This surprise sleeper hit of 1984 spawned a series of films and gave Schwarzenegger a signature role. He has very little dialogue in the film but one of his lines “I’ll be back” became a classic movie quote.
Made in a time when comic book adaptations were not a common thing the film was a perfect fit for Schwarzenegger. He plays a man trying to avenge the death of his parents.
Schwarzenegger reprised his role as the terminator in this much more elaborate sequel to the original film. This time he is cast as a “good” terminator sent back in time to save the son of the woman he was trying to kill in the original story.
Schwarzenegger stars as a fearless terrorist fighter who finds his biggest challenge when he starts to suspect his wife is having an affair with a sleazy used car salesman.
The film places its star in the center of a journey to another planet where he is unable to tell what is real and what is false recall.
Schwarzenegger plays a cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher in order to locate a key witness in a case.
“Twins” was kind of a poster that then went looking for a plot. The obvious sight gag of having Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play twins carried the movie a long way.
“Predator,” was Schwarzenegger’s entry in the sci-fi genre. He plays a military officer on a mission. This one though is sidelined by an alien creature’s attacks.