| | | | Twins
(1988) |
or Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Twins" was a mold breaking film and the first of two highly successful comedies that the star made with "Ghostbusters" director Ivan Reitman -The other being "Kindergarten Cop".
Some commentators have chosen to view this deviation from the high octane action genre as being the result of two less than astounding results at the box office; "Raw Deal" and "Red Heat" which between them made less than any one previous Arnie movie of previous years.
In fact, the truth probably is that Arnie was acutely aware of the need to not be typecast as 'just' the hulking destroyer with the sharp one-liners that he had been up to that point.
He was almost certainly very keen to expand his persona with comedy and even some romance.
In a 1988 interview, Arnold said:
"In my last five or six movies, my love relationship was basically with guns, with explosives, with grenades and missiles.
It made everyone uncomfortable with the idea of me doing a film that deals with comedy and humor. One thing that I realised was that I really enjoyed doing comedy, but there would always be confrontations with the directors, with the studios "No No No, what we want is for you to be a tough guy." I was trying to figure out how I could do a comedy from beginning to end, and Twins represented the next stepping-stone in my career."
His ability for comedy had already shown itself many times, both on and off the screen and the truth is that Arnold had first approached Ivan Reitman with the idea of making a movie together when they first met in the spring of 1984 at the premiere of Reitman's Ghostbusters... Even before The Terminator!
Three years later, Reitman had a script which he wanted to discuss with Arnold. It involved two brothers, the product of a 50's genetic experiment, seperated at birth. The 'superior' one is given all that humanity has to offer in the way of development on a idillic desert island (Schwarzenegger) whilst the other (DeVito) is 'dumped' in an orphanage with no knowledge of his past. 35 years later the 'perfect specimen' seeks out the 'misfit' to give him the sense of belonging and family they both need.
Together, the two twins embark on an adventure to find their mother and themselves.
The result was a very funny, warm and touching suprise for everyone that was enthusiastically received even by Arnold's die-hard fans and an enourmous success at the box-office.
Arnold was to say after the production had wrapped:
"I think Twins is going to have a suprising impact. And it's gonna be good for my career, because I can then do more of the films that I would like to do. Which is to do more comedies like that and then do movies like "California Suite".
In one 'fell swoop', Arnold had catapaulted himself into the league of the very best leading men. The world would never quite look at him the same again...
 Don't forget that Twins is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
|
| | | | 
A wonderful suprise and change of career for "The Terminator". Definitely a 'must-see' if you haven't already...
|
| | | |  | 
The title "Twins" was originally meant for another movie that came out around the same time, Dead Ringers, with Jeremy Irons as two gynaecologists with a bloody bent. The Director of Dead Ringers didn't want to let go of the title, until he heard about the premise of this movie, laughed and said, "I'll change the title of my movie"  -Thanks to Rick Percifield
| |
The budget for the movie was a 'mere' $15 million whilst it's return at the domestic box office was more than $110 million.
The rich businessman who offered Vincent money for the contents in his trunk also starred in "Raising Arizona" as the father of Nathan Jr. -Thanks to Mlmlisa
Star Alert, the parking lot attendent, Al Greco, is played by NYPD's David Carruso.
The hitman appeared with Arnold in Total Recall, he played the mutant rebel leader. -Thanks to Robert Schwarz
The blonde who played Arnold's girlfriend in the movie (Kelly Preston) is now the wife of John Travolta. -Thanks to Mallory
Many 'hard-core' Arnold fans felt at the time that "Twins" was the best film he had made since "The Terminator".
Fellow professional bodybuilder, and friend of Arnold, Tom Platz appeared in Twins as one of Arnold's fathers. He is the short, semi-muscular, completely bald one. Tom was pursuing an acting career, however, it sadly never took off for him. -Thanks to Rob Surette
Even the critics liked the movie!
Major "Before They Were Stars" alert: The woman at the beginning of the movie who plays the mother of Schwarzenegger and DeVito is none other than the future "License to drive"/"Rollergirl"/"Felicity Shagwell", Heather Graham! -Thanks to John Edward Kilduff
I believe Jeff Beck has a cameo playing guitar in the dancing scene.
