True Lies
by James Cameron
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Paxton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tia Carrere, Tom ArnoldDirector: James Cameron
Brand: Twentieth Century Fox
Producer: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron
Producer: Lawrence Kasanoff
Producer: Pamela Easley
Writer: Claude Zidi
Writer: Didier Kaminka
Writer: Simon Michaël
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Published), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, THX, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-05-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of True Lies
Movie Review: I enjoyed the deadly spy team of Boris...and Doris
Summary: 5 Stars
True Lies is a great movie. It has frenetic action sequences, sarcastic sidekick humor, funny domestic Ozzie & Harriet scenes, and great dramatic denouements. I personally consider it to be Schwartzenegger's last great bonafide success (Terminator 3 didn't live up to the hype or the box office take-in predictions).
Harry Tasker is a deadly secret agent, toiling for the Omega Sector, where he can be found usually hip-deep in dangerous shenanigans. As a spy, he deals daily in death, foils madmen's plots with easy aplomb, and dances a mean tango. Meanwhile, his personal life is slowly circling down the drain. His spy job takes up most of his attention; he barely has time for family commitments. His longtime wife Helen, unaware of Harry's clandestine profession, knows him as a sales rep and thinks him boring and plodding. His teenage daughter Dana is rebelling. But Harry's world is shockingly upended when he suspects his wife of extramarital behavior and goes comedically ballistic. His ensuing inappropriate use of government resources is laugh out loud funny. The resulting events range from slapstick antics to calamitous, high stakes jeopardy, as Harry's professional and personal lives finally converge.
This has to be one of Arnold's best films; it ranks right up there with the Terminator movies, Predator, and Total Recall. True Lies is an exhilarating blend of all-out spy action and romantic screwball comedy. The eye-popping stunts alone are worth the price of admission (the hotel game of tag with Arnold on horseback doggedly pursuing his motorbiking quarry, the extended shoot-em-up chase scene on the 7 Mile Bridge, the awesome Marine Harrier sequence...). Think what you will about the egocentric James Cameron. He knows how to dynamically direct a movie. But, in my opinion, the frequent touches of humor are what gives the movie its heart and carries this film past the generic action flick, making it into an all-time classic (the priceless hotel room scene with Helen posing as a stripteasing "escort"; the terrorist lackey who video records his insane leader's ranting manifesto, only to find the camera battery running out, etc.). The chemistry between Arnold and Jamie Lee is only surpassed by the buddy chemistry between Arnold and Tom. The performances are pitch perfect. Arnold has fun playing the clueless domestic father and husband while still living up to his trademark "I'll be back" persona. Jamie Lee plays it sedately at first and then hilariously over the top as the bored, thrill-seeking spouse. Tom Arnold, at his wise-cracking best, hams it up as the irreverent but faithful sidekick. These actors have never been better. To round out the superlative cast, you have Bill Paxton (great sleazy character!), sexy Tia Carrere (shwing!), a pre-Buffy and -Tru Calling Eliza Dushku, and the deadly serious Art Malik, who plays the main baddie.
It sucks to say, but the only halfway decent films Arnold made after True Lies were Eraser, End of Days, Terminator 3. He's a bit past it now to be playing the action hero. He pretty much admitted as much when he cameod in the Rock's The Rundown and officially passed him the torch. "Have fun," he tells the Rock. Still, here's hoping True Lies 2 gets made.
Summary of True Lies
Arnold Schwarzenegger is special agent Harry Tasker, a top spy in the ultra-secret Omega Sector who also dances a mean tango- although to his neglected wife, Helen, (Jamie Lee Curtis) he's just a dull computer salesman. But while Harry's been busy fighting terrorists, Helen's been gathering secrets of her own. And when their two secret lives unexpectedly collide, Harry and Helen find themselves in the clutches of international terrorists, fighting to save not only their marriage but their lives as well. Packed with non-stop action, spectacular special effects and unprecedented stunts, this "domestic epic" from director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) is a rollicking `90's twist on the super spy genre.From The Terminator to Titanic, you can always rely on writer-director James Cameron to show you something you've never seen on the big screen before. The guy may not consistently pen the most scintillating dialogue in the world (and, especially in this movie, he doesn't seem to have a particularly high regard for women), but as a director of kinetic, push-the-envelope action sequences, he is in a class by himself. In True Lies, the highlight is a breathtaking third-act jet and car chase through the Florida Keys. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a covert intelligence agent whose wife of 15 years (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finds out that he's not really a computer salesman and who becomes mixed up in a case involving nuclear arms smuggling. Tom Arnold is surprisingly funny and engaging as Schwarzenegger's longtime spy partner, and Bill Paxton is a smarmy used-car salesman (is that redundant?) whom Arnold thinks is having an affair with his wife. Purely in terms of spectacular action and high-tech hardware, True Lies is a blast. --Jim Emerson
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