--- title: "Eraser" year: 1996 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/eraser" fi1m_id: "eraser" imdb_id: "tt0116213" tmdb_id: 9268 wikidata_id: "Q370326" fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 53 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-10-05T00:19:54.238760+00:00" updated: "2026-10-05T00:19:55.002097+00:00" region: "IN" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Eraser (1996) Directed by Chuck Russell · 1h 55m · Action, Mystery, Thriller ## Identity Eraser - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/eraser - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** eraser - **IMDb ID:** tt0116213 - **TMDB ID:** 9268 - **Wikidata ID:** Q370326 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116213/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9268, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q370326 **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 53 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Arnold shoots down a jet with a pistol while falling out of it, and the film treats this as a Tuesday > Chuck Russell’s thriller has two set pieces anyone would remember, a plane and a pair of rifles that see through walls, and a plot with more holes than the agency it is about. Loud, cheerful, James Caan having a fine time; not quite enough in between. ## Synopsis The Eraser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) works for the Witness Protection Program in New York, and his job is to make people vanish. He pulls mob informant Johnny C (Robert Pastorelli) out of a house full of hitmen and stages his death. His next witness is Lee (Vanessa Williams), who works for Cyrez, a defence contractor, and has copied a disc proving the company means to sell a new weapon abroad: a rail gun that fires at close to the speed of light and sees through walls. Her superior Donahue (James Cromwell) finds out what she has done. The Eraser’s mentor DeGuerin (James Caan) and Chief Beller (James Coburn) run the operation, and somebody inside it is passing information on. When the attempt on Lee comes, the Eraser decides to trust nobody. ## Review Chuck Russell made [*The Mask*](https://film.one/film/the-mask) two years before this, and *Eraser* is the same job: a star with one enormous trick, a lot of things for him to break, and a director whose business is to keep the breaking pointed in the right direction. The star is Arnold Schwarzenegger, playing a US Marshal in the Witness Protection Program whose speciality is making people disappear. It is a loud, cheerful, competently built piece of mid-nineties action with two sequences we would show anyone, and between them a plot that cannot keep its own secrets. The first is the plane. The Eraser jumps out of a jet with a parachute and no plan, and the jet turns round to come back for him. Adam Greenberg shoots the fall in hard daylight with the horizon tipped over, so the aeroplane fills the frame before we have worked out where it came from, and Michael Tronick cuts the pistol, the engine and the ripcord into one line we could follow at speed. Alan Silvestri’s score keeps out of the way of the engine noise. It is not possible, it does not look possible, and it works; we sat forward and forgot to be sceptical. The second is the weapon everyone is chasing. Lee (Vanessa Williams) works at a defence contractor called Cyrez and has copied the specifications of a rail gun, a rifle that fires at close to the speed of light and comes with a scope that shows the men behind a wall as green skeletons with beating hearts. Bill Kenney’s production design gives the things weight: long, matte, ugly objects that take two hands to lift, and when a squad of them is turned on a house the house comes apart in a way we had not seen before. The red pulse inside a green ribcage is the image the film is remembered for, and it deserves to be. James Caan plays DeGuerin, the Eraser’s mentor in the Program, as a man who has done this long enough to find it funny, and he is the most alive person on screen. He needles the younger marshals and delivers Walon Green and Tony Puryear’s gruffer lines as if he has heard them before and still likes them. Robert Pastorelli, as the mob witness Johnny C, carries the comic strand with more timing than the writing supplies. James Coburn turns up as Beller to be tall and disappointed in everyone. Williams has the harder time: Lee is written as the thing to be protected, and the script hands her a disc, a frightened employer and a good deal of running. She is composed and watchful in the gaps, and we wished there were more of them. What the film cannot do is hold a story together between the fireworks. The Program has a leak, and the middle hour is built around who is passing information to whom, but the script tells us early and then asks the characters to spend forty minutes catching up. The ordinary gunfights, and there are a lot of them, have none of the invention of the plane: men in suits fire from behind cars, Tronick cuts on the muzzle flash, Silvestri hits the drums. There is a sequence in a zoo, involving a reptile house and several alligators. We laughed hard at it, and at the two words Schwarzenegger delivers afterwards, and then felt slightly cheap, because the joke is built on a man being eaten and the film has done nothing to earn the lightness it wants. It is at its best when it stops pretending to be a thriller and admits it is a run of stunts with a star in the middle. Schwarzenegger had made [*True Lies*](https://film.one/film/true-lies) two years earlier, a film that knew how to joke about his size without apologising for it, and next to that *Eraser* is a sound job of work by a hired crew. Most critics landed about where we have, around the middle. At 115 minutes it does not outstay itself, and the 18 certificate is for the volume of blood rather than anything stranger. Watch it for the plane, stay for the skeletons, and do not try to follow the disc. *Fi1m score 58, published 5 October 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean mixed, with as many critics finding Eraser poor as finding it decent, and only one willing to call it good. Where there is praise, it goes to the action rather than anything around it: the set-pieces are described as slickly staged, the aeroplane sequence in particular is picked out as the film’s high point, and several reviewers enjoy Schwarzenegger’s loose, comic screen presence. Robert Pastorelli’s supporting turn is also noted as a bright spot. Even the kinder notices concede the film is thin and one-dimensional, enjoyable only as over-the-top spectacle. The reservations cluster on the script and direction. Critics call the plot formulaic and riddled with holes, the gunplay generic and the handling unremarkable, with the excitement arriving only in bursts. The spread is wide. Den of Geek, writing a dozen years later, is the lone enthusiast, rating it an unpretentious blast; Radio Times is the harshest, saying even die-hard fans are unlikely to be satisfied. ## Straight answers **Is Eraser worth watching?