True Lies

Amazon.com essential video

From The Terminator to Titanic, you can always rely on writer-director James Cameron to show you something you've never seen on the big screen before. The guy may not consistently pen the most scintillating dialogue in the world (and, especially in this movie, he doesn't seem to have a particularly high regard for women), but as a director of kinetic, push-the-envelope action sequences, he is in a class by himself. In True Lies, the highlight is a breathtaking third-act jet and car chase through the Florida Keys. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a covert intelligence agent whose wife of 15 years (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finds out that he's not really a computer salesman and who becomes mixed up in a case involving nuclear arms smuggling. Tom Arnold is surprisingly funny and engaging as Schwarzenegger's longtime spy partner, and Bill Paxton is a smarmy used-car salesman (is that redundant?) whom Arnold thinks is having an affair with his wife. Purely in terms of spectacular action and high-tech hardware, True Lies is a blast. --Jim Emerson

Description

Arnold Schwarzenegger is special agent Harry Tasker, a top spy in the ultra-secret Omega Sector who also dances a mean tango- although to his neglected wife, Helen, (Jamie Lee Curtis) he's just a dull computer salesman. But while Harry's been busy fighting terrorists, Helen's been gathering secrets of her own. And when their two secret lives unexpectedly collide, Harry and Helen find themselves in the clutches of international terrorists, fighting to save not only their marriage but their lives as well. Packed with non-stop action, spectacular special effects and unprecedented stunts, this "domestic epic" from director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) is a rollicking `90's twist on the super spy genre.

Customer Reviews:

ok movie.......2007-08-07

This was an ok movie. It holds your attention. Gives you the highs and lows. Makes you care for the characters and the situations they are in. The most redeming part of the whole film was where they were trying to trick arnie's wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) by think that she was a spy and had her give her own husband a strip tease. The best! For all the right reasons. but it did lack some pizazz, and some middle of the road special effects. So overall it was something that would hold your attention and not be disappointed.

4.5; one of Cameron's more funner movies.......2007-07-29

All of James Cameron's films have a sense of seriousness to them, even with a little humor now and then. From the wonder of the Abyss to the technology-run-rampant theme of the Terminator films, it's interesting watching True Lies and you keep wondering whether this is the same guy. But rather than a less-than-stellar flirting with an action und comedy (gotta love Simpsons references), True Lies is actually a really fun film to watch and although it may not have the cultural staying power of Terminator 2 or Titanic, it's still quite a good ride.

Harry Tasker is a boring IT salesman; well that's what he wants people to think as he really is a government spy helping to bring down terrorists and their organizations. But like a lot of spies, he doesn't bring his work home, leaving his wife Helen and daughter Dana unaware of his "real" job. But when a terrorist group planning to bring a nuclear weapon onto US soil, Helen inadvertenly gets involved and Harry has to come clean to his family...oh and save the country too.

Cameron is one of the few directors who knows how to shoot action sequences and have them be exciting and make sense, unlike someone like say, Michael Bay, who uses quick editing to mask his ineptitudes as a directors. Some scenes with highlights involving a rescue mission on a bridge, a chase scene with a horse and another scene involving a Harrier jet are fun but we also care for the characters involved in the scenes and they're not just action figures doing crazy stuff.

It's funny to say this is probably one of Arnold's better performances who manages to use his action hero persona as well as comedic workings yet both work together unlike say Junior where it was just...bad. Then of course we have Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold who manage to be funny without that sort of annoying "comic relief" character. The one weak link, and really it's not an acting thing, is Bill Paxton. Playing a swarmy car salesmen who lies to bed women, he plays it as he should be but it's probably the most unnecessary role. It strengthens Harry's devotion for Helen and he also realizes how safe her life has been but Paxton's character doesn't really do anything better writing could've done without him.

Either he's busy getting Avatar off the ground or he just doesn't want to but it's sad this film doesn't have a special edition. Granted it's not as popular as Terminator 2 or massively well-known as Titanic but you'd think we'd have had something by now. As of now, this is incredibly bare bones and it would've been great to have some insight look and even a commentary but who knows when that'll be.

Interestingly, 2 of my favorite directors (one being Cameron, the other being David Fincher) lead similar careers. For every great movie they make, they have one that somehow slipped through the cracks. In that sense, True Lies is like Fincher's the Game: they're both good movies that for some reason people just kind of forgot about except for diehard fans. I wouldn't call myself a "diehard" fan but True Lies is just a fun movie in the end so that's good enough.

