Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageLast Action Hero (1993)
Director: John McTiernan
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
'No one likes a smart-ass,' Jack Slater (Schwarzenegger) advised young Danny (O'Brien), the kid who keeps insisting that Jack's fictional. He has a point. Here's the set-up: an elderly projectionist allows 11-year-old Danny to sneak into the midnight preview of the new Schwarzenegger action movie, Jack Slater IV. A magic ticket (!) transports him into the flick, where he helps his hero tackle the evil Benedict (Dance), until the killer in turn breaks through the screen to wreak havoc in 'reality'. It's a promising scenario but McTiernan pitches ham-fistedly at a post-modern attention span and shoots with the subtlety of a rampaging rhino. This is film-making of the 'more- is-more' school: heavy metal action, but no character, no suspense. It may be the first action art movie but this po-mo parody is so self-reflexive it scarcely requires an audience.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: John McTiernan
Producer: Steve Roth, John McTiernan
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance, Frank McRae, Mercedes Ruehl, Austin O'Brien, Anthony Quinn, Ian McKellen, Joan Plowright, Tina Turner, Michael V Gazzo full cast
Genre(s): Fantasy
Duration: 131 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now