September 7, 2025 • 12 mins
Step into the chaotic charm of James Cameron’s True Lies—where Arnold Schwarzenegger juggles spy games, horse chases, and domestic drama with explosive flair.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
True Lies hit in the theatre's way back in nineteen
ninety four, markin Arnold Schwarzeninggger's third collaboration with director James Cameron,
following The Terminator and its legendary sequel, Terminator to Judgment Day,
which just upped the scale and scope of the first movie,
And although True Lies isn't technically a sequel like Terminator two,
it does carry the same DNA explosive action, cutting edge effects,
(00:22):
and Cameron's signature blend of spectacle and heart. At the
time of its release, True Lies was a massive action
at Travaganza, bossing a budget between one hundred and one
hundred and twenty million dollars that made it the first
film to officially cross one hundred million dollar production threshold,
a milestone in Hollywood history, and it went on to
earn three hundred and seventy eight million worldwide, proving that
(00:45):
audiences were more than ready for Schwarzeninggger as a tuxedo
clad superspy in a movie that clearly rivaled the James bondflicks.
But here's a twist. True Lies is actually a remake
of the nineteen ninety one French comedy Latin Hotel. Mm hmmm,
(01:20):
oh you so, Nick, saying it was antill coming out
of bastrap Oh get last dips. Y. Arnold saw this
(01:50):
original movie and immediately new it had potential, and he
pitched the idea to James Cameron, who agreed to make
the movie. And then James Cameron went and did what
he does best. He he reimagined it as a high
octane blockbuster and the result is True Lies, a film
that's not just about terrorism and espionage, but also about
a marriage quietly unraveling under the weight of secrets and lies.
(02:14):
In this movie, Arnold Swarzenegger plays Harry Tasker, who is
a top secret government agent working for the Omega Sector,
a covert counter terrorism unit. To his wife Helen played
by Jamie Lee Curtis and daughter Dana, he's just a
dull computer salesman constantly away on business. But when Harry
uncovers a terrorist plot involving stolen nuclear weapons, his double
(02:35):
life begins to unravel, and things get more complicated when
Harry suspects that Helen is having an affir with a
sleazy used car salesman played by Bill Paxton who pretends
to also be a spy. Now Harry Mussey's marriage and
the world from the terrorists and a nuclear attack. This
movie is hands down one of my favorite Arnold Swarzeninggger movies,
(02:56):
and it kind of feels different from all the other
Arnold Schwarzninger movies of come in the past. And I
think that's because True Lies is not only an action movie,
it's also a movie about family, giving Arnold more range
and more emotional scenes to work with, and you know what,
he pulls it off perfectly. At the beginning of the movie,
we see Arnold doing the tango with the villain Juno
(03:16):
Skinner played by Tia Carrera. And at the time when
this movie come out, I only knew her from Wayns
World one and two, and I was already a fan.
And in the scene, Arnold is very, very charming, and
he can actually dance if you forget the fact that
he is a massive Austrian oak. And this is what
I meant before by saying that this movie gives Arnold
(03:38):
more range to play with. It really is playing such
a different character than anything we've ever seen before. He's
given so much more to do. In the scene where
Arnold discovers that his wife Helen is possibly cheating on him.
He does a really good job of making us believe
that he is genuinely heartbroken. You actually believe it. And then,
of course when it comes to the action, well it's
(04:00):
Arnold Swartzninger. Need I say more? Now? I love nearly
all of the Arnold movies, even the bad ones. But
I think that James Cameron just as a way of
bringing out the best in Arnold. He knows his limitations
and he brings out the best of him on screen.
(04:20):
And another thing about James Cameron is that he knows
exactly how to cast the right actor or actress for
the particular role that he has in mind. Take Jamie
Lee Curtis, for example, who plays Helen Arnold's or Harry's
wife in the movie. Originally, Arnold was reluctant to have
her play his on screen wife out of respect for
her father Tony Curtis, and Arnold believed it would be
(04:43):
like kissing his cousin on screen. However, James Cameron just
knew in his bones that Jamie Curtis was perfect for
this role and asked Arnold to trust him, and Arnold did,
and Jamielee Curtis was cast and the rest is history.
She's absolutely brilliant in this movie. And then, of course,
we have the perfect casting of Bill Paxton, and this
actually comes with no surprise, as he's actually in most
(05:05):
of James Camer's movies because they were very good friends.
But Paxton gives a standout performance as the sleezy car
salesman Simon, who was trying to bed at Helen whilst
trying to make her believe that he is actually a spy.
