Rent True Lies (1994)

Great no brain entertainment - True Lies review by JD

Probably more a 3.5 out of 5 than a 4, but rounding up as this is a thoroughly enjoyable film.

Its full of humour, and refreshingly a lot of it would see this film banned today. Arnies character is for the most part playing it straight which as my GF pointed out at the end seemed like some political undertones - the film is about our heros stopping the nasty middle eastern terrorists. However, the terrorists reason is 'to stop the bombing of there women and children' and i dont believe the terrorists kill a single person in the whole film - where Arnie leaves nothing but destruction behind!

Its all convincingly played and being a cameron job the visuals hold up well today. The Harrier scenes are for the most part utterly fantastic and in typical Cameron style its all done with enough detail to keep even a plane nerd like me failing to find much fault.

The cast is great to.

This might not be Camerons best work by a long way, but is better than most similar modern films of the type.

Entertaining Action Comedy - True Lies review by GI

James Cameron's unashamed pastiche of the James Bond movies and an adaptation of a French film, The Jackpot (1991). It's fun, action packed and clearly star Arnold Schwarzenegger is having the time of his life. The Bond connections are littered throughout the film and are presented as homages that are designed to be recognised but from a director signalling his love and respect for that franchise. Schwarzenegger plays Harry, a super spy who works for a shady Government agency led by Trilby (Charlton Heston in a great cameo and channelling a Nick Fury look and vibe). He leads a double life though as his wife, Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter Dana (Eliza Dushku) believe him to be a boring salesman. When Harry suspects his wife is having an affair he utilises his agency's resources to catch her out but ends up discovering she's bored and seeking some excitement so he decides to involve her in his dangerous mission to root out a ruthless group of Islamic terrorists. This of course doesn't go to plan. The film is action packed, with some fantastic set piece stunts and it's all played for laughs with the comedy coming thick and fast. The famous strip tease scene with Curtis has been much discussed over the years and has been considered as female empowerment or a very overt example of cinema's objectification of the female body. Whatever your view here it's definitely sexy and fun. This is one of Schwarzenegger's films that is often overlooked when discussing his other more cult favourite ones but it is an influential action comedy that shows his development as a movie star and Cameron's pure love of action films. There's little doubt in my mind it's gone on to influence other films not least the Mission Impossible series. Recently restored for 4K UHD presentation this is worth checking out again if it's been awhile since you've watched it.

SEXIST SEX FARCE - True Lies review by Frank Talker™

The sexism and racism really sinks this movie and makes it just about average for a Hollywood blockbuster.

The French do sex comedies so much better than anglophones; with much greater insight into the stresses and strains of married life than shown in this remake of the movie Le Totale. The sexual humor is orificial and schoolboyish with no sense that sex for American Caucasians is any more than a hard penis regularly-inserted into a semi-willing vagina.

Only Jamie Lee CURTIS' knowing, funny, sexy, superb performance hints at what a terrific movie this could have been given a less superficial screenplay.