STACK #129 Jul 2016

EXTRAS

FEATURE

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ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

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

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

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

dangerous than making them mad: making them partners.” Walter Hill’s buddy cop movie Red Heat (1988) paired Arnold with James Belushi

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