The singer in the dance scene was the late Nicollette Larson. -Thanks to Bret
Also, the hitman appeared with Arnold in Total Recall, he played the mutant rebel leader. -Thanks to Robert Schwarz
Not only do "Twins" and "Total Recall" share a common supporting actor, Marshall Bell (who played Webster and George/Kuato, respectively), but the silver suitcase holding millions of dollars that Webster seeks is the same silver suitcase in "Total Recall" that Arnold's character carries, the contents of which help him elude the bad guys. -Thanks to Edward Fong
« Click
here to add some Twins trivia
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Twins or 80's Comedy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Tootsie ..... Raising Arizona ..... Good Morning, Vietnam ..... Blues Brothers ..... Heathers ..... Fast Times At Ridgemont High ..... This Is Spinal Tap ..... Naked Gun ..... Adventures In Babysitting ..... Airplane ..... License To Drive ..... Money Pit ..... Porky's ..... Risky Business ..... Soul Man .....[More]
| | | |
The principal production started during the last week of April 1988 on locations in and around Los Angeles. By mid May, the crew had moved on to the Universal back lot for several key internal scenes involving Vincent's home and office, the scientific lab at Los Alamos and Whispering Pines interiors. Exteriors for whispering pines were filmed at a colony in Santa Fe.
Danny DeVito was initially reluctant to take the role of Vincent.
During the scene in the men's room with Arnold and Danny (in their Hawaiian shirts) horsing around and doing a basketball hoopshot with their paper towels, the bottle behind them appears and disappears between shots. -Thanks to Dwayne
«
Click
here to add a new Behind-the-Scenes item for Twins
|  |  |  | | Twins
Locations |
|
| | |
Twins was filmed at authentic Californian locations including Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.
Other locations included Houston, TX; Los Alamos, NM; Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, Taos, NM and The Plaza, Santa Fe, NM.
The twins father's house (the part where arnold Schwarzenegger's character walks up a driveway to meet him) is in San Marino, CA. on Lake Blvd. [Thanks to Mike Flores]
Exteriors for whispering pines were filmed at a colony in Santa Fe.
Can you help? Do you know any of the Los Angeles, (or any other) filming locations used for Twins, particularly Vincents House, The Supermarket, The "McKinley Corp" finale location, "Whispering Pines" colony in Santa Fe etc? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[Letterbox -NOT 16:9 Enhanced]](lbx.gif) | ![[STEREO or SURROUND]](dd2.gif) | Trailer, Notes |
| | | | Trailer, Notes |
|
| | | |
The soundtrack includes many of the 'pop' tracks used in the movie as well as a sampling of the instrumental music supplied by Georges Delerue and Randy Edelman. Use our search device to find a copy. Tracks listing:
1. Twins - Performed by Philip Bailey and Little Richard
2. Brother To Brother - Performed by The Spinners
3. It's Too Late - Performed by Nayobe
4. I Only Have Eyes For You - Performed by Mailyn Scott
5. Yakety Yak - Performed by 2 Live Crew
6. No Way Of Knowin' - Performed by Henry Lee Summer
7. The Train Kept A-Rollin' - Performed by Jeff Beck, Andrew Roachford, Tony Hymas and Peter Richardson
8. I'd Die For This Dance - Performed by Nicolette Larson, Jeff Beck, Terry Bozzio & Tony Hymas
9. Going To Santa Fe - Score music by Randy Edelman
10. Turtle Shoes - Performed by Bobby McFerrin and Herbie Hancock
11. Main Title Theme - Score music by Georges Delerue
«
Click here to add new music trivia for Twins
Soundtrack Available:
Used On CD
| | | |
 NEW!
Use our radical Retro Assistant to show you the most accurate information for hard-to-find Twins products anywhere on the web...
At a glance, you can now see all the Movie
releases, Soundtracks
or Movie
Posters, Scripts and Books ever available with online price comparisons, even if they're
rare, out of print or only available in another country!
Over 3 years in development and covering more than 10,000 of the
best products hand picked by our editors, we think it's the most fun and retro way to celebrate the era --and find what you
want.
It covers Twins DVD,
VHS,
Blu-ray,
HD-DVD,
Downloads,
Soundtrack
CDs, Movie
Posters, Scripts, Books and more... Why not give
it a try...
The
80's Movies Rewind is proudly a spam-free
non-commercial site, written by movie fans... for movie fans.
If
you enjoy this site, please help to support us and keep us
POP UP & SPAM FREE by ordering your stuff through our services.
As you probably already know, we
are not a corporation, but just 80's fans like you...
| | |
 | | Recent
Additions |
March 3, 2008: Commando USA / UK Blu-ray Coming Soon.
February 28, 2008: Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Soundtrack Update.
Previous
additions
We're always updating and improving, so please and check back with us regularly...
|
| | |
