Last Man Standing (1996)

A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Ryûzô Kikushima (story), Akira Kurosawa (story)

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	John Smith
Bruce Dern	...	Sheriff Ed Galt
William Sanderson	...	Joe Monday
Christopher Walken	...	Hickey
David Patrick Kelly	...	Doyle
Karina Lombard	...	Felina
Ned Eisenberg	...	Fredo Strozzi
Alexandra Powers	...	Lucy Kolinski
Michael Imperioli	...	Giorgio Carmonte
Ken Jenkins	...	Capt. Tom Pickett
R.D. Call	...	Jack McCool
Ted Markland	...	Deputy Bob
Leslie Mann	...	Wanda
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	Finn
Luis Contreras	...	Comandante Ramirez

Storyline

John Smith is an amoral gunslinger in the days of Prohibition. On the lam from his latest (unspecified) exploits, he happens upon the town of Jericho, Texas. Actually, calling Jericho a town would be too generous--it has become more like a ghost town, since two warring gangs have 'driven off all the decent folk.' Smith sees this as an opportunity to play both sides off against each other, earning himself a nice piece of change as a hired gun. Despite his strictly avowed mercenary intentions, he finds himself risking his life for his, albeit skewed, sense of honor....

---

Plot Keywords:

spaghetti western | mob violence | neo noir | gang warfare | bar shootout | 

---

Taglines:

If you lived in this town, you'd be dead by now.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Hill later said, that he and Bruce Willis "were not close when we did the film", but "I liked working with him. It was impersonal. Classic, 'I know what you mean. You want me to be a Bogart, Mitchum kind of guy' and I said 'Exactly. Let it happen.' He then took that and gave what I thought was a very good performance. I always sensed there was a kind of core resentment that Bruce felt he should be more appreciated for his talents. At the same time I think there is a limitation, that he does certain things better than others, and he hasn't always chosen so wisely."

---

Goofs

When John Smith is talking to Strozzi's girlfriend in the car in front of Slim's he asks her a question. His lips are obviously not moving when he asks the question.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
John Smith: It's a funny thing. No matter how low you sink there's still a right and wrong. You always end up choosing. You go one way so you can try to live with yourself. You go the other, you'd still be walkin' around, but you're dead and you don't even know it.

---

Connections

References Per un pugno di dollari (1964)

---

Soundtracks

You Got To Reap What You Sow
Written by Leory Carr
Performed by Ry Cooder

User Reviews

It's very orange

This film is a bit of an oddity. A remake of a remake, the story is so obvious you are never surprised by events, but the gunfights are pretty entertaining and Christopher Walken's turn as the husky baddie Hickey is suitably menacing. Also the fact that the attractive brunette has a completely pointless scene where she is topless in front of the mirror is a bonus. :) The camera work is stylish and the discordant guitar riffage of Mr.Ry Cooder is superb, the pace is slow but not sluggish and you can almost feel the heat and dust. This film is good but not great. Er... that's it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 September 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le mercenaire

Filming Locations:

Cook Ranch, Galisteo, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$67,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,010,333, 22 September 1996

Gross USA:

$18,115,927

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$47,267,001

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Lone Wolf

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1