Arnold Schwarzenegger movies have dominated the scene of action films so much that he is among the greatest that the action movie world has seen. It is because of this that he has come to be known by the many names of the characters he has portrayed including Terminator, Conan, Arnie, and the Governator, among many others.
Also a politician and former bodybuilder, he is a Golden Globe winner whose acting career began in the late 1960s. Here is a ranking of his movies based solely on the Box Office records.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies Ranked (Filmography)
1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Box Office: $520,881,154
Arnold takes the role of The Terminator as he did in the first film of the franchise in which he was sent back to the past to kill Sarah Connor. This time around, his job is to keep her alive.
2. Terminator Genisys (2015)
Box office: $440,603,537
Terminator assassin is after Sarah Connor. Her son who is now in the future, John Connor, sends Kyle Reese a sergeant with the human resistance to protect her so as to safeguard the future. Sarah has a guardian, Arnold who is a terminator and has taught her to fight. The future must be reset following an alteration in the timeline.
3. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Box Office: $433,371,112
In this film which was directed by Jonathan Mostow, a highly advanced robotic assassin is on the hunt for Connor (Nick Stahl) and the woman who would later be his wife, Kate Brewster (Danes). The Terminator comes back to the past to protect them.
4. True Lies (1994)
Box Office: $378,882,411
This time around Schwarzenegger portrays Harry Tasker in this action comedy film. He has made his family think he is into the selling of computers when in the actual sense, he works for the US government as a spy. Now, things have gone a little messy.
5. The Expendables 2
Box office: $315 million
Arnold Schwarzenegger features alongside some of the finest in action movie stars including Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Jason Statham. It tells the story of a mercenary after a mission seeks to revenge the death of one of its own in the hands of another mercenary.
6. The Expendables (2010)
Box Office: $274,470 million
In this movie, Arnold only made a cameo appearance as at the time, he was the governor of California. The movie is about a team of mercenaries hired by a CIA operative to take out a Latin dictator and a CIA agent that has turned renegade.
7. Total Recall (1990)
Box Office: $261 million
Set in 2048, Schwarzenegger plays alongside Sharon Stone who plays his wife. Arnold takes the role of Douglas Quaid who decides to have a memory of a vacation out of space implanted in his head. It doesn’t seem like a vacation anymore as he has serious battles to face.
8. Batman and Robin (1997)
Box Office: $238 million
In this superhero film, Arnold plays the role of Mr. Freeze who together with Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) wants to poison and freeze Gotham. However, before they can achieve that, they have to first battle Batman and Robin who are all about saving humanity.
9. Twins (1988)
Box Office: $216 million
Arnold who stars alongside Danny DeVito (Vincent Benedict) portrays Julius Benedict, the twin brother of DeVito. The two men have been created from a genetic experiment and raised separately. Now, they are looking to find their mother.
10. Kindergarten Cop (1990)
Box Office: $201 million
Playing the role of a cop, John Kimble, Arnold poses as a kindergarten teacher so as to get information on a drug lord in order to get him apprehended.
11. The Expendables 3 (2014)
Box Office: $214,657
This movie brings together some of the best in action movies including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, and Harrison Ford. It builds on the previous films in the Expendables franchise.
12. End of Days (1999)
Box Office: $211,989,043
The devil is in town ahead of the end of days. He is looking to mate a chosen woman, Christine York (Robin Tunney) but one person that has found himself up to stop Satan and his forces is Jericho Cane, an ex-cop, portrayed by Arnold.
13. Maggie (2015)
Box Office: $187,112
In this movie, Arnold is out to save his daughter (Abigail Breslin) who has been turned into a Zombie by a virus. He is going to move every mountain that stands on his way in his effort to save her.
14. Escape Plan (2013)
Box Office: $137,328 million
Yet another of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies to feature Sylvester Stallone, the latter Ray Breslin is stuck in one of the most difficult prisons one would find himself as infiltrates and tries to go out. Now, he has to come up with an escape plan with the help of Arnold who portrays Emil Rottmayer. With everything set, there is the warden Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) who is in their way.
15. Last Action Hero (1993)
Box Office: $137,298,489
Thanks to a magic ticket, a kid who loves movies finds himself in a fictional world where he meets his hero, Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Unfortunately, the evil Benedict (Charles Dance) gets the ticket and comes to real-life from the fictional world. Slater and Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien) have to come after him in order to stop him.
16. Jingle All The Way
Box Office: $129,832,389
Howard Langston played by Arnold is set to get his son the best toy of the season, as well as his wife. The problem is that time is running out and he is not the only one who has the goal in mind as he meets someone else who wants the same thing.
