More Details

Studio:Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Director:John McTiernan

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, James Belushi, Leeza Gibbons, Tina Turner

Running Time:131 minutes

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

Amazon.co.uk Review

Jack Slater is an action-film hero played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. An old projectionist (Robert Prosky, Gremlins 2: The New Batch) hands a magic movie ticket to Jack's biggest preteen fan (Austin O'Brien, The Lawnmower Man), and the kid steps right inside the latest Jack Slater film, becoming the actor star's sidekick in gunfights and car chases. But when Jack's nemesis (Charles Dance, Space Truckers) gets his hands on the ticket, the fight busts out into the real world and Jack (à la Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear) refuses to believe he's a fictional character. Director John McTiernan churns some nifty scenes out of this setup, although the fiction-to-reality shuffle is not as deft as in, say, Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, and the plot needs the kind of logic and discipline found in that classic when-worlds-collide film Back to the Future. Still, Schwarzenegger has moments of wit and smashing action, and we get a faux-movie trailer advertising an intriguing new shoot-'em-up: "Something's rotten in the State of Denmark--and Hamlet is taking out the trash! --Amazon.com

Product Description

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, James Belushi, Leeza Gibbons, Tina TurnerDirector: John McTiernan

Find out more on Amazon

Tags

Reviews

- Enormous fun - why did the critics hate it?

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.

- Another Arnie classic

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.

- Yeah,.. you go arnie!

I actually have NOTHING bad to say about this movie! it's a shrewd observation on movies, and actually the laws of "movie-world" and reality.. which comes together quite nicely when movie characters come thru the movie screen and into real life! a great arnie classic!

- Better than you expect

This is a strange mix. It is part sci_fi, part action and part comedy. It is also a good try at an almost impossible subject, that of a movie star discussing his image with the audience. It is well worth seeing, if only for Arnolds version of Hamlet. The best scenes come from the cheesy action scene's with some classic one-liners. Strangely enough the most lasting scene however is where Jack Slater explains his life to the kid, and how it's changed as more and more sequels are made.

- One of the best arnie films ever !!

This is one of the best arnold schwarzenegger films ever made. It has the best mix of violence and comedy making it a must for all arnie fans. I say whatever the price you should buy this film as you will not be disapointed.