Press Release SPHE Press Release: Last Action Hero (1993) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey D]

I really like Last Action Hero. This underrated film has a great, smart, funny script imo. I think Arnold gives a great performance and it still holds up today.

Obviously I’m in the minority but the film had its fans and I’ll be picking this one up happily. It would be a “Big Mistake” not to.

Yes the “big mistake” line is perhaps the best running joke in the film.

 

[titch]

I was very disappointed in the film back in 1993; after Terminator 2, I don't think Arnie had a chance of meeting my expectations, but I must have spent a fortune on the pinball machine at the local arcade.

 

[JoshZ]

The snappy dialogue is courtesy of an uncredited script rewrite by William Goldman.

There were probably about 40 uncredited script doctors who put their fingers in that pie.

 

[JoshZ]

Why though, what’s wrong with it specifically?

Last Action Hero was very much a movie made by committee. In nearly every scene, you can feel the push and pull of conflicting studio "notes." As a result, the film never quite decides what it wants to be.

John McTiernan also has very little sense of comedy and was a poor choice of director for this type of project. He only cared about the action scenes and simply could not find the right tone for the funny parts.

On top of all that, the kid is really frikkin' annoying.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Last Action Hero was very much a movie made by committee. In nearly every scene, you can feel the push and pull of conflicting studio "notes." As a result, the film never quite decides what it wants to be.

John McTiernan also has very little sense of comedy and was a poor choice of director for this type of project. He only cared about the action scenes and simply could not find the right tone for the funny parts.

On top of all that, the kid is really frikkin' annoying.

I agree that the stabs at humor largely flop and that Austin O'Brien makes for an obnoxious lead. Is he intentionally irritating as part of the spoof? Maybe, but whatever the case, he's a weakness.

Nonetheless, the action - insanely goofy and over the top as it is - works. I can forgive the movie its flaws for the most part because it comes with enough positives...

 

[jim_falconer]

Tony Vivaldi:
What is this, Benedict? First you're my friend; now you turn a... 360 on me!

Benedict:
180, you stupid, spaghetti-slurping cretin - *180*! If I did a 360, I'd go completely around and end up back where I started!

 

[Tommy R]

I have very little memory of how this film was promoted back in 1993, but when I finally saw it years later I was shocked at how much of a satire it was and had no idea it was THAT kind of movie. Though its certainly not without some flaws, it’s a very fun and different Arnie movie.

All this discussion is actually making me want to maybe get this release, as all I have is an OLD DVD.

 

[MatthewA]

Geez, no wonder it was selected, but damn.

Don't blame me, I voted for Annie.

 

[B-ROLL]

Don't blame me, I voted for Annie.

It's a Hard Knock Life ... but there's always Tomorrow... and that's only a day away !

 

[Keith Cobby]

Don't blame me, I voted for Annie.

Arnie - just a key slip away!

 

[JoshZ]

I have very little memory of how this film was promoted back in 1993, but when I finally saw it years later I was shocked at how much of a satire it was and had no idea it was THAT kind of movie. Though its certainly not without some flaws, it’s a very fun and different Arnie movie.

The movie was released one week after Jurassic Park. As I recall, the ad campaign played up that rivalry, boasting that Arnold was gonna clobber some dinosaurs. Of course, as it turned out, he got stomped.

I won a free ticket to see this opening weekend at a multiplex. I remember vividly that Jurassic Park was playing on five screens, and still had long lines for all of them even in its second week. The premiere of Last Action Hero was on just one screen and the auditorium was only about half full.

 

[JoshZ]

Trivia: Last Action Hero was the first movie released theatrically in Sony's SDDS 7.1 sound format (5 channels across the front, 2 surrounds). Even that aspect of the production got overshadowed by Jurassic Park, which scored way more press for the debut of DTS sound.

 

[MatthewA]

The movie was released one week after Jurassic Park. As I recall, the ad campaign played up that rivalry, boasting that Arnold was gonna clobber some dinosaurs. Of course, as it turned out, he got stomped.

That's also partly my fault because I saw Jurassic Park three times and have never actually seen this film. But I do remember that network Saturday morning cartoons advertised the toys heavily.

 

[Steve Y]

Others in this thread have noted the pacing problems and tonal inconsistencies of Last Action Hero. The "action movie" portions of this movie wink too hard when they should be playing it straight (play it straight and you already have satire; watch the first Lethal Weapon for proof), and the "real world" portions take too long to set up and aren't filmed differently enough to make the contrast between "worlds" as fun as it should be.

But Arnold is fantastic in it, and I've always loved what this movie is going for. Every time I see it I hope it will work better than it does, but there's still a lot to enjoy, including the meta-jokes about actors like Tom Noonan and F. Murray Abraham and the nods to Bergman and a megawatt cast (including Art Carney, Sharon Stone, Tina Turner, Danny DeVito, Ian McKellen, Anthony Quinn, and Charles Dance ). It's a fascinating creation, even when it's clearly not coming together.

In a parallel universe this is a classic on the level of Being John Malkovich. But in ours it's a watchable curiosity. The Last Action Hero pinball table was pretty fun, too.

 

[JoshZ]

Every time I see it I hope it will work better than it does, but there's still a lot to enjoy, including the meta-jokes about actors like Tom Noonan and F. Murray Abraham and the nods to Bergman and a megawatt cast

The "Not to be" Hamlet gag is probably the best joke in the movie, because I can totally see some studio executive around that time putting Schwarzenegger and Shakespeare together in his mind with plans for an amped-up action movie reboot.

 

[TonyD]

I just watched 48 Hours for the first time in decades and saw that the police captain is the same guy in LAH.

He really is the same character in both movies.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I just watched 48 Hours for the first time in decades and saw that the police captain is the same guy in LAH.

He really is the same character in both movies.

And also in 1993's "Loaded Weapon 1". Frank McRae excelled as the "Headstrong, Yelling Police Chief"!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This title is getting a non-Steelbook 4K release on June 15th.

 

[TonyD]

This title is getting a non-Steelbook 4K release on June 15th.

That’s the gist of this entire thread isn’t it?

A link to it is in the op.

 

[Jeffrey D]

This title is getting a non-Steelbook 4K release on June 15th.

Good- I don’t like the steelbooks (too difficult to get the disc off the spindle without having to bend the disc).