3 FOR 3 BY THE SCHWARZENEGGER/CAMERON DUO!.......2007-07-16

James Cameron is one of the greatest filmmakers in the business. He combines great and spectacular action sequences with interesting and often funny characters. And when he pairs up with legendary action-star Arnold Schwarzenegger, the consequences are fantastic! After the stellar "Terminator" films, they teamed up once again for "True Lies," a stellar action film with awesome action sequences and great storytelling! The cast and crew do a fantastic job of bringing Cameron's story of terrorists and spies to the screen! Fans of Cameron and Schwarzenegger will not want to miss adding "True Lies" to their movie collections!
Movie/DVD Grade: A

Fantastic movie, crappy DVD.......2007-06-18

"True Lies" is one of my favorite action films, being at the same time one of the prototypical mid 1990's action films and a parody of the same genre. It strikes a perfect balance between humor and action throughout the course of the film. It's a must see if you like Arnold.

However, the DVD release presented here is brutal. Do not let the THX certification on the front of the DVD case fool you. The film is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ration, but is not anamorphic widescreen, a format optimized for widescreen televisions. It is presented in letterbox format instead, which means that the picture is much, much worse than its anamorphic equivalent because the black bars at the top and bottom are actually encoded into the video stream. This process leaves less room in the video encoding for the actual image, reducing its quality. Anamorphic widescreen leaves the black bars out of the video encoding, preserving more of the video stream for the actual image and allowing the DVD player and TV to add the black bars if necessary. Since a widescreen TV does not have need for these bars, they can be left off entirely, leaving only the high quality image.

Anamorphic widescreen has been a standard feature of DVDs for years now, so it's easy to forget that not all DVDs have it. Old DVDs are especially suspect on this front. If you have a nice television, the lack of anamorphic widescreen will be very noticeable and distracting throughout the film. Maybe it will be out on Blu-ray soon...

Favorites.......2007-05-13

In this movie Arnold Schwarenegger is perfectly paired with Jaime Lee Curtis, and is a pleasure rewatch if one likes the genre.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrity Pack (Predator, Commando, True Lies)

Average customer rating:

A nice set
Shape Up Fox
Old Prints, Not Anamorphic
Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrity Pack (Predator, Commando, True Lies)
Not what you expected...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrity Pack (Predator, Commando, True Lies)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron , John McTiernan , and Mark L. Lester
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000FC2FQA
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Description

Disk 1: TRUE LIES Disk 2: PREDATOR Disk 3: COMMANDO

Customer Reviews:

A nice set.......2007-08-28

I'm really satisfied by this collector set and even though all of the films aren't anamorphic they perfectly fit my brand new widescreen television. Moreover at such a price you can't really expect better unless you buy the tree movies separately costing you at least 30 bucks so for an occasional watch this set is perfect.

Shape Up Fox.......2007-07-09

Lousy. I have a 16x9 television that caters to anamorphic widescreen presentations. Fox advertisers are completely lying with the information given on these films. They are not anamorphic in any way. Just old school widescreen. It is false advertising. Can they be sued for this?

Old Prints, Not Anamorphic.......2007-07-06

It's been said before, but this is so egregious an error it deserves another strike against it.

All films are advertised clearly and individually on the box as well as on each of their individual cases as being "Anamorphic Widescreen", but only one actually is.

- True Lies is the existing 4:3 letterbox print.
- Predator is the grainy old (pre-Collector's Edition) print, but it *is* anamorphic.
- Commando is the existing 4:3 letterbox print.

So, I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know from the other reviews, but just so it's clear, you're getting absolutely nothing new here. Which is entirely fine for the price, and for tube TV'ers, but not for those that have been dying for anamorphic releases of True Lies and Commando for years, and were duped by the idiocy/blatant deception of the packaging. Myself included.

For those that *are* looking for quality prints of these movies, Commando (Director's Cut) is due September 18th, Predator (Collector's Edition) is in print right now, and True Lies used to have a Special Edition in the works until September 11th, at which point it was shelved indefinitely, but I'd expect to see that soon as well.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrity Pack (Predator, Commando, True Lies).......2007-05-25

Guys, this is a must-have pack!

Tony Chibengue
Cabinda city , Angola

Not what you expected..........2007-04-04

As others have noted, all 3 movies are labeled "Anamorphic Widescreen" on the main cover. I found that my experience differs somewhat from the others, as in my version, I get letterbox True Lies, letterbox Commando, and what looks like anamorphic widescreen for Predator. I'm saying this based on opening it in a window on the computer, and the actual movie seems to have the 16:9 ratio (with no additional black bars on top and bottom). My only explanation is that perhaps they got so much criticism for the first batch that had the P&S version, they fixed that. Unfortunately, True Lies and Commando are still simply letterbox.

I also bought the action pack that includes 6th day and last action hero, where last action hero is P&S. For some reason, it seems these collection packs are very unreliable. The covers are misleading, and I also find it interesting how they are mastered. 6th day for instance had p&s menus, but when you start the movie it is actually anamorphic widescreen (relief..). There were similar issues in this celebrity pack. (Menu's etc different format than main title).

