It's an honor to be in the company of so many brilliant, innovative and entrepreneurial individuals as I came out on stage - I feel my IQ short up 10 points!

I love technology, high tech, bio tech, nano tech, green tech - all of the techs, I just love it. I love it, because I know that some day in the future you will devise technology so we can have a hands-free cell phone - even though my wife doesn't believe in it yet. Can you believe she was caught [driving while talking on her cell phone] last week! I promise the people, I'm going to create action and stop her. This is a no win situation. If I don't create action the voters get upset. If I do create action, and I get upset, then I get no action!

[WSJ and The Register]

So there you have it: Arnold's entire cameo, more or less. That's about how much time he spends on film. But, in the movie's defense, it is a beautiful bit of CG work.

Upon hearing the rumors that Rodriguez wanted Schwarzenegger to appear in the new movie, Moviehole did some snooping and heard that an offer was definitely made a couple days ago, and now the filmmakers are waiting to hear back from the governor. Their source explained:

"They've written a role for him" a second source later told us via email. "Rodriguez is as against the idea of a straight-up remake as much as anyone – which is why they're considering this an official sequel to John McTiernan's film. Like Terminator, they know Schwarzenegger's a vital ingredient of the franchise. Ideally, Arnold will see it that way too. Ball is in his court now."

Considering Schwarzenegger's hectic schedule, it's hardly surprising they haven't heard anything back yet. He did ultimately agree to appear in Terminator Salvation, so it's not out of the question that he signs on for a cameo in Predators. Of course, there's a massive difference between allowing your image to be used and actually signing on for a couple days worth of filming, which this role would almost certainly entail.

He also already turned down a chance to return as Dutch in Predator 2, and that was back when he wasn't busy running the world's eighth largest economy. Still, I'm going to remain optimistic Terminator Salvation has started a trend of Schwarzenegger returning to all his old movies. Personally, I think Schwarzenegger should take over the role of the woman the new Quaid hides inside in the Total Recall remake.

The source also gave a report on the script for the film, which is gearing up to start production in the near future. Everything sounds very positive thus far:

"The script is terrific... I hear. It's partly the old Predators script Rodriguez did, but mostly new stuff by [Alex] Litvak. And it's violent – like the original. Everybody here at [name removed] has pointed out how much better it is than [Paul W.S] Anderson's abomination. Doesn't sound like there's any reason to worry."

It sounds like there's every chance Predators will be a decent flick with or without the governor's involvement, but a confirmed Schwarzenegger appearance would instantly make this one of the movies I'm most looking forward to. Predators is currently on track for a July 2010 release.

[Moviehole]

Check out the behind-the-scenes footage, and Terminator close up on Entertainment Tonight.

During an interview with political blogger Bill Bradley, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he might appear in the latest Terminator film — but only if he doesn't have to do anything:

I made it very clear that I don't have the time to do the movie. I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together, and so they are working on that right now.

In other words, they might use Arnie's image, via stills from the original Terminator movie, but he wouldn't come in and allow himself to be photographed digitally. Those images might be superimposed on another actor's body, such as that of bodybuilder Roland Kickinger. Arnie said this would be for a brief scene where someone comes face to face with a "future Terminator." He added:

I think it's cool to continue on with the franchise . . . in case I want to jump over again and get into the acting after I'm through here.

But I'm guessing if it was that simple — if they could just lift Arnie's face from the original film — they would have done it already. It's probably not that hard to get permission to use the Governator's likeness, after all. The hard part would have been getting Arnie to come in and spend a day being photographed or filmed, so they could put a new image of his face onto whatever body they have. And it sounds like that's definitely not going to happen. But maybe he'll be in Terminator 5, after his term is over? [L.A. Times]

So either McG is messing with us or right now Arnold seriously isn't in Terminator Salvation. In an interview with MTV, McG said point blank, "We don't know if Schwarzenegger is in the movie or not; it's not clear. I can say that." He then went on to call the Arnold wrangling "a complicated, delicate balance."

He even dismissed Terry Crews' confirmation that Arnold is indeed in the flick.

But McG has said that some version of Arnie's T-800 will be in the movie one way or another, so I'm not sure what to think but I'm guessing that they are haggling over a voice over for some sort of robot like face that may or may have Arnold's likeness. I hope there isn't some adviser out there, instructing Arnie to stay away from this flick. It's a recession, and it's his job as California governor to boost our morale and our economic spending, the best way he can - with action movies and Terminator cameos. No one has forgotten that Arnold was the Terminator. In fact, that whole shtick probably helped him get elected in some marketing way or another. Get out of the way of progress.

McG also touched on Linda Hamilton's voiceover in the MTV interview, explaining that

Everyone knows she instructed her son how to survive and how to fulfill his destiny via audio tapes. There is a great deal of listening done to those audio tapes done in hope of guidance. There's some scenes with Christian being inspired by the character Linda played.

