Last Action Hero (1993)

With the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Zak Penn (story), Adam Leff (story)

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney

1 win & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Jack Slater
F. Murray Abraham	...	John Practice
Art Carney	...	Frank
Charles Dance	...	Benedict
Frank McRae	...	Dekker
Tom Noonan	...	Ripper
Robert Prosky	...	Nick
Anthony Quinn	...	Vivaldi
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Mom
Austin O'Brien	...	Danny
Ian McKellen	...	Death (as Sir Ian McKellan)
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Tough Asian Man
Joan Plowright	...	Teacher
Keith Barish	...	Keith Barish
Jim Belushi	...	James Belushi

Storyline

Young Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a big fan of Jack Slater, a larger-than-life action hero played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. When his best friend, Nick the projectionist (Robert Prosky), gives him a magic ticket to the new Jack Slater movie, Danny is transported into Slater's world, where the good guys always win. One of Slater's enemies, Benedict the hitman (Charles Dance), gets ahold of the ticket and ends up in Danny's world, where he realizes 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:

year 1993 | video store | death character | polonius character | claudius character | 

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Taglines:

A great classic comes to the screen.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong action sequences

Did You Know?

Trivia

Little Richard has a cameo as himself in this movie. In Predator (1987), another John McTiernan movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, his "Long Tall Sally" was featured prominently, both on the radio and sung by Mac (Bill Duke).

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Goofs

In the end credits listing for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," the word is misspelled as "Judgement."

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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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Alternate Versions

The UK channel 5 version of the movie omits 10 minutes worth of footage to remove profane language violence and scenes that are unsuitable for kids.

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Connections

References 2010 (1984)

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Soundtracks

Speedy
Written by Carl W. Stalling

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 June 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Extremely Violent

Filming Locations:

Empire State Building - 350 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,338,241, 20 June 1993

Gross USA:

$50,016,394

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$137,298,489

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Oak Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1