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True Lies

True Lies

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True Lies

Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Cameron
Produced by James Cameron
Stephanie Austin
Screenplay by James Cameron
Story by James Cameron
Randall Frakes
Based on La Totale! by
Claude Zidi
Simon Michaël
Didier Kaminka
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jamie Lee Curtis
Art Malik
Tom Arnold
Bill Paxton
Tia Carrere
Eliza Dushku
Music by Brad Fiedel
Cinematography Russell Carpenter
Editing by Conrad Buff
Mark Goldblatt
Richard A. Harris
Studio Lightstorm Entertainment
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)
  • July 15, 1994 (1994-07-15)
Running time 141 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Arabic
French
German
Budget $100 million
Box office $378,882,411

True Lies is a 1994 American action-comedy film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku also appears in the film in one of her first major film roles. True Lies is an extended remake of the 1991 French film La Totale !,[1] which was directed by Claude Zidi and starred Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and Curtis won a Golden Globe for her comedic portrayal of Helen Tasker.

True Lies was the first Lightstorm Entertainment project to be distributed under Cameron's multi-million dollar production deal with 20th Century Fox, as well as the first major production for the visual effects company Digital Domain, which was co-founded by Cameron. True Lies was the only feature film collaboration outside of the Terminator series to feature Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and Brad Fiedel as director, actor, and composer respectively.

Upon its release, True Lies was one of the most expensive films ever made, costing $100[2][3]–120[4] million.

One of the reasons why the movie was so expensive was this example which came to light via New Idea magazine: The scene where Jamie Lee Curtis slashes a dowdy dress took three days to shoot, using fifteen lookalike dresses at $1200 each.[5]

Contents

  • 1 Plot
  • 2 Reception
  • 3 Possible sequel and television series adaptation
  • 4 Soundtrack
  • 5 References
  • 6 External links

Plot

Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads a double life, performing covert missions for the United States Government under a counter-terrorism task force called "The Omega Sector". Albert "Gib" Gibson (Tom Arnold) and Faisil (Grant Heslov) assist him in these missions under the command of Spencer Trilby (Charlton Heston). However, Harry's wife, Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), and his daughter, Dana (Eliza Dushku), believe he is a boring computer salesman with Tektel Systems (the cover company for Omega Sector) doing a lot of "corporate" travel.

Harry's latest mission in Switzerland reveals the existence of an Islamic terrorist organization group known as the Crimson Jihad, led by Salim Abu Aziz (Art Malik). Harry suspects that antiques dealer Juno Skinner (Tia Carrere) has ties to Aziz. After visiting her, Harry is chased by Aziz's men through the Georgetown Park shopping mall and a large hotel, meanwhile missing the birthday party that his wife and daughter have arranged for him.

When Harry goes to Helen's office the next day to surprise her and take her to lunch, he overhears a conversation with her coworker about "Simon" (Bill Paxton), a man she is seeing, causing Harry to worry about their marriage. Using the Omega Sector's resources (including a GPS tracker and wireless microphone hidden in her purse), he tracks down Simon, who turns out to be a used car salesman posing as a spy to seduce Helen. Helen is kidnapped by Harry's agency from Simon's trailer and left in a bare concrete interrogation room with a one way mirror. Harry questions her using a voice distorter about her relationship with "Simon" and about their marriage. She says that she wanted to have adventure in her life for once since Harry never gave her that. Harry realizes his cover as a boring salesman was too convincing. He decides to spice up Helen's life to make her happy by giving her a choice: go on a "mission" or be sent to prison. She chooses the mission: to pose as a prostitute and plant a bug on the phone of an arms dealer. Before she has a chance to plant the bug, Harry (who poses as the arms dealer) insists that she dances for him. The sham is interrupted by Aziz's men who burst into the room, taking both of them hostage, and subsequently flying them to the terrorist hideout somewhere in the Florida Keys.

Aziz reveals he possesses small nuclear warheads hidden inside antique statues shipped by Juno and plans to detonate one to demonstrate his power to the United States. Harry, under the effects of a truth serum, reveals his secret double life, much to Helen's shock. Harry then escapes, frees Helen and attacks the camp, trying to stop the planned detonation. While fighting Aziz's troops, Harry appears to die in an explosion. Helen is recaptured and is taken by Aziz, Juno, and the terrorists as they escape the island before a nuclear warhead is set to detonate and wipe out their camp and any evidence. Gib locates and rescues Harry using the GPS device in Helen's purse. Two U.S. Marine AV-8B Harrier jets are brought in to attack Aziz's convoy as they travel the Overseas Highway and Harry is able to rescue Helen, but Aziz evades capture.

Harry soon learns that Aziz has kidnapped their daughter, Dana, and with the remaining terrorists has taken over the top floor of an under-construction office building in downtown Miami. Harry commandeers a Harrier to rescue his daughter and stop them from detonating the remaining nuclear warhead. Dana steals the arming key—and pursued by Aziz—climbs up onto a crane at the top of the building. Harry eliminates a few of the terrorists with the Harrier's machine guns while the rest decide to escape by helicopter. Harry sees Dana climbing the rigging and persuades her into jumping onto the Harrier. Aziz follows Dana and attacks Harry while he tries to pull his daughter to safety. Aziz falls off the jet, but gets his backpack caught on an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile which Harry shoots at the terrorists' hovering helicopter, with Aziz still attached, killing them all.

A year later, the Tasker family is having dinner together. A phone call reveals that Helen now also works for Omega Sector. Harry and Helen then embark on a new mission together.