In other bloody robot news, there is a new a new Terminator video game trailer stuffed with resistance goodness. Listen to the human army call out for help, blow up some bots, and hug it out.

This Harvester Revision from Industrial Light And Magic is quite a sight, with four arms and a Predator-like gun on its shoulder. You gotta love the consistent red-eye look of all the Terminators.

In other deadly robot news, MTV has confirmed with co-star Terry Crews that Arnold Schwarzenegger is indeed making an appearance in the next Terminator movie.

As to what his role is, no one really knows:

"I don't know; I haven't seen it. They only gave out pages of the script," Crews remembered. "It was crazy. It was very, very secretive. Believe me - when you see it, that will be the first time I saw it."

It might just be a glimpse of the California governor's face on the prototype T-800, or a mere voice-over. One way or another, we're happy to have the original back. And I can't wait to see these bots in action - and thanks for the tip DVD Forum.

The late twentieth century had a bit of a rough time when it came to fictional presidents, what with Richard Nixon's controversial five-term administration, the suspected impersonation of a comatose president by some two-bit lookalike, and the short-lived Rigelian takeover of the White House in order to build a giant ray gun for an interstellar war (and feel free to blame me – I'd sooner be blasted into space than vote for Kodos). But with all that behind us, the future looks bright for a brave new twenty-first century of honest, inspiring fictional presidents who could restore honor and dignity to the White House…

42*. Lex Luthor (2001-2004)
43. Pete Ross (2004)
44. Jonathan Vincent Horne (2004-2009), from DC Comics

Well, that didn't last long, did it? Sure, Lex Luthor seemed like such a refreshingly different choice - a successful industrialist, an inventive genius, and a man so wealthy there was no danger he'd ever have to bow to special interests. He was like Ross Perot without all the crazy except, as it turned out, he was just a little too obsessed with killing Superman. He did have an early success when he led the successful defeat of the cosmic destroyer Imperiex, but his naturally criminal inclinations soon got the better of him. His attempt to frame the Man of Steel for launching a kryptonite asteroid at Earth was foiled by Superman and Batman, leading to his removal from the presidency. Vice President Pete Ross took over briefly, but then it really, really looked like he was the supervillain Ruin, so he had to go. After all this turmoil, Jonathan Vincent Horne rather quietly led the US through two crises, World War III, and an entire year without the world's most powerful superheroes, without once suspected of being a supervillain (although there was that evil robot...).

45. Barack Obama (2009-2017), from pretty much every other comic ever

He teamed up with Spider-Man, shook hands with the Savage Dragon, helped fight back an alien invasion, handed the Avengers over to noted psychopath and goblin enthusiast Norman Osborn (although that might not technically have been him)...and that was just the first three months.

46. Arnold Schwarzenegger (2017-2021), from Doctor Who, Demolition Man, The Simpsons Movie

After accidentally electing a space monster back in '96, I guess a non-natural-born citizen wasn't quite as big a deal for the American electorate (or the Constitution, for that matter). His decision to encase Springfield, the country's most polluted city, inside a massive bubble proved controversial, although this was ultimately revealed to be the work of his villainous head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Russ Cargill. More politically damaging was the secession of Los Angeles, which had never recovered from the earthquake of 2011, to found the new city-state of San Angeles. His sense of fashion was still known and honored in the year 200100, when two homicidally fashion-conscious androids complimented Captain Jack Harkness on his presidential dress sense before trying to forcibly rearrange his face.

47. Henry Kolladner (2021-2024)
48. Charles Haskell (2024-2029), from Moonfall by Jack McDevitt

Both administrations were inextricably tied to the massive comet that destroyed the Moon in 2024. This cataclysmic event caused a great deal of damage down on Earth, including killing President Kolladner when his helicopter is struck by lightning as he tries to flee a tsunami-destroyed Washington, DC. It then fell to Haskell, who had been on the moon shortly before its destruction to open a new lunar base, to keep the country together in the aftermath of such carnage. He moved the capital back to Philadelphia and was successful enough to win reelection at the end of 2024.

49. Oprah Winfrey (2029-2033), from Century City

The short-lived CBS scifi legal series presented a world of fifty-two states, lunar colonies, increased life expectancies, and, most shockingly, universal healthcare. The legendary talk-show host and philanthropist served as America's first female president (she also was one of the oldest presidents ever elected), and her vice president was an openly gay, retired four-star general.

50. Malia Obama (2033-2041), from Life on Mars

From one of the oldest to one of the youngest presidents, the second President Obama oversaw the first manned mission to Mars. Unfortunately, she wasn't there to personally see the first white loafer set foot on Mars, as she had returned to Chicago with her sister to care for their ailing father.

