Last Action Hero (1993)

A young movie fan gets thrown into the movie world of his favourite action film character.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Zak Penn (story), Adam Leff (story),

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney

1 win & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Jack Slater / Himself
F. Murray Abraham	...	John Practice
Art Carney	...	Frank
Charles Dance	...	Benedict
Frank McRae	...	Lieutenant Dekker
Tom Noonan	...	Ripper / Himself
Robert Prosky	...	Nick
Anthony Quinn	...	Tony Vivaldi
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Irene Madigan
Austin O'Brien	...	Danny Madigan
Ian McKellen	...	Death
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Tough Asian Man
Joan Plowright	...	Teacher
Keith Barish	...	Himself
Karen Duffy	...	Herself

Storyline

Young Danny Madigan is a big fan of Jack Slater, a larger-than-life action hero played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. When his best friend, Nick the projectionist, gives him a magic ticket to the new Jack Slater film, Danny is transported into Slater's world, where the good guys always win. One of Slater's enemies, Benedict the hitman, gets hold of the ticket and ends up in Danny's world, where he realises that if he can kill Schwarzenegger, Slater will be no more. Slater and Danny must travel back and stop him.

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Plot Keywords:

ticket | hero | magic | action hero | projectionist | 

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Taglines:

He's mean . . . And he'll blast through your screen! [DVD cover]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong action sequences

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 June 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Extremely Violent

Filming Locations:

1100 block of Angelina Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£3,634,344 (UK) (17 September 1993)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Oak Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) SDDS (8 channels) (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arnold Schwarzenegger thought the script was one of the best he'd ever read. He especially liked all of the elements of comedy, action, drama and satire in it.

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Goofs

Hands holding colored spotlights can be seen in the theatre's projector room when the magic ticket is used the last time.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dekker: This is one hell of a way to spend Christmas...

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Crazy Credits

The only opening credits in this film are the ones for "Jack Slater IV"

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Connections

References Dracula (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Swim"
Written by John Bigham
Performed by Fishbone

User Reviews

quick reviews!

Another underrated movie, and one which few people understand, or try to. This is a spoof of action movies, primarily those starring Arnie and Stallone, ones which director McTiernen has made a living from. That said, the action, stunts, effects are good, the cast, especially Arnie, ham it up as much as possible, and the plot is pretty clever. Tons of in-jokes make this an entertaining film, and I'll admit that's all it is. But that's all it is trying to be. Don't whine to me about artistic merit, character development, internal meditations on life and all that crap-I have those movies on my list too. It's an action movie, where the bad guys are supposed to die, cars are meant to explode when scratched, the good guy is untouchable, and it knows it. 8 out of 10