Review of Last Action Hero

Introduction

John McTiernan and Arnold Schwarzenegger teamed up for Last Action Hero in 1993, Schwarzenegger`s next action role after the phenomenally successful Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Last Action Hero was slated by the critics, and many Arnie fans went to the cinema only to come away disappointed - myself included - at the general disjointed nature of the movie, which was more comic book than action blockbuster.

A few years later, when building a collection of Arnie films on video, I got a second hand copy and watched it again, enjoying it much more the second time around. And now that I`m rebuilding my Arnie collection on DVD, Last Action Hero has again taken its place next to Terminator and Total Recall etc.

The film is a fantasy/comedy/action movie, which sees Arnie spend a great deal of time taking the mickey out himself and spouting his usual one liners. High production values lead to some great set pieces and some spectacular action, which at times is very comic-book and almost always cheesy!

Video

Video comes in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is pretty good throughout the movie - there was little or no evidence of grain or dirt on the print.

Visually, the film has most things that you would expect from a big budget Hollywood action movie - car chases, exotic locations and plenty of action.

Some of the stunts - the car jump from the sluice onto a truck for example - are very tongue in cheek, but entertaining nonetheless. Special effects in general look good, but in these early days of CGI, the explosions are the main giveaway - watch for the car jumping a lorry and exploding...

Audio

One thing I remember from the video version of this film was the soundtrack - the opening sequence for "Jack Slater IV" featured great front-rear panning, and then there is the car chase with an AC/DC soundtrack - "Big Gun".

The DVD mix also sounds impressive, with plenty of use of the soundstage for effects and music. The opening sequence, shootouts, car chase and many other scenes all sound very good, and the dialogue is always clear and understandable.

Features

The extras aren`t especially exciting - the featurette is a 6 minute extended trailer with Arnie telling us how good the movie is - and offers absolutely nothing of interest.

AC/DC fans (like myself) will like the "Big Gun" music video however.

A trailer wraps up the extras.

The film is packaged in a black Amaray case, which contains a folded colour insert detailing the 28 chapter breaks.

Conclusion

Overall, Last Action Hero is a film that improves with age - part of the initial disappointment for Arnie fans came when they discovered that the film is not a rip-roaring action movie - although there is plenty of action on offer.

The plot is total nonsense, and in order to enjoy the movie you`ve obviously got to turn off your brain for 125 minutes, but it`s entertaining in places, although admittedly tiring in others.

Arnie is good as, er, Arnie, and manages to have a laugh at his own expense, whilst the various villains manage to generate a few laughs along the line.

Good picture and sound are not helped by dismal extras, but given the limited success of the film we are unlikely to see much effort put into a special edition in the future - so this is as good as it gets for Arnie fans.