51. Robert McCallister (2041-2049), from Jack & Bobby

WB's impossibly high-concept show was about two brothers growing up in 2004, one of whom went on to be the 51st president of the United States. Robert McCallister, known as "The Great Believer", weathered no end of crises, including wars, scandals within his administration, questions regarding his own integrity, personal tragedy, and terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb in Chicago. Oh, and he had an affair with his Vice President, Karen Carmichael. Keep in mind that none of this was actually ever shown but merely described in interviews - the meat of the show was a teen drama. It was on the WB, after all.

52. Chelsea Clinton (2049-2053), from Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century

It's been either predicted or joked about roughly a million times, but it took a trilogy of Disney Channel movies to make it a reality. The Zenon movies, set in 2049, referenced but never showed the younger Clinton as the Commander-in-Chief.

53. President Nguyen (2053-2057), from Old Twentieth by Joe Haldeman

President Nguyen, likely named for South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Thieu, was mentioned as being president in 2054. I would say more, but the 2050s have not been a particularly good time for presidential science fiction, for whatever reason.

54. Graveney Westwood (2057-2065), from the Spy High series

President Graveney Westwood, bringing back a traditional of somewhat silly-sounding presidential names not seen since the days of Millard Fillmore and Rutherford B. Hayes, found himself the target of an assassination attempt. He survived thanks to the help of the kids from the titular training academy for secret agents.

55. President Roberts (2065-2069), from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

During the world's war of nerves with the alien Mysterons, American President Roberts was also targeted for assassination. Or was he? As it turned out, those wacky all-powerful aliens were really out to destroy an ocean liner that was being christened the "President Roberts" in his honor (one can only assume "President" was also his first name). Which, for the record, they totally failed to do, because humans are awesome.

56. Robert L. Booth (2069-2073), from 2000 AD

He rigged the election of 2068, and then he manipulated public opinion by telling the American people that the rest of the world was freeloading. He started seizing foreign oil, killed anyone who got in his way, and ultimately initiated a nuclear war that devastated the entire planet. He then fled to the Rocky Mountains, where he fought his last stand along with his army of murderous robots against the Judges that now ruled the country. He was finally captured, put on trial for war crimes, and sentenced to a century in suspended animation. He's not generally considered one our better presidents.

57. Hugo Allen Winkler (2073-2081), from The Tercentenary Incident by Isaac Asimov

The world patched itself back together after the disastrous Booth presidency, reforming as a federation in which the United States was only one constituent member. President Winkler was not terribly well respected, seen more as a mediocre career politician than as a capable leader. This all magically changed in the aftermath of an assassination attempt on July 4, 2076, when he dramatically took to the stage and gave an inspiring speech that provided a new plan for the country and set him on a path towards a landslide reelection and soaring approval ratings. Wild, unfounded rumors that he had actually been killed and replaced by a robot duplicate circulated around the political fringe, but these were dismissed as the ramblings of those unable to accept he had simply finally become the man he was always supposed to be.

58. Jim Briskin (2081-2088), from The Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick

Campaigning as America's first black president (I guess the nuclear war wiped out all records of the Obama, Winfrey, and Obama administrations) Briskin came into office at a time of rising racial tensions, as severe overpopulation had forced millions of people, many of them minorities, into cryopreservation until such time as space could be found for them. The sudden arrival of a seemingly empty alternate Earth through a transdimensional warp provides a possible solution for this problem, but things rather quickly go wrong. Indigenous populations of Homo erectus are discovered on the planet, a time distortion meant to speed up colonization causes a 100 years to instantly elapse on the alternate Earth, and one of the colonists (who, in typical Dick fashion, happens to be conjoined twins) has set himself up as a god in the ensuing century and launches a war against Earth. Oh, and then Briskin gets elected, leaving him his two terms in which to deal with these problems, although he ran into trouble towards the end, as we're about to find out.

59. Andrew Harrison (2088-2093), from The Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams

This cyberpunk thriller mentions that a military state was declared in 2088, where only soldiers and veterans could vote and the country was run by the president and an inner cabinet made up of the heads of the armed forces. President Harrison, a 41-year-old retired admiral, served out the duration of the crisis.

60. FXJKHR (2093-2097), from Futurama

Like the first robot president, John Quincy Adding Machine, the question of whether this alien would go on a murderous killing spree was a key issue in his campaign. Unlike President Adding Machine, he made no promises he couldn't keep, following through on his pledge to devour as many humans as he possibly could. He declined to run for reelection, feeling he had accomplished everything he set out to do.

61. A President (2097-2099)
62. Victor Von Doom (2099)
63. Steve Rogers (2099-), from Marvel: 2099

History has not bothered to record who precisely the time-displaced Victor Von Doom deposed to become president, so completely had the office been taken over by corporate interests. The Latverian ruler's time in the White House was brief, however, as Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America, reappeared to take back the country and ultimately became president himself. Whether or not this President Rogers was in fact an evil nanotech creation of the mega-corporations is still a matter of lively scholarly debate.

