Arnold

As much a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger as I am and as long as I have been one, there are a fair number of his films that I have not seen. Some are among his classics. I never saw "Twins". I missed a number of the movies he made after "Eraser", which was his last movie that I enjoyed without reservation. I also missed some of his earlier movies, including ones before "Conan The Barbarian", and a couple from after.

The two post-breakout, pre-decline action films of his that I had missed were "Red Heat" and "Raw Deal". I recently managed to catch them both. Red Heat I watched in the early hours of New Year's Day. I don't have great recall of it, being a bit inebriated at the time, but I enjoyed it well enough. Arnold is a Soviet cop who comes to America to find a criminal. Naturally he must team up with Jim Belushi. It's not too bad.

More recently I watched Raw Deal, without having had too many drinks. It's an interesting movie. Arnold is a disgraced former FBI agent (I think) who is reduced to being a small town cop. He gets his shot at returning to the big time when an old colleague calls on him to bust the mob in Chicago. The movie is kind of cheap by Arnold's standards, and features the most bland villains he ever faced. Still, it was fun.

Whether at his best or at his worst, at least one thing can always be said of Arnold: he's leagues better than Chuck Norris. I finally watched one of his films ("Silent Rage") all the way through, and I have to say that he is absolutely terrible. Even confining myself to the category of martial artists, wrestlers and bodybuilders turned actors, he's the worst. He's worse than just flat and emotionless, he's terribly bland as well.

Norris shows less range than Arnold was in The Terminator, which is remarkable considering Arnold was playing a robot assassin. Silent Rage had some merit, but positively none of it came from Chuck. I hate to reject anyone or anything so completely, but him I have no choice with. Arnold I could watch doing anything, and I'm delighted that I have the chance to. I really relish the projects upcoming for Arnold, who shows signs of aging gracefully as his career enters what may be its final act. It should be interesting.