| Last Action Hero [1993] |  | Director: John Mctiernan
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Austin O'brien, Art Carney, Charles Dance
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Category: Video
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £1.48
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 44843
Format: Dolby, Pal, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 125 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
EAN: 5024165381618
ASIN: B00004CP2K
Theatrical Release Date: June 18, 1993
Release Date: September 19, 1994
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - FACTORY SEALED. (Shipped From / Within UK, Proof Of Posting) We Stock An Extensive Range Of Quality Dvd's/ Video's/ Cd's 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Insist On It Being Sealed.
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| Customer Reviews:
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 Another Arnie classic November 17, 2008
To sum up this film in one sentence I would say that it has an original and creative plotline, impressive action scenes and special effects, top quality acting and cameo appearances and a lot of witty humour. I loved this film as a kid, and even as I watch it now I still thoroughly enjoy it and understand a lot of more of the mature humour and in-jokes. I don't know why critics hate this film so much. The film is basically a comedy adventure that isn't taking itself too seriously and niether should its audience. There are a few moments of profound principlism and emotive plotlines, but generally, this film is a laugh. Arnie's acting is top notch and plays a character you generally start to really like, as well as the kid who doesn't overdo it too much on the potentially annoying kid role. The redeeming aspect of his role is the comedy relationship between him and Jack Slater with some classic banter as Jack perpetually gets annoyed with the boy.
I guess the one thing that lets this film down is its age certificate. The storyline is great if you have an open mind and don't mind a lot of over-the-topness, or if you're young. But its missing a bit part of its target audience by making it a 15 when there's only 2 swear words and a tiny bit of blood in the whole film. I've seen PG's worse than this.
I think its such a shame that a film this well made could be so rejected by people just because its a bit far fetched. Obviously a storyline where a magic movie ticket that enables you to go into a movie doesn't exactly compare to anything vaguely real. But then neither does star wars or lord of the rings. Its just a very creative and original story that can capture your imagination if you let it. Ultimately, a great film thats great fun.
 Quick Reviews! May 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A FUNNY FILM August 19, 2007
I am totally amazed that most of the so-called "expert" film critics at the time didn't seem to have a clue what this movie was doing. It is positively one of the tightest, most brilliant, sly, wickedly satirical action movie spoofs of all time. I am also rather amazed that Arnie actually agreed to this one; it's almost like he's biting the hand that fed him.
The biggest clue of this movie is in the opening shot, when the whole picture wipes into frame in the shape of a "movie" screen (hint, hint!) From then on, anyone with any experience at watching blockbuster action movies at all should have picked up how the scene was taking the standard setup-action pieces of the time, and then pushing them a little bit further than normal; so that they become an obvious (to most people) parody of the situation. The close-up of the feet as Jack exits from the car is just a little closer and off-angle than normal. The ranting chief yelling at the hero that he's gonna get fired if he disobeys orders is just a little bit more heated that the standard action movie would do it. Come ON people, couldn't you get the tongue-in-cheek nature of this?
Then we fuzz out and see the "real" story - introducing Danny, our viewer's representative (played by a very adorable and very chatty Austin O'Brien). The one scene I dislike in this movie is the actual "real-life" robbery scene at Danny's home, which comes across as a little too bleak and depressing; even though it does set up the thematic contrasts in the story very well. On the other hand, one of my all-time favorite scenes is when Danny is in school watching the Olivier version of "Hamlet"; and he starts to drift and re-imagines the story in a modern action style. (Gee, if I had a penny for every time I've done that with a pretentious old film - well, anyway...)
Of course the two outstanding highlights of this movie are the police station/video store scenes in the Jack Slater movie; and the climactic show-down at the big premiere, especially when the action hero confronts the movie star: "You have caused me a lot of pain. I don't like you very much." (Y'know, I've often felt that is movie characters could come alive, some actors would have great reason to worry. Just a thought.)
All I can say is, if you can't get this, you don't really deserve to be watching movies, or even let out to the cinema. It's too complicated for you! Just go back to your padded cell, and vegetate.
Best lines: "Mom, you're turning him into a wimp!"; "This has got to work. I'm going to win. Wait a minute; I'm the comic relief. I'm NOT going to win. Ahhhhh!"; "You go through all this pain and suffering, only to find it's all the product of someone's sick imagination, for public entertainment!" [-probably not a precise quote, but you get the gist of it]
 Don't expect 'Dishum Dishum' in this Arnie flick. May 28, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
Sharp satire of the action genre with a really annoying child February 4, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Clever film, and quite funny, but the kid actor is really annoying. He spoils the scenes he is in, and being as this includes nearly every scene in the movie, the movie can't help but suffer. Shame. I was hoping that Death (Ian McKellen) would predict a shorter span of life for the kid at the end of the film rather than telling him that he would live to be a grandfather.
Charles Dance makes a good hammy baddy, too.
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