Schwarzenegger Collector’s Set
Directors: Walter Hill, Paul Michael Glaser, James Cameron, Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Laurence Fishburne, Peter Boyle, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, Richard Dawson, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Lionsgate Home Video

You could make a case for Arnold Schwarzenegger as the greatest action movie superstars of all time. This is a case you would win every single time, because there is no one that tops this man when it comes to the genre. Regardless of what you think of him as a Governor, there is no arguing that his presence in movies has been missed for some years now; and thus, we retreat back to his best works to get our Schwarzenegger fix.

On the bright side, there’s sets like this one being released from time-to-time to help your binging needs. This particular set includes Red Heat, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Running Man, and Total Recall.

When I got the chance to review this new four-movie collector’s set of Schwarzenegger flicks, I jumped at the chance for a couple of reasons: One was because I shockingly had not seen two of them; and also because I even-more shockingly didn’t own any of them.

There’s obviously a good chance that you’ve seen all of the movies reviewed here and know whether you would jump all over this set or pass it by. For this, think of these reviews as more of a recap and my own personal opinion of these intense flicks that likely hold a great deal of nostalgia for many of us.

The “buddy cop” film genre was a staple of the 1980s when the likes of Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, and Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped on board to make these action-comedies, which, no doubt, helped propel them to superstardom.

There seems to be different interpretations as to what categorizes a film as a “buddy cop” movie. Typically, it’s an action-comedy with the improbable partnering of two cops, though at times one law enforcement officer paired with a civilian will suffice (because, hey, it’s just that much more “zany” that way). But there’s certain aspects we’ve come to expect from these movies: two polar opposites – who’ve somehow stepped out of line on the job – get vindictively matched up by their curmudgeony superior who wants to teach them a lesson and have them catch the bad guys in the process. If there’s only one cop (which, I personally don’t really consider to be a true buddy cop scenerio), that means he’ll be forced to seek assistance by someone who’s more a hindrance than a help (this is usually the “outrageous comedy” variety).

Of course, whoever the partners may be, they’re usually both stubborn, unyielding, and prefer to work alone, so they’ll immediately butt heads – that makes for good comedy (“whacky” even). But in the end, something like having a near death experience and mutually causing millions of dollars’ worth of collateral damage will bond the unlikely duo against the greater forces of evil and in the span of one movie, turn them from adversaries to life-long friends.

There’s been a slew of these films in the last few decades, most just a carbon copy of the next, so here’s a look at the Top 10 Buddy Cop Movies.