*For the record, I realize that Lex Luthor should be the 43rd president, assuming all previous presidents were the real ones. For the purposes of this list, however, I'm assuming that isn't the case, as my description of fictional 20th century suggests. By my reckoning, assuming everything is the same until Richard Nixon has five straight terms, followed by the chain of events I described, then Luthor would be the 42nd president, following Bill Mitchell and Gary Nance from Dave, Bill Clinton from real life, and Kang from The Simpsons.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Moritz believes

the advancements in technology and state-of-the-art visual effects can help tell the "Recall" story in a fresh way.

Yes, the technology is better now, but did you ask the question, should it be done? There's a feel in the original that only Arnold Schwarzenegger's crazy-grimace acting combined with the strange Paul Verhoeven sets and makeup can provide, that give Total Recall its own flavor. It's a strange combination of wild ideas mixed with action, with minimal CG hysterics, that could never be recreated and really doesn't need to be. I feel this way about Robocop as well - even though I'm a bit more inclined to see what Darren Aronofsky will do with this movie because he's Aronofsky. Currently there are no directors or writers attached to this project, but I'm not sure if even attaching Peter Jackson to a Total Recall reboot would make me want to see it.

Total Recall is fine where it is. Why don't you take the idea and do something inspired by it, yet still original, and leave Total Recall alone? We totally support bouncing another idea off of the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," from which the movie was spawned, but a resounding "Seven Hells, no" to a Total Recall reboot, remake or anything of that nature.

You see, Schwarzenegger isn't just an action hero, he's our guide to the worlds of the fantastic and bizarre. His acting skills are as prodigious as his pecs, but they've gone unappreciated — until now. I recently sat down and watched pretty much every Schwarzenegger science fiction epic, and I came away with a new appreciation for his acting skillz. Here are the moments where he rises above his situation, no matter how dire, and manages to shine.

1. No eyebrows, in The Terminator.
Major challenge: Arnold is a killer cyborg from the future, and he uses his eyebrows convey a subtle menace — until his eyebrows get singed off halfway through the movie. He looks like Bob Geldof at the end of Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Massive solution: Arnie is up to the task, scowling and grimacing and turning his forehead into a gnarled mask of terror. Until he finally gets some big sunglasses, which solve the problem for him.

2. Covered with mud, in Predator.
Major challenge: At the end of this alien hunter movie, Arnie gets slathered with mud, which hides him from the creature. Not only is he deprived of his eyebrows, but you can't even make out his sharp jawline and jutting chin.
Massive solution: Arnie's eyes go into maximum overdrive, bugging out, rolling around and finally bursting out of his sockets. "Cmawwn! Kill me!" He yells.

3. The yellow unitard, in Running Man.
Major challenge: Accused of a crime he didn't commit, Arnie is dropped into a maze of death for the amusement of the dystopian masses. Worst of all, he's wearing a bright yellow spandex unitard.
Massive solution: You can't repress Arnie's masculinity just by putting him in a bizarre aerobics outfit. You'll only make him more manly. And indeed, the moment the unitard goes on, Arnie gets mean. He grins with delight as he strangles his attackers or castrates them with a chainsaw, and his face finds four new outer quadrants of expression, expanding to convey the full scope of his rage as he threatens to rip out the producer's spine.

4. Danny DeVito chemistry, in Twins.
Major challenge: Arnie is paired with comedian Danny DeVito, as they pretend to be twins, the result of a weird genetic experiment. How can Arnie bring his usual gravitas opposite this sleazy clown?
Massive solution: He basically goes for the "overgrown child" thing, grinning and acting super eager in contrast to DeVito's world-weary scumbag. Arnie is super smart but ignorant of the "real" world, and doesn't know what tossing your cookies means.

5. The crotch kick, in Total Recall.
Major challenge: Sharon Stone wearing aerobics gear (considerably cuter than Arnie's in Running Man) kicks Arnie in the crotch over and over. How can Arnie convey the wounded masculinity? How?
Massive solution: Luckily, Arnie has had a hundred extra teeth added to his mouth for this film, and he uses all of them, in a grimace so massive it disrupts the gravity of Mars. Little known fact: Arnie and his many teeth were the model for Rob Liefeld's art.

6. Slave robot, in Terminator 2.
Major challenge: Arnie's back playing a killer cyborg, but this time he has to obey everything a punk kid tells him to do.
Massive solution: He brings a quiet dignity, underplaying the role for once and letting Edward Furlong and Linda Hamilton spaz out around him.

