Arnold Schwarzenegger's Best Roles

He promised to be back, and with this month’s release of 'Terminator Genisys,' Arnold Schwarzenegger makes good on that threat. Now that the former governor is revisiting old movies, it seems as good a time as ever to do some revisiting ourselves by remembering the very best roles of his illustrious career.

This is probably the movie most people first remember Arnold appearing in. Conan isn’t the smartest guy in the world, but he’s super good at killing people, making him a perfect character to break Arnold into the public consciousness.

The only better role for young Arnold than a dim barbarian was, of course, an inexpressive cyborg. Joke about Schwarzenegger’s limited range all you want—he absolutely nailed it and delivered an instantly iconic character we still love to this day.

Perhaps the peak example of 1980s action, ‘Commando’ introduced the world to John Matrix, a guy you absolutely don’t want to mess with. Arnold takes out an entire island of bad guys in this one, solidifying his stance as an action icon for the ages.

Schwarzenegger’s performance in this excellent alien-infused action fest is pretty standard until the third act, in which he must go mano a mano with a vastly superior enemy. It’s mostly silent acting, but Arnold sells every bit of it.

In 1988, the only thing more ridiculous than the idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger doing comedy was the idea that he’d be in a movie as Danny DeVito’s twin brother. Thanks to Arnold’s dedication to the premise and his natural goofiness in general, this bold career move ended up being a total slam-dunk.

Arnold does double duty in this one, playing both the hero and one of the villains. Not only is it rare to see Arnold play an evil character, but this is also the only movie in which you get to see his eyeballs pop out of his head like a cartoon character.

It’s not a tumor -- it’s a gigantic Austrian trying to control a room of kindergarteners. This is absolute comedy gold, and only someone like Arnold could have pulled it off with this much hilarious success.

Arguably Schwarzenegger’s most iconic and famous role. If you know him from just one movie, this is probably it. Robotic, strong, yet still somehow heartfelt and heroic, this is Arnold in peak form.

After helping build the template for modern action, Schwarzenegger burns it all down with this clever parody of action tropes. Even if there weren’t tons of moments to enjoy, it’d all be worth it for the sight of Schwarzenegger playing Hamlet.

Schwarzenegger has always been great, but this is the first film that really stretches his dramatic chops as an actor. And while the film – about an ex-cop who’s tasked with stopping Satan from finding a bride in New York City – is a tad strange, Arnold goes with it and nails the role.

Though it’s primarily Sylvester Stallone’s movie, Schwarzenegger absolutely steals the show with a lively and excitable supporting role. Seeing him scream in German is a pleasure we had to wait way too long for.

After all these years of action films, it took until 2014 for Arnold to make his most violent film yet. On top of all the gore on display, Schwarzenegger plays one of his darkest and most tortured characters ever. A must-see for any self-proclaimed fan.