10 Best 80s Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies
Who doesn’t love Arnold Schwarzenegger? Not only are his movies completely captivating, but his bodybuilding technique is jaw-dropping. Even outside of his role as an actor, he was the governor of California from 2003 to 2011, a huge accomplishment and responsibility. But he didn’t have the help of family or friends to bring him into fame; he made it into Hollywood all on his own.
Beginning his acting career in movies and television in 1969 with just a few small roles, he was first known as “Arnold Strong”, but later on changed it back to his birth name.
Arnold started to reach his prime during the 80s as the lead character in two film franchises: The Terminator in the Terminator series and Conan in the Conan series. How he worked on two different movies at the same time various years is part of his incredible ability to manage his time, let alone acting in movies that would implode the box office.
Here’s a full list of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hit films from the 80s.
1. The Terminator (1984)
Directed by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger played the Terminator, or the cyborg assassin that was sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Her son, John Connor was destined to become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future, but Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier, was sent back in time to protect Sarah. Together, the pair fight to bring down the human cyborg, and have a little fling along the way.
For two weeks, The Terminator topped the box office in the US, helping to launch director James Cameron’s career and solidify Arnold Schwarzenegger’s status as a lead character. The film’s success also led to a number of novels, TV series comic books, sequels and video games. It was also Schwarzenegger who coined the famous phrase “I’ll be back.” The Terminator was also selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Directed by John Millius and written by Oliver Stone, Conan the Barbarian was based on the character Conan, who was created by Robert E. Howard. The story is about a young muscular barbarian warrior, Conan (Schwarzenegger), who sought vengeance for the death of his parents by the leader of a snake cult, Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones).
Despite mixed reviews from critics and audiences, the film grossed between $68.9 million and $79.1 million at boxes offices worldwide, after a budget of just $20 million. But the revenue fell short of the level needed to qualify as a blockbuster. In the following years after the movie’s release, Conan the Barbarian became a cult film and sparked interest for Conan the Destroyer (1984).
As for Schwarzenegger, the film gave him worldwide recognition as Conan the Barbarian has been frequently released on home video, increasing the film’s gross sales to over $300 million in 2007.
3. Commando (1985)
Directed by Mark L. Lester, Commando was released on October 4th, 1985. Living with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) just wanted to live the quiet life. But former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson) invades is privacy to warn him that his fellow soldiers were being killed. Shortly afterwards, Jenny was kidnapped fly former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wanted Matrix to restore his position of power. But instead, Matrix is focused on taking out the rogue leader and freeing his daughter.
While it lost to Back to the Future for a Saturn award for Best Special Effects, Commando was the 7th-highest-grossing R-rated film of 1985 around the world as well as the 25th-highest-grossing overall.
4. Predator (1987)
Directed by john McTiernan and written by Jim and John Thomas, Predator was the first installment of the Predator franchise. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead military figure, he was on a mission to save a number of hostages in guerrilla-held territory in a Central American rainforest. But on his journey, he discovers another enemy, the deadly Predator (Kevin Peter Hall), who is an advanced alien species that stalks and hunts the rescue team.
Even with a budget of only $15 million, 20th Century Fox released the film on June 12th, 1987 and it grossed $98.3 million at the box office. The initial reviews were negative, but it was eventually reappraised as a classic of the sci-fi genre. The movie also spawned a number of franchise movies, toys, video games, novels, comic books as well as three sequels: Predator (1990), Predators (2010), and The Predator (2018). There’s also the crossover with the Alien franchise, including the Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
5. Twins (1988)
Produced and directed by Ivan Reitman, Twins is about an unlikely twin pair (Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger) who were secretly separated as birth. The story tells the contrast between the smart but naive Julius (Schwarzenegger) and the street smart Vincent (DeVito).
The commercial was a big success, grossing at $216 million at the box office worldwide. But instead of taking their salaries from the film, the actors both agreed with the studio to take 20% of the returns, which resulted in them getting the largest paychecks in their careers.
It certainly was a good idea for Arnold to work on Twins at the same time as Red Heat as one performed far better at the box office than the other. But even this wasn’t his first time working on two films at once. It seemed to work out well for him.