7. Getting hormonal, in Junior.
Major challenge: Not only is he acting opposite DeVito once again, but he has to play a pregnant man, who gets all emotional on massive doses of female hormones and starts to cry while watching a Lifetime TV movie. And then he finally has to go undercover and pose as a woman. Can Arnie bring his sensitive side?
Massive solution: Score! Arnie reaches deep inside himself, a little fold of softness under the five thousand layers of muscle. His eyes crinkle up, his mouth twists into an S-shape, or maybe that mysterious symbol that's on Hiro's sword in Heroes, and he looks like he's experiencing the joys and sorrows of every mother, everywhere. Mothers, Arnold Schwarzenegger is you.

8. Covered with goop, in Batman And Robin.
Major challenge: His greatest struggle yet. This time, he's got no eyebrows, like in Terminator. He's covered with gunk, like in Predator. And he's wearing weird dance wear, like in Running Man. What can he do?
Massive solution: He can't act with his eyes, or his jaw, or his teeth, or his chin this time around. The only thing Arnie has left is his voice, and he just works it, shouting at the top of his lungs. With dialogue like "You're not sending ME to the cooler!" and "Tonight, Hell freezes over!" it's probably the best option.

9. Too many facelifts, in The Sixth Day.
Major challenge: It's like a futuristic science fiction nightmare. Medical technology has advanced to the point where you can give Arnold Schwarzenegger a whole new face. It just may not be a good idea. Gone are Arnie's trademark grimaces, scowls and eye-pops, because the skin on his face has been stretched so tight he can barely see any more.
Massive solution: Arnie just relaxes and goes with it. It's a more laid-back Arnie, even after a clone takes his place and sleeps with his wife. He has one facial expression, a rigid grin, and it sometimes expands to turn into a cracked-out leer. It sort of works, as the maniac who's on the run from the evil clone heads.

10. Obsolescence, in Terminator 3.
Major challenge: Arnie is kind of old to be playing a super-advanced ageless cyborg from the future, a fact he references by referring to himself as an "obsolete design." Plus, he's stuck acting opposite an annoying Nick Stahl, who isn't nearly as fun as Edward Furlong was.
Massive solution: Arnie just sort of zones out, acting way more robotic than in the first two Terminators.

And here's our video compilation of Arnie's greatest science fiction moments:

It's a weird moment to be appreciating Arnie. For one thing, it's the run-up to a big election, when my fellow liberals are gleefully contemplating the destruction of GOP politicians big and small. And he hasn't exactly been a heroic success as governor of California, saddling the state with more debt just as we were roaring towards another economic sugar-crash.

And Arnie's style of action movies are out of style lately. Today's action heroes are more like Will Smith or Jason Statham, regular guys who often seem a bit out of their depth. (Both of those guys have bulked up lately, but still look a bit wiry and gawky, compared to Arnie and the other body-builder action stars of the 80s. And they seem grouchy and occasionally cocky, not larger-than-life like Arnie.) We've almost gotten used to seeing weaselly stars like Shia LaBeouf smirk their way through giant-robot movies, so it's weird to look back and see an Ubermensch who is never wrong, except when he's programmed to be bad.

But I feel as though a new round of Schwarzenegger love is over due — and not just because he starred in some of the most memorable science fiction movies of the past 20 years.

Watching eight or nine Arnie movies in a row, I'm really struck by how much manic energy he puts into everything he does. Being a killer cyborg, fighting a camouflaged alien hunter, dealing with his own clone... whatever it is, Arnie is 100 percent there. His eyes squint or bulge enormously, his neck tendons expand, and his mouth? His mouth is a whole separate actor in itself, along with his jaw. In a difficult spot, Arnie's teeth grit into a grimace the size of a Humvee. When he's thrilled, his open-mouthed smile appears about to devour the camera. Seriously, at the end of Total Recall, when Arnie has brought a breathable atmosphere to Mars, here's what I wrote in my notes: "There is AIR on Mars now, and Arnie is going to EAT it like a cheeseburger." His mouth is that huge, that full of appetite.

Look at those teeth!

Arnie brings conviction, in other words. Other actors can concentrate on being understated, or relatable. Anybody can be naturalistic, and try to build a real persona in the midst of unreal events. But Arnold is one of the few actors who ups the ante. He's in the midst of a crazy, unreal situation... and he's the most unreal thing about it. He totally believes in the space monster or the evil clonemasters. But more importantly, he's bigger than they are. You could drop a mothership next to Arnie, and he would still be bigger than it is. He's larger than unreal life.

The other thing that really jumps out at me about Ahnuld after watching so many of his films: he's the good guy, in a way that we don't see so much any more. Sure, he's occasionally kind of a bully, and he enjoys laughing at people who are physically weaker than him, including most women. But in every one of his movies, there's at least one moment where he chooses to do the right thing in a moment of jaw-jutting drama. He's willing to let his head be cut open. He won't shoot his own clone. In Total Recall, he clings to his identity as the white knight, even after he's told he's really an agent of evil. In Predator, he snarls that he doesn't do black ops. Etc. etc. etc. He's flamboyantly moral, even if he's not always a nice guy.

