The Schwarzenegger Middle-earth AI deepfake feels like nothing more than a fever dream that exists somewhere between high fantasy and classic sci-fi. The first clip begins with a close-up of Arnold-Elrond explaining in that deep Austrian brogue that the council has only one choice — to destroy the Ring. From there, we see a distressed Boromir Schwarzenegger before cutting to a long-haired Frodo looking every bit like a deeply concerned version of the Austrian Oak. Schwarzy-Gimli says, “Then what are we waiting for?” before bringing his axe down on the Ring. In the original film, Gimli actor John Rhys-Davies utters a deep growling roar as his axe explodes, sending him flying backward. In the voiceover Arnie version, the action is accompanied by a rolling, guttural sound that is trademark Schwarzenegger and arguably the funniest moment of the entire clip.
From there, we see a back-and-forth conversation, all in the Governator’s iconic accent, that rolls right into the second installment of the video series as Elrond, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli debate about how the One Ring can’t be destroyed by any craft that they possess, it was made in the fires of Mount Doom, yada yada. We even get a Boromir shot of the meme-worthy “One does not simply walk into Mordor” line — Schwarzenegger style.
The clip is extraordinary because the dramatics are still there, and the tension is still high. But the Schwarzenegger visuals and voiceovers are the deepfake equivalent of the ultimate photobomb. They give the entire thing the feel of an AI fever dream that you simultaneously don’t want to watch and can’t look away from.
