(2013-05-10 14:13:49)

fun action movie worth seeing

It is such a shame that all the critics slated this movie so much, and don't belive them for a second. This is not arnold's best work to date, neither is it the best action movie ever made, but it is always funny and the action is very well scripted and enjoyable. Overall a fresh idea that has been woefully unapreciated. If you like arnold's movies then give this a go, its great fun from start to finish

Joe Alamo

(2013-05-10 07:35:02)

Not bad at all. No, really!

Caught this one recently and was expecting total garbage. However, aftersitting through it, I found it to be a nice surprise and checked thelistings to catch the next showing.Last Action Hero is an amusing moving with some really funny scenes thattake shots at almost every action movie cliche. The plot is pretty sillywhen you really think about it, but hey, this is a movie! Silly or not, it'salso pretty clever; especially when Arnold character enters the "real world"outside his fantasy fiction world.Lots of cameos, good humour and references make Last Action Hero a movie tosee at least once, in my opinion. If you're into rock music, then thesoundtrack is pretty cool too.

Hedgehog_Carnival

(2013-04-29 20:48:33)

Harmless fun

Until I saw this (as part of a captive audience on a bus travelling toQuito), I was probably one of the few people alive who had never seen aSchwarzenegger movie.I'm still not sure that I've seen one, and not only because the thingwas dubbed into Spanish. But going by reputation alone, this film makesyou feel you've just seen everything Arnold has ever done, convenientlycompressed and amusingly exaggerated and self-parodied to boot. Whichcan't be bad.I don't watch low-grade action movies as a rule. Yet even I could atleast smile at some of the obvious send-ups and references here, whichextend beyond the specific genre of shoot-'em-up action to embrace suchthings as the cartoon laws of physics or the convention of thevillain's "before I kill you, here's what I plan to do" speech which weall know from the Bond films. Not much of the parody is particularlyintelligent or subtle (Leslie Nielsen does this kind of thing better),but it is disarmingly good-natured and unserious, and the timing isgenerally adequate - tired old gag follows mildly amusing in-joke fastenough to make the thing look lively, or even, for some viewers,"stylish" (sic), if not exactly fresh or daring. Plus there are enoughtwo-wheeling, bridge-hopping, exploding cars for your money to make thething justify its parodic remit.As far as I can tell, the film scores low with critics who wanted it totake itself a bit more seriously than it obviously does. It's true thatthe last third of the film seems to come unstuck at a worrying pace,and I agree with whoever it was who found it annoying that the "realworld" that Slater strays into begins by frustrating his expectations,as it should, but then, unaccountably, adjusts to them to the pointwhere it allows him to perform an unconscionably silly Heroic Rescue OfChild, complete with undercurrent of schmaltzy sentimentality - oneaspect of Hollywood scriptcraft that this movie does not even attemptto take issue with. And yes, the intrusion of Bergman's Grim Reaper atthe end is pure toe-curling embarrassment: it reads as "look at me!I've watched a serious movie" self-advertisement on the scriptwriters'part, with no other apparent raison-d'etre. That last chunk of plot isdisappointing, and does definitely need a rethink.So - daring, iconoclastic this movie is certainly not, and no, itdoesn't have what you would call a coherent plot, although it mighthave had, if the scriptwriters hadn't apparently hit the bottle head-ontowards the end of what was presumably a six-crate overnight slog. Butit's good, harmless fun, and has the odd inspired touch - like theSchwarzenegger version of Hamlet, which I defy any high school EnglishLit teacher to not find funny.What surprised me most is that the Governator comes across in thismovie as quite a likable, humorous, self-deprecating guy. But maybethat's down to the poor quality of the dubbing. Some scripts dooccasionally come out better in Spanish.

(2013-04-29 15:10:55)

"Big Arnie" action comedy

The Last Action Hero Feb 18 2013Another "Big Arnie" action movie, this one with some comedy! The nearly-2 hours moves quickly, lots of action and special effects! Usual bad guys die 20 times each!

(2013-04-23 22:52:05)

What if they made a comedy, and nobody laughed?

"The Last Action Hero" is a rare thing- an action comedy spoof that has difficulty remembering what it is supposed to be exactly. The action genre is certainly ripe for a mocking, what with the thousands of "Die Hard" clones Hollywood has thrust upon the public. This could have been the perfect spoof film- team "Die Hard" director John McTiernan with The Terminator and let the jokes fly. But instead the movie tries to be serious, then tries to make jokes about the genre, then goes back to being serious again. The actors are making one kind of movie, the directors are making another. It ends up a damn mess.Aside from a humorous bit with Arnold as Hamlet at the begining, this one is a real dog.