And believe me when I say sleezy, I really do
mean sleezy. Paxton does not hold back his slimy is
(05:25):
hell in this movie, and he even delivers one of
the most uncomfortable lines I have ever heard. That's like
a ten year old boy. And then we have Tom
Arnold as Gibb Harry Tasker's wisecracking partner and the film's
comic relief. His rapid fire equips and sarcastic commentary played
perfectly against Arnold's stoic, straight faced hero, creating a dynamic
(05:48):
that's both hilarious and oddly heartfelt. But then we have
the villains of this movie, who do a fine job.
Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly fine, but as movie
villains go, they are just not that. Now take the
main villain played by er Malik, who, like I said,
is perfectly fine in this role. I'm not knocking his
performance one little bit, but when I think of memorable villains,
(06:11):
this guy is just not one of them. This may
be down to two reasons, and reason number one is
that I believe that this movie is first and foremost
focusing on Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis's storyline, and the
terrorist story is kind of just running in the background.
It kind of takes a back seat in the middle
of the movie. And reason number two true lies as
(06:32):
an action comedy, and although Mallet's character can come across
as a nasty piece of work, some of his scenes
are comedic, especially the bit at the end of the
movie where he goes slamming into the tail of the
plane with his family jewels. It definitely feels like a
Looney Tunes cartoon at this point. And of course there's
a scene where he gets shot from the missile when
(06:52):
he's actually hanging onto the missile and Ernold shoots it
into the enemy helicopter, killing him and everyone else. This
is something that would surely happen in a wildly coyote movie,
although I've got to say it was actually a very
awesome def scene. James Cameron's movies always feel so well
constructed and of an absolute joy to watch, like The
Abyss for example, Aliens, T two, Titanic, all accelerating movies,
(07:18):
and this movie is no exception. And then of course
there's the action Pat's horse chase scene, which takes down
all through a hotel, up an elevator and onto the rooftop.
And because of Arnold's horse riding days what's filming corner
of the Barberian, he was actually able to do a
lot of his own riding. Actually, Arnold claimed to have
(07:39):
done so many of his own stunts in this movie,
and I believe him. I think that he actually did
do a few of his own stunts. But his stunt
double is so noticeable in this movie in so many scenes.
I only wish that camera could maybe go back and
fix it with today's technology, because it is really obvious,
especially on new HD televisions, it's clear to see that
(07:59):
it's Arnold. Now, there's some very impressive scenes at the
end of the movie involving fighter jets which were actually
provided to James Cameron for the filming, and this was
unlike anything we'd ever seen in a movie before. From
maybe Top Gun and the scene that the Florida Keys
with the Bridget explosion was absolutely accelerating to watch. But
(08:19):
the standout stunt is where the limo goes over the
edge just before Jamie Lee grabs hold of Arnold's hand
as he hangs off a helicopter. This scene was shot
with stunt doubles. As Jamie Lee stunt double is pulled
from the limo as it goes over the edge. The
very next shot is of Jamie Lee cursis hanging from
the helicopter for real. This was really her doing her
(08:40):
own stunt, and man, you've got to respect that. That
is pretty brave for an actor or actress to actually
do themselves. And then of course as a scene at
the end of the movie, which is another great action
set piece which is just amazing to watch. And I
really wish I could have seen it as a kid
at the cinema, but I was a little bit too young.
But on the big screen it would have been amazing
to see Arnold tear up the skyscraper trying to save
(09:03):
his kid, and this scene was actually filmed with a
few special effects here in there, but mostly they actually
had a replica of the fighter jet which they simply
hung on a crane over the building, and Cameron would
use certain filming techniques to make it appear as if
the jet was actually moving and flying around in the
earth when it wasn't. It was basically just dangling. The
(09:24):
True Lies to me, feels like two movies in one,
and I feel like the real movie revolves around Harry
and Helen's broken marriage, the lies, and then of course
a realization that her husband is a secret agent, and
then there's a terrorist plot, which I feel comes in second,
but that does not mean it's not as enjoyable. And
I think if the focus was the other way around,
say on the terrorist plot point, and then the marriage
(09:46):
came second, this movie just would not work. And yeah,
there are a few scenes which I think are a
little bit dodgy. I mean you could say that the
scenes were Harry forces Helen to comply with his orders
and work for the agency is just downright cruel. And
then of course there's a scene where Harry makes Helen
dance for him, which by the way, is one hell
of a sixty scene, but was definitely an uncomfortable watch
(10:08):
when I watched it back in the day, sat between
my parents. Anyway, let me explain in this scene, Helen
has no idea that it's actually her husband, Harry, and
I think it's also kind of cruel to put her
through this. And I wonder how that conversation would have
gone down if the terrorists had not broke the door
down and kidnapped them. Harry kind of put her in
this horrible situation, and I don't think it would have
(10:31):
gone down the way he wanted. And I'm not sure
what he actually expected. Well, I am sure what he expected.
