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Last Action Hero doesn't get the praise it should
I just got done watching Last Action Hero (which is currently streaming on Netflix (U.S)) and after not seeing it for about about 15 years, I was left floored and excited to write-in r/movies. Last Action Hero is so damn fun and entertaining and cycles so well within the metaverse of action films my brothers and myself grew up with. I will be watching this again soon and I really hope you can see through the fun campy behavior of the film and really enjoy this one yourself! Thanks, u/GovSchwarzenegger for making this fun entertaining film but more importantly for the memories I will have with my family cheering you on throughout your career!
"Hello! I've just shot somebody and I did it on purpose!
"180° you stupid spaghetti-slurping cretin. If I did a 360°, I'd go completely around and end up back where I started!"
I will always love that line. So many people get that wrong
Charles Dance could read the phone book for 2 hours and Id pay 10 bucks to watch that.
He is one of the reasons that GOT is phenomenal in its early seasons.
And Queen of Thorns is one of the reasons GOT is phenomenal even in its middle seasons.
Follow The Last Action Hero with The Golden Child for more Charles Dance being an excellent baddie in a comedy/action. (I remember I fell in love with Charles Dance when he did a tv show, in the uk, about being a chimp/human hybrids biological father. Am I making this up? Do I remember this?)
Sounds a lot like Chimera (1991), though I don't recall Charles Dance in it, though I do recall it scared the willies out of me!
Looks like it was called First Born.
His readings of vapid UK reality show star autobiographies on Big Fat Quiz is some of the most entertaining TV out there
Shaddup!
I absolutely love how that line is delivered.
Shut up!!!
It’s most fatal flaw was being out the same weekend as Jurassic Park. I’ve always associated the two since I was a kid. It’s always been just “the other movie”.
Slight correction, it was released the weekend after Jurassic Park.
Can you imagine that strategy meeting?
"It'll be fine, how popular can a Spielberg movie with dinosaurs be?"
To be fair, betting against Arnie and John McTiernan in 1993 wouldn’t have been a good call.
Seriously though, Always and Hook didn't do too well for him in a row and everyone was looking at this like this was the nail in the coffin for his career. A big Schwarzenegger blockbuster was the safer bet.
So true. Last Action Hero actually bombed at the box office because Jurassic Park was such a hit.
Its most fatal flaw is being 40 minutes too long.
Movies got a LOT of fat.
Kid: "All the phone numbers start with 555"
Hero: "Why do you think we have area codes?"
To be or not to be.
Not to be.
Hey Claudius, you killed my father. Big mistake!
One of the best Shakespeare adaptations of all time!
"No one's going to tell this sweet prince, Good Night."
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It's so overtly meta even this acronym is.
Iso metai?
Ya blew it.
“It’s so meta even this acronym…”
"I never just talked to a woman before. It's neat"
If you enjoy action movies even though you know they are ridiculous than last action hero is a classic. The scene where he falls into the tar pit, climbs out and grabs a few paper towels out of a dispense to clean up and then a few seconds later when the camera pulls back to him is such a great scene.
It’s hard to be both the apex of the genre, as well as a clear parody. The only other film I can think of is Cabin in the Woods.
"You know, tar actually sticks to some people"
Best one liners ever
“How exactly are you going to snap your fingers, after I rip off both of your thumbs?”
And the way he lights up his cigar and says "two of them.." (questions)
Are you challenging Commando (1985 film) for the title of the best one-liners in a Schwarzenegger movie good Sir!?
Jacob, jacob, as a movie connoisseur myself, I guess I gotta try it, sounds pretty fun.
Commando absolutely does have the best one liners ever.
"Don't wake my friend. He's dead tired"
You said you'd kill me last!
I lied.
- What happened to Sully?
- I let him go…
Why don't you blow off some steam?
“Iced that guy…to cone a phrase.”
Hello, I'd like to speak with the drug dealer of the house, please.
It's a beautiful day and we're out killing drug dealers. Are there any in the house?