(2013-04-23 19:18:29)

FORGET IT.

Truculent, unispired directed movie. The original idea was good, but was wasted while developing it. THi child is annoying, not a good actor at all.

Angeneer

(2013-04-20 02:45:30)

A very good film!

A 5.5 rating? What to say. This is one of the best parodies I have everseen! I don't understand (and hopefully a lot of people here in the IMDB)why it was so underrated. Arnie gives maybe his best performance ever andthere are so many situations that bring laughs!

raisleygordon

(2013-04-19 11:50:47)

Satisfactory

'Last Action Hero' is never a dull movie, nor is it a slow one. Nordoes the movie ever take a breath. But there's no sense of fun,suspense, or characters worth caring about. It's got lots of action &special effects, but the movie just didn't mean much to me. Maybe thiskid could have, or even should have gone into a movie that isaltogether fictional, like a fairy tale for example. But that'sprobably asking too much, since the word "action" is in the title. Ormaybe it would have at least been more believable if this kid actuallywished he were in the movie, or even the star of it (what's the pointof a magic ticket if he never planned on going in the movie in thefirst place?). And I didn't find the villains to be truly evil. Itseemed to me they're just being evil for the sake of it. The ending (orthe scenes close to it) is the best part of the movie. **1/2 out of****

poj-man

(2013-04-16 13:46:43)

Pay No Attention to The Man Behind The Curtain

It seems that there are a bunch of IMDb reviewers who post what anunderrated classic this film is. I am not one of those reviews. I say"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." This was a"cash-for-clunkers" film.The conceptual story of kid fantasy and action film parody with a magicticket that transports the kid to fantasy worlds with Two-D fantasycharacters is original and probably reads nice. When you see it onscreen it is awful.There are 2 primary reasons that the film comes off as awful: The firstis the main child protagonist. He is a whiny 13 year old loser boy whois from a poor family and he is soooooooooo hurt and he needs his nosewiped. You will watch this whiny boy for 2 hours and 10 minutes. Doesthat sound like entertainment to you? I didn't think so.The second reason is the fantasy world. Anyone can do anything and itis a world that makes no sense. After an hour of anything goes withlittle realism and an embarrassing attempt at Buster Keaton like humorwith a funeral with a dead body with a bomb in it on the top of askyscraper the viewer is left going "Yawn." They had money to make LAH.The sets and cinematography and the effects are well done. The story isvisually a turkey and no amount of money can overcome that.

colm-hearne365

(2013-04-15 21:03:44)

Underrated

I noticed that this movie got some pretty bad reception from criticsand didn't do that well in the box office but that was because it wasreleased at the same time as Jurassic Park. And I think the reason whypeople didn't like was because they took it too seriously. The thing is this movie is a parody of action movies like BlazingSaddles is a parody of westerns. But even I can admit this movie getspretty cheesy and over the top at times but parodies are like that. AndI think its a fun movie to watch, especially if you're an action fanand Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been my favourite action star. AndI like the idea of the clash between fantasy and reality and it's alsofunny and exciting.

(2013-04-09 20:48:42)

GREATEST MOVIE EVER!!

Arnold is the world's greatest actor. If there was justice in the world, he would be given the Oscar every year. I actually moved to California, so that Arnold would be my governor. Last year, I voted for him twice. This is his finest film. Note the superb cinematography and witty repartee. I heart Ahnold.

(2013-04-09 00:11:32)

The bad guys are in there!

In the 1993 adventure film, LAST ACTION HERO, Arnold Schwarzeneggger reteams with director JOHN McTIERNAN (Predator) as Jack Slater, the action hero of the 90's. Big time movie fan, young Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) receives a magic ticket from his old pal Nick- the projectionist of the films. After getting a chance to see the new JACK SLATER movie before it opens, Danny is enjoying the action packed-soon to be-blockbuster when the ticket starts glowing. A stick of dynamite blasts through the screen and BOOM! Danny is in the movie as Jack's comedic sidekick. Then, when Danny becomes Slater's new partner, he must track down Tony Vavawldi and his henchman Mr. Benedict. The adventure is on!MY REVIEW:"This is obviously an underated SCHWARZENEGGER adventure flick! It was sweet! The action, the explosions, the humor, the one liners- all good. Of course this isn't ARNOLD's best movie, but it does pretty well! It may unbelievable, but what ARNOLD movie isn't? Think- TERMINATOR 1 & 2, PREDATOR, THE RUNNING MAN, END OF DAYS, THE SIXTH DAY, JUNIOR, TOTAL RECALL, TWINS- all unbelievable ARNOLD films- but still entertaining!ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER and AUSTIN O'BRIEN make the best team! LAST ACTION HERO rocks! The opening scene says it all! Have fun! That's what fantasy movies are all about! So enjoy this fun flick to catch with friends or just to watch with popcorn!"- MJV & the Movies.