17. Junior (1994)
Box Office: $108,431,355
Arnold (Dr. Alex) becomes the first pregnant man after an embryo is implanted into him to test a drug for expectant women created by his colleague. He is expected to only carry the pregnancy for three months but somehow, things go another way.
18. Eraser (1996)
Box Office: $100 million
Arnold portrays the Eraser, John Kruger who works as a U.S Marshall. His role is simply to fake the deaths of federal witnesses and erase their identities. His duty now is to keep Lee Cullen, portrayed by Vanessa Williams, safe from her employees at Cyrez Corporation who are selling top-secret weapons to terrorists.
19. Predator (1987)
Box Office: $98 million
Taking the role of a soldier of fortune called Dutch, Arnold and his team are on a rescue mission in Guatemala. Now, they are there and they realize there are strings of dead bodies and a monster is on the loose trying to add them to the pile.
20. The 6th Day (2010)
Box Office: $96,085,477
This movie is set in a time when cloning has become widespread enough for people to clone their pets and other creatures. However, it is illegal to clone humans. However, Adam Gibson played by Schwarzenegger returns home one day to find he has been cloned. Now, he has to fight to save himself and expose the grand conspiracy hatched by a billionaire.
21. The Terminator (1984)
Box Office: $78,371,200
This is the movie that first comes to mind when you talk about Arnold. Released more than three decades ago, he plays the role of The Terminator who is sent to kill a pregnant woman, Sarah Connor who will give birth to the leader of the resistant army.
22. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Box Office: $68 million
Arnold portrays a young boy named Conan whose who has lost his parents after the invasion of Thulsa Doom, a sorcerer, and warlord. Thulsa also destroys the entire tribe of Conan who is now a slave. He is now a free-grown man who still has anger in his mind and wants to have his vengeance.
23. Commando (1985)
Box Office: $57,491,000
In one of the most popular Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, he plays the role of John Matrix, a retired Special Forces soldier whose daughter is kidnapped. He will stop at nothing to get her back and bring down Arius (Dan Hedaya) who is behind the kidnap in order to make matrix help him back to power in Latin America.
24. The Last Stand
Box Office: $48,330,757
A former LAPD officer, all that Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) hopes to do is to have a peaceful and quiet life. However, there is a problem as a crime lord has escaped from FBI custody and is moving with a heavy mercenary towards Sommerton Junction in an effort to escape. Being the sheriff of the quiet border town, Ray has got his men together to stop the escapee.
25. The Running Man (1987)
Box Office: $38,122,105 (Domestic)
In this movie which is set in 2019, America has become a totalitarian state. The Running Man is the best TV program that people watch. It is a game show that has prisoners made to run for their lives or face a brutal death. Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) finds himself imprisoned by the government and he will stop at nothing to run for his life even as the host of the deadly game show wants to stand in his way.
26. Red Heat (1988)
Box Office: $34,994,648 (Domestic)
Viktor Rostavili (Ed O’Ross), a dangerous drug kingpin flees to Chicago from Russia for his crimes. He is also the killer of the partner of a no-nonsense Russian militia captain Captain Ivan Danko portrayed by Arnold who now finds himself working with a detective Art Ridzik (James Belushi) on the case.
27. Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Box Office: $31,042,035
In this Conan movie, Arnold must protect Princess Jehnna (Olivia d’Abo) who Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) seeks to destroy after deceiving Conan. His big obstacle is the deception that lies ahead.
28. Sabotage (2014)
Box Office: $17,508 million
This time around, Breacher portrayed by Arnold, is leading an elite DEA team on an onslaught against one of the biggest drug cartels in the world, he is leading the team to carry out a raid on one of the cartel’s safe houses.
29. Raw Deal (1986)
Box Office: $16,209,459
Arnold is a disgraced FBI agent, Mark Kaminsky, who is hired to find a mole in the agency after efforts to have Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker) who is a mob boss prosecuted, keeps derailing. Faking his death, Kaminsky now comes as Brenner, an ex-convict whose job is to find the mole. He is not only undercover, but he is also accountable to only himself.
30. Red Sonja (1985)
Box Office: $6,948,633 (Domestic)
Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen) faces the tragedy of the loss of her family and she is now on a revenge mission against Queen Gedren of Berkubane and her soldiers. Although Sonja believes she can do it all on her own, Lord Kalidor played by Arnold Schwarzenegger has insisted on accompanying her and she accepts after he wins her respect.
Cameo and Minor Roles
Apart from The Expendables, Schwarzenegger has made some cameo appearances. Some other Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies include Around the World in 80 Days (2004), The Long Goodbye (1973), and Terminator Salvation (2009). More so, he has also taken some minor roles in films like The Villain (1979), Pumping Iron (1977), Stay Hungry (1976), and Hercules in New York (1970).
