30 Years Later, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Forgotten Action Thriller Hits Harder Than Ever [Exclusive]

Thirty years on, Eraser is one of those fantastic 1990s action thrillers that feels like it could only have been made in that period of time. During the heyday of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film took the action icon and threw him into a world of corporate conspiracy, witness protection, alligators, parachutes, and sci-fi weapons that wouldn’t look out of place in a video game like Halo. Yet it works because of how much the film commits to the bit. Eraser was helmed with precision by veteran director Chuck Russell. I spoke with Russell to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary as part of our retrospective series Collider Rewind. Together, we took a stroll down memory lane as he discussed pushing the action as far as it could go, giving Schwarzenegger a more grounded performance and, interestingly, why those sci-fi railguns were more real than you’d have thought.

During our conversation, he also discussed working with Schwarzenegger at a fascinating point in his career, surrounding him with actors like James Caan, Vanessa Williams, and James Coburn, and finding the balance between spectacle and story before CGI took over. Across the conversation, Russell also looked back on his wider career, from betting on Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz in The Mask to helping launch Dwayne Johnson as a leading man in The Scorpion King, and making horror audiences feel unsafe with The Blob and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. But when it comes to Eraser, one thing becomes very clear: Russell knew he was taking it to the limit. You can read our full conversation below.

Chuck Russell Wanted To Bring Out a More Grounded Side of Arnold Schwarzenegger

COLLIDER: First and foremost, I watched the movie last night for the first time in, I want to say, 20 years. I was far too young to watch it when it first came out, but then it was one of those video store movies I would always see the cover of and think, “I want to watch that,” and I was never allowed to because I was too young. I adore ‘90s action movies, and it’s got the alligators, the witness protection, railguns, and everything. Was there a moment when you were filming it that you thought, “Even I’m finding this insane right now?”

CHUCK RUSSELL: Oh, no. I knew I was taking it to the limit. There are moments in that film where I’m like, “How can I top him jumping out of an airplane to catch a parachute? Oh, if Jimmy [Caan] makes the pilot turn the plane around and take him out of the parachute, how can I top that? What if Arnold just has the balls to pull out a gun and shoot the cockpit?” So, I kept upping the stakes, and I always assumed in post we can see where I went too far, but we kept everything. The audience got a kick out of it.

Arnold was an icon by this point, but until he starts shooting the cockpit, it kind of feels like a more grounded role for him than we were used to. Was there anything you wanted to bring out of him in that performance that audiences hadn’t quite seen?

RUSSELL: Yes. You have to understand, it was after True Lies, which I’m a big fan of. I needed to do something a little different with Arnold, even if it’s subtly different, because I want to improve his brand, if anything, and that was to surround him with more grounded actors, Jimmy Caan being one of the best examples, and Vanessa Williams, and James Coburn, who is his own action icon from the previous era. Vanessa’s charm and intelligence, and the fact that she could handle a gun and take care of herself, were refreshing in the ‘90s at that point, and not making it a traditional action romance was something I wanted to do.

So, I think we upped Arnold’s game and performance, and I’m very pleased you mentioned it felt a little more grounded because I tried to keep the government story grounded, and the real guns are actually real technology. They were unknown at the time, but they’re more commonly known now. Guns that can look through walls and see a cat were science fiction then, but I kind of knew we had them already. So, I enjoyed taking the action as far as I could, but keeping the story grounded. When you have a big studio show like that, as a director, one of the most important things is [to] keep the micro focus on [the] cast, on the performance, on storytelling. Don’t let it all get swept away with large set pieces. So, you try to keep a balance there, and I think we achieved it. I think Arnold, as the protector, was unique in that role.

Chuck Russell Says Modern Action Can Lose Suspense When Anything Is Possible

What I liked about it, as well, was that you have the element of science fiction to it with the futuristic weapons and whatnot, but there’s never really any point where it feels like, “Oh, I’m watching a movie that’s set 50 or 60 years in the future.” It feels almost like an alternative reality, just with technology caught up ever so slightly. Did you have much discussion in terms of the weapons that were used, like making them feel futuristic, but they still have to feel physical enough, because it’s an Arnold movie?

RUSSELL: Correct. We did unending designs on that gun, and my production team was very patient with me until we found what we all considered the right thing. I was obsessed with, “It has to have a battery pack, or I don’t believe how powerful it is.” We were downsizing from guns that only appeared as cannons on battleships at the time, and so we wanted to keep some real tech, but it had to be fun, or what’s the point? It’s really meant to be a big entertainment more than anything else. So, I allowed myself a little fantasy, a little near-future sci-fi, wrapped around a great action story. That was the recipe.

I find myself, when I’m writing, using this expression more and more often, but they don’t make them like this anymore, and I got that feeling with Eraser, as well. Do you think a movie like this can be made the same way today, or with the machinery around action filmmaking — the emphasis on “everything has to be stunts, everything has to be CG” — do you think that would be too important in the background?