In short, he's everything I used to wish John McCain could be: genuine, honorable, and a little bit of a maniac in the cause of justice.

Maybe it's time for a return to Schwarzenegger values in our big scifi adventures?

Here's my rundown on every Arnold Schwarzenegger science fiction movie, based on having just watched all of them in one go. (I seriously watched Arnie while blogging about other stuff, watched in bed on my laptop, and even took my laptop into the bathroom and watched while I brushed my teeth. I dreamed about Arnie last night.)

The movie: Terminator (1984)
Arnie plays: A killer cyborg from the future, sent back to the 1980s to kill Sarah Connor, who will give birth to a leader of the resistance against the machine oppressors.
His performance: It's a slower, more purposeful Arnold, moving in slow-motion a lot of the time. He starts out not just naked, but shining in the blue light, all of his 10,000 muscles glowing bright indigo. His hair is super 1980s, almost a yuppie hairstyle, and he puts on disco jacket to stalk around frowning at everyone. When he closes in on Sarah Connor in the nightclub, he sways his pelvis like he's preparing to lambada with her, and his eyes bulge enormously when he shoots his gun.

When he says his famous line, "I'll be back," he leans in slowly, as if he's sharing a personal confidence with the random cop.

Taking away Arnie's eyebrows later in the film poses an extra acting challenge, but he's up to it. He scowls and grimaces even harder, and makes his forehead gnarl like an old tree. It's almost a mercy when he gets big sunglasses and doesn't have to act with his eyes any more.

The movie: Predator (1987)
Arnie plays: A super-commando named "Dutch," who's the best there is at what he does... just don't blow smoke up his ass. He's sent to the jungle on a bogus rescue mission, and winds up facing an inhuman killer that comes out of nowhere.
His performance: Our first glimpse of the jolly Arnie comes at the start of the movie, as he spontaneously arm-wrestles in mid-air with his old friend and they compare each other's bulging muscles. But once he gets to the jungle, he's grim and intense, believable as a combat veteran in a tough spot. Delivers lines like "You cooked up a story and dropped the six of us into a meat-grinder" with gusto. He squints a lot, until finally his eyes bug out and he screams, "Nooooooooooooo! Get to the choppa!"

Covering Arnie with thick mud poses another acting challenge, but he overcomes: his eyes go into overtime, since they're all you can see of him. Arnie's peepers roll around, bug out, and finally explode out of their sockets. "C'mawn! I'm here! C'mawn! Kill me!" At the end, it's a thoughtful, withdrawn Arnie being lifted off in the choppa.

The movie: The Running Man (1987)
Arnie plays: Ben Richards, a man accused of a crime he didn't commit, who has to survive his "public execution," staged in the form of a televised game show, in this Stephen King adaptation.
His performance: Arnie is jutting and gritting his jaw more than ever in this film. He seems a bit more sadistic, especially when he's bullying the woman he takes hostage, and later when he's killing and mutilating the thugs that are after him. But he gets a great moment where he says he won't kill a defenseless human being. It's very Captain Kirk in "The Arena." He stares intensely a LOT. He spends a lot of the movie being flat-out pissed at the people who set him up, lied to him, and put him in this fake game show, and it works. He's not just pissed, he's outraged.

The movie: Total Recall (1990)
Arnie plays: Douglas Quaid, a construction worker who pays to have false memories of a Martian adventure implanted in his head, only to find himself on a real Martian adventure. Or is it?
His performance: There's no ramping up. Arnie's eyes and tongue are bursting with energy from the first scene, where he dreams about Mars. He has the yuppie hair again. He grimaces constantly. In one scene, his "wife" kicks him in the crotch like 20 times, and he just keeps the same grimace he had before she started. He looks crotch-kicked pretty much the whole time in this movie. "Shit! Shit!" He yells. Is Arnie constipated? Watching Arnie at the end, clinging to a rope over an abyss and his grimace gets bigger and bigger, I'm hit with a thought — he really is the big-screen version of William Shatner.

The movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Arnie plays: Another killer cyborg from the future. But this time he's been reprogrammed to protect Sarah Connor and her son, John Connor. He winds up being a sort of father figure to the troubled John.
His performance: He's actually more mellow, and yet more robotic, than he was in Terminator. Instead of just wreaking mayhem, he has to do stuff like stand on one foot and have long conversations with John Connor over humanity's self-destructiveness. He transforms into a sort of grumpy daddy halfway through, and seems a bit world-weary. More of an understated performance, and it totally scores.

The movie: Junior (1994)
Arnie plays: Dr. Alex Hesse, a scientist who agrees to carry a pregnancy inside his own manly body, as part of a fertility experiment.
His performance: Oh dear. At some point in the 1990s, somebody thought it would be a great idea to explore the chemistry between Danny DeVito's wise-guy and Arnold's big stiff. And it was a horrendous, multi-movie mistake. For one thing, they have no chemistry. For another, Arnold should be the wise-cracking guy, not Danny. Arnold is playing against type, trying to be first a lifeless nerdy scientist and then a weeping sentimental pregnant guy. He doesn't quite pull either of them off. Total misfire.