Jack: Sir, are you a henchman?
Benedict: No, I only go as far as lackey. Anything else?
Yea, take off your sunglasses
I liked it. Killer soundtrack. Cypress Hill, megadeth, Alice in Chains it's all good.
Acdc...
Acdc is in alot of movies though, the others not so much.
True, but not original AC/DC. "Big Gun" was written for the movie.
Exactly they be putting out to that movie scene.
"rubber baby buggy bumpers"
I frequently quote this to this day.
"Iced that guy, to cone a freeze.."
Uhhh
”Burger time!!!”
Magic ticket my ass, McBane…
Maria, my mighty heart is breaking. If anybody needs me, I'll be in the Humvee.
I know, there were script problems from day one..
Read that in Link Wolfcastle's voice
It really actually does.
I see this movie pop up in almost every r/movies thread. It definitely gets recognised.
I enjoyed when it came out.
It's funny, because so many other films are getting praise for doing the same thing in different genres lately. Isn't it Romantic, The Final Girls, Video Nasty (upcoming), etc.
It's really well done for what it is. Sad that people don't get what it's trying to do. I really love it.
It's an amazing movie. I re-watched it recently and I really enjoyed it. Arnold is amazing.
The biggest problem is the kid. He’s really annoying. When it came out, my friends and I were around the same age as the kid and I remember even we all hated him.
The one scene where it works is when he gets robbed in the apartment. No snark, just sheer terror as the fucker wrecks the place.
They did a great job of making that kids life look legitimately shitty. Very few movies will show NY apartments like that.
I don’t mind him really, I think he plays the role well with what he’s given to work with there.
Though I’ve always thought it would have been better both movie wise and commercially if they made Arnold and Arnold the main characters instead. Kind of switch it up so somehow one Arnold is brought into the other Arnold’s world sooner. Not Double Impact exactly, but just more real Arnold and movie Arnold in general. The kid role can still fit in the later act after the Arnold crosses through the screen.
I think they were too focused on drawing in both kids and adults but should have concentrated on the adult side of things.
Disagree. He nails the character. He's just a jaded kid with no rules in place to follow. But yeah he'd be annoying in real life.
Agree with you. I watched this recently, and Austin O Brien is actually not as annoying as I expected him to be. The character is actually behaving like a relatively normal youngster.
He was supposed to annoy Arnold, not us. Maybe he did his job too well?
Loved this movie since I was a kid! Charles Dance really is a perfect villain
Love love love this movie 🎬!!!!!! Everyone gets an updoot!!!!
[It does on here every once in a while] (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/qryro0/last_action_hero_is_a_great_movie_prove_me_wrong/)
[It does on here every once in a while] (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/p0orb0/last_action_hero_1993_the_most_unique/)
[It does on here every once in a while] (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/iel60s/last_action_hero_1993_is_the_truest/)
[It does on here every once in a while] (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/h948cs/last_action_hero_the_epitome_of_action_and_comedy/)
[It does on here every once in a while] (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1zd8ap/the_massively_underrated_actioncomedy_last_action/)
I'm going to take some downvotes, but some of us don't update reddit every 5 hours. I know it seems insane, but I haven't seen anything "new" about Last Action Hero in the last six months.
haha this reminds me of the mark walberg thing, how every few years someone talks about how racist and shitty of a person he is, and then everyone collectively forgets for another few years when its dug up again.
i've definitely see a few last action hero posts but i'm still ok with it, movie truely does deserve more praise than it gets.
I got you bro, take this up vote, keep your head above water
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You said the movie doesn’t get praise, the person showed you that you are mistaken.
It’s absolutely praised all the time. It is widely considered a cult classic, and constantly shows up in discussions here and everywhere. It was only critically panned when it came out.
Such a fun movie. Never understood the hate for it. I watch this once a year and I'm never disappointed.
It was ahead of it's time and probably too meta for contemporary audiences.
It's crazy. I was a kid at the time and even then I totally got it. Don't know why people were so down on it. I love this movie so much.
