MovieChat Forums > True Lies (1994) Discussion > Was this the first movie to use this typ...

Was this the first movie to use this type of humor with action mix?

posted 4 years ago by enriquesingh (1811)
33 replies | jump to latest

Movies before this were either full action or straight up comedy.

I know Arnold had some one-liners during the 80s and early 90s (Predator's "stick around" stabbing, multiple one-liners in T2, etc)

But True Lies keeps itself as a very serious toned R rated action film with lots of humor (no Airplane!, Naked Gun type of humor, just enough to not take us away that it's an action movie first).

It's all over the movie, it's so clever and fast-paced and it's used nowadays in movies in the current James Bond and Mission: Impossible movies... I would even dare to say that this balance is being used in Marvel's PG-13 movies, but not as perfect as it was used in True Lies.

Which movie had a similar tone to True Lies before it came out???

James Bond during the late 80s was way too serious, Roger Moore's was mostly a parody and Connery was just delivering one-liners.

I can't think of anything else to compare it to pre-1994.

[–] Bossdog677 (1567) 2 years ago

I mean it had Tom Arnold so it had to be funny.

[–] Darren (1345) 2 years ago

Several earlier action/comedy movies have been mentioned here. Arnold's own earlier movie Commando fits, I think. Schwarzenegger took on the role of a very Rambo-like special forces operator, but the one-liners, quips, and various comic takes throughout the movie gave the film a comedic tone none of the Rambo movies had. That's all to the good too, IMHO. I never liked the Rambo sequels, because they kept the somber tone of the first film -- the story of a heavily traumatized Vietnam War vet, who is badly mistreated by the society to which he returned -- and dialed the action up to ludicrous. Remember, the action in First Blood isn't really unrealistic -- Rambo spends most of the movie running, sneaking, and hiding. And he still almost gets taken out by a platoon of weekend warriors led by a buffoon. For the Rambo II and III, Rambo basically becomes Superman with a mullet. Commando has equally ludicrous action, but the comic element winks at you and tells you not to take the movie seriously. That just works better.

Another movie I'd put in this category is an '80s buddy cop movie called Running Scared, with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. It's little remembered today, but it was a decent film, and with Billy Crystal in it, it was naturally going to have a comedic aspect to it.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7734) 2 years ago

I can relate to that. I've said this on this site before but I think the original Rambo novel by David Morell is better than any of the movies. I liked Teasle being sympathetic in the novel. He's a jerk in the movie.

[–] BOandBarbecue (2264) 2 years ago

hahahahahahahha!! are you familiar with james bond?!

that is what this film is. arnie is big fan of james bond. he want to make james bond film. so true lies is james bond mix with 80s action film like rambo. that is all.

this film come out in 1994. there was no original film in 90s hollywood. it was all rehash of things before. this film is just cut and pastes of superior action film that come out before.

[–] TheArgentinian (7109) 5 months ago

True Lies didn't invent action comedies, wtf?