The movie: Batman And Robin (1997)
Arnie plays: Dr. Victor Fries, aka Mr. Freeze, a supervillain who can only live in sub-zero temperatures and gives out with wise cracks like "You're not sending ME to the cooler."
His performance: Arnie faces his biggest acting challenge yet: he's got no eyebrows, just like in Terminator. And he's covered with crap, just like in Predator. What can you do with that? He pretty much just bellows his lines at the top of his lungs, secure in the knowledge that whatever happens, his will be the best performance in this death-trap of a movie.

The movie: The Sixth Day (2000)
Arnie plays: Adam Gibson, a pilot who discovers that he's been illegally cloned — or is he the clone, and the other Adam is the original???
His performance: This is the plastic surgeried Arnie in full effect, and he can't do all the crazy facial expressions he used to. But that's okay, he can smile bigger than ever, and his eyes still bug out in spite of his stretched out skin. He gives his sidekick lessons on manliness, including having a big chest and a flat stomach. He starts out manically jolly — "I had the breakfast of champions today!" — but then gets freaked out after he discovers the evil cloning scam thing. When he gets worked up, he sort of leers.

Watching this movie, I'm struck by a couple of thoughts: Arnie has managed to be both an Everyman and a Superman — he's superhuman, but he's also a regular guy who's victimized by the man. Also: Arnold Schwarzenegger is Charlton Heston. He's the manly dude who's always getting thrust into dystopian messes by damn fools.

The movie: Terminator 3: The Rise Of The Machines (2003)
Arnie plays: Yet another killer cyborg from the future, once again reprogrammed to protect John Connor (and John's future wife.) But this time, Arnie is the "obsolete" model, and the cyborg attacker is far more advanced and slicker.
His performance: I hate to say it, but Arnie seems bored in this movie. The film seems intent on turning his famous character into a joke, stealing clothes from a male stripper, wearing Elton John glasses and grabbing John Connor's head to look for brain trauma. "Talk to da hand." Arnie sleepwalks through the whole exercise, only waking up a bit for the fight scenes. Most painful is when Arnie tries to dispense "basic psychology," like "anger is more useful than despair." He seems a bit sad when he announces that he is an obsolete model. A hint of the old Arnie zing when he tells the more advanced robot T-X, "You are TERMINATED!"

Movie-watchers have been speculating for weeks, since a T4 producer said Arnie wouldn't be in the movie "as a person." It's possible he's going to do voice-over work for the film. But a tipster over at Latino Review claims he'll do more than that: the movie will superimpose a "fully rendered digital face" of Arnold from the first movie over the newly hired T-888 actor, Roland Kickinger. And then have Arnie dub some of Kickinger's dialog. It could be unbelievably clunky, or it could look completely seamless, it's hard to predict. At least Arnie doesn't need to show much range of facial expressions, especially as a Terminator.

Images by Flynet. [Latino Review]

When pressed on whether the statement that Arnold won't be there in person means he might show up as a voiceover, Borman hedged:

"I'm not going to answer the question about what we're trying, or what we want, or what we're toying with," said Borman. "It's really up to what fits in the film or not. Maybe his voice, or maybe not. It's really not settled.

If I was a resident of California, I would be severely disappointed in my Governor for not at least contributing something to T4. It's called follow-through. He should have the determination to see this journey through to the end. But in his defense, I'm sure he thought the Terminator franchise was properly bludgeoned, poisoned, stabbed and buried after Terminator 3.

[Wired]

Roland Kickinger, Austrian bodybuilder was outed in the Clinton News Record as playing a young Arnold in T4.

According to the News Record:

“There’s a very strong scene in the film where John Connor for the first time meets the Terminator, and he doesn’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy,” said Kickinger. “It’s Arnold’s character in the first Terminator. That’s basically my role, but 20 years before, so it establishes how the Terminator [came] about.”

So now we know, this is the guy that influences how Skynet shapes many of their Terminators. Or was he a human that got his skin ripped off and put on a Terminator? These cyborgs are confusing.

[Clinton News Record viaAICN]

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Let's leave aside the fact that Arnie is kind of old to play a super-cyborg from the future. The fact that he's had so much plastic surgery could be a plus, since his face now looks completely artificial and unreal. But he also bears very little resemblance to the character he played in the original Terminator, and why would the machines create two slightly different models of cyborg? Why wouldn't each model be totally different?

Plus there's the fact that Arnie would either have a cameo — which would most likely be shoehorned in — or the whole movie would be rewritten around him instead of Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. I'd much rather have the film revolve around the human characters this time around.

