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you're luggage!

Arnie plays John Kruger, a government agent who helps people in trouble disappear for good, 'erasing' them from existence. basically this service is for people who are in a witness protection programme, and then disobey orders from the government and are spotted from the people they are trying to avoid.Vanessa Williams plays lee Cullen, a women who has been poached by the feds to get access to some new top of the range arsenal, that should not exist and could fall into the wrong hands.lee is uncovered and obviously it is only up to Arnie to save the day, but something is not right and john and lee soon find themselves at the centre of one of the biggest cover ups the government has ever done.this harks back to the Arnie of the late eighties, pure action one liners and tongue firmly in cheek. from the word go you know that this isn't the watered down Arnie we saw in last action hero and true lies (both good films though) but this is Arnie back in total recall mode.James caan hams it up too as the villain and he really is a sadistic one too. but he and Schwarzenegger have great chemistry and when they share the screen, the movie is solid gold.also Robert pastorelli provides some comic relief, and bounces off Schwarzenegger's deadpan delivering of his one liners.some of the set pieces are amazing the first set piece is good which sets up the story for Schwarzenegger's character and what he does, and also the final set piece in which Arnie uses the guns to their full effect against the bad guys. but the best one is the plane sequence with Arnie being faced with being smacked head on by a speeding plane!the only problem with the film is Vanessa Williams who at times is a little too wooden and never really seems to be in too much peril. plus the cgi is a little bad at times, this being an Arnie film, you would expect high quality (the crocs are the worst)but still, this movie proved that Arnie still had what it takes when it came to summer blockbusters and still knew how to push the right action buttons

The best action flick of 1996 that DOES have a meaningful plot.

You may think that Eraser is just another special-effects filled, common killing-spree, Schwarzenegger action-fest....you'd be right except for one other simple attribute....original story. I'm a great Schwarzenegger fan, and I like a good action bonanza, but this movie gave more than just that....a story that no other Hollywood flick has used before. Schwarzenegger plays US Marshal John Kruger, who is charged with erasing the lives and identities of Federal Witnesses entering the Witness Protection Program. He has to protect a woman (Vanessa Williams) who has witnessed illegal arms development in the company of which she is an executive. As you can guess, the company is after her blood, and Kruger has to make sure they don't. The hyper-velocity EMP rail gun is what really stunned me....a very cool gun indeed! From jumping out of a 737 AFTER his parachute to turning man-eating alligators into "luggage", Kruger puts on a show that not many action heroes can rival. Boasting some awesome action sequences, including a great final showdown on NYC docks with a whole arsenal of rail guns, Eraser really is a non-stop action bonanza....with a story. The technical aspects of Eraser are quite impressive too, with the movie being nominated for an Oscar in Sound Effects Editing. The visuals are extremely stimulating, making sure the audience is watching. Alan Silvestri's score is also very impressive...especially when Kruger escapes the airborne 737. I must say that this was the best action flick of 1996. We've been without Schwarzenegger's action movies for quite some time (his last being T2 in '91), and this one is a big and impressive welcome-back to the genre. For power-packed excitement, Eraser is unstoppable.

We're way beyond bullshit here.

With an Oscar nomination for sound effects an award for music, this is no B-movie. It is Schwarzenegger in one of his best film roles.He has a superb backup cast with Vanessa L. Williams, James Caan, and Robert Pastorelli.The excitement never stops with fantastic weaponry and a really great shootout in the zoo.Of course, you have to ignore the fact that Arnie manages to perform feats of magic with a shattered shoulder bone and an injured hand. He can do anything through the pain apparently.But the airplane scene makes it all worthwhile.More than a guilty pleasure, this is truly a movie worth watching over and over.

fair action-suspense film

arnold schwarzenegger could have been better. vanessa williams was just not good enough. i almost laughed at every scene she was in. i have seen better villains than james caan. the action was good enough to keep me watching it but the acting almost made me want to turn it off. i would give eraser 6 out of 10.