RUSSELL: I would still make it roughly this way. Some of the franchises need to outdo themselves, beyond Michael Bay elements. There’s an old saying by one of the original science fiction writers of all, which is H.G. Wells, who said, “When anything is possible, nothing is interesting.” So, if you keep topping your stunts to the point where it’s just ridiculous, because you could do it in CGI or now AI, you can go too far and sort of lose suspense. If there’s no suspense, action movies are kind of fun to watch, but they’re not really driving entertainment, in my opinion, anyway.

So, there was kind of a reboot of Eraser. I didn’t see it. I saw part of it. It didn’t seem like they nailed what they wanted to with it, but the heart of that film is having a strong core story and then progressively taking the action to an extent that matches the tone of the movie. So it’s still suspenseful. I want the audience to think, “What would I do?” We see Vanessa’s character stuck in a zoo with really bad things happening. I want the audience to relate. “What would my move be?” So, I try to keep pace and a tone in that neck of the woods. Anyway, thank you for enjoying the film. I rediscovered it myself. I hadn’t seen it in years, and I liked it. It was really cool.

Oh, it’s great to find these movies again, because the last time I watched, I would’ve been a teenager, and you watch these movies with your new eyes when you’re older. You can appreciate the filmmaking and the performances. I went through a stint in my teenage years where I was watching Arnold movies because it’s Arnold being Arnold, but now I can watch it and appreciate that he’s a really good actor, and I don’t think that’s appreciated as much because we see him as an action hero.

RUSSELL: Look, I tried to up his game on that particular show, and I think we succeeded, and Arnold became more and more focused on his performance, I think, ever since. Look, action is character. I think critics underrate that Shakespeare had sword fights in most of his plays. I mean, it is really no greater height of drama than one man trying to destroy another, or one woman trying to destroy another, as long as the story supports it.

So, the skills that people like Arnold and Dwayne Johnson have are rare, to convincingly be athletic enough to do a physical fight, but in the face… Bruce Lee was the first one I noticed as a kid when he would kill an adversary; the performance was amazing. His face would shake, and the hands would fist, and he’d have that yell. It was a remarkable performance, not just action. So, I still believe part of that performance is [to] kill your adversary with your heart. Why is your heart into this? What has he done to you that you have to destroy him if we’re at that point in a fight scene, or something bigger, like an airplane scene?

Chuck Russell Knew Dwayne Johnson Could Become a Movie Star

You mentioned Dwayne Johnson there. I was and remain, but especially when I was younger, an insanely big WWF, WWE fan, and so I was at The Scorpion King on day one.

RUSSELL: Oh, great.

Because to me, this was my Arnold Schwarzenegger here. When you’re directing him in his first leading role, did you see something in that performance, and when you were with him, that you thought, “This guy can go all the way. There’s something special here?”

RUSSELL: Oh, I knew that just meeting him for the first time. He was very passionate about doing a great job. Dwayne is a real champ. He’s a sweetheart. Everyone will tell you that. Even at this point in his career, he has big heart. I can’t say enough good things. Also about Arnold. Arnold’s more naturally competitive. [Laughs] It’s true. Look at his documentaries and things: that’s Arnold. Dwayne is an incredibly passionate actor and performer. He’s got a very good heart. He always has time for everybody on a set.

So, we were doing rehearsals, Dwayne and I, just in a conference room, “What will it be like when red ants are coming at you?” He would literally do these crazy improvs with me. I just wanted to warm him up, and “This is what we’re doing.” The truth is, what he was doing for WWE, or WWF at the time, was so dramatically performative — his monologues were mind-blowing — so I knew he was capable. And the fact that he had a desire to be a good actor and a good lead actor in a movie, I was very confident in him, and he lived up to it 100%.

Chuck Russell “Bet the Farm” on Jim Carrey in ‘The Mask’

Image via New Line Cinema

I wanted to touch on another ‘90s film, which I adore. I lost my mother a few months ago, and when we were clearing her house out, I found pictures of myself as a child, and one of them was me at Halloween, when I must have been five or six, and I was dressed as The Mask.

RUSSELL: Oh, wonderful. That’s a nice touch. And I’m sorry to hear about your mom. I’m sorry to hear that.

Thank you very much. It was a really nice surprise to find that photo. I had the fedora on with the feather and everything. She’d clearly gone to a lot of trouble to make sure it worked. It was one of my favorite films growing up, and I feel like it’s one of those lightning-in-a-bottle, a-movie-star-is-born movies with Jim [Carrey]. Did you know that while you were shooting it? I read that you’d seen him at a comedy club.

RUSSELL: Yeah. So I’m at The Comedy Store, and I realized what he’d been doing in In Living Color, that I’d also been watching, was [what] he could do live. I talked to him about it while we were filming The Mask, and he said, “If I can imagine it, Chuck, I can physically do it. It’s wild.” He is a Charlie Chaplin. I knew, “This guy’s a comedy genius,” literally. I bet the farm on Jim Carrey being a great movie star, and New Line finally agreed.

