Last Action Hero (1993)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers (WGA):

Zak Penn (story) &
Adam Leff (story) ...

Release Date:

18 June 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Did Someone Say Action? [Theatrical]

Plot:

A young movie fan gets thrown into the movie world of his favourite action film character.

Plot Keywords:

Spinning Axe | No Opening Credits | Actor Playing Himself | Actress Playing Herself | Actor Meets Character

Awards:

14 nominations

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Jack Slater / Himself
F. Murray Abraham	...	John Practice
Austin O'Brien	...	Danny Madigan
Art Carney	...	Frank
Charles Dance	...	Benedict
Frank McRae	...	Lieutenant Dekker
Tom Noonan	...	Ripper / Himself
Robert Prosky	...	Nick
Anthony Quinn	...	Tony Vivaldi
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Irene Madigan
Ian McKellen	...	Death
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Tough Asian Man
Joan Plowright	...	Teacher
Jason Kelly	...	Lieutenant Governor
Noah Emmerich	...	Rookie

Also Known As:

Extremely Violent (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | SDDS (8 channels) (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-14 (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #32089) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

1100 block of Angelina Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Sir Ian McKellen plays Death, a character out of Ingmar Bergman's film Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957). In that film, Death was played by Swedish actor Bengt Ekerot.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the house explodes (Jack's favorite second cousin) you can clearly see the hydraulic jack popping up to flip one of the police cars into the air.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dekker: This is one hell of a way to spend Christmas...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mad About You: Surprise (#2.8)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Hangin' Tree

Too intellegent for it's target audience

After a string of predictable cookie cutter script action flicks that made money from Arnie's muscles and persona, one studio decided to take a chance and try a Hollywood self-mocking film starring the big guy. It had a story line that actually made one think and pay attention in order to appreciate the paradoxes arising from its premise.( A fun side effect is that its movie within a movie allowed for some more over-the-top stunts and tough guy scenes than even the simplest knuckle dragging mouth breathing 'action' film fans would normally sit for) Scenes with recognized characters drawn from recent popular films were played tongue in cheek and while the story proceeded on a couple of levels there were enough innuendos and amusing elements in the background to keep the viewer's appreciative attention. The result of this comparatively well polished gamble was the sort of reception reflected by the vote results in this IMDB poll. A surprizing number of viewers don't like it.

Maybe the studios waited too long to try a movie like this with Arnold. It is possible that the market segment that would appreciate a film like this had already dismissed Arnie as the Commando/Raw Deal lout and dismissed the film unseen, while the usual shoot'em punch'em fans found their brains hurting too much from trying to follow a real story.

One thing is sure, the studios are watching and you can bet they won't make that mistake again. Get ready for more movies that play to the lowest common denominator and are written so the dullest gonk in the movie house can still comprehend the plot. Red Sonja, Judge Dredd, The Running Man, here they come.