6. Red Heat (1988)
Red Heat is a buddy cop action film written, produced and directed by Walter Hill. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the Moscow Militia Captain Ivan Danko who partners with Jim Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridzik. When they realized they were working on the same case to catch a deadly Georgian drug kingpin in Soviet Russia, they also found out this drug lord had also killed Danko’s former partner.
As soon as the film opened at the box office, it immediately became the top spot, but Arnold’s other comedy film, Twins, quickly took over. He said the film “wasn’t the smash I’d expected. Why is hard to guess. It could be that audiences were not ready for Russia, or that my and Jim Belushi’s performances were not funny enough, or that the director didn’t do a good enough job. For whatever reason, it just didn’t quite close the deal.”
The film was rated 67% on Rotten Tomatoes from 24 critics with an average rating of 5.6/10. It was also given an average grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale by CinemaScore.
Despite not reaching blockbuster status, even Arnold Schwarzenegger has movies that were not as great as expected.
7. Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan the Destroyer was directed by Richard Fleischer from a screenplay by Stanley Mann and the story was by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway. It was also based on the character Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard as well as is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982). Starring Schwarzenegger as Conan, Mako as Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds, and Grace Jones as Zula, the fierce fighter, Zula. The trio must take on Queen Taramis of Shadizar and a number of other foes to protect the beautiful young Princess Jehnna (Olivia D’Abo).
After the film’s release on June 29th, 1984 by Universal Pictures, it initially received mixed reviews from the critics. But it did gross between $26.4 million and $31 million at the box office.
8. The Running Man (1987)
The Running Man is a dystopian action film that was directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starred a number of actors, including Schwarzenegger of course. It was also loosely based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
The story is set in a dystopian United States between 2017 and 2019, and is about a TV show called The Running Man, where convicted criminals must run to escape death from professional killers.
After it was released it was a moderate success at the box office in the US, getting mixed reviews and grossing $38 million with a $27 million budget.
9. Raw Deal (1986)
Directed by John Irvin and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Darren McGavin and Sam Wanamaker, Raw Deal is about an elderly and bitter high-ranking FBI chief, Harry Shanon who seeks revenge against a Mafia organization. He sends a former FBI agent to a small-town sheriff Mark Kaminski to destroy the organization from the inside.
When the film was released, it received mixed reviews and was a complete failure at the box office, only grossing $16.2 million after a $11-$12 million budget. Despite the film’s lack of success, it still helped Schwarzenegger to launch further into fame.
10. Red Sonja (1985)
Known as a Dutch-American sword and sorcery movie, Red Sonja was directed by Richard Fleischer and based on the character of the same name, created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. This character’s name was also based on the character Red Sonya of Rogatino, who was also created by Robert E. Howard. This is another film with Schwarzenegger as a supporting role and stars Brigitte Nielsen as the lead character.
Similar to the Conan series, the film is set during a Hyborian Age, which is a fictional prehistory time. The greedy Queen Gedren has captured the priestesses guarding the Talisman, which is a mystical orb that created and can destroy the world. But when one of the priestesses escapes and searches for her warrior sister, Red Sonja, to warn her, Lord Kalidor (Schwarzenegger) insists on helping Sonja. Though at first she declines his help, she grows respectful of Kalidor by his fighting techniques.
After Red Sonja was released by MGM/US Entertainment Co. on July 3rd, 1985, the movie initially received many negative reviews. It only grossed $6.9 million with a budget of $17.9, becoming a box-office bomb.
Conclusion
So Arnold Schwarzenegger had some major blockbusters that came out in the 80s, and others were busts. Despite the failures of some films, the hit films have contributed to his fame to a far greater extent. They have also opened the door to a number of golden acting opportunities in the 90s and 2000s, including Kindergarten Cop (1990), Batman & Robin (1997), The Expendables (2010), the Terminator series and so much more. Altogether, Arnold’s films have grossed to around $4.5 billion worldwide with an average of $67 million per film.
His most recent film was Kung Fury 2 (2020), which is the sequel to the 2015 Kung Fury movie, where he stars as The President.
What’s Your Favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie?
Even if it wasn’t in the 80s, Arnold has got some great movies out there. Please let us know which is your favorite in the comments below!
