The Only Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie That Has A Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
Arnold Schwarzenegger has accomplished a fair bit in his life. The man came over from Austria having served in the army, claimed the Mr. Olympia title a full seven times, then launched one of the most successful Hollywood careers in the history of the industry, before becoming governor of California and finding time to marry a Kennedy in the process. But surely what he's really concerned with are his Rotten Tomato scores.
Having recently starred in his own Netflix series, "FUBAR," recounted his remarkable life in the streamer's "Arnold" documentary, and whipped Jake from State Farm into shape for a Super Bowl commercial, the Austrian Oak is now gearing up for his Christmas comedy with "Reacher" star Alan Ritchson. But between all this stuff, you've got to imagine that Arnie was eager to hurry back to his trailer and pore over the pages of RT, desperately scouring for the latest updates to his movie's scores and recording everything in his own personal database for future reference.
Unfortunately, during his RT research, the Governator would have been quickly reminded that his career hasn't been all hits. Take the absolutely abysmal "Terminator: Dark Fate," for instance, which featured a truly baffling storyline that saw Schwarzenegger play a suburban dad Terminator with a drape-fitting business. A quick glance at an RT ranking page for Schwarzenegger movies reveals a fair few flops, in fact, with something called "End of Days" coming in last with an 11% rating (1979's "The Villain" has 0% but no Top Critic reviews).
Happily, though, this page does reveal that Schwarzenegger has yet another accomplishment to add to his impressive list: a perfect RT score.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's one 'perfect' movie
"Dark Fate," the sixth movie in the "Terminator" franchise failed to get the saga back on track, but that's ok because we'll always have James Cameron's seminal "The Terminator" (1984) and "Terminator 2" (1991). As "Terminator" movies go, I'd put the sequel above the original, but I am just one movie fan and can't hope to compete with the juggernaut that is Rotten Tomatoes, which has evidently placed Cameron's original film at the top of the list. Not only that, "The Terminator" is one of only two science fiction films in history to earn a perfect 100% RT score. That also makes it the only movie Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever appeared in to earn a perfect ranking on RT.
This comes in the wake of the revelation that there are also only two perfect horror movies in film history. Which is to say that the Rotten Tomatoes system isn't quite as important as we sometimes give it credit for. These lists that summarize RT scores are, at least, instructive in the sense that they highlight the triviality of the system itself. If you're going to pick a perfect Arnie movie, you could do a lot worse than "The Terminator," but there are numerous other entries in the man's filmography that are arguably as worthy of the designation. "Terminator 2," for one, is quite clearly an improvement on the original (though this is all subjective), but there's everything from "Commando" to "Predator" and "Total Recall" that could equally claim to have outdone James Cameron's original sci-fi slasher.
Don't pay too much attention to The Terminator's perfect RT score
"The Terminator" currently has 70 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus reading, "With its impressive action sequences, taut economic direction, and relentlessly fast pace, it's clear why The Terminator continues to be an influence on sci-fi and action flicks." That's a fair assessment of a film which isn't undeserving of a perfect RT score. But it is worth bearing in mind that the Tomatometer isn't immune to manipulation.
Back in 2018 there was something shady about the reviews for John Travolta's passion project "Gotti" and a big Rotten Tomatoes hacking scandal has come to light since, whereby a PR firm manipulated the site's scores for years. It's also worth noting that the site is owned by Comcast, the parent company of Universal Pictures, and that Warner Bros. has a stake in the company. That isn't to say these studios have any sway over the hallowed Tomatometer, but it does seem like a relevant conflict of interest.
That said, it's a bit of fun to see which of Arnie's films have come out on top in an overall ranking, and for the most part the RT list seems to reflect the general consensus. Though, anyone who grew up with "Kindergarten Cop" or "Jingle All the Way" will be dismayed to see those films' current rankings. Let's hope the forthcoming Arnold Schwarzenegger/Alan Ritchson team-up "The Man With The Bag" fares better than those beloved classics and gives Arnie a pick-me-up the next time he fires up RT to check his scores.