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Eraser, 1996. Directed by Charles (Chuck) Russell. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams, James Caan.

A case of deja-vu all over again. This Schwarzenegger epic has almost exactly the same plot as Mission: Impossible (overlooking certain elements like the fact that Schwarzenegger is a high concept unto himself). True, director Chuck Russell doesn't have Brian De Palma's finesse, but he doesn't need it--he's learned the Don Siegel lesson of assembling his set pieces, getting them on film, and getting the hell out of the way. The direction here is neutral, minimalist even, which is as it should be in an Arnold movie. The plot here finds Witness Protector Arnold guarding witness Vanessa Williams, getting double-crossed by his superiors, breaking into an impenetrable vault to get the evidence he needs to clear himself, and foiling the plans of nefarious arms-dealing terrorists. Eraser is a whole lot loopier than all that, though, 'cause the arms in question are a kind of super gauss gun, the bad guys get eaten by crocodiles, and Arnold enters a drag bar for the first time since Raw Deal. It features, also, two separate and distinct varieties of refrigerator-door fu, which is, of course, a cinematic first.