Today I get to talk about a real favorite of mine and that is Last Action Hero which was released in 1993. I was all in on this movie as a kid I was so excited about it, I had the toys and my local movie theatre had the pinball machine of this all the way into the late 90s! To this day, I still have the oversized Last Action Hero clamshell case that I got from my video store.
How to Download Last Action Hero
Last Action Hero was released on June 18, 1993. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
Movie Review: A Clever Take on Action Tropes
This is just so much fun. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a role that is poking fun at all of the action movie tropes. The thing about this is that as a kid, I did not realize this and just took it as a badass action movie! Now, I can see how clever this movie is, it is still a ton of fun for me to watch as an action movie, but I find I appreciate it on a whole different level now.
A Kid’s Adventure: Danny’s Journey to the Movies
Danny is a young kid who lives with his mom in New York. Danny’s only escape is action movies as his favorite is the Jack Slater series. There is a new Jack Slater movie about to come out and the friendly projectionist at Danny’s movie theatre gives him a special ticket to go and see it.
Magical Ticket: A Wild Adventure Begins
Special is the right word, this ticket was apparently owned by Houdini and it has magical powers that transport Danny from the real world into the Jack Slater movie world. I lost my mind over this as a kid. I think to be honest with you as a kid who loved action movies, it was the kind of thing I always dreamed of so I was kind of living through Danny as he was on this wild adventure.
Action and Comedy Blend: Danny’s Partnership with Jack Slater
In the movie world, Danny befriends Jack Slater. Despite only being a kid, the police chief assigns Danny to be Jack Slater’s partner and the two of them are on the hunt for bad guys. It is so much fun seeing all of the over-the-top action stuff and the way that Danny is able to explain it all to Jack as he is such an expert.
The Villain’s Plot: Benedict’s Intrusion into Reality
The thing is, that movie ticket is a two-way street and it falls into the hands of the bad guy Benedict and he makes his way into the real world! Benedict has a plan to not kill Jack Slater, but kill Arnold Schwarzenegger! It is so crazy and over the top, but it works and I love every minute of it.
Memorable Movie Moments
There are so many great moments in this movie I do not know how to narrow them down. One of the things that I lost my mind over as a kid and even to this day it makes me smile like an idiot is when we see the Terminator 2 movie poster with Sly Stallone as The Terminator! I would love to get an actual poster of that to proudly hang in my home. Actually, that whole scene in the video store with Danny and Jack is awesome!
Childhood Disappointment: The Van Damme Cameo
My only complaint about The Last Action Hero is that as a kid I saw an image in a magazine that showed Jean-Claude Van Damme in the movie and that blew my mind. Little did I know that it was like a 2-second cameo! Now I think it was cool, but as a kid that made me kind of mad!
A Timeless Favorite
I know for some people The Last Action Hero is a cheesy 90s action movie that is all style over substance, but I will disagree until I am blue in the face! This movie is awesome and it is a movie that whenever I watch it, I have a great time. I also have to give major props to the restoration team that did the 4K release of this as it looks amazing! If you love fun, you will love this movie it is as simple as this and I do not care what anyone else says, I am giving this perfect 10s!
