True Lies
- For the video game, see True Lies (video game).
| True Lies | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for True Lies. |
|
| Directed by | James Cameron |
| Produced by | James Cameron Stephanie Austin |
| Written by | Claude Zidi Simon Michaël Didier Kaminka James Cameron |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Jamie Lee Curtis Tom Arnold Bill Paxton Art Malik Tia Carrere Eliza Dushku |
| Music by | Brad Fiedel |
| Cinematography | Russell Carpenter |
| Editing by | Conrad Buff Mark Goldblatt Richard A. Harris |
| Distributed by | - USA/France - 20th Century Fox Lightstorm Entertainment - Non-USA/France - Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | July 15, 1994 (USA) August 12, 1994 (UK) |
| Running time | 144 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Arabic French German |
| Budget | $110,000,000 (estimated) |
| Gross revenue | $378,882,411 (worldwide) |
True Lies is a 1994 action-comedy film. It was directed by James Cameron, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku makes an early career appearance in this film. True Lies is an extended remake of the 1991 French film La Totale, directed by Claude Zidi and starring Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou[1].
Contents |
Plot summary
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (November 2008) |
The movie begins in James Bond style as secret agent Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) infiltrates the alpine chateau of an international arms smuggler in Switzerland. Harry's mission is to track down nuclear warheads stolen from Kazakhstan. He is aided by his fellow Omega Sector agents, Albert "Gib" Gibson (Arnold) and Faisil (Heslov) who communicate with him from a computerized van. Inside the chateau, Harry meets Juno Skinner (Carrere), an antiquities dealer, and the two dance the tango while Harry arranges an explosive escape.
In a twist for an action hero, Harry has an ordinary home life. His wife, Helen (Curtis), is unaware that her husband is a spy and believes he is a computer salesman. Helen thinks Harry is boring, and their daughter Dana (Dushku), doesn't respect her father. After he leaves her room, she throws away the snow globe Harry bought as her gift from Switzerland.
Working undercover, Harry and Gib contact Juno Skinner at her Washington D.C. office. It turns out Juno is using antiquities to smuggle the warheads into the United States on behalf of a Palestinian terrorist faction named Crimson Jihad. The faction's leader, Aziz (Malik), follows Harry and Gib when he believes they are asking too many questions.
An extended action sequence begins as Harry allows the faction members to tail him into a shopping mall. He leads them into a restroom, which is destroyed in the subsequent melee. Aziz flees the battle on a stolen motorcycle, followed by Harry on a police horse. The chase leads into a Marriott hotel, where Aziz rides the motorcycle into an elevator. The pursuit continues on the hotel roof, but Aziz escapes by riding his motorcycle into a swimming pool on the roof of a neighboring building.
Because of this action, Harry is late getting home and misses his own birthday party. To make amends, he visits Helen at her office the next day. There, he overhears Helen talking with a co-worker about her affair with Simon (Paxton). The subplot that follows (for the next third of the film) involves Harry's use of his agency's surveillance methods to learn more about Helen's liaison with Simon. At first, Harry believes Simon is an enemy agent, but soon discovers that Simon is a used car salesman who pretends to be a spy in order to seduce women. Harry and his team follow Helen to Simon's home, which they raid using SWAT tactics. Helen is taken prisoner and interrogated (through a one-way mirror and an electronic voice distorter) by Harry and Gib. Under interrogation, Helen admits that she never slept with Simon, but that she craves adventure that she believes her husband can never provide.
Harry gives Helen an assignment he thinks will appeal to her need for excitement. He enlists her in a mock spy operation which leads her to a hotel suite where she performs a striptease for Harry, who hides his face in shadow. Just as Harry reveals himself to Helen, the terrorists return. Harry and Helen are taken prisoner.
At the terrorists' hideout, Aziz reveals that his faction has four of the stolen nuclear warheads and intends to detonate them. One is armed and set to blow up their hideout on an uninhabited island. Harry and Helen manage to escape just as the terrorists flee the hideout with the other warheads. Helen sees Harry disappear in a huge explosion and believes him killed. Helen is then recaptured by Juno Skinner and driven away in her limousine behind the main convoy.