Pretty cool Schwarzenegger Movie!!!

I saw this at the show back when it came out and I really liked it. The special effects were good, and the story was good. I really like the guns that they had. I have this movie on DVD and it is really good on that format. This isn't arnie's best movie, but it is cool none the less. I recommend you to go see this, because I really enjoyed it,a nd I think that you will too. 9/10

Rail guns, stunts, computer security, man-and-woman--the flick has it all

The flick tells us about something that can be as scary than any large nuclear weapon--the electromagnetic assault gun. Specifically, it is the EM-1 rail gun.Vanessa Williams points out that this gun fires metal bullets by way of electromagnetic pulse at a rate of about 186,000 mph--about light speed.Film cameras also find another use of this gun....it uses heat-seeking technology that finds any human flesh. Once the technology finds the human flesh, the gun locks on to its target, making it easy to fire.Besides the fear created by the EM-1 gun, there were several other parts that I liked about the film. This--like other action films---are not complete without exciting stunts. The airplane scene is popular, when Arnold gets off a flying plane and catches the plane's emergency parachute while in the air, gets that parachute on, and finally pulls the rip cord to activate the main parachute.But you think it is over? There were more stunts I like, when the plane makes a very big bank around...and heads straight towards him! Arnold knows that and he pulls out his 9-milimeter Beretta to fire several shots at the plane; nevertheless, the plane still rams right into him with the parachute, ripping off the main parachute.Going down to imminent death at a speed of 120 mph, he also knows that the parachute apparatus has a back-up parachute to replace the one that was ripped off by the plane. He releases that chute at about 80 feet above ground, just before he hits his body very hard on a junkyard car at about 40-50 mph. The junkyard car's roof is crushed and its windows are broken from the impact (therefore the car absorbed some of the impact of him hitting the ground), saving the protagonist from what would have been death...and he lives another day.This definitely speaks of all of those James Bond movies.Or the zoo scene, which was slightly better, when all of those alligators first take out the enemy shooters who were after Vanessa, and then, when Arnold comes in, he faces off with one of the alligators that was about to bite his head off, but somehow, Arnold fires one 9-millimeter round to kill one of those voracious reptiles cold as the alligator opened its mouth wide. With that, this reminds me of all of the "Jaws" movies.

Praise for Arnold!!!

I'm so sick of seeing magazines and critics putting this movie down. They said it had no plot and was senseless. I guess critics forgot what a Arnold movie is supposed to be like. And most of those movies were big hits. All I have to say is that there was nothing wrong with his movie. It had great action scenes, a lot of laughs, and good villains. This was another underrated one from Arnold, just like, Jingle All the Way. I don't know if the critics are idiots but the movie wasn't supposed to be an oscar contender. It was made for the audiences to have fun. And I think a lot of moviefans forgot to have fun watching movies anymore. So what if it had bad acting and a bad script. All action movies do and thats why a lot of them become hits. Something this movie should've been. To me, Arnold is still the man. Al least he is trying different things (Jingle All the Way,
Junior, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, End of Days etc) Look at Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal. All they did was making action movie after action movie and now we don't see them in any movies anymore. Arnold may be a terrible actor but at least he does different things in his career.
Stallone should think about this too.

Witness protection never saw so many explosions...

