The 'Last Action Hero' Made Arnold Schwarzenegger Cry

One of the coolest docs on Netflix that I feel like no one talked about is Arnold, which follows the life and career of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I found tracking how a bodybuilder from Austria became the biggest movie star in the world to be fascinating.

But after he became the Terminator, there was no looking back.

Throughout the late '80s and early '90s, he was an unstoppable force, with hit after hit cementing his status as the world's biggest action star.

Still, when your star rises that high, it also has a lot of room to fall.

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When people talk about the 1993 movie Last Action Hero today, it is often referred to as a cult classic. However, in 1993, Arnold thought it would be the end of his career.

You have to understand, this was a film that, on paper, should have been a surefire hit. It was a meta-commentary on the action genre that Schwarzenegger himself had helped to define, and it was packed with the kind of explosive set pieces and one-liners that had made him a superstar.

These were funny gags that lampooned the Hollywood he had built, and he was perfect for the role.

Even with mixed reviews, people thought this would be another massive win at the box office. But the film had one major thing going against it...it opened the same weekend as Jurassic Park.

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The movie bombed, and that bomb sent Arnold into a depression. He was at the very top of Hollywood and had fallen all the way back down.

In the Netflix documentary, Arnold admitted, "I cannot tell you how upset I was [...] It hurts you. It hurts your feelings. It's embarrassing. ... I didn't want to see anyone for a week. But you keep plodding along. And my mother-in-law also said this all the time: 'Let's just move forward.' It's a great message."

That is a great message, but I can understand where he was coming from at the time. You are so low that even when people are telling you it can get better...it may not feel like it.

In the same doc, there's a bit where James Cameron calls to check in on him. Cameron says, "He sounded like he was in bed crying [...] He took it as a deep blow to his brand. I think it really shook him. ... I said, 'What are you gonna do?' He said, 'I'm just gonna hang out by myself.' [...} That's the only time I've ever heard him down."

As someone who has been down before, I can empathize with Arnold. But the good news is, things shot up afterward.

That's because he DID keep moving forward.

Just a year later, Arnold starred in James Cameron's True Lies, which was a massive hit and re-cemented Schwarzenegger as the undisputed king of the box office.

Over the years, Last Action Hero would develop its own lore in Hollywood, but it's a testament to Schwarzenegger's resilience that he was able to pick himself up, dust himself off, and come back stronger than ever.

Summing It All Up

For filmmakers, we should know that you're only as good as what you've done lately. And even for huge stars, the same is true. That's why you have to keep moving forward and try your best to line up work to keep you rolling.

When you fall down, get back up and make something new.

Let me know what you think in the comments.