THE TOP TEN

PREDATOR (1987) TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)

James: “Two larger-than-life classics, both equally worthy of The Ranking’s first tie for top spot. Predator is the Arniest movie ever conceived and still manages to be a masterclass in ratcheting tension. T2, meanwhile, is a franchise-subverting, envelope-pushing work of genius. The two directors who knew how to draw the best out of Arnold operating at the top of their games.”

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Helen: “It’s ironic that Arnold hit the A-list with a less-is-more performance. He dials everything back and it works brilliantly.”

TRUE LIES (1994)

Helen: “The peak of Arnold’s self-parody instincts at work, with James Cameron amping up the absurdity to glorious heights.”

TOTAL RECALL (1990)

Chris: “The sort of subversive, ultra-violent slab of sci-fi that only a megastar could get made, this is glorious, eye-boggling stuff.”

COMMANDO (1985)

Nick: “A spectacularly cheesy, none-more ’80s, amiably mega-violent Arnie-rama that’s as crowdpleasing as it is ineptly made.”

THE RUNNING MAN (1987)

Nick: “Weirdly topical, given it’s set in a dystopian 2017 where a reality-tv star lords it over America, this is a great satire.”

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)

James: “Crom knows it’s odd in places but Conan put Arnie on the map, proving you don’t need to be intelligible to be a star.”

LAST ACTION HERO (1993)

Helen: “This would do really well as a Netflix series nowadays. And it earns a place in the top ten just for that Hamlet joke.”

TWINS (1988)

Chris: “Arnold doing straight comedy never sat well with me; I prefer unintentional yucks. But this is the best of a pretty bad bunch.”

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