Same! I always thought it was good when I was younger but it was always scoffed at. It wasn't until tonight that I decided to watch it after so long and really don't understand the hate. The film doesn't try to be anything, but itself and I love it!
You're not wrong! Don't let anybody tell you different! One of the best parodies of action movies. I won't rest, until Last Action Hero 2 is made! Yeah, I'll probably be dead by then.
Me neither. People saying it’s unpolished and has flat scenes or whatever…can’t you just watch a movie sometimes without over analyzing it and enjoy it for fun while stuffing popcorn in your face? Not every movie is supposed to be a cinematic masterpiece. Some are just fun for the sake of fun. For Christ sake, there’s a fat corpse that falls into the tar pits and farts out a bomb. Nothing about this movie is to be taken seriously.
I would hate to watch movies with some of the top commenters on this sub and the horror sub is ever worse. I honestly think they don't want to enjoy a movie. They just want to come on here and tear them apart and try to look superior to the "mainstream". I just want to enjoy an hour or 2, not have a spiritual experience.
One of my biggest things that get me is people who say a sequel, remake or reboot "ruin" the original. How far does your head have to be up your ass for that to happen?
Preach it
It was a movie just ahead of it's post modern time.
I’ll always upvote a post about Last Action Hero. Such a gem.
I don't know. Everytime I see it mentioned, I see nothing but praise for it.
If you have the time, check out a book called My Year of Flops by Nathan Rabin. It's a book on movies that flopped so hard that they ended careers or changed the industry, or both. One of the movies featured is Last Action Hero.
The behind-the-scenes chaos associated with this movie is insane. Shooting began without a finished script. The animated cat character (voiced by Danny DeVito!) was a throwaway gag that ended up costing $2m and delayed production by six weeks. Test audiences absolutely hated it. Reshoots were hastily scripted. With one week to go until release, Universal were still writing and shooting new scenes to try and make the story more coherent.
Personally, I think the movie is ... well, the kindest word is "unique". It has a lot of memorable ideas and moments, but also a lot of scenes that fall flat. There's the annoying kid character - aka the main characer of the whole movie. Ultimately, it's a $120m production that hinges on the audience buying into a "magic cinema ticket." I can't explain why I'm fine with Bill and Ted having a time travelling phone booth, but this was just a bit lame.
I believe I read that article or read up on the back story. It was a solid movie given the circumstances, but really did not seem polished throughout. The kid being the main character definitely hurt it.
Nathan Rabin is great!
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You should watch it. I was worried of ruining the memory of seeing it when I was younger, but it left me excited to see it again.
It's a movie that holds up if not ages like a fine wine. It feels like a send off to 80s 90s action movies.
i'm sorry but HOW does it not get the praise it should? At least on Reddit, every time it is mentioned it gets 100% praise from all replies. Sure, I don't think it was well reviewed at the time by the critics but it went up against Jurassic Park and others, but I'm fairly certain it got respect from just about everyone else who saw it at the time. Much respect for this movie!
It was ok. I've seen a few of these "last action hero was underrated" threads. I saw it when it came out and and have seen it a few times since, with the latest maybe 6 months ago.
Yes its making fun of itself and the cliches of its genre, but it I wouldn't say there is anything overly write home about the plot, acting, action scenes, cinematography, music or ending.
It's satirical action, which is kind of novel but it I didn't find it paced so well or did any of the cliches masterfully. I couldn't suspend my disbelief for long. 6.5/10 for me
No no no us old timers who watched it when it came out just couldn't wrap our pre internet brains around it.
I loved this movie as a kid and I love it now as an adult. Everyone thought it was supposed to be serious and didn’t get the satire. Such a fun movie.
It was better than it got credit for at the time of its release, but it was also a case of a great idea that just wasn't executed all that well.
Leo le fart has passed gas for the last time
It's awesome. For years I've been wishing for one thing...
Make Jack Slater V as an actual movie.
On reddit it does.