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Dom Robinson reviews
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray:
DVD:
- Cert:
- Running time: 131 minutes
- Cat no.: SBR19669
- Year: 1993
- Released: January 2010
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Picture: 1080p High Definition
- Sound: DTS 5.1 HD-MA
- Languages: English, French, German
- Subtitles: English and 10 other languages
- Widescreen: 2.40:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: BD50
- Price: £19.99 (Blu-ray); £5.99 (DVD)
- Extras: None
- Vote and comment on this film: View Comments
Directors:
- John McTiernan
(The 13th Warrior, Basic, The Camel Wars, Die Hard, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Hunt for Red October, Last Action Hero, Medicine Man, Nomads, Predator, Rollerball (2002), Run, The Thomas Crown Affair (1999))
Producers:
- John McTiernan and Steve Roth
Screenplay:
- Shane Black and David Arnott
Music:
- Michael Kamen
Cast :
- Jack Slater: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Danny Madigan: Austin O’Brien
Benedict: Charles Dance
Nick: Robert Prosky
Lt Dekker: Frank McRae
Ripper: Tom Noonan
John Practice: F. Murray Abraham
Tony Vivaldi: Anthony Quinn
Irene Madigan: Mercedes Ruehl
Whitney/Meredith: Bridgette Wilson
Frank: Art Carney
Death: Ian McKellen
Teacher: Joan Plowright
T-1000: Robert Patrick
Catherine Tramell: Sharon Stone
Whiskers (voice): Danny De Vito
Themselves: James Belushi, Chevy Chase, MC Hammer, Little Richard, Maria Shriver, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Melvin Van Peebles, Damon Wayans
Last Action Hero was Sony’s big 1993 summer movie and up against Universal’s Jurassic Park – and we know how that fight turned out.
Okay, so this film took a real beating in critical terms, but I still really enjoyed it and it’s a great piece of entertainment, but due to the occasional violence in it, it ended up getting a 15-certificate which stopped it from appealing to the kind of 10-year-old kids we see in Danny (Austin O’Brien). As such, while it’s great that it doesn’t compromise, this means it also falls between two stools as a lot of adults will see a whiny kid and avoid it, while a lot of kids will want to watch a film where someone of their age becomes part of a blockbuster movie, but won’t be allowed because of the age rating.
Still, about the film itself, young Danny Madigan is a massive fan of action hero Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a rather neat parody of his then-massively popular screen roles). He knows projectionist Nick (Robert Prosky) like a best mate and gets the chance to see the character’s fourth outing before the general public do – and who wouldn’t want to do that? Better still, Nick’s a bit… well… odd isn’t a kind word, but for some reason he has a magic ticket which Danny soon finds transports himself into the film itself, where Jack is doing battle against baddie Benedict (Charles Dance) and the heroine of the hour is Meredith (Bridgette Wilson). However, things change when the action ends up in the real world and consequences are soon felt, which provides an interesting twist to proceedings as well as comic effect, such as when Jack ‘opens’ a car by punching through the window and is surprised how much it hurts.
The film is presented in its original 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio and looks well-detailed, but it’s also a bit gritty against certain backgrounds and it seems a bit random in how it turns out. Still, it’s certainly an improvement on a DVD and doesn’t impact on the film too much, but it certainly could’ve been avoided. For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
The sound is in DTS-HD MA 5.1, although I only had access to it in DTS 5.1, and as you’d expect there’s gunfire and explosions and it does a stirling job when these scenes occur. There’s certainly no complaint there.
However, when it comes to the extras, there is one big complaint – there are none. Why not? Another complaint goes to the cover. The original movie poster, which also featured on the video and DVD, shows a muscly Arnie swinging out of a movie screen with Danny under his arm. This one? Erm… well, look and see. It’s rubbish. What on earth were Sony thinking?
The menu mixes in a piece of music from the film with clips of the film. There are English subtitles plus 10 other languages, but the chaptering is ridiculous with only 16 throughout the 131-minute film.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
0 OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.