plug: Last Action Hero (1993)
“Here’s another explosion for your movie, kid.”
Welcome to today’s plug, a quick recommendation of an oft-forgotten film, cult classic, or movie that is dying to be rewatched // We send plugs every Tuesday + Thursday //
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but genre meta-humor wasn’t invented by the MCU or Deadpool or whatever. It wasn’t invented by John McTiernan’s meta-action Schwarzenegger vehicle Last Action Hero either, but the latter deserves waaayyyyy more credit for getting in early on the type of self-referential storytelling that’s permeated popular culture for the last 25 years.
Last Action Hero came out in ‘93, arguably the absolute final year of “the ‘80s,” and it’s an exceptional coda to the delicious, dumb oeuvre of the decade’s action movies. Checks out, seein’ how director John McTiernan dominated the tail end of the ‘80s with seminal action flicks like Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October (he also followed up Last Action Hero with Die Hard with a Vengeance, still the best entry in that franchise, and The Thomas Crown Affair, which I’ve already gushed over in a previous plug).
For Last Action Hero, McTiernan reteamed with Schwarzenegger — never one to shy away from making fun of himself — to tell the story of a Schwarzenegger character (aptly named Jack Slater) who becomes aware that he’s the protagonist of an action movie franchise. Again, nothing a particularly new or revolutionary in 2021, but in ‘93 the idea was still pretty fresh. Script originator Zak Penn claimed The Simpsons was a major early inspiration. “We thought, if this show can destroy genres even as it embraces them,” said Penn, “why can’t we do it in live action?”
The movie starts in a “real world” New York where latchkey kid Danny (Austin O’Brien) spends his days skipping school and hanging out at a local dilapidated movie house. There’s this great scene where he’s in English class daydreaming about a Schwarzenegger version of Hamlet that’ll make every millennial or gen-Xer who was raised on movies feel seen.
In a real Amblin-entertainment move, Danny receives a “magic movie ticket” from the kind old man who runs the movie theater, and accidentally uses it to transport himself into the latest “Jack Slater” film. Meta hijinks ensue.
As you can see from the gif above, everything in this movie is an only a slightly more ridiculous version of the action-movie trope it’s sending up. Anyway, Danny quickly demonstrates a superhuman awareness of everything going on around him. He can’t help but use his encyclopedic movie knowledge to point out that “this is a movie” at every turn (which is exactly what I would do).
In response, Slater’s walking-heart attack of a police chief follows the universal laws of buddy-action comedies and assigns Danny to be Slater’s partner. For the rest of the film, Danny plays audience avatar and sidekick to Slater as our action hero goes through the existential crisis of slowly realizing you’re a fictional character living a meaningless life of explosions, ricocheting bullets, and cigar smoke. It’s fun, thoughtful shit with just enough brains to make it special. It’s clever without being too clever and emotionally resonant without trying too hard to be. Earlier this week I was skimming Letterboxd reviews for Last Action Hero and thought this one had a point worth signal boosting:
“There are many films wherein a character creates a false reality in order to help cope with some trauma they've suffered, a devastating break-up (Annie Hall) or a haunting death (Romancing in Thin Air). This is the only film I know wherein a character moves from a false reality to a real one in order to cope with a trauma he's suffered in the fictional world.”
What a concept, and it’s executed with more panache than anyone would have recognized, let alone expected in ‘93. Despite a script that went through several iterations, the writing is pretty damn near impeccable from start to finish, and the performances really carry this thing through. Seems like everyone from Schwarzenegger to fucking F. Murray Abraham and Anthony Quinn knows what kind of movie they’re in and they show no reservations about leaning into it. Gotta shout out my man Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister himself) in particular for his pitch-perfect turn as a ruthless, cosmopolitan British henchman with a sick collection of novelty glass eyes.
Like I said up top, Last Action Hero applies the whole Avengers/Deadpool self-referential humor deal to a prior era of popcorn cinema. I could be wrong about this but I think zoomers might intuitively dig it even if they don’t pick up on all the references or whatever because they’re so used to experiencing this kind of humor in all their superhero movies.
This movie is also an intricate work of stellar Hollywood meta-fiction preceding the likes of Fight Club and Adaptation. “Serious” cinephiles and action-movie nerds alike will feel right at home with its steady stream of well-placed references and visual nods to Terminator, Basic Instinct, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Amadeus, The fucking Seventh Seal, and everything in between. Most importantly, Last Action Hero is an ‘80s action romp on cartoon-acid that’s ripe for re-evaluation and wider recognition.
If you liked the post, please hit the heart button below // It helps us reach more readers on Substack // Also, tell a film-loving friend to subscribe //
Follow me on Twitter and Letterboxd // Read more of my writing: whoisandyandersen.com
I loved this movie when it came out (soundtrack too! Haha) I probably haven’t seen it in over 20 years but now I want to rewatch it! Nice one!