Logic, my arch-nemesis. Thankfully, logic gets beaten to a bloody pulp in 'Eraser', an explosion filled showcase of Arnie goodness, in which dozens of bad guys and CGI crocodiles kick the oxygen habit. Awesome.Arnie plays John Kruger, a US federal marshal who puts the "Don't worry, we'll protect you, but it will involve several explosions" into the Witness Protection Program. Kruger is assigned to protect Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams), an employee of the Cyrex Corporation. Lee knows a bit too much about a conspiracy involving Cyrex, crooked government agents, and a hi-tech electro-magnetic pulse rail-gun that causes many an explosion. Can anyone say, awesome? Half of the plot is related to the showcase of explosion-causing super-weapons, another quarter is a standard action plot element involving a conspiracy and crooked agents, and the rest is Arnie delivering lines such as "You're luggage!" to crocodiles and whatnot. Standard action stuff really - predictable, with a host of two-dimensional characters. Then again, plot twists and character development take time away from the gun-fights and explosions...'Eraser' seems to be the last of a dying breed of 'Commando' style action flicks, where Arnie - or any other action-hero - can perform one man invasions of whole countries, and whatnot. Sure, that was going out with the 80s, but now look where we are: 'Charlie's Angels'. Nuff said. It may be a stretch to call 'Eraser' a modern action movie, but its still better than most American action movies now. Plenty of explosions, stunts, and gun fights, with no Cameron Diaz, no Keanu Reeves, and no rappers in sight! Now this is a good action movie.'Eraser' is a good Arnie flick, and perfect for fans of Arnie or action connoisseurs in general - 7/10

Very Poor, unsurprisingly from a man such as arnie!

I did not enjoy the film Eraser whatsoever. It's awful acting, boring storyline and average special effects made this an annoying arnie film, as it had a mountain of potential. With other action films of the time Eraser fell very short!!!

Just read my comments

Pretty entertaining, standard Schwartznegger film.I loved how the guns are supposed to fire bullets at "nearly the speed of light" and yet Arnold can still dodge them. I also didn't like the part with the alligator, it was too fake looking. I'd give this a 7 though, because the ending was cool.

Exciting action with Arnold

Chuck Russel's Eraser is exploding and intense action film starring Arnold Scwarzenegger as secret government officer, who "erases" people i.e. destroys their past in order to save their future. He gets to erase an important witness (Vanessa Williams) who knows about her company's illegal activities as it sells guns to foreigners. The film is full of action and mayhem, which is great since hardboiled action films are not made too often in Hollywood anymore.There are hardly any stops throughout the movie and the viewer should not be bored, at least I wasn't now that I watched the movie for the second time. It looks fantastic in its original widescreen format, and this is definitely among Arnold's more noteworthy performances and proves the talent of director Chuck (Scorpion King, Elm Street 3) Russell. There are many effects that look pretty realistic and the crocodile shoot out is one memorable scene, and maybe that is the screenwriters' comment on zoos' that don't feed their animals sufficiently as the crocodiles are VERY hungry and fierce for food! Also, there is one over the top airplane scene, that really grabs an attention. The actors are great throughout the film and James Caan doesn't make an exception. The finale is perhaps little too familiar and relies on gun fights and explosions, but still, as a whole, I found this film very pleasant experience in its own genre. It is not the greatest action film ever made in Hollywood, but it is one of the most interesting US action films of the 90's.7/10

Great Movie..

I missed this movie when shown on the big screen. I'm so glad they have them on DVD and I've got my copy to keep. Arnold is truly great!

A Well Made Action Film

Eraser shows that an action film can have some connection to real people and still be exciting. Schwarzenegger plays a special agent for the witness protection program. Vanessa Williams takes part in a botched FBI sting operation which results in her life being in great danger. The scenes that follow, gradually become more like a James Bond movie but never become absurd. For instance our heroes can be hurt badly which creates a sense of danger. Also, there was something that is often lacking in an action film, suspense, such as when they access a high security computer. As for the few humorous moments, they are never allowed to overpower Eraser's gritty mood. For these reasons, this is a Schwarzenegger film I would recommend to someone who does not usually like his movies. The film makers including, director Chuck Russell, do a good job in building the story naturally to well shot action scenes. Vanessa Williams, James Caan and James Coburn are effective. Schwarzenegger's physical acting is pretty good while his accent continues to be difficult to understand. There is humor from Mafia types being used to help our hero which feels natural and lightens things up a bit. The special effects showing an energy weapon were interesting in a sci-fi sort of way.The national security conspiracy story with the big bang ending is pretty basic with a few plot twists. There is no romance like in The Bodyguard which might have given the film more depth. Some action fans may be disappointed that Eraser wasn't more outrageous but this is why I liked it better than True Lies. Eraser has real characters in real world situations but still had plenty of excitement and for that alone I would recommend it.

