FLOP CULTURE

In 1993, Arnie’s post-T2 summer movie became a cautionary tale. Basically, don’t fight with dinosaurs or bust the bank on rockets…

HINDSIGHT CORNER NATALIE PORTMAN LÉON

February 1995 The second I read the script I said, ‘I gotta do this movie.’ Even in the script I could see that warm, nice story between Mathilda and Leon really shone through all the violence and everything else. I told my parents, ‘I really love the script and I really want this opportunity’ and they had some concerns at the beginning… but they talked to Luc [Besson] about it and he took out two or three scenes that we were uncomfortable with.

June 2023 It’s a movie that’s still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I’ve ever made, and it gave me my career. But it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it’s complicated for me.

Why it was a good idea (on paper)

After T2, Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared unstoppable. With Predator/Die Hard director John McTiernan and – among other writers – Lethal Weapon quips-man Shane Black onboard, Arnie’s meta action comedy arrived bulging with confidence.

What went wrong?

Schwarzenegger’s Jack Slater hit cinemas a week after Jurassic Park. Why worry about the clash? Spielberg’s previous film, Hook, had flopped. Arnie’s T2 rocked. In the event, life found a way and Slater died. The release date reflected the studio’s arrogance, as did the decision to lob money at the project. Originally titled Extremely Violent, Zak Penn and Adam Leff’s script was rewritten by Shane Black/ David Arnott, William Goldman, Carrie Fisher and Larry Ferguson, none of whom came cheap. The marketing was equally over-priced – and under-considered. Shortly after the World Trade Center bomb, positioning a huge Arnie-with-dynamite balloon in New York seemed distasteful. For $500,000, the film’s name was written on a rocket, which didn’t even launch until after the film opened (and flopped). While the profligacy seemed foolish, a rushed pre- to post-production schedule to hit the release date hardly helped. Nor did the smug in-jokes, messy meta-movie logic and awkward meld of action/comedy on screen, which nudged self-awareness into queasy self-service. And weren’t Arnie’s actioners already knowing enough, anyway?

Redeeming feature

Michael Kamen’s rousing score, Ian McKellen’s Death and the massacre at Elsinore add lift between the cringey one-liners.

What happened next?

Schwarzenegger was gutted by the flop but True Lies offered redemption, before self-parody set in. McTiernan never quite rediscovered his blockbuster footing. He wasn’t alone: to audiences, the 80s muscle men now appeared expendable.

Should it be remade?

Quoth Arnie’s Hamlet (almost): not to reboot. Despite 2019 remake rumours, meta-movie ideas are old, post-Scream news now. What fresh juice could be squeezed out of this last dispatch from the action-man era?