jodyfranz I haven't watched this since it first came out. I remember liking it but not really something that I was very keen on. That is until I rewatched it recently. I can appreciate now what this movie was doing and it is fantastic. Not to mention I love the nostalgic buddy cop movies. This movie has it all for me. Even the kid is pretty good. Some of the special effects don't hold up too well but all in all a fun entertaining movie designed to be a commentary on movies wrapped in an action movie.

mike48128 The use of a "Magic Ticket" years before the first "Willie Wonka" movie! A stolen premise from "The Purple Rose of Cairo". Of course a projected fictional character cannot walk off the screen into "real life" and someone can't walk onto a film. "The Slasher" pushes "Jack Slater's son" over the fatal edge of a tall building and that's a very unfunny beginning. Great explosions, fire, special effects, and stunts. At it's best when it's acting like the comic book hero movie "Dick Tracy" or the campy version of "Batman". Almost too many cameos and "walk-ons" to count. Basically a "set-up" for numerous and preposterous "action hero stunts" each about 20 minutes long. Caught up in "the real world", Jack Slater must find his way back to his imaginary movie world where his mortal wound becomes "just a scratch", of course! Arnold pretty much plays an exaggeration of himself and it's a perfect vehicle for him. On repeated viewing, it is paradoxically more enjoyable yet more stupid. I love the "trained" Doberman Dogs. Like "Airplane" some of the jokes are brilliant and some are not funny at all. Why has no other reviewer mentioned that "Oddjob" from "Goldfinger" is villain Benedict's henchman and that every woman in the fantasy world is a "babe" including Jack Slater's "daughter"? For fans of mindless action hero movies!

a_chinn This film was not the blockbuster that it was expected to be upon it's initial release and was pretty derided when it first came out, but I think it's one that deserves reconsideration. The story is essentially Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" but with a 1980s action film hero stepping off the screen into the real world instead of a 1930s romantic leading man stepping off the screen. Both films feature a many funny moments of fictional characters having to deal the the real world and also funny moments of real world characters entering the movie world, enjoying the artifice of those fantasy worlds. The difference in how these two films go about this is that Allen's film was making keen observations about why people are drawn to fantasy worlds over reality, while "Last Action Hero" is comedic primarily a send up of 80s action film tropes. Although this film is nowhere as smart or insightful as Allen's classic film, it's a really funny film and does make some clever observations about action film formulas. What really makes this film work is the inclusion of so many action film heavy weights both in front of the camera (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and also behind the camera (director John McTiernan and co-writer Shane Black). The film is both a celebration of what audiences love about action films, but at the same time gleefully mocks them. I do think Sylvester Stallone's "Demolition Man" did a better job of satirizing 1980s action heroes by placing a stereotypical action hero into a peaceful futuristic utopia. This same year also saw the release of "Romeo is Bleeding" which was not exactly a send up of action films, but was more of an indie black comic send up of noir, which i suppose is pretty different from those other two, but I thought was worth mentioning. Overall, this film is not the throwaway over-marketed junk that I think it was perceived as upon it's initial release and is absolutely worth watching for audiences who want to laugh at 80s action film clichés. The film also features F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance, Frank McRae, Tom Noonan, Robert Prosky, Anthony Quinn, Mercedes Ruehl, and cameos by Franco Columbu, Tina Turner, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Angie Everhart, Maria Shriver, Little Richard, James Belushi, Damon Wayans, Chevy Chase, Timothy Dalton, Jean-Claude Van Damme, MC Hammer, and many other familiar faces.

bkoganbing The future Guvernator of California stars in this film that literally shatters dimensions. It's all about a ticket more valuable than the one that got you into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. This one allows young Austin O'Brien to get into one of the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater hero cop with one of those special weapons that never seem to need reloading.Young O'Brien's world is taken up with the movies, his is one humdrum and typically anxiety filled life of an adolescent and his preoccupation with the cinema is driving mother Mercedes Ruehl a little batty. But one day the cinema projectionist Robert Prosky gives him a special golden admission ticket that allows O'Brien to enter the Schwarzenegger film and become an additional character. Since he seems to know what's going on ahead of everybody that becomes a problem for O'Brien. But not half the problem the real world gets when one of the screen villains develops a consciiousness about who he is and invades the real world. In fact Tom Noonan realizes the perfect way to solve all his problems in the film.Such folks as F. Murray Abraham, Anthony Quinn, and Art Carney get to do some nice characterizations in the film. This was Carney's farewell performance. Schwarzenegger and O'Brien have a nice chemistry going themselves. And Arnie gets a chance to spoof a bit of himself. Last Action Hero holds up well as entertainment. It does date however since now the big screen uses those DVDs. Those cans of film you see in the projectionist unintentionally truly date the work.