# Was Schwarzenegger ever had any really touching, "emotional" lines in a movie?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 13, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978 "2014-07-13T05:13:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/21 "2014-07-13T19:18:19Z")

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Thank you for the correction. I need to rewatch Twins. I’ve forgotten quite a bit of the story. It is a very good movie and worth seeing again.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/22 "2014-07-13T20:17:26Z")

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> [@Miller](#):
>
> The joke was that Arnold was genetically designed to be superior in every way, having the best of the genetics of all of his multiple parents.

I can sort-of buy into Schwarzenegger and DeVito being fraternal twins, but the pseudoscience of their conceptions always kind of annoyed me. You can mix sperm donations from as many men as you like in a large beaker, but that won’t mix their genetics. It would be like pouring red marbles and blue marbles into a bag, shaking, and expecting to get purple marbles.

I know it’s a light comedy, but a little effort put into the MacGuffin science would have made it more enjoyable for me.

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/23 "2014-07-13T20:37:39Z")

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> [@zoid](#):
>
> [It’s not a toomah!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo)

That kid at 4 seconds looks like Jake Gyllenhaal.

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/24 "2014-07-13T20:41:26Z")

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> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> I can sort-of buy into Schwarzenegger and DeVito being fraternal twins, but the pseudoscience of their conceptions always kind of annoyed me. You can mix sperm donations from as many men as you like in a large beaker, but that won’t mix their genetics. It would be like pouring red marbles and blue marbles into a bag, shaking, and expecting to get purple marbles.
> 
> I know it’s a light comedy, but a little effort put into the MacGuffin science would have made it more enjoyable for me.

I’m pretty sure the “beaker” was a multi-billion dollar super-science DNA mixer.

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/25 "2014-07-13T20:42:54Z")

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Arnold really loves his daughter (young Alyssa Milano) in Commando. It is probably his most over-the-top action movie of all but one of the main premises of it is that he just wants to be a good single parent to his little girl.

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**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/26 "2014-07-13T21:06:52Z")

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> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> I can sort-of buy into Schwarzenegger and DeVito being fraternal twins, but the pseudoscience of their conceptions always kind of annoyed me. You can mix sperm donations from as many men as you like in a large beaker, but that won’t mix their genetics. It would be like pouring red marbles and blue marbles into a bag, shaking, and expecting to get purple marbles.
> 
> I know it’s a light comedy, but a little effort put into the MacGuffin science would have made it more enjoyable for me.

I think it’s more that they were focusing on the idea that half of the DNA of a sperm combines with half the DNA from an ovum. We have two copies of each gene, and so, a child gets one copy from each parent. Normally, this is a random process.

So somebody was drunk/high and past-due for his latest script, so the thought “Wait! Maybe we’re all normal Joes because we aren’t picked the best from each parent? What if we made a super-person by controlling which gene gets picked, and picking the best half of each… and then used the leftovers to create his twin brother!”

While I agree with you to the extent that it’s not entirely plausible that it would be done this way, it is quite possibly the best of the bad science ideas seen in Schwarzenegger movies. (I mean, compare that with male pregnancy, speed-of-light rail guns, instant Martian terraforming, high-tech aliens that only see heat, and time travel that only permits living tissue…)

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**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/27 "2014-07-13T21:28:24Z")

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Time travel the permits machines as long as they are _surrounded by living tissue_, actually.

I think some of the scenes with young John Connor in T2 are touching, for what they are.

> [@MeanJoe](#):
>
> Dude… the look he gives Billy when they’re making the run to the chopper in Predator? Billy decides to face the Predator so Arnie and the chick have more time to “get to da’ choppa!” You can read the sorrow, respect, and gratitude in Arnie’s head nod.
> 
> 😃

Interestingly, Billy was actually originally supposed to have a good on screen fight with the Predator, and actually wound it, before his demise. However this didn’t happen because of Sonny Landham, the actor that played Billy, and actually appeared in a lot of movies of this era anytime there was a casting call for “large, muscular Native American man” roles (he played basically the same guy in movies like 48 Hours, and various TV guest appearances.) Sonny apparently was/maybe still is a raging alcoholic, and was a disaster on set, to the point where he was almost coming to blows with several of the other actors. So they had to scrap that scene’s filming to just get him the hell out of there so they wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore, and the scene was lost to the ages.

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**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/28 "2014-07-13T21:55:25Z")

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> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I vote for Twins. The movie’s main point was the bonding of two brothers that had been raised separately. From what I recall Danny Devito was the hustler/con man? Arnold was the dim-witted, very strong, and trusting brother.  
> …

> [@Miller](#):
>
> Arnold’s character had a genius-level IQ. The joke was that Arnold was genetically designed to be superior in every way, having the best of the genetics of all of his multiple parents. DeVito got what was left over.

> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Thank you for the correction. I need to rewatch Twins. I’ve forgotten quite a bit of the story. It is a very good movie and worth seeing again.

Arnold might have seemed dim-witted at times because his character was raised on an island and was very sheltered and naive. He had the immigrant experience to draw upon, and plays the eager country boy in the big city pretty well.

