STACK Jul #129

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visit FEATURE EXTRAS
The ‘60s &’70s
“I came to America, won Mr Universe,
and now I’m in the movies.”
Having emigrated to the United States in
1968, 22-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger made
his movie debut in Hercules in NewYork
(1969) as the legendary hero who’s banished
to the Big Apple, where he becomes a pro
wrestler. The name Schwarzenegger proved
too much of a mouthful, so he was credited as
‘Arnold Strong’ and his thick accent required his
original dialogue be dubbed. It wasn’t the most
auspicious debut, and Arnie joked in a 2012
interview with Men’s Fitness magazine that
the film should be used to interrogate terrorist
suspects: “Hey, if you guys don’t talk, you’ll
have to watch Hercules in NewYork!”
Arnie’s next big screen appearance was a lot
more respectable, albeit brief and uncredited, as
a mute mob henchman in Robert Altman’s crime
classic The Long Goodbye (1973).
As a bodybuilder training for the Mr. Universe
title in Stay Hungry (1976), he pretty much
played himself in a substantial supporting role
opposite star Jeff Bridges – and won a Golden
Globe award for Best Acting Debut in a Motion
Picture (apparently Hercules in NewYork didn’t
count). “Schwarzenegger, in his first dramatic
role, turns in an interesting performance as
Bridges’ newfound buddy,” observed critic
Roger Ebert.
A majority of audiences first encountered
Arnie and his winning persona in the
documentary/drama Pumping Iron (1977),
an inside look at the competitive world of
professional bodybuilding.
Although starring alongside Hollywood
veterans Kirk Douglas and Ann-Margret in
western spoof TheVillain (1979) – or Cactus
Jack to Aussie audiences – the film was truly
awful and not the breakthrough he needed.
His next film, however, would kickstart his
acting career and set him on the path to
superstardom.
The ‘80s
“Action movies are always more of
an ordeal than a pleasure to make.”
The ‘80s was truly the era of Arnie. Cast
as the Hyborean hero of John Milius’s
Bodybuilder. Actor.Terminator. Governator.
sword and sorcery epic Conan the Barbarian
(1982), he was a flesh and blood incarnation
of Robert E. Howard’s iconic character. “There
were various stepping-stones in my career,”
the actor says. “One of them was Conan the
Barbarian, because it was the first time I did a
film with that kind of budget and I had the title
role.” Although unfamiliar with the character,
a crash course in Conan comic books and 18
months of weapons and martial-arts training
prepared him for one of his signature roles. “I
was Conan, and millions of dollars were being
spent to make me shine. For the first time, I felt
like the star.”
Conan the Barbarian was a massive hit
and a sequel was quickly greenlit. Conan the
Destroyer (1984) was a more pulpy, comic book
movie than its predecessor, with Grace Jones
and Mako joining Arnie in the battle against
an evil queen and a horned rubber monster. A
third film, Conan the Conqueror, was planned
for a 1987 release, but was shelved after Arnie
committed to Predator. Schwarzenegger had
always wanted to return to the role, however,
and the recent announcement of The Legend of
Conan would suggest it’s likely to happen.
Conan turned Arnie into a star, and The
Terminator (1984) established him as one of the
‘80s most in-demand action men. O.J. Simpson
was originally tagged for the title role, however
producers felt he was too nice to play a cold-
blooded killer (!). “With The Terminator, I think
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ARNOLD
SCHWARZENEGGER
people became aware of the fact that I didn’t
really have to take my shirt off or run around
and expose my muscles in order to sell tickets,”
Schwarzenegger says. It’s unlikely the film
would have been as successful without him.
Arnie sort of got to play Conan again in Red
Sonja (1985), which was originally intended to
feature the character until naming rights issues
prevented that. Clad in the same costume and
now called Kalidor, Arnie channelled Conan in
a movie so terrible it led his then wife Maria
Shriver to remark: “If this doesn’t kill your
career, nothing will.”
It didn’t, and Arnie quickly bounced back in
the box office hit Commando (1985), muscling
in on territory controlled by peers Stallone and
Van Damme as retired Delta Force Colonel John
Matrix. You can almost hear him intoning the
tagline: “Somewhere... somehow... someone’s
going to pay.”
Locked into a multi-film contract with Conan
producer Dino de Laurentiis, Schwarzenegger
agreed to appear in Raw Deal (1986) on the
proviso that the Dino deal be terminated. As a
former FBI guy turned small town sheriff, he’s
lured to Chicago to take on the mob, and we
quickly discover that “Nobody gives him a Raw
Deal.” As an Arnie vehicle it’s not as good as
Commando, but still fun to see him in his prime.
Predator (1987) is another ‘80s Arnie classic,
although he did get upstaged by the film’s
dreadlocked alien hunter. Populated by big guys
measuring their muscles (Jesse Ventura, Carl
Weathers), Predator is as much a testosterone-
fest as it is a ripping sci-fi actioner. And highly
quotable, thanks to Arnie one-liners like “Get
to the chopper”, “If it bleeds we can kill it” and
“Stick around”.
Stephen King’s novel The Running Man was
adapted as an Arnie action movie in 1987, even
though he was the complete opposite of the
book’s protagonist. Schwarzenegger was less
than impressed with the choice of Paul Michael
Glaser (aka TV’s Starsky) replacing original
director Andrew Davis, stating: “It was totally
screwed up by hiring a first-time director and not
giving him time to prepare.”
“Moscow’s toughest detective. Chicago’s
craziest cop. There’s only one thing more
dangerous than making them mad:
making them partners.” Walter Hill’s
buddy cop movie Red Heat (1988)
paired Arnold with James Belushi