Last Action Hero (DVD)

So here we have a farewell to the darker, Terminator stuff of Arnie's earlier career; a tasteless, clumsy mix of action, comedy and satire; one of the biggest flops of 1993 and the 1990s in general. For all the things that people have labelled Last Action Hero down the years, however, I still can't bring myself to hate it. It's hardly amazing, I'll admit, but I'd still much rather watch this than half the action films that come out these days. It's a self-conscious parody of action movie clichés (made famous primarily by Schwarzenegger himself) and for the most part it comes across quite entertaining. There's plenty of moments concerned with Arnie ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room I still maintain that of all of Arnold Schwarzenegger's films, it is Last Action Hero that is the most criminally underrated - it was largely dismissed as a goofy actioner, but people fail to realise that it has its tongue firmly rooted in its cheek. Perhaps it defied expectations too harshly, but I thought it was a clever, self-aware satire of Arnie's previous work, with some hilarious gags and set pieces. Maybe audiences just weren't ready for it, and I hope that the film undergoes a critical re-evaluation in the coming years. Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a young kid obsessed with ...  Read the complete review

Director: John McTiernan Producers: John McTiernan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Writers: Zak Penn, Shane Black, David Arnott and Adam Leff. Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Charles Dance, Tom Noonan and Bridgette Wilson Released in June 1993 this two hour and ten minute action packed movie follows the story of a boys unfortunate misfortune as he becomes part of the movie scene.... ** BRIEF PLOT ** Danny Madigan, (played by Austin O'Brien) is a lonely boy, living with his mother Irene, (played by Mercedes Ruehl), in a rough part of New York city... his only friend being a theatre manager named ...  Read the complete review

This is one of my favourite Arnie films of all time. It tells the story of Danny, a young boy who is the world's biggest fan of Jack Slater, an action hero from the movies. Well, a magic ticket sends Danny into the imaginary film world that Slater lives in, whilst one of Slater's enemies ends up in the real world, intent on killing Schwarzenegger himself! This is such a good film! Basically, it taps into that desire we've all had at one time to be able to inhabit the world of a film we are watching. For me, I would love to do a bit of time in Middle Earth, but for Danny, and countless young lads who watch this film, there's nothing more exciting than getting ...  Read the complete review

This is a true disaster. At the time critics trying to rescue it said things like, "You have to be admire Schwarzenegger for being able to make fun of himself." But I don't think he was. I think this was Arnie taking himself far too seriously, and thinking he could act just because he had had some successful films. Its about a boy who idolizes a film character, who is the most cliched all-action hero type imaginable. ie never ever loses, walks out of explosions unharmed, drops 300 foot without breaking his stride, shoots people between the eyes without looking etc. etc. To this point Arnie is perhaps mocking the kind of character he normally plays, ...  Read the complete review