Reception

Upon its release in 1994, the film garnered mostly positive reviews. Based on 47 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, True Lies has a 72% fresh rating and a weighted average of 6.5/10 with the consensus being "If it doesn't reach the heights of director James Cameron's and star Arnold Schwarzenegger's previous collaborations, True Lies still packs enough action and humor into its sometimes absurd plot to entertain".[6] Website Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean to various reviews, gave the film a 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

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."[8]

The film relies heavily on stunts, often performed by Schwarzenegger and Curtis themselves. The film earned $146 million domestically and $232.6 million abroad,[9] making it third best-grossing movie of 1994,[10] 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.[11]

Despite the positive reviews, the film was criticized as sexist, cruel or even misogynistic, for its treatment of female characters, such as the hero (Schwarzenegger) using his agency's resources to stalk and frighten his wife.[12] Others perceived it as conveying a strong anti-Arab or anti-Muslim prejudice.[13]

Possible sequel and television series adaptation

In September 2010, multiple websites reported James Cameron developing True Lies as a possible television series with Dark Angel producer Rene Echevarria acting as showrunner and producer.[14] In 2002, online news reports quoted Eliza Dushku as saying there would be a sequel reuniting the original cast with the writer/director James Cameron.[citation needed] Cameron originally planned to make a sequel sometime in 2002, but he put his plans on hold once the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred in New York City, saying terrorism was no longer something to be taken lightly.[15] In an interview, James Cameron stated there are no plans for a True Lies sequel, but he and Schwarzenegger had spoken about possibly working on a new project together once Schwarzenegger leaves office.[16]

In the film The Kid & I, Tom Arnold plays a fictional character based on himself. In that film, the character had starred in True Lies and is pursued, by a fan and teams up with Henry Winkler and Linda Hamilton to make a sequel; Schwarzenegger and Curtis cameo as themselves. Tom Arnold jokingly commented at the Schwarzenegger campaign headquarters that a sequel to True Lies was cancelled after Arnold Schwarzenegger had won the 2003 California recall election.

Soundtrack

True Lies
Film score by Brad Fiedel and various artists
Released July 19, 1994
Label Lightstorm/Epic Soundtrax
Track list
No. Title Length
1. "Sunshine Of Your Love"    
2. "Darkness, Darkness"    
3. "Alone In The Dark"    
4. "Entity"    
5. "Sunshine Of Your Love (The Adrian Sherwood & Skip McDonald Remix)"    
6. "Main Title/Harry Makes His Entrance"    
7. "Escape From The Chateau"    
8. "Harry's Sweet Home"    
9. "Harry Rides Again"    
10. "Spying On Helen"    
11. "Juno's Place"    
12. "Caught In The Act"    
13. "Shadow Lover"    
14. "Island Suite"    
15. "Causeway/Helicopter Rescue"    
16. "Nuclear Kiss"    
17. "Harry Saves The Day"    

Songs appearing in the film not included with the release of the soundtrack

  • "I Never Thought I'd See The Day" – Performed by Sade
  • "More Than a Woman" – Performed by The Bee Gees
  • "The Blue Danube" – Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra
  • "Por una Cabeza" – Argentinean tango, performed by The Tango Project

References

  1. ^ La Totale! at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ Fox, D., 1994. Movies: 'True Lies,' 'Forrest Gump' and 'The Lion King' are on target to break a record for non-holiday weekend ticket sales. Los Angeles Times, [internet] July 18. Available at [Accessed July 24, 2010].
  3. ^ Kempley, R., 1994. ‘True Lies’ (R). The Washington Post, [internet] July 15. Accessed July 24, 2010.
  4. ^ Thompson, Anne. (1994-07-29) 5 True Lies About James Cameron. Ew.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-14.
  5. ^ New Idea 3 September, 1994. "Last word" section: "Ripping yarns", page116.
  6. ^ "True Lies". Rotten Tomatoes. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 2011-08-05. 
  7. ^ lies. Metacritic.com (2009-12-18). Retrieved on 2011-07-14.
  8. ^ 1994 James Berardinelli, ''True Lies''. Reelviews.net. Retrieved on 2011-07-14.
  9. ^ True Lies (1994). Box Office Mojo (1994-10-18). Retrieved on 2011-07-14.
  10. ^ 1994 Domestic Grosses. boxofficemojo.com
  11. ^ Jamie Lee Curtis – Awards & Nominations – MSN Movies. Movies.msn.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-14.
  12. ^ John Simon, "True Lies," National Review, August 29, 1994
  13. ^ Charles Glass, "A prejudice as American as apple pie," New Statesman, November 20, 1998
  14. ^ "James Cameron Adapting 'True Lies' For TV". Deadline.com. 9-13-2010. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 13 September 2010. 
  15. ^ "Sequel talk true or lies?". class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.btitle=Sequel+talk+true+or+lies%3F&rft.atitle=&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fjam.canoe.ca%2FMovies%2FArtists%2FA%2FArnold_Tom%2F2003%2F03%2F04%2F756420.html&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:True_Lies"> 
  16. ^ "Cameron Doubtful for TL2 but Hopeful for Another! Tom Arnold Claims Another Project with "Lies" Team!". TheArnoldFans.com. 8-5-2009. class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved 6 April 2010. 

External links

United States portal
Film portal
  • True Lies at the Internet Movie Database
  • True Lies at AllRovi
  • True Lies at Box Office Mojo
  • True Lies at Rotten Tomatoes
  • True Lies at Metacritic