You've Just Been Reappraised: It's Time Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1996 Summer Action Movie Gem 'Eraser' Comes Out of Hiding

The summer of 1996 was a pretty great time to be at the movies. Hollywood tentpoles cornered the market with the likes of "Twister," "The Rock," and "Mission: Impossible" (which is still that series' best movie). You could go see a new Peter Jackson horror comedy ("The Frighteners"), a bizarre remake of a Jerry Lewis picture ("The Nutty Professor"), or one of Walt Disney Pictures' darkest animated features ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame"). The aliens of "Independence Day" pretty much captured the Earth with how much of a smash hit sensation that film became. Within the midst of these, however, is the Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie vehicle "Eraser," whose cultural footprint appears to have been lost to time. It received a moderately-mixed reception from critics and grossed $242.3 million against an eye-raising $100 million budget, therefore making it one of the most expensive movies of 1996 (which is extra insane considering that's a drop in the pan for an effects-heavy flick now). It received a lone Oscar nomination for Best Sound Editing, yet didn't form much of a lasting tether to Schwarzenegger's new action man character. Like a lot of boilerplate summer movies, "Eraser" did what it needed to do by serving its purpose as a popcorn thriller, and then people kind of moved on. But it's telling how dire the contemporary blockbuster ecosystem has become with their bloated budgets and muted colors that was considered something fairly run-of-the-mill at the time now feels like a breath of fresh air. With "Eraser" celebrating its 30th anniversary this week, it's worth looking into the mid-'90s action gem. It kicks off with a hell of an opener too, as a couple is primed to be engulfed in flames in their home. One of the home invaders goes to investigate a noise from outside, and is then lifted off the ground with a makeshift noose made out of barbed wire. The face behind such a deadly feat is U.S. Marshal John Kruger (Schwarzenegger), a man who works for an extra special branch of the Witness Protection Program. He specializes in helping people erase their identities in such an extreme manner that no one will question the validity of their deaths — taking false photographs, burning the house down, and planting cold bodies in their place. There's no hesitation to his rigorously scheduled process. Some call him John, but he's known around these parts as the Eraser. Schwarzenegger's prior two action flicks ("Last Action Hero" and "True Lies") were explicit deconstructions of the muscly archetype he cultivated throughout the '80s and early '90s, which makes "Eraser" stand out more as a traditional return to basics. You get the pleasure of a strategic killing machine cheekily named John Kruger, who's actually kind of a sweet guy in spite of how fast he can take out an entire room. He's also creative with infiltrating a tricky situation too, as he shows up to a witness' house disguised as a party balloon supplier to throw off the assassins waiting outside. It's a fitting touch from Chuck Russell, the director behind such greats as "The Blob," "The Mask" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors." The screenplay, however, was written by Tom Puryear and Walon Green, with uncredited script doctoring from Frank Darabont ("The Shawhank Redemption") and John Milius ("Conan the Barbarian"). After that explosive opening, we're introduced to Lee Cullen (Vanessa Willams), a top operative at a computer company who turns whistleblower in the wake of some horrifying discoveries. Warner Bros. actually had to spend more money in order to replace the company's name from Cyrex to Cyrez after the former sounded too similar to a computer chip company based in Texas named Cyrix. Needless to say, there's some bad stuff going down at this company involving their part in a scheme to flood boxes upon boxes of electromagnetic pulse rifles on the black market. To make things even worse, her FBI-assisted sting ends up with her boss taking the easy way out rather than having to deal with the layers of parties involved with this illegal smuggling deal. It goes way beyond a company, with ties to deeply powerful pockets of the government. How some things never change. Oh by the way, James Caan plays Kruger's close friend and mentor figure in the WITSEC program, so he definitely doesn't have a nefarious part to play in all this. The magic of "Eraser" derives from the screenplay hitting all the basic beats of a conspiracy action thriller before throwing Arnie into a series of delightfully ludicrous situations. For example, in the wake of learning of a terrible discovery, Kruger finds himself holding onto the outside of a plane, as well as blowing out its front windows with a pistol, within the span of five minutes. And this is all before the zoo sequence where he takes out a bunch of mercenaries and then delivers the infamous "you're luggage" zinger after fighting an alligator. This is a movie that knows exactly what you've come to see. But the film knows to keep mixing things up. The electromagnetic pulse rifles serve as a welcome shakeup to the usual gunfire, with its echo-y green blasts essentially serving as a precursor to bullet time from "The Matrix." All too often I see sentiments that audiences just don't know how to have fun anymore, and it's often reserved for bland IP-driven filmmaking where color and earnestness is a luxury. There used to be a time where you could go to the movies and see Schwarzenegger fighting a pissed off Caan on top of an unwieldy shipping container lifted far above the ground. You know what's fun? That's fun. "Eraser" may not have fully gone away, but I think it's time for it to come out of hiding and spread its charms to a new generation. "Eraser" is now available for purchase or rental on most PVOD streaming platforms.