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The wink and the nod begins with the opening sideways shot as a cop car arrives on the scene. Swiftly, the camera corrects itself and a barrage of cops, all apparently having the worst night of their lives, arrives. The camera glides over the response to the hostage scene that is unfolding in the building. We know a hero will emerge and, with snakeskin cowboy boots glistening in the rain-soaked streets, emerge he does: Jack Slater is here to bring his own particular brand of LAW AND ORDER. Punks be hurting tonight.
Produced and directed by John McTiernan, Last Action Hero remains one hell of a good time at the movies. Operating as a satire of the action genre, the film operates like a movie within a movie and, in doing so, kicks all sorts of ass. Unfortunately, this cheapo depot blu-ray release from Mill Creek is a despicable piece of shit. More on that later, though. Why? Because Jack Slater wants to kick it with you for a bit.
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Mr. Slater, of course. While Slater is the star, the BIG HERO of this flick is teenager Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien) and, escaping from his troubles at home, all he wants out of life is for his cinematic hero – Mr. Jack Slater – to be in FOCUS. You see, Danny is obsessed with Slater’s universe and the boy, living in a rundown part of NYC, has only these action flicks to escape into. Having the movie in focus is a BIG FRIGGIN’ DEAL.
And his go-to projectionist, Nick (Robert Prosky), has a deal for him: a golden ticket once owned by Harry Houdini. What Madigan doesn’t realize is that this ticket is going to put him in the middle of Jack Slater IV. How cool is that?!?! {googleads}
Forward thinking and, obviously, WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIME, Last Action Hero is a playful trek through Hollywood’s love affair with cinema, action stars, and cheesy B-movies courtesy of a film ticket that does what it wants to do. The fact that Schwarzenegger appears in a version of Hamlet, albeit black and white with color splashes, is a hoot and a half. This film is highly imaginative and focused on giving its audience a great time. Especially when we, just like Madigan disappear completely into Jack Slater IV to help Slater avenge the untimely death of his second cousin Frank (Art Carney in his final role).
Tony Vivaldi (Anthony Quinn) and his gang are going to pay heavily for blowing up that house in the middle of Los Angeles. Two days to retirement. But, once the teen is in the movie, we get hilarious scenes in video stores in which Stallone was in The Terminator and so on. The movie is totally LIT when it comes to its gags. 
Get the AC/DC cranking, buddy! Last Action Hero is going to take NO PRISONERS as it flips the script on movie fans by inserting US into the movie itself. The chaos, starting with a stick of dynamite that comes flying out of the screen into the movie house, that this film delivers is a swift kick to the seat of the pants. Big guns indeed!
Unfortunately, Mill Creek has done this awesome movie a disservice with their bare-bones handling of this kickass flick. No special features. No new transfer. Nothing special here but the “retro” packaging. I am going to tell you that the movie is great. If you are fan, scoop this up, but be prepared to purchase it again when it comes out with a sparkling NEW HD transfer.
Mill Creek gives us the unloaded version of Last Action Hero with this release.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong action sequences.
Runtime: 130 mins
Director: John McTiernan
Writer: Shane Black; David Arnott
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney
Genre: Action | Adventure | Comedy
Tagline: He's mean . . . And he'll blast through your screen!
Memorable Movie Quote: "Where are the ordinary, everyday women? They don't exist because this is a movie!"
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Official Site:
Release Date: June 18, 1993
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: January 15, 2019
Synopsis: Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien) knows the first three Jack Slater movies by heart and the fourth one is just about to be released. With the aid of a magical ticket, Danny gets to know the latest movie really well, literally speaking. While watching the opening action sequence during an advance screening, Danny is transported right into the movie! While on the other side of the silver screen, Danny becomes the sidekick of Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the toughest cop on the police force. Complications arise while Jack and Danny are working on the case, when one of the bad guys gets a hold of Danny’s magic ticket and escapes out of the movie into the real world. Now Danny and his hero Jack Slater must chase the arch villain in the real world, a world where evil guys can actually win!
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Mill Creek
Available on Blu-ray - January 15, 2018
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: None
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Mill Creek Entertainment presents Last Action Hero on blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that is on par with their previous releases: murky and not fine at all. The aspect ratio is 2.40:1. The picture is clean and the packaging is a slim sort of retro-looking slipcover. The black levels are a bit uneven, but that’s probably due to the transfer. Skin tones are saturated well and sweat beads are visible throughout the film. Interiors are weakest still. The sound is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.
Supplements:
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
- None
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