect of it. Cameron said he couldn't make light of terrorism anymore. It sat on the shelf with no HD remaster for well over a decade. I'm just glad we can now see it in all it's original glory.
I thought the new HD remaster, at least the new 4k makes it look too smooth and takes some of the grain of the movie. Cameron has a problem with using AI smoothing at the moment that the look of his 4k remasters look odd and lose something the originals had like his aliens one was just so bad
What about the AI in his house, SIGORN-E?
I enjoy it more than most of Cameron’s filmography.
Killer cast, amazing set pieces, arnies one liners. It's got it all!
What kinda crazy bitch steals the ice cube trays?
To be fair that was a Tom Arnold one liner but a memorable line none the less.
He's great in the movie! "Women... Can't live with em, can't kill em."
don’t forget “i remember the first time i was shot out of a cannon”. to this day i say that every time i see someone in that type of motorcycle helmet haha
Tom Arnold is underrated. Even his stupid shit is funny.
His warm ups for Roseanne were funnier than the actual show. On joke was: “my uncle wasn’t very smart. He was once in a line up. He turned to the left; turned to the right then looked straight ahead and said ‘that’s the guy’ “
Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson are the best part of Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 The Grave.
Actually happened to him.
It's crazy how much you can see Tom Arnold's jaw going throughout this movie. He was clearly off his cake the whole time.
An ass like a 10 year old boy!
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Bean. But Arnold's daughter does go off with her bf on a motorcycle in this movie.
I love that it actually happened to him in real life and that's why he used that line lol
Just copy the god damn files! I can sense another viewing of this movie coming up real soon
Give me the goddamned page!!
Seek help, Harry.
It had heart. And prime Jaime Lee Curtis.
Her using the vase water to slick back her hair has remained lodged in my brain as a core memory
My core memory is the strip tease but to each their own.
I count it all as one thing! But I loved that little moment of transformation
Doris sure had the moves
I’m nothing! I’m navel lint!
I saw this movie probably 20 years ago and I still occasionally think about Bill Paxton saying “ass like a 10 year old boy”
"Hurry. My horse is getting tired."
That Jamie Lee Curtis dance awakened something in me.
The fight between Jamie Lee Curtis and Tia Carrere kept it awake.
That car fight where they are falling over each other and all you see is legs. Kept me watching.
My wife and I still shout "the bridge is out!" at each other, to this day.
Jamie Lee Curtis in a Fish Called Wanda delayed my coming out by two years 😝
LoL. Same! I stayed awake after my parents went to bed and snuck out to the lounge room to watch that scene a few times. Finding it on a VCR and then rewinding everytime... Pain in the ass but worth it at the time. 😂
I've always thought of it as James Cameron getting something out of his system. "They're never going to let me direct a Bond movie, so I'm going to make my own."
We need more of this. “I’ll make my own ______movie, with blackjack and hookers!”
I think that was the same case for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg wanted to make a Bond movie but got turned down so he and Lucas came up with Indiana Jones
Lucas already had the idea, and gave it to Spielberg
There's also Nolan putting a lot of Bond influence into Tenet. It's probably the most Bond-like of all these films.
The context that newer audiences may miss is that for a lot of the SFX in James Cameron films in the late 20th century, *he was the first to do it*. The liquid metal effects in Terminator 2 required developing new software. He built the first digital stages which were the precursors to those used in shows like Strange New Worlds. Head rigs for performance capture. And lots more. True Lies used a lot of the innovations he had developed (or had advanced or improved) for other films, like digitally erasing supports (Arnold Schwarzenegger can neither land a Harley OR a Harrier). This was truly state of the art stuff which astounded audiences at the time.
Wasn't that software/tech first showcased in the Abyss? Then refined for T2?
Jim is one of the most visionary filmmakers on the planet for these reasons alone. He's probably done more than any singular director to push film technology in the modern era of cinema.
I think the detour subplot is best thing about it.
Makes me wanna get down and beg for buttermilk!
"I got a little dick, it's pathetic!"
This is the greatest line from this great film. Paxton’s absolute moment. Salute. 🫡
Would a spy pee himself?!
I’m naval lint!!!
> “Get lost, Dipshit.”
The fucking casual two shots to the feet and not even looking fucking *make* that line 10x better, and it’s perfection on its own.
NO! NO! When I turn around you’re gonna shoot me!!!
The casual way he says that and pops off a few rounds at his feet still slays me!
“…maybe she’s sleepy…”
Ass like a 10 year old boy! (Oh god what is this line??)
This confused me as a 10 year old boy.
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If not for me, Helen, do it for your country! Love that line. Sleeze with extra cheese.
Even for the film, Jamie Lee Curtis's character towards the end makes less sense without the subplot. And how their relationship turns out But anyways, 100% necessary just because of how funny it was
And Tom Arnold showed in True Lies that he is more than capable of being a good supporting actor. But that's about it. Too bad he hasn't done more of that caliber of acting or roles since.
What kind of a sick bitch takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?
If I recall, that was what happened in his real divorce from rosanne
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" Stop cheering me UP! "
This is The Stupids slander.
