Arnold Schwarzenegger has made many action movies during his acting career, some much better than others. One of his better movies is 1994's True Lies.
Harry Tasker had been living a double life for years. He was a spy who went on missions all around the world but his wife of fifteen years, Helen, thought he was a computer salesman and had no clue what he really did. Harry's work did cause some problems in their marriage, like when he was always late for meals or special occasions. Harry was shocked when he decided to drop in to take Helen to lunch and he discovered she was meeting a man named Simon.
Harry decided to use agency resources to trail Helen and find out exactly what was going on even though Albert Gibson thought it was a bad idea. Gib worked with Harry and the two men were friends. At the same time, Harry and Gib were trying to deal with a terrorist group led by Salim Abu Aziz who had gotten some nuclear weapons. The different lives that Harry had been living collided and he and Helen had to try to save their marriage while trying to stop the terrorists.
True Lies had a rather complicated plot with a lot going on which I'm sure helped make the movie run over two hours. The first several minutes were focused on introducing Harry and the work he did as a spy while on a mission in Switzerland. Then time was taken to show his home life and how wife Helen was clueless about his real job. It was fairly quickly clear that there were issues in their relationship and that Helen was feeling a bit lonely with how often Harry was gone. The subplot connected to Helen and what was happening with her and Simon took up a decent amount of time. The way that Harry decided to deal with that situation was interesting and led to some of the most entertaining scenes. Things in the subplot did eventually tie in with the main plot in a way that made sense. There were a few scenes that did move slower, but I was never bored with what was going on.
True Lies had a good blend of action and humor. Humor was used throughout the movie, which did help to lighten the mood several times. Gibs made me laugh just about every time he turned up, usually from things he said. Harry's reactions to things at times were very funny. There was even humor in some action scenes, like when Harry was chasing Art and ended up riding a horse through a hotel. That has to be one of the most unique chases I've ever seen. I thought that the humor and action blended well to make a very entertaining movie.
The action started within the first few minutes of True Lies with how Harry dealt with his mission in Switzerland. He did take out a little bit of time to dance the tango with Juno Skinner while Gib was freaking out in the van. There were several fights that involved Harry beating up different people. Guns were involved in some of the fights as well as some sort of flame thrower at point later in the movie. The fights did add violence to the movie, but it really wasn't graphic. Harry took part in a few different chases besides the one that he used a horse for. There were several explosions throughout the movie. Some of the action things that happened weren't really believable, but they still managed to work for this movie.
Harry and Helen had been together for fifteen years when True Lies started. There were issues with the marriage, mostly because Helen had no clue what Harry really did. He was frequently late or missed certain things that Helen was counting on him to do. That did strain their marriage, though Harry was clueless about that until he found out about Simon. Harry and Helen's relationship was very important to the movie, though I don't think it distracted from the other things going on. There were a few sexual comments - mostly made by Simon - and minor sexual situations without there being any actual sex scenes. At one point, Helen did a suggestive dance in her underwear. That was it for sexual content. It wasn't anything graphic, so it shouldn't upset viewers. The movie was rated PG-13, so it isn't a movie for children.
Harry was very good at his job and he really enjoyed it. He was also good at keeping the truth from his wife, though it had hurt his marriage. It did take him a while to realize that though. He had his own way of dealing with things that didn't always work out well. I did think that Arnold Schwarzenegger was good in the part, though there wasn't anything outstanding about his performance. I think this was one of his better movies.
Helen was a somewhat mousey woman who loved her husband but was frustrated by how he didn't always pay her enough attention. She wanted a little excitement in her life, which was why she got messed up with Simon to begin with. Helen did go through a bit of a transformation by the end of the movie. I loved Jamie Lee Curtis in the part. Dana was Harry and Helen's daughter. She was a bit of a brat and not that likable at times. Eliza Dushku didn't have much to do, but she was fine in the part.
Gib worked with Harry and it seemed like the two men had known each other for years. Gib stayed in the van and did things there for the missions. He did know Helen too, but I think that she thought he was a computer salesman like Harry. Gib didn't agree with several of Harry's decisions, but he usually went along with what was happening. I actually enjoyed Tom Arnold in this part. It was probably just about the only time he wasn't annoying. Charlton Heston turned up in a few scenes as Spencer Trilby, Harry and Gib's boss.
Simon was the man that Helen had met and was meeting. He had a method for hitting on women and getting them into bed. Bill Paxton was good in the part even though he didn't have a lot to do. Juno Skinner was a woman working with rare artifacts. She was also involved with the terrorists. She really wasn't developed much other than being mean in a few scenes. Tia Carrere was fine in the part. Salim Abu Aziz was the terrorist behind the plan with the weapons. He was very violent and didn't have a problem using violence to get things done. Art Malik was fine in the part.
Main Cast
Tom Arnold - Albert Gibson (Gib) Tia Carrere - Juno Skinner Jamie Lee Curtis - Helen Tasker Eliza Dushku - Dana Tasker Charlton Heston - Spencer Trilby Art Malik - Salim Abu Aziz Bill Paxton - Simon Arnold Schwarzenegger - Harry Tasker
James Cameron - Director
DVD Information
I first saw True Lies in the theater back in 1994. I owned the movie on VHS and watched my copy several times over the years. I did eventually pick the movie up on DVD once I started to get movies on that format. I found the movie for under $10 a few years ago. The disc does have the widescreen version of the movie. I'm not sure if there is also a full screen version. The copy I have doesn't have any extra features. Several movies that were first released on DVD with few or no extras have been released again on DVDs with new extras. I have no idea if that has been done with this movie or not.
True Lies is a really well done, entertaining action movie. People that like action movies should give it a chance. Fans of the cast, especially Arnold, will probably enjoy it.
Secret agent Harry Tasker Arnold Schwarzenegger is a busy man; when he's not saving the world from terrorists he's under cover as a boring computer sa...More at Family Video
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.