Why do so many people dislike 'Last Action Hero'? (1 Viewer)

[Travis_W]

I've always wondered about this. The first time I saw it at the theater I went in reading the reviews, critics lambasting it and so forth. Walked out and thought it was a great fun flick. In fact it's one of Arnold's best in my opinion. I mean the film is smart, makes fun of the genre that it's apart of and enough in jokes to give you a headache. So, tell me, why was and why is still hated so much?

 

[Shaun C]

I don't know either. I liked it alot and got the DVD.

 

[Cees Alons]

Because they're superficial?
I always liked to say that it has a "European" flavour (whatever that means).
I like it very much, in fact my whole family does. One of my favourite quotes ("Hello! I just killed somebody! I did it on purpose!") can be heard in our house almost daily. Well, weekly, perhaps, but you get the drift... (Very rewarding phrase after killing a mosquito.)

Cees

 

[Chris Atkins]

I too adore this film, and have watched it many times.

 

[JasenP]

I think what killed it for me was the farting corpse bit.
It just seemd beneath Arnie for me at the time.

 

[Chris Atkins]

If my memory serves me correctly, this film was billed NOT as a satire on action films, but AS an action film itself.

Am I correct about this?

If so, people were probably disappointed that the movie they went to see didn't resemble the movie in the trailers.

 

[Chad R]

Okay, for me it wasn't particularly funny, a bit overlong, the kid was bad, and the action wasn't really all that stunning.

Also remember that in theaters it opened close to Jurassic Park which put people in a different mood for action and the standard cop thriller (no matter how creatively bent) just wasn't as interesting as a bunch of frickin' dinosaurs munching people.

 

[Rob Lutter]

This film has always been a favorite of mine... I haven't picked up the DVD yet because I am hoping for a new Superbit (I hear the current DVD is substandard).

This film also launched my personal favorite theatrical sound system... 8-channel Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (or SDDS) which was the competitor to Jurassic Park's DTS sound.

Although the new 10-channel DTS sounds like it might best it

 

[John_Berger]

This movie seems to have suffered from the same undeserved wrath that was also given to Hudson Hawk -- here was a big-budget movie with an action-movie star in it that came after a big-action movie (in this case Die Hard 2) and was therefore expected to be an action movie in line with what was most recently done. So, people had an expectation on what the movie would be.

When it turned out that the movie was totally NOT in line with those expectiations -- WHAM! -- people hated it and refused to look at the movie as its own entity. Instead, they had to compare it with other recent works that didn't even belong in the same film genre.

Personally, I think that if these same people went back and watched the movie again as the separate flick that it was supposed to be, they'd enjoy it more than they're currently willing to admit.

That just my two cents on it. Please convert that to your currency as needed.

 

[TheLongshot]

It was considered a disappointment because of all the hype associated with it. It was a Memorial Day release, if I remember correctly. Anyone remember the rocket with the movie name on it?

Personally, I liked the film, tho it imploded at the end when Arnie's character went to the real world. Personally, I think Demolishion Man was a better film of that type.

Jason

 

[Chris Atkins]

Personally, I think Demolishion Man was a better film of that type.

I think LAST ACTION HERO and DEMOLITION MAN are both highly underrated.

DEMOLITION MAN was a real crowd pleaser when I saw it.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Last Action Hero seems a lot like the 'burbs. They both were pretty much universally despised at the time of their release, but are now close to being cult favorites. The 'burbs moreso than LAH; I remember my high school paper listing the best movie of the school year--Big--and the worst movie of the school year--the 'burbs. Obviously, they were going for a humorous Tom Hanks juxtaposition, but there is no way that was anywhere near the worst movie of the period. And now, I have a hard time finding people who don't love the 'burbs.

The LAH is different. I have a hard time finding people who have seen it, and most of them have no interest in seeing it based on its reputation. But, forums like this one seem to embrace it to a certain degree now.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I LOVED the 'burbs. Great flick!

 

[John Harrison]

I want to kill
Everyone
Satan is good
Satan is our pal

 

[Chris Atkins]

Isn't that quote from DRAGNET?

 

[John Harrison]

It's from when Hanks and Ducommun are in the basement looking through a book about human sacrifice and whatnot, and Hanks puts his fingers in his ears and starts to chant so he can't hear all the juicy details.

"I'm not going to listen to this. I'm not going to hear this now."

"No, no, Ray, you're chanting! It says that right here. (shows him a page in the book) I want to kill everyone, Satan is good, Satan is our pal."

God knows why this scene stuck in my head, but that Satan chant always kills me.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's not awful, but went too far with the cliches, even for humor's sake.

It would have been better as a full-out comedy with nothing serious at all.

 

[Dean Kousoulas]

I think the movie had it's moments. I couldn't stand the kid, but it was pretty cool overall. I loved the T-1000 cameo at the police station, and the police chief makes me laugh every time (smoke coming out of ears, lol)

Dean

 

[Cees Alons]

It would have been better as a full-out comedy with nothing serious at all.

It was a full-out comedy. With as much seriousness as any other comedy.

Cees

 

[Kwang Suh]

It was too long. The kid was a bad actor. Oh, and "magic ticket my ass".

Also, the cinematography sucked. It was incredibly plain.

And, JP killed it.