1993 Directed by John McTiernan
Danny is obsessed with a fictional movie character action hero Jack Slater. When a magical ticket transports him into Jack's latest adventure, Danny finds himself in a world where movie magic and reality collide. Now it's up to Danny to save the life of his hero and new friend.
Arnold Schwarzenegger F. Murray Abraham Art Carney Charles Dance Frank McRae Tom Noonan Anthony Quinn Mercedes Ruehl Austin O'Brien Ian McKellen Joan Plowright Leeza Gibbons Tina Turner Noah Emmerich Colleen Camp Danny DeVito Jean-Claude Van Damme Bridgette Wilson Michael V. Gazzo Chevy Chase Jim Belushi
There are many films wherein a character creates a false reality in order to help cope with some trauma they've suffered, a devastating break-up (Annie Hall) or a haunting death (Romancing in Thin Air). This is the only film I know wherein a character moves from a false reality to a real one in order to cope with a trauma he's suffered in the fictional world.
And of course, that catharsis is facilitated by a character (a young boy, of course) moving from the "real" world to the fictional one.
"I don't like you. You've brought me nothing but pain."
This film has the most insane amount of cheesy one liners.
This film has Professional Evil Brit Charles Dance.
This film has some unbelievably impressive action sequences.
This film completely takes the piss out of itself.
This film is about movie magic.
How can I not love this film?
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hamlet...
Sylvester Stallone as The Terminator...
Cameos galore...
A homage to cheesy action flicks...
This might be the greatest cheesy action flick ever.
There definitely should have been a greater effort made to distinguish the look and feel of the movie and real worlds. The kid sidekick character does occasionally grate on the nerves ("Holy cow!"). And there's an entire sequence involving the funeral for a flatulent gangster which is just kind of sad. But this movie is a lot more successful and interesting than it is often given credit for.
For folks studying the field of Schwarzeneggenomics (and trust me there are A LOT of us -- okay, just me) this is one of the key texts, because Schwarzenegger interrogates his own image for us. In so many of his movies he plays characters with double lives; usually figuratively (as in TRUE…
Is this film a deconstruction?
A Parody?
A Satire?
Or some mixture of all three?
It really doesn't matter because it's so damn enjoyable! This film lampshades pretty much every action movie trope there is and only gets better as it goes along. This self aware film is packed to the brim with classic Arnold Schwarzenegger, movie shout-outs, & celebrity cameos. Plus Ian Mckellen is Death & Danny DeVito is an animated police cat. Top That!
Then there's this fantastic line:
Benedict: Gentlemen. Since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot. Think of villains Jack. You want Dracula? Dra-cool-la? Hang on
[takes out the ticket]
Benedict: , I'll fetch him. Dracula? Huh. I can…
Despite its critical mauling and commercial failure I’ve always had a soft spot for Last Action Hero. Unfortunately, having not watched the film in around a decade I was disappointed to find that, despite the game performances, Last Action Hero really isn’t as much fun as I remembered. Unloved and derided it is a film that fully embraces its deconstruction of the action genre to the point that its satirical mockery of ‘80s conventions threaten to overwhelm and derail the entire movie.
It begins brilliantly with an introduction that burns through ever 1980s action cliche imaginable. It sets the irreverent tone perfectly but also blows practically every joke the film then continues to repeat throughout the rest of its needlessly…
I've always remembered not really enjoying this movie. Warching it again there were some parts of it I definitely remembered. However i still wasn't feelin it and was ready to mentally switch off and give it a 2.5 here.
I continued watching anyway and I'm glad I did because I don't think I'd ever seen this all the way through before. I still can't really enjoy much in the first half bar the odd classic Shane Black written quip.
The final hour of this pulled me into it (no pun intended) though and I was actually compelled to see how it played out. It gained a further half star to get into the hallowed 3/5 range. Far from a favorite Arnie movie but actually is worth a watch, just like everyone's been telling you.
What do you mean, you haven’t seen Last Action Hero?
This is the most over-the-top, ridiculous action films of the early 90’s, and the reason for that is because it’s self aware. It does everything in its power to make the audience know that it’s ridiculous and (much like Jason Statham Crank series) winks at the audience throughout the film - hinting that it knows its over the top and is loving every minute of it.
The plot of Last Action Hero revolves around a boy with a magic movie ticket that sucks him into an Arnold Schwarzenegger film - only the character of Jack Slater (Schwarzenegger) believes that this universe is real and actually believes he is just an…
Arnold doing what he does best but this time he gets to look at the camera and wink. Shane Black is all over this script, it's a crazy action flick about the magic of action flicks. It's smart it's hilarious and has some iconic Arnold one-liners.
I love Arnie. I love McTiernan. I sure as shit love a grotesque looking Tom Noonan as a movie slasher villain come to life, and I loved this movie growing up. I didn't realize the backlash and box office failure it garnered until years later, and while it's been several years since my last watch and it wasn't quite as insanely fun as I remembered it's still a fun mix of comedy and some truly memorable action. Tons of great dialogue (and one liners), cameos, and awesome set-pieces. Goofy fun with tongue firmly in cheek.
Last Action Hero was bad received when it was released in theatres. It was Schwarza's first box office failure after a string of hits.
Last Action Hero could be shorter, but it's not a bad movie.
'Rubber baby buggie bumpers'
I saw last action hero a few years ago I didn't like that much cause of the kid thought he was annoying watching it now he not that bad.
Last Action Hero is just a fun Meta film. I love the reference to 80s & early 90s action films. It's cameos from from Robert Patrick as the T-1000, Sharon Stone as her Character from Basic Instinct. I believe they have that one Asian guy from Die Hard, Lethal Weapon & Big Trouble in Little Chaina. Having Arnold as the lead was a perfect choice seeing that he's the ultimate Action star. I can't imagin any other action star in that role. I swear if I saw this at age fourteen or fifteen I would of love this.
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