Eraser is one of of Arnold's best action films.

Eraser is Arnold's action spectuclar in years scene The terminator, Total Recall, Terminator 2: Judgement day and True lies. the story is about US Witsec officer John Kreuger (Arnold Schwarzengger) who protects, and takes out the ID's of federal witness's where he is recruited to protect witness Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams) who is trying to get evidence about a weapons company selling new deadly guns, where Lee is a target of the company's renegades, where John plans on helping her, as his Witsec friend Robert (James Cann ) is invovled with them as John goes to put a stop to the madness. The film features very good special effects featuring Arnold firing EM rail guns, beging attack by crocodiles and sky diving out of a plane, if your a Arnie fan buy this right now or rent it in you nearest video store END

Who's the tree trunk?

By this point in Arnold's career he had long since surpassed the low-budget, bad action movie phase, although there are certainly some elements of that phase that he never quite left behind. Eraser is a polished, fast-paced action film that reminds me of some of the highlights of Michael Bay's or Jerry Bruckheimer's careers. Maybe Eraser isn't THAT big, but it's definitely that GOOD. It's a smart return to what Arnold does best, run around with a massive gun in each hand and blow stuff up. It's little more than a high-octane action film, but it's a smart one and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Arnold plays John Kruger, a U.S. Marshal who works for the witness protection program in the capacity of erasing peoples' pasts in order to give them a safe future. Here he is charged with the assignment of Lee Cullens, played remarkably well by Vanessa Williams, a government agent who has come forward with information about shockingly high-tech hand-held weapons being readied for sale to the Russian mafia. If you apply logic or reason to the film, as is to be expected, it falls apart completely. Arnold sustains pretty serious injuries throughout the film which later have no effect on his ability to wrestle alligators or hold Vanessa Williams with one hand, keeping her from falling, and there's really no reason to go into the logistics of a hand-held weapon that can launch any kind of projectiles at "just below the speed of light." There are a lot of movies where these kind of logistical liberties cause a real problem for the movie, but I think Eraser stands well enough on it's own as pure popcorn fun. One of the things that was not left behind with the bad action movies, however, was the cheesy one-liners. They never worked for James Bond and they rarely worked for Arnold either (I can think of a few that were good though, like "I let him go"), so I could have certainly done without "You're luggage," or, even worse, "They caught a train." But hey, a few x-ray super-weapon shooting scenes will help you forget about all that....

Average Action Movie

Average action movie that could have been better if it had a better screenplay and better CGI special effects.The movie was probably rushed during it's filming.Too bad because the acting,story and cast was good.Some ill adviced scene sequences that should have been reshot like the first few scenes showing Arnie doing the ERASURE procedures (very sloppy) and later on the very cartoonish hungry reptiles at the city Zoo (cheap CGI).The seriousness of the storyline also degrades toward the last 30 minutes of the movie.Only for big action movie fans and fans of the lead actors......

Really excellent action-thriller! 2 Thumbs up!

Austrian accented "Terminator" actor Arnold Schwarzenegger hits another home run in his career in the 1996 action thriller entitled "Eraser" and let me tell you, this movie is truly unsettling and not to mention will make you angry as such acts could in fact happen in real life as we know it although the items are a bit far-fetched with today's technologies.

