The Films Of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Paperback)

by John L. Flynn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Flynn offers an adulatory biographical sketch, and Schwarzenegger's attitude toward his work comes through in Flynn's commentary, but otherwise this is exactly what the title announces: a critical look at all of Schwarzenegger's films, including his laughable debut, Hercules in New York (1973). The best Schwarzenegger films--such as the two Conan epics, drawn from the work of pulp fantasist Robert E. Howard--tap deep, primitive myths of warriors and their quests, Flynn says. Whether or not that's so, Flynn's portrait of what went on behind the scenes in John Milius' filming of Conan the Barbarian is very good indeed. Details concerning the filming and reception of the two Terminator movies, Running Man, and Total Recall are also here. If Schwarzenegger the man emerges at all, it's as a shrewd, archconservative capitalist--but, in any case, fans of the films will enjoy this. John Mort --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Citadel; Rev Upd Su edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806516453
• ISBN-13: 978-0806516455
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,490,512 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read for Arnold fans, or just fans of movie making!, September 21, 1999

By A Customer

After reading several biographies of Arnold, including his informative but dated autobiography, this book provided insight and many details of Arnold's life that those biographies do not include, especially, of course, his life while making all his movies. The reader will learn of the planning and politics that go into making a movie years and sometimes decades before the cameras start rolling. Hence, the great interest and value this book will be to anyone interested in recent movie making and history, even if they are not fans of Arnold. For those of us who want to know more about Arnold, though, the book contains a thorough description of what Arnold was doing at the time each of his movies were made, why he was chosen for the role over other actors and why he wanted to be in it, what efforts Arnold made to get each role, and what transpired during the making of each movie. The problems and obstacles that had to be overcome to complete some of his movies, and Arnold's strategy to enhance and further his movie career show his determination and strong will to be a success that worked so well in his bodybuiding career. The information in this book is not found in any of Arnold's biographies. In addition, this book also serves as an excellent record of Arnold's movie making, including as a Director. This revised version, includes his more recent movies, as well as plans for the future. In summary, this book is both informative and thoroughly enjoyable - a great read. The only criticism is with the author's foreward. In it the author explains that since this is a book that is based on facts, it does not contain inaccurate information or unsupportive opinions about Arnold. However, in several places in the book, the facts about a movie or Arnold are a little off. For example, everyone knows Dirty Harry's "most powerful handgun in the world" was the .44 magnum, NOT a .357 magnum. And its the Arnold Classic competition that Arnold has every year in Columbus, Ohio, NOT the Mr. Universe or Mr. Olympia. There are other mistakes in the book, but all are on this level of minor detail that never detract from the enjoyment of reading it. In fact, these very minor errors would not have bothered me at all if the author had not made that statement in the foreward about the book being so very factual.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST FOR EVERY ARNOLD FAN!!!, October 19, 2001

By A Customer

Do you have the entire "Predator" screenplay memorized? Do movies like "The Running Man" and "Kindergarten Cop" hold a special place in your heart? Then this is the book for you. John Flynn gives every Arnold film (up to 1996's "Eraser") focused attention, complete with plot synopsis, critical reviews and behind the scenes production details which I found extremely interesting and entertaining. The book suffers, through no fault of its own, from being slightly outdated. Example: In the final pages, Flynn gives his forecasts for "Jingle All The Way" and "Batman & Robin", both movies not yet released at the time of publication. (And I am I alone wishing that they never were?) On the topic of Arnold playing the villan Mr. Freeze opposite George Clooney's Batman, the author seculates, "How can it miss?" Oh, if only he knew. Both of these flicks turned out to be the two biggest cowpies in Arnold's otherwise distinguished career. But that's in the past. Here's to the future. Buy this book! No true Arnold fan should be without it.

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, February 24, 2002

By A Customer

The book offers a comprehensive factual recounting of Schwarzenneger's films through 1996, including synopses and summaries of each one's critical reception. But it offers no analysis, no discussion of Schwarzenegger's development as an actor and no insight into how various roles relate to one another, which is what I was hoping for. Bare facts such as the plot of a film or its cast list are readily available for free on the Internet.

There are a few historical tidbits, but the lack of anything resembling analysis, coupled with bad writing, lazy editing and repetition (including some passages appaearing word-for-word in multiple places) make this one to pass on.