This is how an action movie should be like!
Biggest problem with most action movies is that they take themselves way too serious. "True Lies" is mainly fun and entertaining and on top of that, the action is top class!
Finally a movie of which I can say: "Budget well spend!" The action really jumps off the screen but it never feels overdone or forced, which is thanks to action-director veteran James Cameron. He should stick to directing action movies like this, the Terminator movies and "Aliens". Please no more movies like "Titanic"! (not that it was a VERY bad movie) Stick to were your talent lies.
The movie can be described as an American James Bond, meaning that everything is bigger and I'm not just talking about Arnie's chest. Just like the James Bond movies, it doesn't take itself seriously without making itself ridiculous.
Many people seem to have problems with the whole "wife side track, story-line" I guess I'm one of the few that doesn't mind it at all and actually find it an extra addition to the story.
The movie has everything a good action movie need: A believable action hero, explosions, chases, gun fights, a stereotype villain and a high entertainment value. Packed with awesome action scenes and some really terrific hilarious moments this is what an action movie should be. Not too serious and not too pointless.
Rated R: violence and profanity
7/10
A vivid reminder of just how exciting an action film can be...
"I married Rambo!"
When I say that they don't make movies like this anymore, I mean they truly don't. On paper you might even think that this movie doesn't work, but it goes to show the brilliance of James Cameron's directing style. There are corny moments but they don't take you out of the movie due to it fitting the style. If it weren't for Predator and Terminator 2, this might've been my favorite Arnold movie. Also, Bill Paxton is so good.
Its one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best movies. It has style and unique flair that just keeps me coming back to the film again and again. Its got everything you want from an action film its funny, over the top and explosive. Its a film that's got that great blend of comedy and action that I think a lot of action movies want to include because it provides a balanced and interesting experience.
Now you might be thinking, 9 out of 10 is way too high but I seriously don't think it is. This movie is perfect in my opinion as it makes you have as much fun as you possibly can with an action movie and honestly if in the dictionary 90's action movie was there then this movie would be the best definition possible.
And the beauty of this film is that it never takes itself seriously, it wants you to have fun and I promise you this movie will make you laugh so much and at the same time, it will give you those scenes which make your palms sweat with adrenaline. Arnie gives one of his funniest performances and Jamie Lee Curtis is perfect in this film as well, the chemistry the actors have by the end of the film is honestly movie magic.
If you want to watch a James Cameron film that doesn't take itself too seriously and at the same time you want to have a really fun time then this is the one for you. This is honestly James Camerons most underrated film and it might be my second favourite after T2.
I must have watched this once when I was a kid, because it felt really familiar. That may also have been because I’ve been on a bit of a James Cameron ride lately, having just seen both Terminators and Aliens. This movie is so, so much fun. Cameron pushes the genre of action comedy into something that is otherworldly and yet, is so believable at the same time. If you 90s action movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger and want to see something different, watch this. They put a horse in a fricking elevator, for crying out loud! Jamie Lee Curtis is great in this too and it’s always fun to see Bill Paxton (Man, I miss him). It doesn’t quite deliver on every plot line it goes for, but that’s not why you want to watch this movie. Just, amazing old fun and well done!
I love this movie so much
Some lines and scenes are truly work of genius.
“What kind of a sick bitch takes the ice cube trays out of the freezer?"
Excellent 90s over the top action flick.
Terrorists nuke a Florida Key, and that somehow ends up being one of the least dramatic things that happens in the whole film.
I knew I was going to have fun watching this movie, but I was not expecting to unironically think of it as one of the better action movies I've seen. I miss how much innocent fun movies in the 90s had with themselves. Silly things, like how Jamie Lee Curtis keeps tripping in serious moments and just recovering and moving on like nothing happened. Everyone got to be a quirky human in their own way, including baddies and extras.
As over-the-top as things get, the "terrorist cell having an ego trip and going rogue" plot is actually pretty believable and hits closer to home in 2018 than it did in 1994. You tone down the theatrics and one-liners, and this is basically the plot for this year's Jack Ryan series, which is meant to be taken seriously.
There were so many ways this movie could have gone wrong, falling face-first into one the MANY classic action tropes that get exercised in it. But the pace stays steady, just about everything gets explained in ways that don't feel too forced, all the actors gel well with each other, and it never stops giving you something to giggle at. I wish I had watched this one sooner.
Bill Paxton steals the show lol. Oh and for once Tom Arnold kind of does as well. While of course Jamie Lee Curtis' sexy dance scene is also memorable.
On top of that you get one of Arnold's best and most corny one liners "you're fired!"
