We all know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is. He is one of the most recognizable faces in the world and even if you weren't looking for it, you have almost certainly seen a few of his movies.
His recent fiction series on Netflix called Fubar is awful. I've already made my opinion about that turd of a series very clear and even though I like and admire Arnold, I am not going to pretend to enjoy something that is bad just because I like the person in it.
It's really bad and there is no reason to watch it. On the other side of things though, Netflix released this documentary series called *Arnold" just a few days after Fubar was released, and it is an excellent look in the life of this extraordinary man.
The series is a 3-parter, and each of the sections focuses on a different aspect of his life. Part 1 focuses on bodybuilding, part 2 focuses on his acting career, and part 3 focuses on his political career as well as some less-than-flattering controversies in his personal life.
I like that the documentary is very honest and even shows big ol' Arnie in sometimes very vulnerable situations where he expresses deep regret over some of the larger mistakes that he made in his life including his separation from Maria Shriver after 25 years of marriage.
It's done extremely well and shows a lot of the the highs and lows in Arnold's life. It is part interview and part editing together of old footage as well as new and I think that even for people that are already quite familiar with Arnold's life, it is going to be a fun trip down memory lane. I for one was not terribly familiar with his bodybuilding career and how it got started, so that part of it was particularly informative for me. One thing I did notice was that at no point in time is Lou Ferrigno so much as even referred to, so I think there must be legal reasons for this. I do know that Lou and Arnold were basically pals and roommates during the start of their careers, so I think there must have been some sort of massive falling out to the point where they don't even speak anymore. That's something to look up later I guess.
Although they are never in the same room and perhaps there is some sort of long-standing animosity between them as well, Sylvester Stallone is frequently featured to talk about the rivalry that the two of them had back in the 80s and 90s.
One thing that was a bit tragic was seeing how old Arnold has become. There are times during the documentary that you can see that Arnold is coming to terms with his own mortality and even though he works out still, he admits that he is very disappointed in his own body. I think that is something that world-class bodybuilders all go through as they get older.
Should I watch it?
It's loaded with information that you might have ever known and it shows a side of Arnold's life that you might not be familiar with because at least until he ran for public office, Arnold's public persona was carefully managed by publicists and agents just like any celebrity's is, therefore, I found it to be very informative and fun. It was also a fun trip down memory lane for a lot of wonderful films that I had nearly forgotten about and because of it I have downloaded Conan the Barbarian (1982, not the horrible remake) as well as the original Terminator film.
I challenge you to watch this and not want to do exactly the same thing afterwards. I bet you will want to.
This documentary might have helped to salvage the train wreck that is Fubar and is one of the better documentaries available on Netflix at the moment.