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True Lies

True Lies

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A interesting twist
Review: A fairly standard James Bond type plot, a highjacked nuclear weapon, that is made interesting by the twist of having the Arnold action hero trying to maintain a suburban lifestyle. None of the action was particularly amazing, you've probably seen such action before, but the whole premise of all this stuff going on while trying to be a proto-typical suburbanite is hilarious. Imagine James Bond with a wife, two kids, a SUV, saving the world, and you get the picture.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow.
Review: Man, this movie was wild. In a time when there are thousands of mediocre action titles, this one really stands out. It kept me interested the whole way through, and had a story I actually understood and enjoyed, unlike where others, I watch them for just the action. Tue Lies is a great movie, and one of the best on the market.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Undercover Laughter
Review: I have watched this movie more times than I can remember. Arnold Schwarzenegger does another hillareous sendup of an undercover spy. If only being a spy was that fun. Jamie Lee Curtis mixed with Arnold Schwarzenegger is a comedy couple matched in heaven. The story line flows with ease, you will find yourself wondering what on earth is going to happen next. If your after a light hearted but very funny movie I recommend not only seeing this movie but you may as well buy it, because your going to want to see it again, and again and again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Spectacular Thriller
Review: "True Lies" is a spectacular movie, it has some of the most amazing action and stunts ever filmed for the screen. This film also has some funny comedy moments also, while the DVD doesn't have any extras to speak of, but the transfer is great. I really like this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Action Flick!
Review: This film is entertaining all the way through, it starts out great, then slows down enough to make us laugh a little then takes of full-speed for it's action-packed finale. Great for die-hard action fans. The best Cameron-Schwarzenegger movie outside the 'Terminator' flicks. Really worth your while. Different from the normal action flick, a little different, a little better. Jamie Lee Curtis is great in this movie and I think Schwarzenegger gives his best performance here. But this is James Cameron's movie all the way. From 1-10 I give it a 7.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sound and fury, signifying nothing . . .
Review: I've always been ambivalent about the movies of James Cameron. (It doesn't help that for all of the success of his films, Cameron comes across in his interviews as a self-absorbed egomaniac.) Okay, "Aliens" was a decent sequel, and the Terminator films were terrifically exciting action flicks, but Cameron's films ("Titanic" being a notable exception) always felt like they relied on their big bangs to make people stay in their seats. Cameron's films were big and empty . . . that special something was lacking. "True Lies" is a perfect example of Cameron's emptiness.

The plot? Arnold is an agent working for a secret intelligence organization combating terrorism, while his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) labors under the belief that her husband is a boring 9-to-5 white-collar office guy. Ultimately, in foiling a plot by an Islamic terrorist group to blow up a U.S. city with a nuke, Arnold gets Jamie mixed up in his work and must save the U.S. while he saves his marriage, blah blah blah . . . . Let's not mince words. This is a pretty lousy movie.

Where to begin? The worst part of this movie was in Arnold's treatment of his wife, whom he kidnaps and forces to pretend to be a prostitute. If Arnold really loved his wife why would he subject her to such a humiliating and perilous ordeal? It's disappointing that Cameron, whose previous films featured strong heroines ("Terminator 2", "Aliens"), makes Jamie Lee Curtis into such a victim here. And I also laughed at the scene where, after they escape the terrorists, she kisses him while a nuclear explosion engulfs a Caribbean island behind them. The scene was:

A) stupid . . . honestly now, if any guy actually forced their wife to pretend to be a prostitute as a trick and she found out they'd be a dead man. And,

B) it was just plain corny

The movie's curious mix of humor and over-the-top action comes off pretty poorly too. The opening sequence featuring Arnold in a tux looked silly. I kept waiting for the joke, thinking Cameron was doing a parody of Mission: Impossible at first.

The action was pretty over-wrought as well. I enjoyed the action Director John Woo put in "Face/Off" for its ballet-esque style and skill. It was over-the-top sure, but it had style and grace and didn't try to take itself seriously. In "True Lies" Cameron was trying to say "Can you top this?" More killing! More explosions! More mayhem! More loud noises! Cameron has no finesse, no style as a Director. This movie is all brawn and no brain.

People have also criticized "True Lies" for being anti-Arab, for its portrayal of Islamic terrorism with his bad guys, the "Crimson Jihad". There is merit to that criticism, but my biggest beef with Cameron's choice of villains is their blandness. The leader of these guys snarls and looks nasty and beats on women, but is a pretty wooden bad guy.

Critics have also lambasted the movie for its violence (in 1995 Presidential candidate Bob Dole blasted Hollywood for making anti-social movies and suggested "True Lies" was a "family friendly" film. Arnold's status as a GOP fundraiser and the cameo by now-NRA President Charlton Heston may have affected his analysis more than anything else). Again, there is merit here. The action is bloody and jarring in "Face/Off", but the action is more meant to upset us than anything else. "True Lies" is a glorification of killing and mayhem. Arnold kills someone, whips off a snippy line and keeps going. Pretty disturbing.

So was there anything I liked about "True Lies"? Sure, I kinda liked Tom Arnold's role as Arnold's sidekick. He was pretty funny.

Watching "True Lies" I'm reminded of Shakespeare. This is a movie with much sound and fury, and it signifies nothing. Big, loud, and empty to the core.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Saw it in theater and thought it great. Enjoyed it on VHS, but was so disappointed with the sound and picture quality (or lack thereof) on DVD, I returned it to place of purchase and got my money back. Based on customer reviews, I wonder if I got a bad copy. The opening scenes were terrific picture-wise, but for the rest, I had to keep the remote handy to constantly correct flesh tones, and the sound quality was no better than what I heard on VHS.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Popcorn movie
Review: Sure it was unbelievable but this is your typical Arnold movie. You watch it for the action and the babes!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sexist, racist, and great entertainment
Review: Middle Easterns are portrayed as a bunch fanatics with the Quran in one hand and a machine gun (or nuclear bomb) in the other. A woman is so ignorant the she is can't even realize that her husband is an agent for some government agency. And once she does find out all she does is a lot of screaming. But despite these stereotypes--and the movie couldn't have worked without them--this movie is great. Action, creative storyline, and bits of humor.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must own for 5.1 systems
Review: I bought the DVD before I got my 5.1 system and thought the sound was great with normal stereo but WHOA NELLY! Watch the volume levels, though as comfortable dialog quick becomes sonic booms in this one.

This has the best picture (via S-video) and audio quality I've seen so far on a DVD.


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