True Lies

This article is about the film. For the video game, see True Lies (video game). For the album, see True Lies (album).

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 Tom Arnold Bill Paxton Tia Carrere Art Malik Eliza Dushku Grant Heslov Charlton Heston
Music by	Brad Fiedel
Cinematography	Russell Carpenter
Editing by	Conrad Buff Mark Goldblatt Richard A. Harris
Studio	Lightstorm Entertainment
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 15, 1994 (1994-07-15)
Running time	141 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$115 million
Box office	$378,882,411 (1994)

True Lies is a 1994 American action spy film co-written and directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. True Lies is an extended remake of the 1991 French film La Totale!, 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 and also the film won three Saturn Awards and thirteen other nominations.

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 $100–120 million, and grossed about $400 million worldwide (1994).

Plot

Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) leads a double life, performing covert missions for the U.S government under a counter-terrorism task force called "The Omega Sector". Albert "Gib" Gibson (Arnold) and Faisal (Grant Heslov) assist him in these missions under the command of Spencer Trilby (Heston). However, Harry's wife, Helen (Curtis), and his daughter, Dana (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 a Palestinian terrorism organization group known as the Crimson Jihad, led by Salim Abu Aziz (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 dance 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 reveals his secret double life, much to Helen's shock, when the terrorists threaten Helen's life. 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 just as the limo she was in falls off the bridge which was destroyed by the Harriers killing Juno, 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 to jump 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. On the mission they encounter "Simon" again, who is a serving champagne and telling a female attendee at the event that he is a secret agent on a mission. Using her new skills, Helen intimidates Simon into leaving, just before a tango begins with Harry and Helen taking their places to complete their mission.

Cast

• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Helen Tasker
• Tom Arnold as Albert Mike Gibson
• Bill Paxton as Simon
• Tia Carrere as Juno Skinner
• Art Malik as Salim Abu Aziz
• Eliza Dushku as Dana Tasker
• Grant Heslov as Faisal
• Charlton Heston as Spencer Trilby (Extended appearance)
• Marshall Manesh as Jamal Khaled
• James Allen as Colonel
• Dieter Rauter as Boathouse Guard
• Jane Morris as Janice
• Katsy Chappell as Allison
• Crystina Wyler as Charlene
• Ofer Samra as Yusif
• Paul Barselou as Old Guy in Bathroom
• Charles A. Tamburro as Helicopter Pilot
• Jean-Claude Parachini as Jean-Claude
• Uzi Gal as Lead Terrorist
• Majed Ibrahim as High Rise Terrorist
• Armen Ksajikian as Juno's Chauffeur
• Mike Akrawi as Jihad Cameraman
• Mike Cameron as Citation Pilot
• Charles Cragin as Samir
• Louai Mardini as Bread Van Terrorist #1
• Gino Salvano as Bread Van Terrorist #2
• Scott Dotson as Harrier Pilot
• Tom Isbell as Reporter at High Rise
• John Bruno as Custodian
• Joe Abby as Man on Escalator (uncredited)
• Tony De Leon as Terrorist (uncredited)
• Mary A. DeBriae as Swiss Aristocrat (uncredited)
• Kim Giancaterino as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
• Al Kamarr as Terrorist Henchman to Salim Abu Aziz (uncredited)
• Dave Knight as Downtown Miami Pedestrian (uncredited)
• Takao Komine as Party Goer (uncredited)
• Jody Millard as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
• Andre Nirmel as Subway Customer (uncredited)
• Erik Parillo as French Chef (uncredited)
• Manny Perry as Bass Player (uncredited)
• Charlie Picerni as Man in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
• William Shipman as Office Worker (uncredited)
• Brian Shotwell as Snowboarder (uncredited)
• Matt Sigloch as SWAT Team Leader (uncredited)
• Mark Winn as Arab Terrorist (uncredited)

Release and reception

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". Website Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean to various reviews, gave the film a 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

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."

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

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. Others perceived it as conveying a strong anti-Arab or anti-Muslim prejudice.

Of the many locations that were used in the film, the Rosecliff Mansion was used for the Ballroom tango scenes and the exterior of the Swiss chalet that "The Governator" infiltrates is the Ochre Court.

Box office

Opening in 2,368 theaters in the United States, True Lies earned $24 million during its 15 July opening weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, the film's production costs was $115 million, which, at the time, one of the highest results ever. True Lies was a box-office success, earning $146.3 million in the United States and $232.6 million in the rest of world, total 378.9 million worldwide.

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient	Result
Golden Globe Award	Best Actress	Jamie Lee Curtis	Won
BAFTA	Best Special Visual Effects	John Bruno, Thomas L. Fisher, Jacques Stroweis, Pat McClung, Jamie Dixon	Nominated
Saturn Award	Best Actress	Jamie Lee Curtis	Won
	Best Direction	James Cameron	Won
	Best Special Effects		Won
	Best Actor	Arnold Schwarzenegger	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Tia Carrere	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Bill Paxton	Nominated
	Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film	-	Nominated
Academy Award (The Oscars)	Best Visual Effects	John Bruno, Thomas L. Fisher, Jacques Stroweis and Patrick McClung	Nominated
MTV Movie Awards	Best Actress	Jamie Lee Curtis	Nominated
	Best Comedic Performance	Tom Arnold	Nominated
	Best Kiss	Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis	Nominated
	Best Dance Sequence	Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tia Carrere	Nominated
	Best Action Sequence	Bridge Explosion/Limo Rescue	Nominated
Eddie Award	Best Editing	Conrad Buff IV, Mark Goldblatt, Richard A. Harris	Nominated
Japanese Academy Awards	Outstanding Foreign Language Film	-	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Jamie Lee Curtis	Nominated

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 René Echevarria acting as showrunner and producer. In 2012, 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. 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 the office.

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

External links

• 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