It was kind of played out like it was going
to turn into this romantic love scene. I just don't
see it turning out that way. I think Helen would
have been furious. Although I will say this, this dance
scene did show Jamie Lee Curtis's character Helen let loose
and come out of her shell, although she did still
(10:53):
slip up a few times, which was very, very funny. Now,
there was actually a sequel planned, and I'm so upset
that would never actually got it. As we know, James
Cameron is great when it comes to sequels, Terminated to
Aliens just fantastic movies. But after the attack on nine
to eleven, it kind of made it impossible to make
a sequel to this movie. And James Cameron's reason for
(11:14):
this is that we now live in a world where
terrorism just isn't funny, and I think we can all
agree it was never really funny in the first place,
although I can see where he is coming from with
this remark. But True Lies did, however, get a TV
series with a brand new cast, and man, it was very,
very bad. This movie is a true gem. It's actually packed,
(11:35):
but it's also got hurt and comedy, and I think
it would have been a great night at the cinema
back in the day, but it is just enjoyable to
watch at home. But after True Lies, Arnold went onto
starring movies such as Junior, Eraser, Jingle All the Way,
Batman and Robin, End of Days and The Sixth Day.
This is what I consider to be Arnold's fall from
(11:55):
his massive success in the movies. And don't get me wrong,
I really do like these movies apart from Junior maybe,
but there was definitely a not a suble decline in
quality that is until Terminator three came out. I don't know.
It always seemed like Arnold's movie career peaked with Terminator
two and True Lies, And I believe that's down to
James Cameron. He knew how to bring the best out
(12:17):
of Arnold and bring us some of the best action
movies ever made. And I say it's time for a sequel.
Bring Harry Tasker out of retirement for one last mission. Okay,
he maybe getting on a bit, but Ernold is still
larger than life. And if Clint Eastwood can make a
movie like Grantarino, I reckon Ernold's got one more in
the chamber.
True Lies hit in the theatre's way back in nineteen
ninety four, markin Arnold Schwarzeninggger's third collaboration with director James Cameron,
following The Terminator and its legendary sequel, Terminator to Judgment Day,
which just upped the scale and scope of the first movie,
And although True Lies isn't technically a sequel like Terminator two,
it does carry the same DNA explosive action, cutting edge effects,
(00:22):
and Cameron's signature blend of spectacle and heart. At the
time of its release, True Lies was a massive action
at Travaganza, bossing a budget between one hundred and one
hundred and twenty million dollars that made it the first
film to officially cross one hundred million dollar production threshold,
a milestone in Hollywood history, and it went on to
earn three hundred and seventy eight million worldwide, proving that
(00:45):
audiences were more than ready for Schwarzeninggger as a tuxedo
clad superspy in a movie that clearly rivaled the James bondflicks.
But here's a twist. True Lies is actually a remake
of the nineteen ninety one French comedy Latin Hotel. Mm hmmm,
(01:20):
oh you so, Nick, saying it was antill coming out
of bastrap Oh get last dips. Y. Arnold saw this
(01:50):
original movie and immediately new it had potential, and he
pitched the idea to James Cameron, who agreed to make
the movie. And then James Cameron went and did what
he does best. He he reimagined it as a high
octane blockbuster and the result is True Lies, a film
that's not just about terrorism and espionage, but also about
a marriage quietly unraveling under the weight of secrets and lies.
(02:14):
In this movie, Arnold Swarzenegger plays Harry Tasker, who is
a top secret government agent working for the Omega Sector,
a covert counter terrorism unit. To his wife Helen played
by Jamie Lee Curtis and daughter Dana, he's just a
dull computer salesman constantly away on business. But when Harry
uncovers a terrorist plot involving stolen nuclear weapons, his double
(02:35):
life begins to unravel, and things get more complicated when
Harry suspects that Helen is having an affir with a
sleazy used car salesman played by Bill Paxton who pretends
to also be a spy. Now Harry Mussey's marriage and
the world from the terrorists and a nuclear attack. This
movie is hands down one of my favorite Arnold Swarzeninggger movies,
(02:56):
and it kind of feels different from all the other
Arnold Schwarzninger movies of come in the past. And I
think that's because True Lies is not only an action movie,
it's also a movie about family, giving Arnold more range
and more emotional scenes to work with, and you know what,
he pulls it off perfectly. At the beginning of the movie,
we see Arnold doing the tango with the villain Juno
(03:16):
Skinner played by Tia Carrera. And at the time when
this movie come out, I only knew her from Wayns
World one and two, and I was already a fan.