Chris Williams

(2013-04-03 23:13:59)

Reading too much into it.

People put way too much into these movies. Thy dont seem to get the factIT'S JUST A MOVIE!!!! They treat it like its supposed to be soooo accurateand not have any mistakes we are all only human for goodness sakes I meansure there are some very bad films out there like "My Own Private Idaho"those movies need to be ripped apart but I mean movies like this moviegetsno respect. All it amounts too is people dont like Arnie so any of hismovies because he is in them are no good. Well people stop it. Noteveryoneis a great actor but there is more than acting that make a good movie youhave to right for the part. Could anyone else have played The Terminator?IDONT think so!!!!

kjs-2

(2013-04-03 12:48:41)

Why was this movie put down so much?

I have yet to talk to a single person who did not like this film.It got so much bad press and jokes were made about it but that has got to bebased on poor box office performance because as I said I have yet to runinto a single person who did not like it... That was all I wanted to say. There are plenty of good comments that seemto back my experience up. (8/10)

(2013-04-03 04:25:24)

LAH: Big Mistake Edition

This movie has such a clever plot that never quite lives up to its potential, but does provide a few laughs and smiles along the way.I saw this movie in the theater when I was the same age as the young protagonist and I thought it was awesome! My how things have changed since those carefree days when a million cameos and lots of explosions could make up for terrible writing and weak direction.The Good: Tom Noonan as The Ripper is genuinely creepy and makes a great arch-foe for our Hero. Jack Slater is a character with hilarious moments, especially when he calls himself, "Arnold Groundschmuger, the famous comedian". The spoof on the action genre is much funnier in retrospect than at the time of the film's release. Bridgette Wilson in cut-off jean shorts, 'nuff said.The Bad: Danny Madigan goes from being cute to annoying so many times it makes you wish Benedict would just shoot him already. Once the movie crosses over into the real world and Jack's "crisis" with being a fictional character the movie loses its focus and gets to wrapped up in whatever moral it failed to get across to the audience.I would be willing to own this movie for the first hours worth of fun and comedy if not for the terrible pan & scan work that was done on the transfer (and I'm not shelling out $27.00 for the widescreen version). Maybe someday when they release the LAH: Big Mistake Edition where we get an apologetic, film-roast of a commentary over a widescreen cut of the film, I'll fork over my dough, but until then: PASS!

(2013-04-02 22:21:19)

Fun movie, blu-ray is lacking though

This review is from: Last Action Hero [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Hi Folks,this is a review of the BLU-RAY edition. This movie was a bit of a financial failure I believe in its release but I enjoyed it for a fun/dumb action flick!I actually have the regular DVD edition from the UK which as1)theatrical trailer2)a featurette3) music video featuring AC/DC and Arnoldall fun bonus features and NOT on the Blu-Ray?I've deducted a star for the fact that they've delivered a 'bare bones' Blu-ray and besides the ability to carry higher resolution one of the benefits of Blu-Ray is the bigger storage so there is not excuse for having elminated bonus features already produced?and the Blu-ray on this isn't substantially better than the regular edition to my eyes..I can't recommend an upgrade for the money.

(2013-03-30 14:41:47)

Extremely Good Movie

I don't see what people hate about this film. There are tons of awesome action scenes although they are a bit cheesy. The action is meant to be cheesy though because it's about a movie within a movie.The cast is really good even though the boy seems a little annoying at first. By the end of the movie you will probably think Jack Slater to be really awesome. Anyways, I enjoyed it. There was humor, some one-liners, but the movie was extremely well done and extremely entertaining. 5 stars.

dudeman5685

(2013-03-29 17:08:09)