Harry is found relatively unscathed by Gib (who tracked him through a tracking device planted on Helen), and from a helicopter they coordinate an attack by US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier jets, on the terrorist convoy which is driving up the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys. Two of the stolen warheads are destroyed with the convoy. Also Helen manages to break free of Juno and is pulled by Harry into the helicopter as Juno's limo drives into the water in a place where the bridge is blown out, killing Juno. The nuclear bomb back at the hideout is allowed to explode harmlessly.
In the finale, Harry borrows a Harrier jet and goes to the rescue of his daughter, who was kidnapped (offscreen) by the terrorists. Faisil manages to infiltrate the terrorists hideout and kills three of them after Dana gets her hands on the arming key for the nukes and makes a run for it. This leads to a climactic battle with Aziz's men at the top of a skyscraper, with Harry piloting the Harrier through the city of Miami. Harry kills Aziz by launching an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile (with Aziz attached) into a chopper containing the last remaining terrorists.
The movie concludes "One Year Later..." with the Taskers back at home, though Helen and Dana are now aware of Harry's secret profession. Indeed, Helen has become Harry's partner, as they go off on a mission together. The film ends as the couple dance Por una Cabeza, a tango. The final scene is of Gib in the van saying he's "sick of being in the van."
Critical reception
Upon its release in 1994, the film garnered mostly positive reviews. Based on 37 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, True Lies has a 68% fresh rating and a weighted average of 6.3/10.[2]
James Berardinelli from Reelviews gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying "I have yet to decide whether True Lies is a better comedy or action film. It contains heavy elements of both, and plays them equally well. Unlike such failed attempts as Hudson Hawk and Last Action Hero, however, True Lies is a big, grandiose movie that has an immense amount of fun while never taking itself too seriously...Speed (which was released in the same year) and True Lies deliver a summer one-two punch that will leave viewers squirming with excitement and gasping for breath."[3]
The movie relies heavily on stunts, often performed by Schwarzenegger and Curtis themselves. It is largely remembered for action "set pieces" such as a Marine AV-8B Harrier blowing up the Seven Mile Bridge, and Helen being scooped up by helicopter out of a falling car.
The movie earned $146 million and $232.6 million abroad[4], making it third best-grossing movie of 1994[5], and also a comeback for Schwarzenegger following the disastrous Last Action Hero of the previous summer. For her performance, Jamie Lee Curtis received a 1994 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.[6]
Sequel
Online news reports in 2002 quoted actress Eliza Dushku as saying there was going to be a sequel reuniting the original cast and writer/director James Cameron. Director James Cameron originally planned on making a sequel sometime in 2002 (according to Moviehole.net) - but put his plans on hold once the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in NYC, claiming that "in this day and age, terrorism isn't funny."[citation needed]
Soundtrack
| True Lies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Film score by Brad Fiedel and various artists | ||
| Released | July 19, 1994 | |
| Label | Lightstorm/Epic Soundtrax | |
Track Listings:
- Sunshine Of Your Love - Living Colour
- Darkness Darkness - Screeming Trees
- Alone In The Dark - John Hiatt
- Entity - Mother Tongue
- Sunshine Of Your Love (Remix) - Living Colour
- Main Title/Harry Makes His Entrance
- Escape From The Chateau
- Harry's Sweet Home
- Harry Rides Again
- Spying On Helen
- Juno's Place
- Caught In The Act
- Shadow Lover
- Island Suite
- Causeway/Helicopter Rescue
- Nuclear Kiss
- Harry Saves The Day
Songs not included with the relase of the soundtrack
- I Never Thought I's See The Day - Performed By Sade
- More Than A Woman - Performed by The Bee Gees
- The Blue Danube - Peformed by The Philadelphia Orchestra
- Por Una Cabeza - Performed By The Tango Project
Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Helen Tasker
- Eliza Dushku as Dana Tasker
- Tom Arnold as Albert "Gib" Gibson
- Grant Heslov as Faisil
- Tia Carrere as Juno Skinner
- Bill Paxton as Simon
- Art Malik as Salim Abu Aziz
- Charlton Heston as Spencer Trilby
References
- ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/true-lies
- ^ "True Lies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-11-16.
- ^ http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/true_lies.html
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=truelies.htm
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1994&p=.htm
- ^ http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-awards-and-nominations/jamie-lee-curtis/
External links
- True Lies at the Internet Movie Database
- True Lies at Box Office Mojo
- True Lies at Rotten Tomatoes
- True Lies at Metacritic
- La Totale at the Internet Movie Database
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