Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Eraser turns 30 this year, and director Chuck Russell has finally revealed one of the film’s best-kept behind-the-scenes secrets — a key action sequence had to be scrapped mid-production because it was too similar to a scene Tom Cruise had just filmed for Mission: Impossible.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in support of Eraser‘s new 4K UHD release, Russell confirmed that he had Schwarzenegger performing a wire-based CIA heist almost identical to Cruise’s now-iconic vault sequence. When word got back to him, he rewrote it on the spot. “The CIA heist scene where Tom Cruise drops in on wires, I had Arnold doing almost exactly the same thing,” Russell told THR. “I didn’t want to have exactly the same scene.”
The Last of a Dying Breed: How Schwarzenegger Ruled the Action Era
The 1980s and 90s action cinema marked an era where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone ruled the genre, often defined by their larger-than-life on-screen personalities, big action, and higher body counts. Schwarzenegger has entertained his fans and audiences worldwide from his 1982 breakthrough in Conan the Barbarian to the one-man-army classic Commando (1985), the sci-fi action blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and the spy action-comedy extravaganza True Lies (1994).
Then came the mid-1990s, when action cinema saw a significant shift from indestructible, musclebound heroes to everyman archetypes, populated by the likes of Keanu Reeves (Speed), Will Smith (Bad Boys), and Nicolas Cage (The Rock). The Schwarzenegger/Stallone era began to fade away slowly, even though that didn’t stop Schwarzenegger from experiencing a throwback to his old-school action blockbuster.
That movie in question was Eraser, which also marked the end of an era of big, no-holds-barred Schwarzenegger-led R-rated action films. It sure felt like a gamble at the time when Warner Bros. poured in a massive $100 million budget and positioned Eraser as one of the major summer-movie tentpoles in 1996. That year, the summer movie season was dominated by the new era of Hollywood blockbusters from Twister to Mission: Impossible, The Rock, and Independence Day.
Sandwiched in between was Eraser, which opened in the same weekend as Disney’s animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame during the June 21-23 weekend. It managed to secure the top spot at $24.5 million, proving that Schwarzenegger’s brand of action movies still can make bank. It went on to gross $242 million, and it was the last time Schwarzenegger enjoyed a major box-office hit in the 90s, especially looking solely at his standalone R-rated action movie that relies heavily on his name to sell tickets.
Chuck Russell Was a Surprise Pick To Direct a Schwarzenegger Action Vehicle
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, coupled with the recent release of 4K UHD from Warner Bros., Chuck Russell seems like an unlikely choice to direct a big action movie starring Schwarzenegger. This is especially true with his past filmography, which focuses on horror (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob) and comedy (The Mask). But interestingly, he landed the directing gig after Schwarzenegger reached out to him since the star was a huge fan of The Mask. The script for Eraser was originally written as typical Schwarzenegger fare revolving around shootouts and fistfights.
And given the ever-changing cinematic landscape in the ‘90s, it was Russell who suggested a few conceptual ideas, notably the high-tech X-ray rail guns that bring a refreshing sci-fi element to the action-movie tropes. The guns that we saw in the movie may look like a far-fetched invention.
But Russell’s concept was derived from actual US military technology that was bigger in real life, equivalent to a heavy-duty naval cannon. To make it more practical for Schwarzenegger, who plays US Marshal John Kruger, to use the rail guns at one point in the movie, the weapons were deliberately designed like tactical assault rifles. No doubt that Schwarzenegger looks cool firing two X-ray rail guns, a.k.a. electromagnetic rail guns, during the climactic action-packed sequence in the dock.
And credit goes to Russell and his team for adding grounded realism to the weapons by effectively blending fully mechanical props such as pneumatic pistons and strobe lights with digital visual effects. The latter can be seen in a spiralling wave of blue vapor discharged from the gun muzzle. These electromagnetic rail guns in Eraser were written as deadly weapons, and to justify how severe they sound on paper, a traditional stunt work was required to yank the actors who play the bad guys, using wires and harnesses to simulate the sheer impact of the shot.
High-Velocity Freefalls and Crocodiles: The Practical Stunts That Made Eraser Memorable
Eraser is equally notable for embracing the B-movie energy, which can be seen during the memorable plane sequence. The scene particularly highlights how John Kruger finds himself dangling on the side of the plane mid-air following a broken emergency exit door and an exploding engine on one side. Despite some obvious green-screen work, it’s hard to deny that the extensive stunt was achieved here.
To sell the illusion of Schwarzenegger’s character in a high-altitude peril, Russell and his team rely on the combination of a descender rig (a mechanical system designed to drop an actor or a stunt double at an alarming speed, only to be slowed down so they can safely land on the ground), real-world skydiving/aerial footage, and digital compositing.
The scene even escalates to John free-falling as he nosedives through the sky while attempting to grab the loose parachute pack below him. Russell’s kinetic direction doesn’t just stop there, but continues to elevate further by placing John in jeopardy as the plane flies straight at him, forcing him to fire his pistol through the cockpit windshield. This leads to a near-death collision, resulting in John facing an out-of-control descent with the tension reaching a breaking point as he scrambles to open the backup parachute just in time before he hits the roof of a vehicle below.
Russell sure loves his action to be over the top, and another set-piece that’s worth mentioning here is the city zoo shootout. What makes it unique is the added sense of danger after John fires the large tank that houses the crocodiles, causing the reptiles to flow out of the water and brutally attack the team that tries to kill him and his witness, Lee (Vanessa Williams).
This scene alone was made possible by filming entirely on Warner Bros. soundstages, complete with custom-built sets, while the crocodiles were a mix of actual reptiles, animatronics, and CGI. I admit the visual effects are spotty, but at least Schwarzenegger gave us an unforgettable “You’re luggage” one-liner after shooting an approaching crocodile through its wide-open jaw.
Eraser is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray and digitally, remastered in Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos audio.
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