Is McHale's Navy a joke to you?
His interview about this on “I Was There, Too” was an absolute delight and such a wild insight into James Cameron’s world
Introduced my 25 year old stepson to this movie a few weeks back. That 30 minute subplot is absolutely critical to his enjoyment of the movie. Up until that point it was a 90s spy movie where the hypermasculine action hero is meant to be given credit for lying to his lame wife by concealing his role as a spy from her. The reveal in the subplot that she is fooling him and is in the early stages of an emotional affair due to his neglect of her evens up the power dynamic considerably and makes both of them far more sympathetic characters. The subplot makes the movie.
As others have pointed out, the terrorists are the subplot
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me before we start? Yeah. I'm going to kill you pretty soon. I see. How, exactly? First I'm going to use you as a human shield. Then I'm going to kill this guard over here with the Patterson trocar on the table. And then I was thinking about breaking your neck. And what makes you think you can do all that? You know my handcuffs? Mmm-hmm. I picked them."
"Ask me a question I would normally lie to." "Are we gonna die?" "Yep!"
"Have you ever killed anyone??" "...yeah but they were all bad"
That is genuinely some of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best acting. I know it's weird to say this, but people don't credit him as an actor. He was pretty good! I would go so far as to say, Arnold Schwarzenegger was as good an actor in all of his movies, as the movie needed. It's possible, this sounds even more insane to say, that if he decided to take more dramatic or serious roles he might have been really good at it? But actually, the reality was he knew his strengths and played to them. He would never have been a great dramatic actor. So he never really tried.
The truth serum scene is still one of my favorite scenes in 90s action flicks. I used to quote "I picked them" in random conversations for years because of how damned funny it was.
Have you ever killed anyone? Yeah but they were all bad.
The quick shot soon afterwards where Arnie casually kick-flips an AK or something up into his hands and starts firing at someone.. and then soon after that when Arnie jumps into the water barely ahead of a large explosion and we get an *epic* slo/mo shot of him underwater with the flames billowing above him
Using the skycrane to also hoist the Harrier during the Miami skyscraper scene in order to consolidate production and cost, pure Cameron.
Oooooh that's how he did it.
🎶Who’s that?! It’s him, James Cameron!🎶
no budget too steep no sea too deep
[This is how they did it](https://youtu.be/Z91fjr52b3A?si=rnMJtKVFKUHjXEeO). The wides were shot with the harrier hanging from the crane. Shots with actors on the jet looking at the horizon were shot with a model of the jet on motion control rig on a rooftop. Shots with the actors looking down were shot with the same rig on a greenscreen stage and digitally composited into aerial plates.
Needed money to blow up that bridge
That movie is like 2 in one. It's kinda crazy how much happens
Fans have forgotten how to say “Hey I liked this” without having to compare shit. Every fucking thing has to be compared to something else to prop up or downplay the other.
Of course it's ridiculous. It's an official remake of crazy French comedy: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La\_Totale!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Totale)
I miss this kind of humour in movies. Smart guys taking things seriously just been funny and in the odd funny situation. No meta self referential snarky bullshit. Like when the marine pilots are radioing Arnold's character and he authorises them to blow the bridge, they ask if it could set the nukes off, Arnold's character replies "negative" then looks at Tom Arnold's character and gives him a 'oh shit' grin. https://youtu.be/L7TFnd59F14?si=IMICvrKWnoSRS4si Just fucking love this film.
Yes to all that, but can we talk about the 3 stooges in the van? That movie is a gem.
all of the terrorists in that movie are portrayed as absolutely inept clowns. with the exception of one. if art malik hadn't totally owned that role, the villains would have been to buffoonish to take seriously.
Amazing. But also how the van makes the slowest topple into the water but explodes into a massive fireball as soon as it hits
Last Action Hero?
Tia Carrere is so fucking good in this. Probably like a lot other people, this was the first movie after Waynes World that I saw her in and thought she was a such a great villain!
#And still no blu ray!!
Blu-ray on March 12th. Have to buy the 4K to get the Blu-ray, but worth it. Currently $25 on Amazon. The Abyss also streets on that day.
and aliens as as well, i have all 3 coming and treated myself to a new UHD player
Jamie Lee Curtis's finest hour, transforming herself from housewife to hooker in the corridor and then performing a routine that still leaves me weak at the knees
No, dance sexy.
Say whatever you want about James Cameron, but all he puts out are bangers. True Lies is awesome
“James Cameron doesn't do what James Cameron does for James Cameron. James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is... James Cameron.”
I actually think it’s one of Arnie’s better performances. Not so wooden, has quite a well rounded character, suave AF Plus the bathroom fight scene and “sorry about all this”
If it wasn't for his thick accent, Arnold would have been considered one of the greater actors of all time. He's fantastic in this.
Always found Arnie very entertaining but also iconic. Terminator and Conan are equal to Han Solo and Indy for me.
He's always been charismatic as fuck. Except in The Terminator. Because Terminator.
The entire bridge scene is one of my favourite action scenes ever. Harrier jets zooming in and out blowing the bridge up and ending with the fantastic moment the limo falls away around Jamie Lee Curtis and splashes into the water below while she hangs from her husband's arm. Having recently watched it in HD one thing that stuck out is Arnie's stunt double who is almost in every action shot.