And in the scene, Arnold is very, very charming, and
he can actually dance if you forget the fact that
he is a massive Austrian oak. And this is what
I meant before by saying that this movie gives Arnold
(03:38):
more range to play with. It really is playing such
a different character than anything we've ever seen before. He's
given so much more to do. In the scene where
Arnold discovers that his wife Helen is possibly cheating on him.
He does a really good job of making us believe
that he is genuinely heartbroken. You actually believe it. And then,
of course when it comes to the action, well it's
(04:00):
Arnold Swartzninger. Need I say more? Now? I love nearly
all of the Arnold movies, even the bad ones. But
I think that James Cameron just as a way of
bringing out the best in Arnold. He knows his limitations
and he brings out the best of him on screen.
(04:20):
And another thing about James Cameron is that he knows
exactly how to cast the right actor or actress for
the particular role that he has in mind. Take Jamie
Lee Curtis, for example, who plays Helen Arnold's or Harry's
wife in the movie. Originally, Arnold was reluctant to have
her play his on screen wife out of respect for
her father Tony Curtis, and Arnold believed it would be
(04:43):
like kissing his cousin on screen. However, James Cameron just
knew in his bones that Jamie Curtis was perfect for
this role and asked Arnold to trust him, and Arnold did,
and Jamielee Curtis was cast and the rest is history.
She's absolutely brilliant in this movie. And then, of course,
we have the perfect casting of Bill Paxton, and this
actually comes with no surprise, as he's actually in most
(05:05):
of James Camer's movies because they were very good friends.
But Paxton gives a standout performance as the sleezy car
salesman Simon, who was trying to bed at Helen whilst
trying to make her believe that he is actually a spy.
And believe me when I say sleezy, I really do
mean sleezy. Paxton does not hold back his slimy is
(05:25):
hell in this movie, and he even delivers one of
the most uncomfortable lines I have ever heard. That's like
a ten year old boy. And then we have Tom
Arnold as Gibb Harry Tasker's wisecracking partner and the film's
comic relief. His rapid fire equips and sarcastic commentary played
perfectly against Arnold's stoic, straight faced hero, creating a dynamic
(05:48):
that's both hilarious and oddly heartfelt. But then we have
the villains of this movie, who do a fine job.
Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly fine, but as movie
villains go, they are just not that. Now take the
main villain played by er Malik, who, like I said,
is perfectly fine in this role. I'm not knocking his
performance one little bit, but when I think of memorable villains,
(06:11):
this guy is just not one of them. This may
be down to two reasons, and reason number one is
that I believe that this movie is first and foremost
focusing on Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis's storyline, and the
terrorist story is kind of just running in the background.
It kind of takes a back seat in the middle
of the movie. And reason number two true lies as
(06:32):
an action comedy, and although Mallet's character can come across
as a nasty piece of work, some of his scenes
are comedic, especially the bit at the end of the
movie where he goes slamming into the tail of the
plane with his family jewels. It definitely feels like a
Looney Tunes cartoon at this point. And of course there's
a scene where he gets shot from the missile when
(06:52):
he's actually hanging onto the missile and Ernold shoots it
into the enemy helicopter, killing him and everyone else. This
is something that would surely happen in a wildly coyote movie,
although I've got to say it was actually a very
awesome def scene. James Cameron's movies always feel so well
constructed and of an absolute joy to watch, like The
Abyss for example, Aliens, T two, Titanic, all accelerating movies,
(07:18):
and this movie is no exception. And then of course
there's the action Pat's horse chase scene, which takes down
all through a hotel, up an elevator and onto the rooftop.
And because of Arnold's horse riding days what's filming corner
of the Barberian, he was actually able to do a
lot of his own riding. Actually, Arnold claimed to have
(07:39):
done so many of his own stunts in this movie,
and I believe him. I think that he actually did
do a few of his own stunts. But his stunt
double is so noticeable in this movie in so many scenes.
