Last Action Hero [VHS] [1993]: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Austin O'Brien, Art Carney, Charles Dance, Frank McRae, Tom Noonan, Robert Prosky, Anthony Quinn, Mercedes Ruehl, Ian McKellen, Professor Toru Tanaka, John McTiernan, Neal Nordlinger, Adam Leff, David Arnott, Shane Black, Zak Penn: Amazon.co.uk: Video

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

John McTiernan (The Hunt for Red October) imaginatively directs this action comedy, which is an interesting failure with some fascinating ironies that make it well worth seeing. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays both a character named Jack Slater--a fictional cop hero who exists only in the movies (ie, the movies seen by the characters in this movie) and the actor who plays Jack Slater in the real world (ie, in the movie we're actually watching). McTiernan's hall-of-mirrors effect is fun, though Last Action Hero never quite identifies itself as a pure action movie, science fiction, a kid's movie, or anything else. (The expensive film suffered at the box office as a result and was roundly criticised for this ambivalence.) What lingers in the memory, however, is Schwarzenegger, playing himself, being confronted by Slater for having created an alter ego for film in the first place. It's a provocative moment: how often have we seen a major star blatantly wrestle with his actor's legacy in this way? --Tom Keogh

Synopsis

A small boy with a magic theatre ticket travels to a new world where he meets his film star hero and becomes involved in the adventure of a lifetime...

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4.4 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enormous fun - why did the critics hate it?, 22 Mar 2004

By	Martin Turner "Martin Turner" (Marlcliff, Warwickshire, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Last Action Hero [DVD] [1993] (DVD)

This is a piece of rumbuctious post-modern fun - Arnie satirising himself in a film which is cleverly plotted and just as cleverly executed.

I enjoyed it in the cinema, I've watched it several times on video, and, as I write this, it's just come up on Cable and I find myself captivated again by the last half hour.

So why did it get panned by the critics? To be honest, I don't really know. Maybe people like the idea of Schwarznegger as a plain talking, plain thinking, plain thumping action figure like Conan or the Terminator. My guess is that if Bill Murray had made this movie, it would have sat easier with the Hollywood machine. (By the way, great cameo from Bill Murray - "I'm not really a fan of Arnold...")

In a lot of ways this _is_ Schwarznegger's 'Groundhog Day' - experimenting with the medium, challenging perceptions, generally just turning the world upside down. To be fair, this isn't in the same league. Nonetheless, Arnie is wincingly perfect as himself, embarrassing his partner while he plugs his own restaurants at a film launch. It leaves you wondering if the Governor of California really does have this much self knowledge. Maybe he does.

Anyway, great fun, you can enjoy it on all kinds of different levels, and you won't be embarrassed to watch it with a four year old or a sixty year old.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect 'Dishum Dishum' in this Arnie flick., 28 May 2007

By	Jay "The Amazon Reviewer" (Mauritius) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Last Action Hero [DVD] [1993] (DVD)

As a satirical spoof, this film is above average. As an Arnie film, it's much below expectations. A massive flop on its release; even the trailer was unappealing. Arnie seeks some redemption by showing that larger than life heroes simply don't exist.
People didn't get this movie back in the day. Back in 1993, Arnold was fresh off of 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' and everything else would pale in comparison. But this is a different type of movie altogether.

The fact is, this movie is a funny look at the action movie genre, of which Arnold was the king of at the time. The one-liners, which people panned, were meant to be corny. "Big Mistake" is part of the fun. Many action movies had famous one-liners at that time, and this was the hommage to that.

The jokes about never running out of bullets, flesh wounds, cleaning tar off quickly, people showing up coincidentally, police coming as a person is shot, are all easily verifiable as action movie staples from the time and earlier.

Watch it with this in mind, and you'll see that it's a great movie for what it is intended to be, and that's a comedic look at the action genre. Enjoy it for what it is, not what it isn't.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick Reviews!, 15 May 2008

By	carlosnightman "carlosnightman" (A Seat) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Action Hero [DVD] [1993] (DVD)

This is quiet an underrated movie, even amongst Arnie fans, and one which few people understand, or try to. Last Actio Hero is a spoof of action movies, primarily those starring Arnie and Stallone, ones which director McTiernen has made a living from: The films that have loose plots built around stunts, explosions, fights, and spectacular and over the top set pieces. That said, the action, stunts, and effects are good; the cast, especially Arnie, ham it up as much as possible, the cameo appearances are witty and accurate, and the plot is pretty clever.

Arnie plays Jack Slater, a ficticious cop/action hero who lives in movie land- a place where everything is super sized, and hyper real (a little punch in the gut of Hollywood). His daily routine, usually involving chasing bad guys, and wrecking huge portions of cities is disturbed- mid chase, by the mysterious appearance of a teenage boy called Danny. Danny is from the real world- our world, the world which gorges itself on the exploits of such larger than life characters as Jack Slater. Danny is just about Slater's biggest fan, and no-one could be happier than he to be meeting his hero for real. Slater, naturally is less than pleased. Danny explained how he was given a magical golden ticket which opens a gateway been the real world, and the movie world, and tries to convince Slater that his life is a movie. This leads to some inspired jokes about the film industry, and Arnie's own career- the 'I'll be back' scene and the scene where Danny tries to make Slater swear. Meanwhile, Big Bad (English) guy Benedict hears about the golden ticket, and sees the potential for chaos, and the psychotic Ripper plots more carnage against Slater.

Tons of in-jokes make this an entertaining film, and I'll admit that's all it is. But that's all it is trying to be. There is no need to criticize it for lacking artistic merit, character development, internal meditations on life etc. It's an action movie, where the bad guys are supposed to die, cars are meant to explode when scratched, the good guy is untouchable, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. The soundtrach, featuring AC DC adds to this thoroughly enjoyable throwback to 80's action classics.

Extras unfortunately are light- a trailer, a music video, and a short featurette. The nineties was a revisionist time for movies, and this film was one of the best examples of the movement- self referential, self mocking, while pushing the boundaries of what was expected from the genre. A documentary discussing this and the making of, or a commentary or interview with cast would have been great.