James Cameron Cut A Wild Helicopter Action Sequence From True Lies
It's hard to say that one of the most successful filmmakers of all time has underrated movies under his belt, especially when said underrated movies star some of the most famous actors of all time, but I think it's safe to say that James Cameron's underrated movies are having a moment right now. Both "The Abyss" and "True Lies" have been absent for a whole cycle of home video distribution, never graduating to a simple Blu-ray release. In fact, they have even been hard to find on digital release.
It's not like these movies are obscure. Both were successful on release. Maybe not "Terminator" or "Titanic" successful, but big hits nonetheless. They just didn't carry the same cache as his biggest hits.
Maybe that'll change now that they're getting the 4K treatment, although the word on both of those transfers is mixed from the home video professionals who have checked out the disc. There are complaints of them being overly digitally scrubbed and the color timing being off. I haven't seen them myself so I can't say if I agree yet, but I did see the 4K theatrical release of "The Abyss" and thought it looked great.
No matter how the 4K release turns out, the point is they're available again, which is the important thing. Let's get people talking about the very funny, action-packed spy-comedy/thriller Cameron made between "Terminator 2" and "Titanic" again!
The original opening was way bigger
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Harry Tasker, a professional James Bond-esque spy whose family has no idea what his real day job is. Jamie Lee Curtis is Helen Tasker, his wife, who is pulled into his latest case and all hell breaks loose.
007 is definitely a point of reference for Cameron, and he discussed that the opening action scene, which sees Schwarzenegger decked out in a tux, escaping an explosive party while being pursued by henchmen on skis and snowmobiles, was originally way bigger in scope, as he recently revealed in a conversation with Greta Gerwig for Variety.
Originally, Harry Tasker was supposed to face off against a helicopter during this chase as well, cause it crash, and then ride it down the mountainside. On the first night of filming on location in the mountains, Cameron made the executive decision to cut the helicopter gag:
"We shot one night in the mountains and I just had this horrific image that we were going to be up there for three weeks, and we were already behind the schedule, and I knew that it was gonna compromise our release date. And at that point, I knew we just wouldn't hit our release date if we stayed there."
So, he called in the crew, announced the chopper sequence was cut and ended the scene on a funnier gag where Schwarzenegger asks his "man in the van" played by Tom Arnold to lean back while he shoots the two remaining bad guys. The movie had more than enough spectacle and Cameron seemed to realize that he could get away with less action and establish the comedy even more right up front.
So, if you've somehow missed this movie, give it a shot when the 4K is out. It's a super fun time.