The personal development of Arnold Schwarzenegger and how he changed from a killing machine to a family man with moral values

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Freiburg, course: Proseminar (Terrorism in Hollywood Movies), language: English, abstract: Christian Metz stated that a film is difficult to explain because it is easy to understand. (qtd. in Buckland & Elsaesser: 1). I will analyse the film Collateral Damage, directed by Andrew Davis, in terms of its context and how it is portrayed technically. My aim is to show Arnold Schwarzenegger’s development, how Collateral Damages represents a turning point in the history of action movies Arnold took part in, and how he has changed from a muscle shirt wearing daredevil and killing machine to a family man with moral values. Therefore, I will start to look at a couple of important action movies in which Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a leading role and after that, I will compare the differences of the former Arnold and the Arnold we see in Collateral Damage. To realise this, I will focus on Schwarzenegger’s behaviour and the way, Andrew Davis represents the fire-fighter and his emotions. In the end, I will give a short conclusion regarding Arnold’s rise from rags to riches and how he represents an irreplaceable icon not only in the history of action movies during the last three decades. Everybody knows the Australian guy ‘Arnie’ alias Arnold Schwarzenegger. The first role in the movie Hercules in New York owes Arnold his career as a bodybuilder and his enormous size. Released in 1970, Arnold – at this time known as Arnold Strong – plays a mythological toga clad Hercules. Arnold takes part in a weight-lifting competition; he becomes a wrestler, rides his chariot through Times Square, descends into hell and gets mixed up with gangsters. In contrast to Collateral Damage, Arthur Allan Seidelman, the director of Hercules in New York, focuses on Schwarzenegger’s muscle mass. In 1982, John Milius creates the fantasy action movie Conan the Barbarian. Here, Arnold portrays a bulldog and beefy giant who survives as sole human the strain of bondage. Conan in the role of an invincible gladiator and snake killer, sweetened by two fisted action, spectacular fighting scenes and amours turn Arnold into the James Bond of the Middle Ages. In the first third of the film, Conan knocks out a camel with an aimed bash (0:38:02). His cruelty peaks out when he decollates Thulsa in front of his followers and raises his head like a trophy. Unlike Collateral Damage, Arnold takes much pleasure in fights and he seems to be a little bit sadistic at this time. His most famous role is storied [...]