The Last Battle The Last Battle

The plot explores the devastation of civilization and issues of brutality, hostility and isolation. Pierre Jolivet stars as the main character (identified only as "The Man" in the end credits) who is menaced by "The Brute" (played by Jean Reno) on his journey through a world filled by people rendered nearly mute by some unknown incident.

Jean Reno Pierre Jolivet Jean Bouise Fritz Wepper Christiane Krüger Maurice Lamy

science fiction thriller action foreign

90 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • I.V.

    Review by I.V. 1

    Mœbius meets early Philippe Garrel. Eric Serra's score is alternately amazing and absolutely awful.

  • Aaron T. Rex

    Review by Aaron T. Rex ★★★★★ 7

    Film #37 of No Rewatch November

    Wow. Here I was, hoping Besson's first movie would be somewhat entertaining and show glimpses of what he was to go on to do. Instead I get one of his very best movies, if not the best. What an utterly amazing experience.

    There is no dialogue whatsoever, save for a short exchange between two of our leads. Even the few words they share are faintly whispered. The reason this works is Besson. What he manages to do in his debut is nothing short of mindblowing to me. He crafts a world so believable yet fantastical and from the very first frame I was there, captivated.

    The cinematography is the finest achievement of the film.…

  • Ross Maclean

    Review by Ross Maclean ★★★½

    Luc Besson's first feature and a compelling, near-wordless, post apocalyptic thriller. Laced with subtle humour, it takes the edge off some potentially dark material and the black and white cinematography looks great.

    Full of distinctive Gallic character actors (like Jean Reno) sporting distinctive clapped out futuristic gear, it comes on like a French approximation of Mad Max, with added poignancy.

    Max le Fou.

  • Jose C. Rubio

    Review by Jose C. Rubio ★★★★

    Beautyfully shot post-apocaliptic world with no dialogues at all. The struggle of survival of the character within the ruins of civilization is the main idea that Besson introduces in his first contact with the science-fiction genre. Definitely worth watching.

  • alexander

    Review by alexander ★★★★

    Luc Besson excellent silent debut

  • Richard Trondsen

    Review by Richard Trondsen ★★★★ 1

    I can't believe it took me this long to check out Luc Besson's directorial debut -- it's excellent! And Jean Reno is awesome as "The Brute."

  • NigelRampant

    Review by NigelRampant ★★★★

    I was a fan of Besson's Leon, but his other stuff I'd seen, like Fifth Element and Transporter, didn't float my boat. His first film, Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle) is very different from his later actioners. There is far more emotional depth. You find yourself genuinely identifying with and caring about the characters. Also - the frantic big budget visuals are replaced by a stark, black and white, atmosphere of decay. And there is (almost) no dialogue.

    This lack of speech serves to heighten the isolation of the film's handful of characters and concentrate the viewing experience as we follow The Man, a survivor eeking out an existence in a rubble-strewn, devastated civilization. The lack of dialogue and…

  • SteffenBogaerts

    Review by SteffenBogaerts ★★★½

    Great post-apocalyptic film, made by Luc Besson. There is no dialogue in this movie and visually it looks perfect. A nice debut from Mr. Besson.