John "The Eraser" Kruger is the top gun in the US Marshall Witness Protection Program; he protects witnesses by erasing their pasts. His latest assignment is whistle-blower Dr. Lee Cullen, who has evidence that her employer, a major arms corporation, is entangled in a conspiracy involving a high-tech railgun, but there is danger lurking closer to home for Kruger, from within his own department.
| Tagline | He will erase your past to protect your future. |
| Release Date: | Jun 21, 1996 |
| Genres: | Action, Mystery, Thriller |
| Production Company: | Kopelson Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Production Countries: | Canada, United States of America |
| Casts: | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams, James Caan, James Coburn, Robert Pastorelli, James Cromwell, Danny Nucci, Andy Romano, Nick Chinlund, Michael Papajohn, Joe Viterelli |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $100000000 |
| Revenue: | 242295562 |
_**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.