Arnold and Danny explore literary theory

I remembered going to see this movie when I was about 8, and taking it quiteseriously. Now I am about twenty and last night, after much trepidation, Iput the disc into my DVD player to see it again after about nine years. Itwas a completely different film than what I remembered.You know what the mansays about not being able to cross the same river twice?Most obvious was the shockingly corny "action movie" sequence. I couldremember things like the women wearing funny clothes, people not being ableto say cuss words, the hero always winning, etc. But now, having seen overthe years so many Miami Vices, Lethal Weapons, and Die Hards, not to mentionthe "traffic thriller" scenes in Terminator 3, I realize "Hey, they'remaking fun of it!" (They killed my favorite second cousin. Big mistake!) Itwas always obvious that Arnold was going to meet the charectars that heplayed, but at the time I first saw it I didn't realize the deeper meaningto all that. (Mom wouldn't let me go see very many actionfilms)The film doesn't work for some people because it slips from action parodyinto literary criticism too easily. They should have spent more time in thereal world at the beginning to highlight difference between the real worldand the "fairy tale" world of Jack Slater. There were alot of things I'dforgotten about when they come back. Arnold --"I've never just sat down andtalked to a women. It feels good." "I like classical music."The crux of the movie comes when Death from "Seven Seals" walks up to Jackand Danny in the theater. The moral: the hardships of life come to us all,but not in the movies. In the movies every thing is OK.(spoiler) but at the very end we hear Arnold talking to his boss "I don'twant to shoot people and blow up things anymore." A prophecyfullfilled?

kgprophet

(2013-03-24 20:49:41)

The world is a better place because of John McTiernon.

John McTiernan is a master action movie craftsman. He helped change theequation with the blockbuster "Diehard". He made sitting around in asubmarine exciting in "Hunt For Red October". He also made "Predator",a great action vehicle for rising star Arnold Schwartzenwhatever. "LastAction Hero" was in reality a different genre than another Hollywoodaction flick, and is both successful at the attempt and at fault at theexecution. McTiernan helped reinvigorate the action genre by turningthe action hero into a normal guy in "Diehard". Similarly, the man whosaves the day in "Hunt for Red October" is just a CIA analyst whoreluctantly gets involved. For Arnold, he had done over-the-top "TotalRecall" and been nearly invincible in "Terminator 2". For thisdirector/star pair, it seemed like the next step in 'taking it to thenext level'. Both probably realised that any action film that tried totop the last big action film would become a self-parody. So theydeliberately poked fun at the ridiculousness of the genre. However,that made the film no longer a big Hollywood action movie, it made itan experimental film, almost like a Godard film.Playing with the characters, the story conventions, the glitzyproduction sets, the always great looking actors, etc., thescriptwriters managed to pigeon-hole every cliché into this screenplay,and for the most part it looks like the filmmakers had a ball doing it.The folly came with the primary character being a 13 year old (or so)kid. He was played a little too cliché as well, not realistic enoughfor supposedly being from the "real world". Then there was the wholegimmick of transporting to the movie world via a "magic ticket". Thatreally had little inspiration and should have been more indistinct (aworm hole, the kid is really dreaming, etc).What works, ironically, is that however over-the-top the crimes the badguy commits in the movie world, he seemingly can get away with muchmore in the real world (at least in the tougher neighbourhoods in NewYork). The other statement (which reshoots probably backtracked on) isthat people actually get hurt in the real world when they go through aplate glass window, or get shot by a bullet. It is easy to see why themovie was not well received. The main objective of a summer movie-goingaudience is to forget about the troubles of the real world, andbasically take a roller coaster ride for 2 hours. The moment the bloodor pain we see on the screen is supposed be real, it is no longer fun.For the first 2/3 of LAH, we are given that roller coaster ride thatwould later be the norm for director Michael Bay. Flying cars,explosions every few minutes, and bad bad bad dialogue. I found myselfsmiling along during the wink and nods at the movie clichés, but onlyto get annoyed when the kid started griping about it constantly. Theold theatre guy also felt a bit uninspired. I think McTiernan shouldfeel lucky he was able to get away with making this film, because theworld is a better place for it.

(2013-03-24 18:33:08)

The Dumbing Down of America

The following story will tell you why this movie bombed at the box office. While visiting family in Miami one of my cousins went to see the movie. When he got home he was telling me how much the movie stunk. As he was talking it became obvious to me that he had taken the movie seriously. So I yelled at him "It's a parody!! He's making fun of action movies in general and himself in particular!!" I could see the lightbulb go on over his head and he went right out and saw it again.Needless to say, he loved the film. As do I. It's not often that a big star has the guts to make fun of himself just to make his fans laugh. So if you have this film languishing in your collection somewhere you need to see it with this in mind. It's parody. Satire. Comedy! Watch it and have fun.