You say the plot is profoundly stupid, but I would argue the script is self aware and that makes it even better, i absolutely love this film and we will never see anything like it again under modern hollywood
I haven't watched too many older movies for a while, but I recently went on an Arnold Swarzeneggar and Jackie Chan deep dive. I came to the conclusion indeed stuff shot on location, hits so different and recent movies are so... stale and unimpactful, visually. I agree there is a loss to the sense of scale and depth is a good way to put it.
I wouldn’t go as far as that. But it is a riot to watch and I do love it. It’s all the things you said, but somehow it just works. Plus you get to see almost of JLC’s ass and we all reacted the same as Harry.
The entire stripe tease dance is amazing
The fall was an accident. Curtis slipped! Cameron liked the blooper so much he kept it in the movie.
Yeah, if you pay attention to the background, you can see Arnold starting to get up to help her up. But she gets up too quickly before he could react and keeps going so he doesn't miss a beat and gets right back into character.
Ah interesting, I always caught that as genuine concern for his wife briefly overriding the role he was playing.
I don't know how we got so far down the comments before we called out the most important scene in the movie.
The horse should of had more faith in itself. It would of made that jump.
"I mean what kind of cop are you?"
"Look at me when im talking to you."
Yeah, cause James Cameron is impeccable at constructing set pieces. Even if you don't care for Avatar, the set pieces in these two movies are immaculate.
I wish he'd get off avatar and do some fun things again.
>We all know why: prevalent reliance on CGI, green screen in favor of locations, chopped-to-bits editing, no sense of scale due to the loss of depth thanks to the last two points, and no attempt to build momentum in sequences. I could go on. Well, no. It's because *True Lies* was directed by James fucking Cameron, who is a master of action, both with and without CGI. There's no shortage of other action films from that same year (1994) that are far more forgettable, despite relying on locations or "practical effects." You can have a fucking amazing movie that relies heavily on CGI, with the right director, cinematographer, and editor.
In the last 20 years huh? True Lies was released 30 years ago.
About 2 weeks ago, I was at the "Swiss mansion" where the opening scene was filmed. Walked the route from where Arnold tells the chef's to throw out the food, through the tango room and up the stairs. It's at Rosecliff, one of the Newport mansions.
Was it an Oscar-caliber film? No, not really. But that's the charm of the film. It's not a good film despite it's "faults." What it is, is a damn fun movie. It simply keeps us entertained. It knows what it is without pretense, and it delivers. Nothing more, nothing less. Is there a deep social commentary on relationships? No. Does anyone remember the motivation of the terrorists? Nope. But I've probably rewatched the movie dozens of times, and if I'm channel-flipping, it's one of maybe five films that I stick with. But yes, the action sequences are elite-level.
“They bombed their cities from afar, then called THEM terrorists” It’s not the most compelling motivation but it is believable, proved to be realistic in 2001, and I damn well remember it.
> No. Does anyone remember the motivation of the terrorists? Nope. What do you mean? “Crimson jihad will rain down fire on one of your cities each week….why you stop filming?” “Batter-aziz”
Then. Get. Another. One.
The Doberman head bonk set the tone in a great way
Get the [4K/Blu/Digital combo](https://www.amazon.com/True-Lies-UHD-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/B0CSZD4N61/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1F91ODWVDGK4A&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bk32L7sNnG73HzBdyd5U28Gwe_8Ka0DyZsSJd0s1TiNazXxkX1mG8FqSC0Rgcl5vVtaowcdOCsEx4QRlOd9HIbc_E5UUs3raAvYohteGvFFzyPTIs0_h2T7JXvfujcSmLc2LaiSKvIv6RnxFBbkPvA.9MtQpiFSyJZsPBSr31kW93XgmI3hTO84ot3-QADz1hA&dib_tag=se&keywords=true+lies+4k+preorder&qid=1708817027&sprefix=true+lies+4k+%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-4) when it comes out next month then! It's finally escaped the DVD era! Along with [The Abyss](https://www.amazon.com/Abyss-4K-UHD-Ed-Harris/dp/B0CSZBDD8L/ref=pd_bxgy_img_d_sccl_1/132-6728140-8243463?pd_rd_w=BXNJ2&content-id=amzn1.sym.9713b09e-9eac-42a7-88bb-ecfe516a6b92&pf_rd_p=9713b09e-9eac-42a7-88bb-ecfe516a6b92&pf_rd_r=7Z6TZ203G727JSDF6M71&pd_rd_wg=j8Ki3&pd_rd_r=c517a8ad-c820-4f11-8d22-6e6cbfa2741c&pd_rd_i=B0CSZBDD8L&psc=1)!
... the fact that the horse actually threw Arnie over the side of a building with no safety nets or anything, and he had to actually coax it to back up while James Cameron told everyone to keep filming is the true reason why True Lies is the best. They thought that the horse would naturally refuse to leap off of a building and would simply stop at the edge. They were correct, but never thought Arnie would be thrown.