Blu-ray Review - Last Man Standing
May 07, 2024
Building a directorial career with features about hard men finding themselves in deep trouble, Walter Hill enjoyed industry growth throughout the 1970s and early '80s. He favored western-style storytelling with elements of psychological strain and physical violence, winning audiences with efforts such as "48 Hrs." and "The Warriors." This approach began to lose its potency in the late-1980s, but the next decade was especially rough on Hill, who struggled to blend his helming interests with studio projects, striking out at the box office with "Geronimo: An American Legend" and "Wild Bill." 1996's "Last Man Standing" represents something of a last gasp from Hill, handed money and star Bruce Willis to help transform a remake of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" into a major action event, turning samurais into prohibition-era gangsters for noir-ish growling and posing. For the opening two acts, the production is on to something, with Hill offering confident direction and command of mood, creating something interestingly mean with the material. The picture eventually loses its way, limping to an abrupt finale, but there's enough here to pass, identifying Hill's gifts with leathery moviemaking before his big-league career was permanently derailed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com