A special agent U.S. Marshall named John Kruger works for the Witness Protection Agency, an organization that takes witnesses of major crimes away, wipe out their identities, in order to shelter them from potential criminals who aim to kill those who witness their crimes. His latest mission is to protect a worker named Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams) who works for a corporation named Cyrez that produces top secret weapons but a massive scandal is brewing and Lee discovers what's really going on and aims to expose the scam to the FBI. However, high level government marshals who are crooks themselves aim to kill Lee and Kruger to attempt to stop the truth from coming out. The Cyrez corporation, under the leadership of a corrupt CEO, is involved in an illegal arms deal with a Russian Mafia hitman who has had a history of murder and terrorist acts against civilians. The arms deal involves trading extremely advanced weapons that don't use any conventional ammunition and instead use magnetic pulses to fire rounds of aluminum at nearly the speed of light and if the arms trade succeed it will bring forth a horrific new era of high-tech terrorism worldwide and John Kruger must stop the arms shipment before it's too late while also protecting lee from corrupt high-ranking officials participating the scam.

If Lee Cullen and John Kruger are killed, then the FBI will lose any leads and/or evidence to bring the Cyrez officials to trial and to expose the scandal to the public.

This movie sometimes makes me angry not because it is bad because it is a really great movie but it's the whole concept of high-ranking government officials actually being a part of the problem than as the people trying to fight the criminals committing these crimes. I sometimes wonder how one can be able to fight such acts of capitalist greed even if they're totally fictional events.

The special effects while limited are really well done especially with the way the bullets create those smoke trails when speed through the air at speeds nearly that of light plus the action sequences are really awesome especially towards the climax.

The high-tech weapons are really terrifying with not only the light-speed ammunition but also how they seemingly can scan through buildings and make out movements all around the immediate vicinity. One can't help but feel really paranoid when viewing the scenes where they scan the area when seeking their targets.

Once again Arnold Schwarzenegger hits another home run right out of the ballpart playing the U.S. Marshall John Kruger. Arnold's action sequences are once again in top form as he fights against the crooks aiming to eliminate both Kruger and Lee. If you loves his "I'll Be Back" and/or "You've just been terminated" lines from the "Terminator" movies, then he comes up with another brilliant line which is "You've just been erased". God I love it. Vanessa Williams is also very good playing Lee Cullen as she tries to escape the assassins pursuit of her while trying to deliver the evidence of the crime to the FBI. In all honesty, Vanessa is far better when she's acting in movies and singing and releasing albums as opposed to wasting her time on these numerous bland commercials and infomercials!!

My favorite though of the main characters was Star Trek actor James Caan. Man, his portrayal of the traitorous agent Degeurin is absolutely terrifying and truly vivid and brings the horrifically callous nature of the corrupt agent to `life' on the movie. I just can't help but feel really sometimes ticked off at Deguerin because of his horrific acts against the country!

Other favorites are the late Joe Pastorelli as Johnny C. along with his mob crime family and some of the characters are really funny especially Johnny C. It's really sad that Pastorelli departed us so soon. :-(

This movie is really very well done and delivers incredible action sequences, not to mention an original plot idea. The DVD as of this writing offers little of anything in the way of bonus material but is a grand improvement on the VHS.

Excellent film that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat and blow you away

If you ask me, ERASER is an excellent film that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat and blow you away. Deguerin (James Caan) kind of gave me the creeps. You'll understand why once you've seen this movie. In my opinion, the performances were top grade, the direction was superior, the costumes were perfectly designed, and the cast was perfectly chosen. Also, the soundtrack is really good, too. Before I wrap this up, I must warn you that this movie is very violent if you're going to see it, so viewer discretion is strongly advised. Now, in conclusion, if you like Arnold Schwarzenegger films or the music of Vanessa Williams, I highly recommend this movie. It's sure to keep you guessing from start to finish.

Very good transfer

This review is simply for the Blu-Ray quality, which is very good. I'm glad I bought this as I like the movie.

Action packed fun for the masses!

This movie is awesome!!! Starring Ahnold as an adventurous U.S. Marshall he is assigned to protect a female witness to an illegal arms deal between a U.S. business and Russian mafia terrorists and the witness and Ahnold are the targets for assassination by the corrupt federal marshalls taking part in the arms deal. The arms shoot rounds of aluminum near the speed of light. California's governor once again hits another home run with awesome acting and incredible special effects. Go and see this movie today!!!