Last Updated on September 6, 2024
Love him or hate him, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a unique character. With his distinctive accent, muscled frame and prolific movie career, Arnie bring his own flavor to genres like action, drama, sci-fi, and even comedy. Now, if you want to see the former governor of California punch a bad guy in the face or freak out Sarah Connor, then this is the page for you!
The Terminator (1984)
IMDB Rating: 8.0
A cyborg assassin called a Terminator arrives from 2029 and makes his appearance in the year 1984. Landing in Los Angeles, he systematically begins to slaughter all women named Sarah Conner. But his last target – and the real reason the cyborg was sent back – is rescued just in time by a man called Kyle Reese.
The latter explains to Sarah that he is also from the future and was sent back by her unborn son to protect her against the Terminator. As they fight to survive, Sarah learns the truth about the self-aware Skynet system that is trying to wipe out humanity and that her son, if she survives, is destined to save them all.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
IMDB Rating: 8.5
In 1995, a young John Conner faces a new terror. Skynet has sent the most lethal Terminator to date to kill John before he can grow up and lead humanity’s resistance against the machines.
Future John again sends help but this time, it is a reprogrammed Terminator instead of a human. To Sarah’s horror, the cyborg is the same model as the one that had almost killed her in 1984. But when he reveals how Skynet was formed and that they can destroy it only if they work together, the Conners team up with the machine.
Commando (1985)
IMDB Rating: 6.7
John Matrix is a US Special Forces Colonel enjoying his retirement. But then his young daughter is kidnapped by mercenaries, Matrix is also captured after a failed attempt to rescue her. The family is taken to their leader, a man Matrix remembers as Arius, a South American dictator he once helped to remove from power.
Threatening Jenny’s life, Arius orders Matrix to assassinate a target in Val Verde to pave the way for a coup. On his way to Val Verde, Matrix fights his guards and races against time to save Jenny before Arius realizes that his hitman is coming for him.
Predator (1987)
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Major “Dutch” and his military rescue team is tasked with saving a politician being held hostage by insurgents. But they soon realize their true mission is to prevent a Soviet-backed rebel invasion, a job that had been given a few weeks earlier to a group of now-missing Green Berets.
When Dutch discovers their skinned bodies and becomes aware of a strange presence that keeps following them through the jungle, he realizes that his team is being hunted by a monster. The invisible predator picks them off one by one as they race to make it out of the jungle alive.
Junior (1994)
IMDB Rating: 4.7/10
In this unique comedy, Arnie does something no male actor has ever done before – and that is to get pregnant. Well, his character does anyway. The film follows two male doctors who invent a fertility drug that prevents miscarriage but they hit a wall when the FDA refuses to approve it. One of the doctors, Alex, eventually gives in to his colleague’s suggestion that they use an egg codenamed “Junior” and his own sperm to impregnate him.
Things spiral out of control as the press gets a whiff that a man has become pregnant, they also have to hide from the authorities and complications abound when the mother of Junior realizes that her egg had been snatched.
Total Recall (1990)
IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
In the mood for a good science fiction movie with some Schwarzenegger action? Then this could be the top pick for you. In 2084, Mars is a human colony but the Red Planet is in the grip of a tyrannical man who controls all the mining resources. Back on Earth, a man called Quaid keeps having dreams of Mars and a strange woman.
He visits Rekall, a company that implants false memories (like vacations) but Quaid chooses an implant where he is a secret agent on Mars. During the upload, the staff at Rekall realize that Quaid really is an agent of the tyrant and terminate the session, wiping his mind and sending him home. But when everyone, including his own wife, suddenly tries to kill him, Quaid decides to knuckle down and discover the truth – is he really an agent or is he still in Rekall?
Last Action Hero (1993)
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
Danny is a fan of action movies but he is particularly fascinated by a fictional hero called Jack Slater, a kickass cop that is indestructible. When the film theatre’s owner gives Danny a special movie ticket, it transports him into the latest Slater movie where he meets his hero. Even though Danny tries to convince Slater that his world is pure invention, the super cop thinks that Danny is a little too imaginative.
The two become partners and hunt down a crime boss. But when a henchman discovers that the ticket stub can transport people between worlds, the fight crosses over into Danny’s realm where Slater is mortal.
