CITIZEN ARNOLD : HE'S NOT YET READY TO RUN FOR OFFICE, BUT SCHWARZENEGGER HAS A FEW IDEAS ABOUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer

Yes, that's really Arnold Schwarzenegger who backflips through the exploding engine of an airplane and drops into a free fall in ``Eraser,'' the new nonstop action film from director Charles Russell (``The Mask'').

But the action movie icon says doing that stunt was nothing compared to the jolt he got during another scene - a shootout staged in a reptile house - when a 14-foot alligator came within inches of eating him for lunch.

``The alligator was chained down with bolts in the concrete floor, and it was lying there very calm in the water, but when the lights started flickering for `action,' it started thrashing with tremendous speed,'' recalls the actor, who was lying prone on his mark with his legs just a few feet from the giant reptile's jaws. ``All of a sudden I saw this chain bolt fly through the air. I was OUT of there. Everyone was splitting in different directions, 'cause this thing was out of control. I watched it on the videotape, and I've never seen myself move that fast.''

Trainers eventually subdued the animal, but filmmakers are hoping that the adrenaline rush carries over to moviegoers when the big-budget (more than $80 million) shoot-'em-up opens Friday.

According to some reports, angry 'gators were the least of ``Eraser's'' problems. The production has been a troubled one, complete with injured stunt people and reports, denied by producer Arnold Kopelson and director Russell, that the picture went $20 million to $50 million over budget. One major glitch in the constantly rewritten scenario involved an evil, high-tech corporation called Cyrex. A real computer products manufacturer named Cyrix took issue with that, resulting in some 1,800 frames of ``Eraser'' having to be digitally, well, erased, so the fictional company's name and logo could be changed to the less-similar Cyrez.

Fraught with high-tech weaponry and high-impact violence in its tale of Jack Kruger, a U.S. marshal who goes to heroic lengths to protect an innocent witness (Vanessa Williams) caught in a government double cross, the movie marks a return to the hard stuff for Schwarzenegger, whose recent films (``The Last Action Hero,'' ``True Lies'') have parodied movie violence, or in the case of the family comedy ``Junior,'' avoided it altogether.

Puffing a cigar during a recent interview, the 6-foot-2 actor, whose face, at 48, has become as chiseled as his famous physique, says he's not worried about becoming a target of politicians, either Republican or Democrat, who blame violent movies for the nation's ills.

``I can take criticism from anybody,'' he said. ``If Dole or Clinton or anyone else is concerned about it, I think they ought to express it, because when you argue the two extremes, you usually come up with a happy medium.''

But he says he finds it ``odd'' that politicians point the finger at Hollywood when ``Washington, which is truly responsible for the direction the country goes, has failed.''

As the founder in 1993 of the Inner City Games Foundation, which creates sports competitions and programs for youth in Los Angeles and 10 other cities, the former world-champion bodybuilder has his own opinions about the roots of juvenile violence, and he says, ``it's not because they see too many action movies.''

``What these kids really need is playing fields and places where they can go during the day, like sports programs and after-school programs, instead of hanging out on the streets,'' he says. ``And there's nothing available. Every city is cutting down. And they might be saving one dollar today, but losing 10 down the line.

``The problems are the lack of family, the drug-dealing that goes on within the family, the welfare system. And all of this is directed from the politicians, not from Hollywood.''

``I think as a society we are all responsible to correct it, but just to point the finger at one industry and say they are the ones is a little bit, I think, stretched.''

Still, he maintains that this difference of opinion is not the reason he won't be actively campaigning for Republican front-runner Bob Dole this election season.

``I have myself too booked up,'' says Schwarzenegger, who next appears in the Christmas comedy ``Jingle All the Way,'' and then plays the villainous Mr. Freeze in ``Batman & Robin,'' the fourth movie in the Batman series. ``When I campaigned for George Bush, I had half a year off, so I could fly around in Air Force Two and introduce him, but I don't have the luxury or even the interest right now to do it.''

As for rumors of his own political aspirations, Schwarzenegger - a naturalized citizen since 1983 who remains a Republican despite his marriage to Maria Shriver of the Democratic Kennedy dynasty - says that at various times he has been offered full political backing from the GOP to run for several offices, including senator, congressman and governor.

But unlike the alligator, he's not lunging for it. ``There's still so much ahead of me in the entertainment industry,'' he says. ``Now I dream about doing different types of movies, being involved with directing and producing, like Clint Eastwood does. Being responsible for the whole thing.''

``When it gets to the point that it did with my bodybuilding career, where I felt I had done it all, then maybe I can think about politics and all that you have to go through to pursue it.''

Mr. Schwarzenegger goes to Washington? It's not such an outlandish notion in a state where entertainers Ronald Reagan and Sonny Bono have preceded him into high office. By any measure, the career of the Austrian emigrant with the distinctive accent has been remarkable, from his bodybuilding celebrity to his enormous worldwide box-office appeal in roles ranging from the robot-like Terminator to a pregnant man in ``Junior.''

Still, when most people think of Arnold, they tend to picture an unstoppable action figure who unleashes movie mayhem and destruction and snaps crooks in half like twigs.

So when a female staffer tells him she has taken up aerobic boxing for self-defense after a recent run-in with a knife-wielding mugger, it's downright incongruous to see Arnold admonish her.

``There's no way you could protect yourself in a situation like that,'' he scoffs. ``You'd have to be armed like a commando, with a gun strapped here, a knife strapped there. Forget it.''

Wait a minute. Is this sexism, or is it common sense? Is Arnold a pussycat? What would he do if he was faced with a carjacker?

``There's no way you can compare the value of a car with the value of a life,'' he says, dangling an imaginary set of keys. ``I'd say, `Here buddy, have a good time. But don't park it in Tijuana, because they'll mess it up down there.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Arnold sounds off

(2) Arnold Schwa rzenegger, starring in the big-budget, action-heavy ``Eraser,'' says he won't think about entering politics until he tires of the movie business.