I only wish that camera could maybe go back and
fix it with today's technology, because it is really obvious,
especially on new HD televisions, it's clear to see that
(07:59):
it's Arnold. Now, there's some very impressive scenes at the
end of the movie involving fighter jets which were actually
provided to James Cameron for the filming, and this was
unlike anything we'd ever seen in a movie before. From
maybe Top Gun and the scene that the Florida Keys
with the Bridget explosion was absolutely accelerating to watch. But
(08:19):
the standout stunt is where the limo goes over the
edge just before Jamie Lee grabs hold of Arnold's hand
as he hangs off a helicopter. This scene was shot
with stunt doubles. As Jamie Lee stunt double is pulled
from the limo as it goes over the edge. The
very next shot is of Jamie Lee cursis hanging from
the helicopter for real. This was really her doing her
(08:40):
own stunt, and man, you've got to respect that. That
is pretty brave for an actor or actress to actually
do themselves. And then of course as a scene at
the end of the movie, which is another great action
set piece which is just amazing to watch. And I
really wish I could have seen it as a kid
at the cinema, but I was a little bit too young.
But on the big screen it would have been amazing
to see Arnold tear up the skyscraper trying to save
(09:03):
his kid, and this scene was actually filmed with a
few special effects here in there, but mostly they actually
had a replica of the fighter jet which they simply
hung on a crane over the building, and Cameron would
use certain filming techniques to make it appear as if
the jet was actually moving and flying around in the
earth when it wasn't. It was basically just dangling. The
(09:24):
True Lies to me, feels like two movies in one,
and I feel like the real movie revolves around Harry
and Helen's broken marriage, the lies, and then of course
a realization that her husband is a secret agent, and
then there's a terrorist plot, which I feel comes in second,
but that does not mean it's not as enjoyable. And
I think if the focus was the other way around,
say on the terrorist plot point, and then the marriage
(09:46):
came second, this movie just would not work. And yeah,
there are a few scenes which I think are a
little bit dodgy. I mean you could say that the
scenes were Harry forces Helen to comply with his orders
and work for the agency is just downright cruel. And
then of course there's a scene where Harry makes Helen
dance for him, which by the way, is one hell
of a sixty scene, but was definitely an uncomfortable watch
(10:08):
when I watched it back in the day, sat between
my parents. Anyway, let me explain in this scene, Helen
has no idea that it's actually her husband, Harry, and
I think it's also kind of cruel to put her
through this. And I wonder how that conversation would have
gone down if the terrorists had not broke the door
down and kidnapped them. Harry kind of put her in
this horrible situation, and I don't think it would have
(10:31):
gone down the way he wanted. And I'm not sure
what he actually expected. Well, I am sure what he expected.
It was kind of played out like it was going
to turn into this romantic love scene. I just don't
see it turning out that way. I think Helen would
have been furious. Although I will say this, this dance
scene did show Jamie Lee Curtis's character Helen let loose
and come out of her shell, although she did still
(10:53):
slip up a few times, which was very, very funny. Now,
there was actually a sequel planned, and I'm so upset
that would never actually got it. As we know, James
Cameron is great when it comes to sequels, Terminated to
Aliens just fantastic movies. But after the attack on nine
to eleven, it kind of made it impossible to make
a sequel to this movie. And James Cameron's reason for
(11:14):
this is that we now live in a world where
terrorism just isn't funny, and I think we can all
agree it was never really funny in the first place,
although I can see where he is coming from with
this remark. But True Lies did, however, get a TV
series with a brand new cast, and man, it was very,
very bad. This movie is a true gem. It's actually packed,
(11:35):
but it's also got hurt and comedy, and I think
it would have been a great night at the cinema
back in the day, but it is just enjoyable to
watch at home. But after True Lies, Arnold went onto
starring movies such as Junior, Eraser, Jingle All the Way,
Batman and Robin, End of Days and The Sixth Day.
This is what I consider to be Arnold's fall from
(11:55):
his massive success in the movies. And don't get me wrong,
I really do like these movies apart from Junior maybe,
but there was definitely a not a suble decline in
quality that is until Terminator three came out. I don't know.
It always seemed like Arnold's movie career peaked with Terminator
two and True Lies, And I believe that's down to
James Cameron. He knew how to bring the best out
(12:17):
of Arnold and bring us some of the best action
movies ever made. And I say it's time for a sequel.
Bring Harry Tasker out of retirement for one last mission. Okay,
he maybe getting on a bit, but Ernold is still
larger than life. And if Clint Eastwood can make a
movie like Grantarino, I reckon Ernold's got one more in
the chamber.
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