Arnold Schwarzenegger overshadowed James Bond 30 years ago – and the action film is as entertaining as it is problematic

Austria’s action export hit Arnold Schwarzenegger made a name for himself as a tough hero of the 80s in films such as Terminator and The Phantom Commando. Back then, hardly anyone suspected what kind of comedic timing lay dormant in the muscle-bound man.

Twins and Kindergarten Cop tried to establish Arnie as a comedy star early on, but left a lot to be desired in terms of action. Only a current deep-sea researcher, who sometimes makes a few films on the side, managed to Karacho and comedy The result, which was announced on July 15, 1994 is not necessarily bad, but rather has aged strangely and was not immune to criticism even then.

30 years of True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger: Truly a film you have to see to believe

In True Lies, Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) leads a dangerous double life. As far as his family is concerned, he is a computer salesman with the most boring job ever, which requires him to travel a lot. But in reality, he works as a battle-hardened top agent for the secret government organization Omega Sector – the last line of defense when it comes to terrorism in the country.

Harry and his colleagues (including the unbearable Tom Arnold in his most bearable role) become aware of the plans of the terrorist organization Crimson Jihad (!), who plan to blow up a major US city with a stolen nuclear warhead. You can tell that this film was shot before 9/11.

So far, so straightforward. But True Lies consists of two completely different plots that are only roughly slapped together in the last half. At the same time, Harry learns of an alleged affair between his wife Helen, played by the now Oscar-winning Jamie Lee Curtis. She has fallen for the scam of a sleazy used car dealer (Bill Paxton), who ironically poses as a spy. The jealous husband then uses the state’s resources to spy on his wife and eliminate the incompetent competition with micropenis. Unfortunately, you also notice that this was James Cameron’s divorce film after his separation from his third wife (Kathryn Bigelow).

Without revealing his identity as a genuine secret agent, Harry blackmails the troubled Helen into accepting a fake spy job as a freelance agent – which the film tries to sell to us as a romantic gesture. Husband of the year! In the end, however, she finds out about Harry’s real job and even joins forces against the terrorists who have since kidnapped their daughter (Eliza Dushku). This apparently impressed Helen so much that she is hired as a permanent agent. It’s just a shame: we never see the interview with Omega Sector boss Charlton Heston.

Once upon a time before 9/11: The funny guys of Crimson Jihad

Anyone who looks askance at True Lies today may be accused of being one of those woke gen-somethings who want to work on a 30-year-old film. The criticism coming from several sides is entirely justified. Criticism of True Lies as old as the film itselfone recalls at Cracked . And you really don’t have to put in much effort to see why.

As far as the film’s villains are concerned, there are clearly only resentments buried very shallowly under the ground. This was already criticized in the mid-90s. Among others, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee argued eloquently: “Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Hollywood has needed a new enemy; we have become the convenient scapegoat.”

The British actor Art Malik, who is already known as Mujahid in James Bond 007 – The Living Daylights, plays the annoyed terrorist boss with gusto and a lot of humor, who constantly complains that he is “surrounded by idiots”. So cartoonish, in fact, that one would almost dismiss the film for it, if the anti-Arab xenophobia would not be so obvious. And it would not appeal so crudely to the film-watching frontal lobe in the brain, which only wants to see sleazy barbarians to be shot away by the cool, clean-cut hero.

The discussion about the problematic aspects of True Lies was initiated by film critic Kenneth Turan, among others. In his Los Angeles Times review of the film, he wrote: “It may be brainless, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an impact on the brain.”

“Brainless”, Kenneth? Come on, the machine gun that goes off on its own and kills Arab terrorists with magic bullets is pure physics.

“Women. You cannot live with them and you must not kill them”

And then there is the sometimes latent, but more often obvious sexism. The naive Helen, portrayed as completely without any impact, is in contrast to the promiscuous villain-vamp in the form of Tia Carrere. Over the course of the film, the grey wife-mouse also becomes cool and sexy using Grease logic, only to mature into the “perfect woman” in the middle of a Madonna-whore dialectic.

At the same time, she levels up to become a competent agent, even though she previously fell for her husband’s domestic persona and even the used car show-off. The fact that such clumsily written female characters come from someone who gave us sci-fi badass Ripley in Aliens and Terminator heroine Sarah Connor is pretty shocking and, above all, disappointing.

00 Who? What makes True Lies more watchable than James Bond

The fact that True Lies, despite all this, did not end up completely in the cinema non grata box is mainly due to Jamie Lee Curtis, who steals the show, especially in the scenes as a staid housewife on her first spy mission. No, she never becomes as badass as Ripley or Sarah and her character is not very well written – but her performance makes Helen infinitely charming and 1000 times more interesting than any Bond girl. And enough good things can’t be said about the chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Curtis, who at times really do feel like an old married couple who still love each other. When he’s not busy quizzing her about her sex life in the terrorist interrogation room.

Despite all his muscle and murder on behalf of the nation, Harry also has another side that sets him apart from the macho nonsense of 007. In contrast to his cool-as-hell UK colleague, Agent Tasker doesn’t let his agent persona (aka his only persona) show off at every opportunity. Sometimes at home he plays the overwhelmed dad, who the family thinks is the boring representative: Superman and Clark Kent. Only that both are authentic and don’t just serve as a cover for the other. The comedy genre is obviously good for the agent profession.

But let us not forget that Cameron pulls out all the stops on a technical level. Here, handmade set pieces are delivered that we would be talking about much more today if the rest weren’t so tonally confused and irritating. Just think of the chase on motorcycles and horses, the shootout in the public toilet, the fast-paced hunt for a nuclear warhead on the Overseas Highway, or the incredible jet showdown with one of the most dad-joke-y Arnie one-liners. In contrast to these pompous scenes, 007’s adventures at the time seem downright quaint.

Here is the original trailer for True Lies:

Where can I watch True Lies?

If you want to see for yourself, you can find True Lies in the streaming subscription at Disney+ or as a rental and purchase title on Amazon, Apple TV, MagentaTV and Co. The series of the same name, which only had one season in 2023, can no longer be streamed in this country.