The other person that I really saw ahead of time was Cameron Diaz, who had never acted before at all. So, the studio took quite a risk with me, and my encouragement on, first of all, letting that be a comedy instead of a horror film, which was originally how they conceived it, and letting me make it a vehicle for Jim and Cameron. It was kind of risk-reward. We made a movie that was unlike anything that had been seen prior. I wanted to make a literally joyful movie. I’d lost my father not long before I got to make The Mask, and I just said, “I’m going to have a good time, and I’m going to make sure the audiences have a good time. Let’s get this movie made with Jim Carrey.”

What you said about Cameron Diaz, that’s also one of the great first-time movie star entrances, her coming into the bank. I think the casting for that film was one of the strengths of it, and it’s funny how, even maybe not as quite a big name, Peter Greene is one of those villains I’ll always remember because he just has that nasty face about him in that movie. It’s so effective.

RUSSELL: He was an edgy guy. He passed away not long ago. But I knew The Mask was going to float away in fantasy and comedy if I didn’t have a great villain, so Peter Greene had been in an independent film where he was so frigging scary as a murderer, and I thought, “It’s like a chemistry set. What’s going to happen if I toss this guy into the mix with Jim and Cameron?” And the result we got was a good amount of suspense for a comedy. You have to be careful the comedy doesn’t just float away, but you want to put the lead characters in jeopardy so the audience cares for them, and Peter did a fantastic job. He was really fun to work with, too.

How ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Led to ‘The Blob’

One of my colleagues at Collider is a huge horror fan, and he said The Blob is one of the nastiest and meanest movies he’s ever seen, and that’s why he loves it. This character should be untouchable in any movie. They get blobbed left and right. Was there any pushback from the studio on all the characters getting blobbled left, right, and center?

RUSSELL: Everyone kept asking me, “Who’s going to play Steve McQueen in your remake of The Blob?” So I realized while we were writing the script, the first thing I’m going to do is kill the Steve McQueen character. [Laughs] I literally saw Kevin Dillon for the first time in years just yesterday, by coincidence, and we were telling fantastic stories about the fun we had making that movie.

Look, I am a horror fan, and I wanted to go all the way with the horror. I really did. And we had characters you can love that survived, but my intention was to make sure the audience didn’t trust the filmmaker. I wanted to kill important people early. Hitchcock did this in Psycho. Famously, he killed Janet Leigh, who was the biggest star at the time, in the first 20 minutes of his film, in “the scariest movie ever made,” because the audience said, “Well, if you’re going to kill the lead lady, every one of these characters is in jeopardy.” So, it’s a device that some of us have used, and I found very effective in The Blob.

But the studio, we funded it independently, and it was TriStar, but no one was really complaining because I’d already done Elm Street 3, and it was the biggest independently-made hit at the time. So, they backed me. People that first watched it were a little shocked, and I felt, “Have I gone too far? Well, it’s too late. The movie’s done.” But it worked out. It worked out well.

Did you think that the co-writing Dreamscape, which also had a knife-fingered, dream-invading villain, had anything to do with you being hired for that?

RUSSELL: I think it definitely did. It very specifically did. Bob Shaye liked it a lot. At the time, it was a first-time directing gig for me, so I got The Blob rights in order to get the right to direct it, and I brought that to New Line. New Line said, “Well, we don’t really want to make The Blob, but we need to do Elm Street 3,” and the second Elm Street hadn’t done that well. They weren’t sure they were going to carry on with the series, and they said if [Frank] Darabont and I could fix the script, they would let me direct the movie. So, The Blob brought me Elm Street, and then I finished Elm Street and returned to The Blob.

Chuck Russell on the Actors Who Surprised Him Most

Image via Warner Bros.

It’s a great run, and it’s great fun for you to have, just horrifying audiences. It’s the best way to go about things. I’d like to finish with one question. I’ll bring it back to Arnold, as well. This involves Arnold and a few others. You’ve obviously had the chance to work with some of the biggest action and comedy stars in the world. I know that you worked with Bruce Willis on one of his last films, as well. Having directed these actors at various stages of their careers, who surprised you the most when the camera started rolling?

RUSSELL: When the cameras started rolling? Look, I come from theater, so I have a great love of actors. As a young man, I was acting, so I was always debating in my early 20s, did I want to act or did I want to direct? And I enjoy directing more. So I have a great love, and they all thrill me.

I think Jim’s energy, there was always something surprising that was happening that was better than what we were writing. On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson surprised me when he cried watching his brother die because he went all the way, and he was basically a wrestler. He really broke his heart. And then John Travolta surprised me because he’s one of the greatest pros I ever worked with. I did two movies with John. He’s just a fabulous pro, and I enjoy directing him, but I also enjoy watching him work. He’s very good.

So, different actors at different times. Patricia Arquette, on Elm Street, hadn’t really acted before, I don’t think, but she’s from an acting family, and she carries that movie. If you look back at it to this day, she’s just wonderful, and she has this ethereal performance. She’s very vulnerable on camera. So frankly, they all surprise me, but for different reasons and in different ways.

Eraser 30th Anniversary Edition is available to purchase now on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. You can watch our full interview with Russell above.