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/29 "2014-07-13T22:10:10Z")

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You be the judge.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/znWCBpWFYPU/maxresdefault.jpg "Funeral Pyre") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znWCBpWFYPU)

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/30 "2014-07-13T22:29:25Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> You be the judge.  
> [http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=znWCBpWFYPU](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=znWCBpWFYPU)

Touching…☹

[I know now why you cry…but it’s something I can never do…](https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=114386601954413)

Oh…never mind…the OP already has that one!

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**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/31 "2014-07-13T23:11:51Z")

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Another moment from Last Action Hero…

When Jack runs into Arnold at the movie premier, totally-upbeat-Planet-Hollywood-whoring Arnold is all, “Wow! You’re the best look-a-like ever! Call my office and we can get you shopping mall openings and stuff!” and Jack is all, “You’ve brought me nothing but pain.”

I couldn’t find a clip online to refresh my memory, but IIRC, Jack delivers the line pretty poignantly.

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**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/32 "2014-07-14T11:35:12Z")

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> [@Martin\_Hyde](#):
>
> Time travel the permits machines as long as they are _surrounded by living tissue_, actually.
> 
> I think some of the scenes with young John Connor in T2 are touching, for what they are.
> 
> Interestingly, Billy was actually originally supposed to have a good on screen fight with the Predator, and actually wound it, before his demise. However this didn’t happen because of Sonny Landham, the actor that played Billy, and actually appeared in a lot of movies of this era anytime there was a casting call for “large, muscular Native American man” roles (he played basically the same guy in movies like 48 Hours, and various TV guest appearances.) Sonny apparently was/maybe still is a raging alcoholic, and was a disaster on set, to the point where he was almost coming to blows with several of the other actors. So they had to scrap that scene’s filming to just get him the hell out of there so they wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore, and the scene was lost to the ages.

That is interesting, I had no idea. Weirdly enough, Billy was probably my favorite character in the movie.

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**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/33 "2014-07-14T12:17:33Z")

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> [@Hermione](#):
>
> I, being among the minority who actually rather liked The Last Action Hero, was rather struck by the moment when Jack Slater realized he was a fictional movie hero. (In one of his movies, there was a rare Downer Ending when Jack failed to save his young son’s life.)
> 
> He says something along the lines of, “How would you feel if you found out someone had made you up? Push your kid off a building, give you nightmares the rest of your life, but it doesn’t count, you’re only fictional?”

From a google search and a transcript I found, the scene is thus:

> [@Last Action Hero](#):
>
> How new and exciting this must all be for you. I have just found out I am imaginary. How would you like to have been made up? Your job, your marriage, your kids. Let us push his son off the building. You will have eternal nightmares, but you are fictional, so who cares?
> 
> I do not find it new and exciting that my whole life is a damn movie.

So yeah, another vote for Arnold is able to be emotional and touching. If you stop to think about any of his characters as real people, they all live really horrible lives.

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**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/34 "2014-07-14T13:26:04Z")

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Was no one touched when the Terminator followed his directive to say good-bye and commit suicide at the end of T2? The slow descent into the crucible was heart-wrenching (of course, I was a very emotional little kid when I first saw it).

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**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/35 "2014-07-14T13:29:51Z")

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Yes, but they were all bad.

😃

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**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/36 "2014-07-14T16:07:34Z")

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T2 is the best of course

Gotta say Kindergarten Cop is his best human performance. Telling the class about his son and divorce.

Arnold knows the limits of his acting ability and doesn’t try to take roles beyond it. Kindergarten Cop isn’t that demanding but Arnold performs it with all the skill it requires.

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**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/37 "2014-07-14T16:37:49Z")

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I have no idea what move it’s from but when Arnold says the line at 3:32 [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqSyQl3SCo8) he sounds so sincerely hurt that it makes me…laugh.

> [@Ranchoth](#):
>
> The closest I can think of is, naturally, the “I know now why you cry…” scene from Terminator 2. Brief and robotically subdued, but if that doesn’t get you even a _little_, you have not even a heart of steel.

Okay, put me down for not-even-a-heart-of-steel. I wanted to throw something at the screen, I was so disgusted with what they’d done to the Terminator. Terrible movie!

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**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/38 "2014-07-14T18:00:14Z")

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Another scene from Conan: [The spring wind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fC34Yfi4ds).

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/39 "2014-07-14T18:03:02Z")

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> [@Sage\_Rat](#):
>
> I’m sure there’s a few scenes where he acted like a real person in True Lies, Kindergarten Cop, and Twins but it’s been too long since I’ve seen them to give an example.

Kindergarten Cop was my first thought. There’s a bit when he’s talking to his police partner about his young son whom he hasn’t seen in years because of a nasty divorce. Breaks my heart, it does.

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**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-schwarzenegger-ever-had-any-really-touching-emotional-lines-in-a-movie/692978/40 "2014-07-14T18:09:33Z")

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Crom! I have never prayed to you before…I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad…why we fought…how we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That’s what’s important. Valor pleases you, Crom. So grant me one request: grant me _revenge_! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!

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