Eraser (1996)

_**Competent action flick with Arnie is moronic and forgettable**_

A US marshal and witness protection specialist (Schwarzenegger) “erases” the identities of people he’s assigned to protect, including a woman (Vanessa Williams) who has damning evidence against a high-tech weapons corporation. Meanwhile the marshal becomes suspicious of some of his coworkers. James Caan and Robert Pastorelli are on hand.

"Eraser" (1996) is a proficient Schwarzenegger action thriller; Vanessa is beautiful, Pastorelli is amusing and Caan is effective. There’s a thrilling skydiving scene and a well-done zoo sequence with crocagators. Unfortunately, the opening act failed to really pull me in with its convoluted storytelling and the ‘final battle’ sequence is dull and eye-rolling. Both Siskel & Ebert surprisingly gave this a ‘thumbs up.’ God knows why.

The film runs 1 hour, 55 minutes and was shot in Southern Cal, New York City, New Jersey, DC, Maryland and New Brunswick, Canada.

GRADE: C+

It's been a while since I last saw this one and while I've always found it fairly entertaining it's certainly in that mid-range amongst Arnold's filmography. The concept was fun and the action well done though some parts just didn't quite fit (like the alligator sequence, felt like part of a horror movie) and Vanessa Williams, as beautiful as she was, had zero personality; wish her character wasn't just somebody trying to do the "right thing". James Caan seemed to be having a good time and I always liked seeing James Coburn show up even in these smaller roles. **3.5/5**

I actually think this would make for a fun TV series. Bring in Schwarzenegger for an appearance or two and cast someone like Scott Eastwood to lead. Oh, and yes I did see that Eraser: Reborn. It sucked.

As a side, you can see some similarities to Mission Impossible which came out a month before.