Arnold Schwarzenegger Starred In One Of IMDb's Worst-Rated Movies Ever

If you know anything about Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even if you've just seen "Pumping Iron," you'll know that the man is used to winning. This is a guy who left his small Austrian town to become arguably the greatest bodybuilder in history, before transitioning to Hollywood where he became the biggest star in the world, only to then become governor of California.

Within all those accomplishments, there are countless other achievements that nobody, let alone a kid from the small village of Thal, Austria, could hope to match. Taking just his acting career, he starred in one of two sci-fi movies to be considered "perfect" by Rotten Tomatoes before fronting a sequel that today is revered as perhaps the finest action movie ever made with "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Schwarzenegger also proved he could be just as entertaining in family-friendly fare, from "Kindergarten Cop" to his 1996 Christmas movie "Jingle All The Way," which proved its standing as a perennial festive classic by becoming a Prime Video hit in December 2024.

The Austrian Oak's unwavering self-belief, which was on full display in "Pumping Iron," is surely what has propelled such a diverse and successful film career ... which is why there's something kind of funny about a Schwarzenegger flop. The man who seemingly cannot fail has failed multiple times, and when it comes to his movies, those failures have occasionally been nothing short of spectacular. Take "Hercules in New York," for example, a film that currently resides in the bottom 100 movies of all time on IMDb.

As successful as Arnold Schwarzenegger is, he didn't quite manage to crack IMDb's top 10 movies of all time list. He does, however, have a couple movies on the site's lowest-rated films chart. The first is "Batman & Robin," one of a handful of superhero movies on IMDb's 100 lowest-rated films list, which shouldn't be a surprise to any fan of the genre (even if Schwarzenegger himself has no regrets about starring in it). The other is a film with an even lower rating than that historic comic book movie fiasco. What could possibly be worse than "Batman & Robin?" Yes, "Hercules in New York."

Whereas Schwarzenegger's ill-fated 1997 superhero outing currently bears a lowly 3.8 out of ten rating based on 275,000 votes, "Hercules in New York" has an even more unfortunate 3.3 rating, though this is based on just 20,000 votes. Still, 20,000 people disliking your film isn't the most ideal scenario.

What could the Governator have done to warrant such treatment by the IMDb raters? Well, "Hercules in New York" is one of the man's earliest films, debuting in 1970 when Arnie was still very much focused on his bodybuilding career. Indeed, Schwarzenegger's breakthrough role wouldn't arrive until more than a decade later with 1982's "Conan the Barbarian." "Hercules in New York," however, marked his feature film debut, and saw him credited as "Arnold Strong" for playing the title role. Unfortunately, the movie didn't do much for Arnie's career, and while reviews from the time are few and far between, the handful that do exist aren't all that complimentary.

"Hercules in New York" sees Arnold Schwarzenegger's demigod character descend from Mount Olympus after clashing with Zeus (Ernest Graves), whereafter he arrives in the Big Apple. Why? Because Arnie had big muscles and he looked cool showing them off in New York. There's not much of a story to recount here, with the film really functioning as a way to showcase the Austrian's impressive physique. At one point Herc, becomes a successful wrestler on Earth but loses his godly powers after the goddess Juno convinces fellow goddess Nemesis to poison him. Later, his powers are restored after Zeus intervenes, and Arnie beats up some gangsters or something. It's all a bit farcical, but if you like the idea of Schwarzenegger's Hercules facing off against a man in a bear costume in Central Park, this is the movie for you.

Schwarzenegger clearly hadn't quite figured out how to make the transition from bodybuilder to actor at this point. What's more, his accent was still extremely thick, leading producers to redub his lines after the fact. Still, there's plenty of 1960s New York footage that has a certain charm, with the film having been shot entirely on location. (The movie also made /Film's 15 best Greek mythology movies list under the "so-bad-it's-good" provision.)

Clearly, however, IMDb viewers weren't impressed, and the same can be said for the 14 reviewers over on Rotten Tomatoes, who bestowed upon "Hercules in New York" a 14% score. Over on Metacritic, the movie has a lowly 23 Metascore, all of which adds up to a certified Schwarzenegger flop. Still, it's not the actor's lowest-rated movie on RT. That honor belongs to the 0%-rated "The Villain," in which Arnie played "Handsome Stranger." Clearly it took some time for the man's acting career to take off, but when it did, it came to represent one of the most historic runs in Hollywood history. As such, I'm sure Arnie isn't too bothered by the abject IMDb score for his feature film debut. Heck, if his attitude about "Batman & Robin" is anything to go by, he's probably proud of the damn thing.