But the main reason I hope Arnie was misquoted, or ends up not being in the movie for some reason, is because the Terminator franchise has moved on. It's no longer just a starring vehicle for Arnie, thanks to the moderately successful TV show. I'd really like to see the next movie continue that trend, because it's a more interesting universe if it doesn't all revolve around Ahhnuld. Plus I already see enough of him as my governor.

[World Entertainment News Network]

• The T-1 Battlefield Robot was the first ever "Terminator" bot, although it wasn't referred to by that name. It first appeared in T3, and was developed by the Air Force.
• If you've ever been to Universal Studios and been on the T2 3-D: Battle Across Time attraction, then you got to see the T-70 being demonstrated in a presentation to the audience, before everything goes haywire and they try to kill you.
• The 600 Series of terminators had "rubber skin," according to Kyle Reese in the original Terminator movie, which made them easy to spot. According to last night's episode of the show, they also had a low resistance to heat, since they weren't made out of coltan.
• The Arnold Schwarzenegger models were, in this order, T-101, 800 Series, 850 Series. There's been much debate over model numbers, but it is generally believed that the T designation is the model name, while the Series refers to the build of their endoskeleton. Confused? In T2 when Arnie has to reroute his auxiliary power and reboots, his heads up display says "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4."
• T3 has a deleted scene explainign that all of the T-101 units are modeled after Chief Master Sergeant William Candy, who happens to be Arnold Schwazenegger. Although they replaced his Southern accent with an Austrian one from one of the programmers.
• Going further into nerdism the novel T2: Infiltrator states that the T-101 series were modeled after counter-terrorist Dieter Rossbach, who Skynet found by searching through military files. His body was deemed large enough to conceal the endoskeleton underneath.
• The relentless cyborg in The Sarah Connor Chronicles is named Cromartie, and he is a T-888 model. We've seen his headless body find his head, grow new skin, and get plastic surgery. Clearly, he's kind of a badass.
• In the novels T2: Infiltrator, T2: Rising Storm and T2: Future War there are a T-950 series of terminators who are grown from babies and rapidly aged to become more human looking and acting.
• In Terminator 2, the T-1000 represented a giant leap forward, giving us a robot made out of a "mimetic poly-alloy," or "liquid metal." Not sure how Skynet suddenly developed this technology, but he could make his arms into giant knives, which was fairly cool. Plus he could disguise himself as other humans.
• Kristanna Loken portrayed the T-X in T3, and she wasn't just meant to kill John Connor. She was an anti-terminator terminator, and could take out rogue cyborgs with her plasma cannons. This was meant to be a combination of the T-101 and T-1000 series, having a liquid metal skin over an interior endoskeleton.
• In the novel Terminator Hunt a T-X unit is captured by the human resistance and sent back to the 1960s, where she is supposed to track the Connor family for 40 years. Talk about a nanny.
• Summer Glau plays an unknown future model of terminator in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and she has the new ability to... eat food! At least corn chips, for now. No idea why a Terminator would eat. We also found out last night that she was built at McGuire Gunnery Range Depot 37. We're sure there are other tricks up her sleeve, and we hope that doesn't mean she can poop as well.
• When you travel to the future in the Battle Across Time ridefilm, you come face to face with Skynet's core. It's protected by a T-1000000 (or T-Meg), which is meant to be a large group of T-1000s all melded together. It takes the form of a giant spider to try and protect the core, but it does a poor job. Huzzah!

• The Cloverfield monster attack lasts at least seven hours. Someone named Beth gets hurt and is trapped in her apartment, and her friends have to go back for her. And someone says they have the choice between dying indoors, dying in the tunnels or dying in the streets, according to new TV spots. [ProjectCloverfield]
• Arnold Schwarzenegger's model of Terminator hasn't been invented yet during the scrapping-with-Skynet days covered in Terminator 4, nor will there be any time travel. But both might pop up in T5 and (god forbid) T6. [CinemaBlend]
• Glimpse the backstory of teleporting outlaw movie Jumper, including Samuel L. Jackson's Paladin character, by reading the first 20 pages of the prequel graphic novel. [Comic Book Resources]
• Oceanic Airways, the fictional airline in Lost, quit flying after Flight 815 crashed but has started up again, according to a dollop of viral marketing. [ComingSoon]
• Quarantine's reporter trapped in a sealed-off building will have more problems to deal with than just rabies-infected mobs. [Shocktillyoudrop]
• The Justice League will be portrayed as Greek gods, or possibly will actually be Greek gods, in George Miller's new movie. It's not clear. [CHUD]
• Get Your Mad Max on by watching a behind-the-scenes clip of the Death Race remake, featuring a "Dreadnaught," half oil truck, half tank. [BloodyDisgusting]
• We'll see a younger version of John Connor in a flashback, plus a Russian thug and a ballerina, in upcoming eps of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. [Terminatorsite]