L'effaceur

After Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1997 heart surgery, his box office popularity faded. 1996's "Kindergarten Cop" is a comedy, and he did not play the lead role in "Batman and Robin," even though his name grabbed him top billing. That makes "Eraser" his last great action film until "Terminator 3" became his last hurrah, for now anyway. Schwarzenegger plays John Kruger, "The Eraser." He puts the protection in the Witness Protection Program.

I cannot imagine a better beginning. Two thugs have invaded the home of a Federal witness (Robert Pastorelli). His wife writhes on the floor as the duo prepare to burn the house. Hearing gagged screams of a visibly bound woman having gasoline poured on her is not a pleasant experience for most people, nor is the sight of an innocent man about to have his tongue removed. The sounds and images ramp up audience hate towards the two, then greatly increases the euphoria when Kruger comes in and kills them in a most unpleasant fashion. His timely rough justice spurs us to root even for him even harder later on, even if the effect is on a subconscious level.

His next assignment is Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams) who works Cyrez, a weapons manufacturer. Company President William Donahue (the always dependable James Cromwell) is selling high tech weapons on the open market, weapons that are supposed to be for the United States only. As Kruger points out, the men who recruit Cullen fail to inform her that she will need to be placed under Witness Protection. She refuses the program and returns home. An encounter with hi-tech hit men forces her to reconsider, and Kruger places her in a secret location and gives her a new identity.

The new weapon is the rail gun. It uses magnetic fields to propel aluminum rounds close to the speed of light. Of course, that means it can shoot through walls, and its scope can see through them, though not in great detail. There is a side shot of one being fired later, and the rounds are obviously not moving as quickly as advertised. They leave a visible trail, but it takes two of three frames for them to move the length of the shot, when it should be all the way through in one, but I don't care. The graphic looks cool and such a small detail is hardly a deal breaker.

Any list of the positives must start with Vanessa Williams. Cullen is hardly a part with Oscar caliber demands, but Williams plays her about as perfectly as possible. She is firm and disdainful when speaking to Donahue, then firm and surprised during her later meeting with FBI agents. She is often required to act fearfully, and in a state of controlled panic. Selling those emotions is not easy. I have acting experience, I should know. The former Miss America is more known as a singer than an actress, but her performance here illustrates why she received a musical theater scholarship to Syracuse. The aftermath of the first attack on her provides her best moment.

Similar praise goes to James Caan, playing Kruger's mentor. Caan is also a talented actor. The same can also be said of James Coburn as the Witness Protection agency's highest officer. Both had spent over thirty years in movie acting by 1996, and there abilities are evident in how well they convey their authority. There are too many action films with weak acting, but people like Williams, Caan, Coburn and Pastorelli ensure that "Eraser" is the opposite. Melora Walters provides arguably the best acting in her small but animated part as the Pastorelli character's wife.

The action, of course, must be well done, and for the most part it lives up to the Schwarzenegger standards. The opening scene is set up so well it does not have to be good, but it is, and the precedent is set. The action is not Arnold's best, but still more than adequate. I was disappointed at how little the rail gun is used, and I probably would have voted an eight if it made more appearances. When it does come, the action is not disappointing. Watching Arnold wield them brought a big smile to my face. Their lack of screen time a detriment, but with good acting and clever plot, there are still more than enough qualities to earn a full recommendation for yet another good effort from Mr. Schwarzenegger.

the story goes as follows Lee Cullen a worker for Cyrez Corporation which develops top secret weapons stumbles upon illegal arms deals and acquires the information and barley escapes with help from the F.B.I and is then placed under the protection of U.S Marshell John Kruger who erases the past of witnesses under Witness Protection to give them a future Lee however has been targeted by terrorists to cover up the scam and John Kruger is being targeted by some of his fellow US Marshells and is framed for murder now he has to protect Lee prove his innocence and exposes the illegal arms deal before it happens. I give Eraser seven out of ten because its one of Arnolds best movies of the late 1990's just see it for yourself to believe it.

A decade ago, this Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick was fairly hot stuff but I wonder if it would have the impact today since special effects are so much better and we've seen so many of these type of action stories in the past 10 years.

One of Arnold's keys to his successful career in films was simply that his movies were entertaining, and that's why people come to the theaters. High-brow critics often forget that. "Eraser" is a prime example. Entertainment alone is how this particular movie survives since common logic doesn't exist while violence and profanity are overdone. But, despite it's low-brow tastes and stupidity, it's still generally fun to watch if you can put your brain on hold for two hours. It's also fun to hear if you have a nice surround system.

