So...what is it about Arnold?

[Ttaskmaster]

I disagree. I think Bruce Willis would have done a good spin on the part,

Oh, I'm not saying that other actors wouldn't have done a good job - Quite a few I can think of would have been awesome, each with their own very cool and unique interpretation... But each would have made it a VERY different fillum.

I did once read 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale', probably when I read 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep'. Both stories are very different to their films, the former more than the latter, I think. Changing actors would have completely redefined the film - Imagine Harrison as Quaid... How dark and heavy would that TR have been... or Tom Selleck, perhaps?
Same for if a different director was at the helm.

But this was a Paul Verhoeven film - It was destined to be an Arnie role.

Lets just say our interpretation of "subtle" may differ, my friend. A complex man doesn't spray bullets into a crowd to hit one target, that has the ring of a socio-path, well to me anyway. :lol Also he's totally insecure/jealeous about his relationship with Stone's character, which is not a healthy trait.

Granted, he does make some rather big gestures :lol
But what is he feeling, what is he thinking... why is he so jealous?
The look he gives Stone when he sees that Quaid hurt her - The guy idolises that woman. He's already bearing the weight of having been torn over the decision to give her up for the mission of keeping Quaid hidden in this fake life and he's genuinely very upset when he sees that bruise. I easily could imagine him going away for a bit of a cry somewhere... or one of those weird shower scenes where they stand motionless, head bowed as the water falls down on the back of their neck. Yeah... Moving on:

I love complex bad guys....ie. Alan Rickman in DIE HARD. A great bad guy makes the hero look better...sorry, but I still think Ironside is the poor mans JOHN SAXON. :lol

Granted Ironside usually gets these big, OTT baddies, but he always has something else going on behind the big in-your-face personality. It's the side he shows in things like Top Gun and Neon City, an unseen dimension to his character. Even though he never usually gets to portray it on screen, the way he acts gives little hints that he knows his whole character's history in minute detail. I find myself able to imagine what the character is like day-to-day. I see sort of 'The Richters At Home', as it were.

I usually compare Ironside's bad guys to Adam Baldwin in Firefly - In one of the commentaries someone points out that the reason Jayne works so well is because Baldwin goes from the perspective that the show is all about Jayne. I see similar traits in most of Ironside's roles.

 

[joker-scar]

Granted Ironside usually gets these big, OTT baddies, but he always has something else going on behind the big in-your-face personality. It's the side he shows in things like Top Gun and Neon City, an unseen dimension to his character. Even though he never usually gets to portray it on screen, the way he acts gives little hints that he knows his whole character's history in minute detail. I find myself able to imagine what the character is like day-to-day. I see sort of 'The Richters At Home', as it were.

I would tune in to see a TV show about when Richters is òff-duty`. :thumbsup Going to the store to buy his wife tampons and has to ask help by a teenage store clerk. :lol or blowing a tire and not having a wrench to change it himself so he has to call a tow truck driver to get it done when he`s late to a meeting. A kind of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM wih guns!!!!....hummm i should pitch this idea to Fox network.:unsure

 

[Treadwell]

Say whatever you want about Arnold, but at least hit fit the roles. Now we have super heroes that look like girly men (Thor, Capt. America, etc.)

You kidding me? Those guys are BUFF.

 

[joker-scar]

You kidding me? Those guys are BUFF

i think he meat to infer they are now `pretty boys`.....cause that is what they need to get women to see these films. eye candy.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

You kidding me? Those guys are BUFF.

BUFF is what girls call skinny guys who just work out just enough to get toned. They need guys who actually work out more than the time period between signing the contract and filming. These characters have Arnold's physic in the comics, not the ones on the actors. It's totally different for someone like Christian Bale because Batman relies on tech and skill, not being huge.

 

[Galactifan]

I just finished watching TOTAL RECALL. What are your thoughts........ :confused

"Get your arse to Mars!"

 

[Zombie_61]

Is it simply his personal charm :love overpowering his limited acting skills?

In my opinion, yes. Arnold can be very charismatic, and that comes across on screen in most of his roles.

In that regard, he's similar to John Wayne. Wayne worked very hard to create and maintain the "John Wayne" persona, and that's what you get when you watch a John Wayne movie regardless of the character he's playing. Schwarzenegger has pretty much done the same thing.

 

[samwise]

In my opinion, yes. Arnold can be very charismatic, and that comes across on screen in most of his roles.

In that regard, he's similar to John Wayne. Wayne worked very hard to create and maintain the "John Wayne" persona, and that's what you get when you watch a John Wayne movie regardless of the character he's playing. Schwarzenegger has pretty much done the same thing.

not sure if i like that enalogy John Wayne compared to Arnie.....slight gulf in ability but i think i get what you mean :lol

 

[Ttaskmaster]

In that regard, he's similar to John Wayne. Wayne worked very hard to create and maintain the "John Wayne" persona, and that's what you get when you watch a John Wayne movie regardless of the character he's playing. Schwarzenegger has pretty much done the same thing.

I like this perception. I'd also concur.

 

[joker-scar]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie_61
In that regard, he's similar to John Wayne. Wayne worked very hard to create and maintain the "John Wayne" persona, and that's what you get when you watch a John Wayne movie regardless of the character he's playing. Schwarzenegger has pretty much done the same thing.

I like this perception. I'd also concur.

good point.