Eraser

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Eraser

R

Released Jun 21, 1996

1h 55m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

43%

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56 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

John "The Eraser" Kruger is the top gun in the US Marshall Witness Protection scheme; he erases their past and deals with their future. His latest assignment is whistle-blower Dr. Lee Cullen, who has evidence against a major arms corporation that's selling weapons to terrorists with the collusion of rogue enemy agents within, but there is danger nearer home for Kruger, from within his own department.

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Critics Consensus

Eraser's shoot-'em-up action might show off some cutting edge weaponry, but its rote story is embarrassingly obsolete.

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Joe Morgenstern

Wall Street Journal

Tree trunk he may be, but Mr. Schwarzenegger has grown new branches with green leaves in this smart action thriller, directed with panache by Charles Russell and written crisply by Tony Puryear and Walon Green.

Jul 19, 2023

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

A few of the set pieces are fussy or overly extended, but the rest is tolerable bone-crunching diversion.

Jun 14, 2022

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Anne Billson

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The stunts, even show-stopping ones such as our man throwing himself out of a plane without a parachute and landing on a car without sustaining injury, have an air of desperation about them.

Nov 27, 2017

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Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

Most of Eraser consists of Schwarzenegger and Williams dodging bullets and bad guys, but director Chuck Russell doesn't put much effort into the action scenes: He simply points the camera and shoots.

Rated: 2/5

Jan 2, 2024

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

I think Eraser (1996), directed by Chuck Russell and co-starring James Caan and Vanessa Williams, is the first large-scale Schwarzenegger film that nobody cared about.

Rated: 4/10

Dec 19, 2023

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...delivers exactly what one might’ve anticipated (and hoped for) based on the premise.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 17, 2022

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Ryan H

Probably Arnold’s last great 90s action film. Full of classic one-liners and action, ERASER is Prime Arnold!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/20/25

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thiago s

Filme bacaninha, o roteiro é mais ou menos, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é mais ou menos, e poucos ajudam a melhorar o filme, a história é mais ou menos, mas o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e mais relevantes

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/29/25

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AJ C

The special effects of the rail guns are still good to this day and the practical stunts will always stand the test of time. For some reason though they decided Arnold should do martial arts and his stunt double is noticeably a much smaller leaner person. I know this is probably to keep up with trends of the time like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and JCVD but no one is going to believe that a massive bodybuilder like Schwarzenegger is capable of performing some of the kicks that his character executes. I know action movies are supposed to be larger than life spectacle but I did find this aspect distracting and unnecessary. James Caan played a hard ass to perfection as always. Vanessa Willaims was a competent female side character who was at least written to be some what intelligent and brave.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/17/25

Full Review

Jerod S

Arnold can't help but Termniator up a movie no matter what role he plays. What starts off as a decently good FBI coverup plan soon turns into weird electronic guns and Arnold's biceps.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/28/24

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Christopher J

an ok action flick but its a little boring

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/17/24

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Jonathan O

Eraser felt like a parody of Commando and T2 the alligator attack scene looks cgi and the story is so silly but is really a good bad movie to watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/24

Full Review

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Chuck Russell

Director

Arnold Schwarzenegger

John "The Eraser" Kruger

James Caan

Robert Deguerin

Vanessa Williams

Lee Cullen

James Coburn

Chief Beller

Robert Pastorelli

Johnny Castelone

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Synopsis

John "The Eraser" Kruger is the top gun in the US Marshall Witness Protection scheme; he erases their past and deals with their future. His latest assignment is whistle-blower Dr. Lee Cullen, who has evidence against a major arms corporation that's selling weapons to terrorists with the collusion of rogue enemy agents within, but there is danger nearer home for Kruger, from within his own department.

Director: Chuck Russell
Producer: Arnold Kopelson, Anne Kopelson
Screenwriter: Walon Green, Walon Green, Tony Puryear
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros., Kopelson Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $101.3M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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