However, I still give it 3 stars since it does not look like you could get True Lies and Command in Anamorphic anywhere else either, plus I paid 9.95... True Lies is also in my opinion a real 'classic' in the action adventure category. Hope it gets released on bluray/hddvd... (looks like it exists on d-vhs for those few that have a player of that type..)

Average customer rating:

The Last Line of Defense

True Lies
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Thrillers | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Espionage | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00026ZG10
Release Date: 1999-05-25

Description

Customer Reviews:

The Last Line of Defense.......2006-10-24

A conservatism film staring Carlton Heston as Spencer Trilby. Heston send out his tango loving agents to protect the U.S. from terrorists. Harry (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is one of their best. His family thinks he is an innocuous computer salesman.

Sometime he horses around with the bad guys. At other times he is a little flighty.
Harry has to watch the "Sand Spider" (Art Malik.)

The wife, Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) being a little board finds satisfaction in helping a dubious faux spy Simon (Bill Paxton.)

What would Harry do if he knew the truth about Simon?
How would Helen react if she found out the truth about Harry?
What if the "Sand Spider" found out about Harry's daughter?
Is the world safer?

Tom Arnold is so helpful with his "one liners."

Lies and Deception Box Set (Mr. and Mrs. Smith / True Lies / Entrapment / Black Widow)

Average customer rating:

Very Entertaining!

Lies and Deception Box Set (Mr. and Mrs. Smith / True Lies / Entrapment / Black Widow)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron , Bob Rafelson , and Doug Liman
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

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Mystery & Suspense | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000HT3PMY
Release Date: 2006-11-07

Description

Disc 1: TRUE LIES Disc 2: MR. & MRS. SMITH Disc 3: ENTRAPMENT Disc 4: BLACK WIDOW

Customer Reviews:

Very Entertaining!.......2007-03-30

IS a really good compilation, of action but yet fun movies. You are gonna love it.

Crime 3-Pack (Entrapment / Romancing the Stone / True Lies)

Average customer rating:

Crime 3-Pack (Entrapment / Romancing the Stone / True Lies)
Starring: Sean Connery , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Ving Rhames , Will Patton , and Maury Chaykin
Director: Jon Amiel , Robert Zemeckis , and James Cameron
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000AQ69CM
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Description

Disc 1: "Entrapment" Disc 2: "Romancing the Stone" Disc 3: "True Lies"

World Destruction 3 Pack (True Lies / Kiss of the Dragon / Marked for Death)

Average customer rating:

World Destruction 3 Pack (True Lies / Kiss of the Dragon / Marked for Death)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron , Chris Nahon , and Dwight H. Little
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000ICM5IA
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Description

Includes the following titles:

Description

Disk 1: MR & MRS SMITH Disk 2: TRUE LIES

Customer Reviews:

Great flicks but..........2006-08-13

If you buy them seperately right now, it's $25.98--so why would you pay 29.98 for the 2-pack?

Average customer rating:

Sex is a Four Letter Word

Manufacturer: IFM World Releasing Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000PUAIL6
Release Date: 2007-04-25

Amazon.com

Sex Is A Four Letter Word is about love, lies and lust in the 90's. Sylvia Hersh is a love columnist, who is writing a novel on love stories. Tonight she has invited six friends into her home for drinks, dinner and conversation. Her friends are expected to tell true stories of their intimate love and sexual experiences. During the course of the evening the boundaries between love, sex and friendship narrow. People are exposed, fears enlightened, joys celebrated, relationships are destroyed and new ones are formed. Sex Is A Four Letter Word is a contemporary, in your face, 90's drama about a group of friends coming to terms with their own feelings of those four letter words love, lies and lust. Director: Murray Fahey Producer: Murray Fahey Writer: Murray Fahey Principal Cast: Miranda Otto / Joy Smithers / Rhett Walton / Mark Lee Set In: Australia

Average customer rating:

True Lies [Region 2]
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000083IYO

Average customer rating:

Best deal

True Lies/Predator
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tom Arnold , Bill Paxton , and Charlton Heston
Director: James Cameron , and John McTiernan
Manufacturer: Fox Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005NKTD
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Customer Reviews:

Best deal.......2001-09-05

These are defiantly two best movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Predator is a very smart, scared, sci-fi movie with unpredictable plot. In my opinion, it is the best Arnold's movie and also is the best movie I have ever seen. True Lies is a second greatest film of Arnold. It is creative and very original action movie with a lot of fighting, flying, and good humor.

In my opinion, Fox would better release "Predator / Predator 2" DVD set with a lot of features, behind the screen pictures, interviews and documentary. That would be a great product!!!

DVD:

DVD

DVD