** *Eraser* is worth watching for anyone who wants two memorable mid-nineties set pieces, a plane and a pair of rifles that see through walls, and does not mind a plot that gives its secret away early; we scored it 58. James Caan is having a fine time, and the film does not outstay its 115 minutes. Do not try to follow the disc. **How long is Eraser, and what is it rated?** *Eraser* runs 1h 55m. It is an action and mystery film. **Where can I watch Eraser in India?** *Eraser* is not on any streaming or rental service in India at the moment. It is available in 9 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Eraser, and is it suitable for children?** *Eraser* carries an 18 certificate in the UK and is not suitable for children, mostly for the volume of blood rather than anything stranger. There are a great many gunfights, a house is torn apart by rail guns, and a zoo sequence involves alligators and a man being eaten, played for a laugh. Teenagers raised on action will find it loud rather than frightening. **How does Eraser compare to True Lies?** [*True Lies*](https://film.one/film/true-lies) is the better film, and the one we recommend beside *Eraser*: James Cameron knew how to joke about Schwarzenegger's size without apologising for it, and his action is more inventive. *Eraser* is a sound job of work by a hired crew, with two sequences to match anything in the earlier film and little between them. *True Lies* has its own flaw, a long marital detour that is frequently cruel. **What should I watch after Eraser?** After *Eraser*, try [*True Lies*](https://film.one/film/true-lies) (1994, Fi1m 68): Schwarzenegger’s size played for comedy by a director who knew exactly what to do with it. Then [*Face/Off*](https://film.one/film/face-off) (1997, Fi1m 84): Cage and Travolta swap faces; the absurdity is the point and John Woo knows it; and [*Hard Boiled*](https://film.one/film/hard-boiled) (1992, Fi1m 86): A Hong Kong hospital shoot-out that makes most Hollywood gunplay look like queuing. ### Reviews we read (7) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (64/100, inferred): The URL identifies this as a film review, but the article text is unavailable, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No specific praise or complaint can be established from the accessible content. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/21/movies/film-review-he-s-tough-right-but-also-lucky.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (2.5/4): Ebert finds the film uneven but entertaining as an action spectacle. He singles out its energetic action sequences as a strength. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/eraser-1996) - **Empire**, Ian Nathan (60/100, inferred): Nathan finds the film thin and one-dimensional, but ultimately enjoyable as over-the-top action entertainment. He praises its slickly delivered action set-pieces and Schwarzenegger’s comic timing and screen presence. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/eraser-review/) - **Radio Times**, Joanna Berry (2/5): Berry finds the adventure disappointing and says it lacks the nonstop action and entertainment expected of a Schwarzenegger film. She notes that even die-hard fans are unlikely to be satisfied. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ubbjp8/eraser/) - **Time Out**, TCh (40/100, inferred): The review finds the thriller cumbersome and formulaic, though it occasionally takes off. It singles out those intermittent bursts of excitement against an otherwise routine approach. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/eraser) - **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (35/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film a middling, plot-hole-ridden actioner that delivers enough mayhem to be a modest box-office draw. He praises Robert Pastorelli’s comic performance and the spectacular airplane sequence, while faulting the generic gunplay and unremarkable direction. [Read](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/eraser-2-1200446005/) - **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (4/5): Brew finds the film an entertaining, no-frills action blast, but says there is little reason to buy this Blu-ray. He praises its unpretentious fun and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s loose, entertaining performance, while criticizing the modest transfer and lack of extras. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/eraser-blu-ray-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Chuck Russell - **Director:** Chuck Russell - **Screenplay:** Walon Green, Tony Puryear - **Story:** Tony Puryear, Walon Green, Michael S. Chernuchin - **Cinematography:** Adam Greenberg - **Editor:** Michael Tronick - **Music:** Alan Silvestri - **Production design:** Bill Kenney - **Costume design:** Richard Bruno - **Producer:** Anne Kopelson, Arnold Kopelson - **Cast:** Arnold Schwarzenegger as Eraser; James Caan as DeGuerin; Vanessa Williams as Lee; James Coburn as Beller; Robert Pastorelli as Johnny C; James Cromwell as Donahue; Danny Nucci as Monroe; Andy Romano as Harper - **Runtime:** 1h 55m - **First release (the US):** 11 June 1996 - **Genres:** Action, Mystery, Thriller - **Budget:** $100 million - **Box office:** $242 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3nrgwO3R-w ## Where to watch in India Not streaming, renting or buying in India at the last check. Also available in: AR, BR, CL, CO, EC, MX, PA, PE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1997: Best Sound Editing (nominated) ## If you liked this - *True Lies* (1994), Fi1m 68: Schwarzenegger’s size played for comedy by a director who knew exactly what to do with it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/true-lies.md) - *Face/Off* (1997), Fi1m 84: Cage and Travolta swap faces; the absurdity is the point and John Woo knows it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/face-off.md) - *Hard Boiled* (1992), Fi1m 86: A Hong Kong hospital shoot-out that makes most Hollywood gunplay look like queuing — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hard-boiled.md) - *Witness* (1985), Fi1m 84: Harrison Ford hides a witness among the Amish; the protection plot taken seriously for once — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/witness.md) - *Le Samouraï* (1967), Fi1m 88: Alain Delon as a killer who leaves no trace; the quiet French opposite of all this — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/le-samourai.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/eraser