What is Arnold Schwarzenegger's best film?

[NyQuil]

I'd propose Maggie as his best performance by quite the margin. Otherwise a pretty terrible actor (just watched Fubar, just... why?), but like everybody else over 30 or so, I just can't dislike the guy.

Haven't seen it.

He's very ham-fisted with his acting. But he can be quite funny.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Total Recall
Terminator/T 2 (basically the same film tweaked with a better budget)
True Lies

Are my top 3. I enjoy most of his films. Even though most are guilty pleasures silly flicks.

 

[the valiant effort]

Red Heat, obviously

“Kokainum.” *fight scene ensues*

 

[x Tame Impala]

Bill Paxton was f***ing great in True Lies too

 

[Maninthebox87]

I remember as a kid and well into my late teens my grandparents had no tv channels besides local and had a vcr and I kid you not only 3 videos two were old westerns and Kindergarten Cop was the lone other…. Let’s say I’ve seen Kindergarten Cop once or ten times.

 

[Teemu]

Get your ass to Mars

 

[Primary Assist]

T2, which is also in the discussion for the best action movie ever. When I was in middle school I watched Terminator one night, T2 the next. Had no idea that Arnold was going to be a good guy in T2. My mind was blown as if I was named Sarah Connor in 1980s San Fernando Valley

 

[Bowski]

Kindergarten Cop and Red Heat are the only unwatchable ones on my list.

The rest, I can enjoy anytime.

 

[RobBrown4PM]

Predator is THE badass, muscular, hero, action movie.

 

[NyQuil]

 

[Hierso]

Herculeas in new York or pumping iron followed by last action hero

Always a calssic!

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

T2 is objectively the best, but Kindergarten Cop is my favorite

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Aftermath is another great Arnie acting performance.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Always a calssic!

The over dubbing is greatest of all time and hot spoofed in his last T movir

 

[kook10]

Total Recall for me, but objectively T2 probably has a better case.

HM to The Running Man because Professor Tanaka used to share the ice with my Pee Wee team while he took skating lessons in preparation for his role as Sub-Zero.

 

[kingsfan28]

Get your ass to Mars

"Hey buddy, you got a dead cat in there? "


"FU A-hole"

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Voted Running Man, but easily 6 or 7 right answers, here.

 

[VEGASKING]

I watched Raw Deal a few weeks back thinking it was Red Heat. What a POS that was. Now Red Heat and Red Sonja are the only 80's movies of his I haven't seen.


This is such a tough choice. T2 or T1 are great picks but I'd probably lean more Predator or Total Recall. Over the years I've watched the latter movies more than the former. Running Man, Conan and Commando are also excellent. True Lies and Kindergarten Cop were movies I liked a lot when I was younger but have no desire to re-watch now that I'm older.

 

[K Fleur]

Arnold has enough charisma that it more than makes up for his acting abilities.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

It bombed at box office but in hindsight IMO The 6th Day was actually not bad at all and is one of those movies IMO that deserves a bit more recognition in his filmography

I am not sure why it flopped so hard or was hated by so many but overall, I enjoyed it

Eraser to me has always been a movie of his that I never really got any love or hype for. Its one of his weakest offerings IMO from his 80's/90's era

 

[x Tame Impala]

You’re all welcome lol

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Arnold may be one of the best embodiments of a movie star. It would be insulting to say he doesn't or can't act. He does! It's just he's best at being "Arnold." That's a limited range, but it's something he's great at.

That's the advantage that he has always had over his rivals in the Great Planet Hollywood Box Office Wars of the 1980s and 1990s. He knows his limitations and has always been shrewd at working within them. He's made bad movies, but he doesn't miss the way others miss.

Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis are undeniably better actors. When they're on, they can be great. But they're also not as good of actors as they think they are. Sly, god love him, just ain't funny and Bruce somewhere along the way lost his charisma. Doesn't/didn't stop either from trying!

Arnold, however, has always keenly understood that he is "Arnold."

So really, in a lot of ways, Pumping Iron may be the best Arnold. Because he's been Arnold all along and forever more.

 

[TCTC]

He won't be remembered as one of the greatest actors of all time, but when it comes to personality, charm, and charisma, he's in a class of his own. A true movie star in the best sense of the word.

The amount of cheesy one-liners that would make any other actor look stupid but made iconic by him speaks for itself.
Take Predator, for example. A serious action movie, not really meant to be humorous. He impales a guy and then says "Stick around". Any other actor says that and it would make your eyes roll back in your head. But when Arnold says it it's endearing.

If I had to pick my personal top 3 of his movies, it'll probably be: Predator, Terminator 2, Total Recall. Probably in that order.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

His best movie is unquestionably T2 but its also the least Arnold movie he has done

 

[Roo Returns]

Is it best acting or best overall? There's a huge difference.

If it's best overall I don't see how anything touches Terminator 2. For those who weren't around (and those who were can back me up) that movie was culturally significant in the summer of 1991 and pretty much the biggest thing in the world before the grunge movement. Think Barbie last summer but multiply that by 20x without an internet. You had the Guns N Roses video, trading cards, there was even a commercial for some 1-900 hotline with Edward Furlong to help John Connor fend off the T-1000.

Best acting might be Kindergarten Cop or Jingle All The Way.