This movie has one of the most outrageous action scenes I've ever seen on film, even to this day: one in which Arnold hangs from the outside of a jet airplane, finally lets go, free-falls to catch his parachute that had been ripped off, and then has to worry about the jet plane which had circled around and was going to smash him!!

The audio came into play nicely each time the super rifle that was featured in the movie was shot. Vanessa Williams plays the female lead satisfactorily and James Caan is very effective as the villain. Robert Pastorelli and James Coburn also add to the fun. A few laughs along the way help this no-brainer to become even more entertaining.

To enjoy Eraser you must...

1. Already like Schwarzenegger and his films 2. Suspend your disbelief 3. Have popcorn and nibbles on hand while you watch 4. Find a comfy chair 5. Enjoy the ride If you can do that, you'll find that your two hours spent in front of the TV will not be wasted.

Simple as that. Some people called Eraser 'Arnie's last great action film' (not including Terminator 3). That it may be. He got old. He went into politics. Action heroes became younger, better-looking and the stunts they participated in more elaborate and dangerous.

So maybe Eraser is Arnie's 'swansong?' Maybe not. I hear he's gearing up to do some 'post-politics' acting. If so, following in Eraser's footsteps would not be that badder place to start.

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True Lies is often considered to be the last good/great Arnold Schwarzenegger action film. That is because Eraser it seems (at least to me before actually viewing the film), just did not see the amount of success that Arnold's previous action films achieved. Eraser was released in 1996 and had a troubled production where, if it was not for Schwarzenegger, this film would not have been released. The film was directed by Chuck Russell (The Mask, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Scorpion King) and stars (obviously) Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Total Recall, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day). The film was a box office hit but was not as well received as Arnold's previous films. But that is not to say that this film has it's fans as I have seen a following for this film.

John Kruger is a US Marshall and works as a person who helps protect witnesses. One particular assignment sees Kruger protecting a woman who has information on a company who are developing high tech weapons that are being sold to the wrong people. It is up to Kruger not only to protect the witness, but to make sure these weapons do not get into the wrong hands.

Let's be real here, Eraser is nowhere close to being Arnold's best. Yet, it is far from being his worst. Eraser, for me, was better than I was expecting for the most part. It reminds me of a Dolph Lundgren film released in 2001 called Hidden Agenda. Just imagine this film, hardly any action and fun, and no high tech weaponry. I was surprised that this film was pretty high tech with the whole "rail gun" being the main focus. I find it too high tech because if you take it out of the film, the film itself is pretty realistic (for an action movie at least). This high tech weapon takes out any sense of realism. Yet, the weapon itself is pretty unique. The weapon has it's own logical issues, but that is action movie logic for you (and don't take that as me defending it). The special effects are, let's say dated. Completely CG and not always convincing. Mostly used with the firing of the "rail gun weapon and a few of the bigger action scenes. Otherwise, I do not have a huge problem with it but considering that this is a point in film history that CG is being used and used fairly well, I would expect a little more from this film. Speaking of the action, the action here is fairly good. There are some scenes here that are just plain fun, something that should be present in any good Schwarzenegger action film. We get maybe one big action scene and the rest are fun little action scenes mostly consisting of shootouts and an explosion here and there. Aside from the action, the film has some good comedic moments and we get the usual Arnold one liners. Though when none of that is present on screen, the film feels pretty generic and that is the overall feel for this film. Arnold is still on his up and up in his role of John Kruger. Arnold does give us a good performance and plays the protector character fairly well. You feel safe when around this character. Vanessa Williams plays the woman being protected and she does fine as well and plays a female character capable of holding her own. The story overall takes a little bit to get interesting and when a nice twist is revealed, the film gets a little bit interesting. Again, the film does not do much by itself to be entirely interesting without the help of action and comedy. I should note that this film's cinematographer, did cinematography for Terminator 2: Judgment Day and it is very apparent and looks amazing here with the lighting and the ability to give us viewers a good view of the action taking place. Lastly, Alan Silvestri does a good job with the music here. It is nice to hear it in the background while the action is taking place.

Eraser, overall, is just an OK film, despite my apparent overwhelming praise. It does not surpass some of Arnold's finest but it is still worth a watch as it does have it's moments.