True Lies

A visually stunning gem with the typical directorial signature of a master. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers one of his best performances here, becoming a true charmer, he is he is absolutely irresistible as agent Harry Tasker. Throughout the movie, we get countless gags and see several excellent comedic scenes. The ending is one of those action sequences that are bound to make every viewer hold their breath. Another multimillion-dollar production where the money is truly visible. Everyone put their heart into it, including the King of the World, James Cameron, he truly is one of the best directors of all time. (01/27/2006)

We, the audience, are lucky that no one has offered Arnold the role of James Bond yet (a terrible idea), but here he fits the role of a secret agent very well. He tryes to act and it doesn't look bad at all. The script is good, the storyline with the irresistible "super agent" Bill Paxton is funny and Jamie Lee Curtis is a born comedian. The horse and motorbike chase is excellent and especially the whole final half hour is one big action orgasm. Arnold should kiss Cameron’s feet. (09/27/2003)

If James Cameron realized that sometimes less is really more and ditched the running time of around two and a half hours, this would have been a truly excellent film. However, the escapade with his daughter is indeed wonderfully action-packed, but after two hours, it still feels unnecessary. The film wants to open so many things and then close them, which is probably its biggest mistake. Otherwise, it is a beautiful example of a grittier action comedy that works great in other respects. (10/27/2014)

I can't help it, but Arnie using his alternating 3-4 standard grimaces with more intensity than ever before does not make for good acting. The wooden muscle man walks through the Bond exhibition with the elegance of a scared high school student, and one has to think that beating up villains suits him better. James Cameron did a pretty good job, but I really don't understand why a film with such a sparse plot has a full 144 minutes, when the content would fit into 90 minutes and the jokes into 20. Some of the action sequences (especially the one with Harrier) are great, whilst the seductive dance by Jamie Lee Curtis is really sexy and certain gags are perfect (for example, the one with the battery in the camera is still quite current today). Unfortunately, I was bored for most of the film and tried to find something truly supportive in this mix of family comedy and spy action. It's definitely not a story that fizzles out, it's definitely not Arnie's awkward etude, and it’s not even the bulging bodice of Jamie Lee and Miss Carrere's killer body... It's not even Cameron's direction... so what the hell is it??? (04/03/2006)

I had the idea that True Lies was one of the more digestible films of the acting genius Arnold Schwarzenegger, or rather one of several movies that I can give 3 stars. However, when I repeated the experience years later, it quickly became clear to me that the film contains a lot of nonsense, and the humor it possesses no longer appeals to me. The French original seems to me to be two classes better. Here the American budget and Arnold's myth earn it points. Overall impression: 45%. (04/22/2013)