We all know when...1995 or 96 or 97 a few clunkers/a few hits and then just a meteor of flop after flop.
But WHY do you think he lost his gig as one of the most bankable stars?
He was outed as a creep husband and had a kid out of wedlock with an old ugly women who was the maid in his house. What's to like about that? I lost all respect and interest in his after that.
shareIf he had made Crusade instead of Jingle All the Way (1996), things could have been oh so different!
shareHe chose politics.
shareWhen I saw this post bump and seeing him in the news lately that’s what came to mind. Here is my answer. He got old and was limited in range as an actor. He doesn’t have the talent of someone like Stallone who has done well acting, writing, and directing well into his 70s. Arnie is basically a RINO and a hypocrite today.
shareArnold failed to develop at proper franchise to weather him through the low points in his career. He coulda been milking True Lies to this day just like Cruise and Mission Impossible. Showing up for increasingly disappointing performances as a killer robot doesn't get it done.
shareYeah, or Predator
shareHe was still at the top of is game up until he made True lies in 1994. 96-03 was an interesting time for his career. He was still popular and had a string of modestly successful films, but by the late 90's it was obvious his star was fading. He went out with a bang with T3 before saying bye to acting, and becoming governor of California.
After being governor he reignited his acting career 10 years later with The Last Stand, and it's all been downhill from there. He's had trouble gaining popularity with the younger crowds to. If you weren't around back in the 80's at the peak of his career, or if you didn't grow up watching this guy's movies remembering how larger than life he was, then chances are your not very interested in him today
I think he lost his box office power when he cheated on Maria in The Governor's mansion with the housekeeper. I don't care how progressive people think we are now. Women still don't like to be betrayed by their husbands (and vice versa) And a lot of the movie going audience are women. So he lost a lot of clout when his indiscretions were made public.
shareI’m fairly certain that Batman and Robin torpedoed his career irrevocably.
shareSeveral reasons....
1) He was at the apex of a an action movie genre at just the right time. And studios milked that genre with assembly line action movies for as long as they could. The kind of movies, like Commando, with lots of machine guns...and lots of explosions, and grenades sending people flying through the air. This genre got progressively more silly and over the top....and eventually stared to fizzle.
2) He left acting to enter politics—at (near) the top of his star power (and fitness). You can’t get those key, prime years back.
3) He was overexposed, like how Dwayne Johnson is quickly becoming.
4) He lost his badass mystique, and started playing the good guy. He also started doing goofy comedies.
5) He lost a huge chunk of fans and backers....simply by being a Republican.
6) When he returned to acting, he was no longer a hulk of a man who could get by primarily on his physique. And he’s never been a particularly strong thespian. Studios didn’t know what do do with him....so he got put out to Aging Action Star pasture, in projects like The Expendables, Escape Plan, etc.