This is how you make an action movie. You got Schwarzenegger delivering cheesy lines while kicking ass. Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold are both great and Bill Paxton's performance is hilarious. I love how like half the movie Harry is just messing with his wife.
The 4k of this was terrible. 4k weird upscaling everywhere messing up faces. It was overbrightened not a fan. I switched mid way to the Spanish blu-ray.
I hadn't re-watched this movie that was a childhood fav of mine (hence the 9/10 from my original IMDB score that was imported to trakt) since the late 90s the final showdown with the harriers held up remarkably well. Most of the scenes with Harry being weird with Helen didn't hold up at all. Very rapey vibes. Tom Arnold was a hoot though and Tia Carrere was fantastic. I used to watch Relic Hunter too!
True Lies is a fantastic blend of spy action and comedy, offering a unique and entertaining experience. Arnold Schwarzenegger's charisma and humor contribute to this 90’s classic, making it a timeless favorite for action movie enthusiasts. The film's mix of espionage and comedic moments keep you entertained throughout and make it a good watch for anyone craving a dose of action and humor.
This is the kind of film I think of when it comes to summer blockbusters. There’s an interesting mix going on here of the James Bond formula and typical, silly American action comedies from around the same time. I think it starts very well, the first act is pretty much Cameron doing his version of Bond. You get a couple of amazing set pieces, the horse chase in particular is something to behold and very fun to watch. For the second act, it temporarily drops the main plot and the movie takes a sharp, unpredictable turn. This is the section that gives the film a lot of its unique flavour, though there are some parts that haven’t aged well (however, from what I understand this was already pointed out by critics at the time). Some of the stuff Jamie Lee is put through here by Arnold and his crew can read as a little too crude, lowbrow or misogynistic, thereby unintentionally making our likeable protagonists a lot less likeable. During the third act, both storylines sync up nicely, we get this long, extended climax filled with a string of imaginative set pieces. It's the kind of ending most directors could only pull off in their dreams, yet Cameron brings everything together in a satisfying conclusion. Overall, it’s pretty entertaining and for an action comedy this long it moves along very well. The cinematography and editing are great, definitely a lot classier and comprehensive compared to what Michael Bay was putting out around the same time. Moreover, its infrequent use of close ups gives the film a larger scale. Sometimes it gets a little too silly and corny (for example the whole striptease scene should’ve been rethought, that got a little too dumb), but most of it is funny.
6.5/10
Writer / director James Cameron gets a little silly in this intrinsically ‘90s fix of macho action and domestic fibbage. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps a hair past his winking, flexing, cheesing prime, plays a cocksure American spy who balances international wetwork with a simple suburban family life. Wielding the cookie sheets back at home, Jamie Lee Curtis is his repressed wife; craving a little excitement in her middle age and getting in way over her head. Tom Arnold works a support role as the big man’s smarmy, sarcastic sidekick, while Bill Paxton makes hay with a throwaway part as the weaselly used car salesman who keeps turning up in the wrong places.
It’s never really played straight, so some leeway is obviously in order, but damn, this is big and loud and crude and stupid. Like, really stupid. Picture Michael Bay directing a James Bond flick. True Lies has zero nuance and negative chill. Even if I hadn’t seen this a thousand times back in the day (as, I’d imagine, did anyone with an HBO subscription in 1996), I could’ve predicted every telegraphed plot swerve, miles away. The memorable parts still play - Arnold in a harrier jet, buzzing the skyline of downtown Miami; the boys’ plot to catch a cheating spouse in the act; Jamie Lee’s sizzling striptease - but all the points in-between are embarrassingly bad. The humor, blunt and heavy-handed, rarely hits for more than eye rolls and raspberries, and it’s all a little too detached from reality, even for a loose comedy. Nobody seems too worried about the nuclear blast that effectively severs the Florida Keys from US soil, for instance. Instead, the explosion is played for laughs (the estranged couple reunites for a kiss against the mushroom cloud backdrop) and then hand-waved away as we race to rescue their kidnapped daughter.
At the time it was released, this probably felt a tad excessive but not completely out of the ballpark. Nowadays, well... if The Fast and the Furious is your thing, it’s going to hit right in the heart of your wheelhouse. Needless to say, that ain’t me.
This movie is pure entertainment. It's fun, the action is good, the pacing is good, the actors are good, and all is as it should be.
Great entertainment! The only bad thing about this flick are the one-thousand-bullet-pistols and the one-million-rounds-machine-guns.
But otherwise it has it all: a fast-pacing plot, a lot of action, some funny and sexy scenes and a cool hero.
Shout by BenVIP OG 13BlockedParent2011-12-23T17:41:34Z
IMO the best combination of action & humor ever made!