The Running Man (1987)
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
Before the Hunger Games, there was The Running Man. This 80s movie plays off in 2019 in a post-apocalyptic world where the US is a police state and the public is kept pacified by a popular game show called “The Running Man.” Convicts can earn their freedom if they can escape armed mercenaries called “stalkers.”
When Ben Richards is framed for a massacre, he spends months in prison but is finally selected as a participant in the show. But Ben is not hoping for only a pardon. He wants to use his time in the deadly arena to prove to the world that he never committed any crimes.
Kindergarten Cop (1990)
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
John Kimble is a tough LAPD detective. For years, he battled to put a notorious drug dealer called Cullen Crisp behind bars and when he finally nails him for murder, the case is not over. Crisp claims that his former wife, Rachel, had stolen millions in drug money from him before she disappeared with their son.
Kimble has to go undercover at the kindergarten where Rachel is suspected to work under an alias. Transitioning from a cop to a school teacher for young kids is a hilarious transformation for Kimble but the job grows on him and soon, he is a favorite member of the faculty. Crisp is released, putting the entire school in danger and when they square off, it changes Kimble’s life forever.
Red Heat (1988)
IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
Partners Captain Ivan Danko and Lieutenant Yuri Ogarkov are assigned to capture the Georgian drug kingpin Viktor Rostavili. But when the sting operation goes wrong, Ogarkov is killed and the drug lord escapes to the United States. Luck seems to be on Danko’s side when he learns that Rostavili has been arrested in Chicago for a minor traffic violation.
Under strict orders not to reveal the true reasons why Rostavili is to be extradited, Danko arrives on US soil to collect the prisoner. But while being transported to the airport, Rostavili escapes and kills a Chicago detective. Danko teams up with the murdered officer’s partner to capture the dangerous kingpin.
Raw Deal (1986)
IMDB Rating: 5.6/10
Mark Kaminski is a small-town Sherrif but he used to be an excellent FBI agent. When a mob informant is assassinated, along with his FBI bodyguards, the father of one of the murdered agents asks Kaminski to find the people responsible for his son’s death. Since a leak has compromised all undercover agents, Kaminski is the only one who can infiltrate the gang.
Kaminski slowly manages to gain the gang’s trust by acting as their enforcer, brutally intimidating their rivals and helping their organization to work more smoothly. But when his cover is blown, you can look forward to Arnie-style revenge as he sets out to get rid of the mobsters once and for all.
Escape Plan (2013)
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
Ray Breslin is known as the man who can escape from any prison. But he is not a convict. Instead, Breslin works for a security firm that tests vulnerabilities in correctional facilities. When Breslin receives a lucrative offer to test another prison, he is reluctant at first because he is not allowed to know the location of the building.
However, Breslin eventually agrees and has himself arrested and transported under a fake identity. Things start to go wrong when they find a tracking chip Breslin had implanted in himself and one of the guards also claim to know his real identity. Dealing with the threat of staying at the prison forever Breslin befriends a mysterious prisoner and they hatch their escape plan.
Twins (1988)
IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
During an experiment, scientists attempt to create the perfect child using the DNA of six fathers. But when twins are unexpectedly born, they are separated and their mother is told that one of them had died at birth. The two boys are also raised in different places and told that they are an only child and their mother had died in childbirth.
Vincent, who was raised in a convent, turns to a life of petty crime. Julius, who was cared for by one of the experiment’s scientists, received the best physical training and upbringing. One day, Julius is told about his brother and it sets off a hilarious chain of events where two brothers get to know each other – as very different people.
The 6th Day (2000)
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
In a world where the cloning of animals and plants have become a boring routine, the duplication of humans is still forbidden. Adam Gibson is a pilot who, like the rest of society, has no idea that human clones already walk among them. When he is offered a job that requires blood tests, he thinks nothing of it. He survives a violent attack that leaves his friend dead and shaken, he looks forward to going home to his family.
But when Adam arrives home, he is shocked to see a clone of himself living in his house with his wife and kids. This leads him down a rabbit hole of terrifying experiments, the real nature of the attack and why his blood was taken. Desperate to be reunited with his family, Adam has to fight off assassins and face a heartbreaking truth.
End Of Days (1999)
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
When Jericho loses his entire family, he blames God and falls into a deep depression. When he is assigned to protect a man, he soon realizes that the individual is possessed by Satan. Upon learning that the Dark Angel wants to use a woman called Christine to unleash the End of Days, Jericho switches sides to protect her and stop the Apocalypse.