Last Action Hero – Blu-ray Disc Review

January 11, 2010 – 3:32 PM - Posted by: Brendan Surpless

Tags: Anthony Quinn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Art Carney, Austin O'Brien, BD-Live, Charles Dance, F. Murray Abraham, Frank McRae, Ian McKellen, movieIQ, Sony

has an average rating of 5.8 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
only has “movieIQ” via BD-Live
–
– 1993
– 130 Minutes
– Sony
–
This uses 37.4GB for the movie out of 41.3GB total.
Street Date: January 12th, 2010

Overall Verdict – Strictly for the Fans

Buy it for $16.49 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Brendan Surpless —

Trailer:



The Movie Itself was directed by John McTiernan (known for directing “Die Hard“). Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien) is a huge fan of action hero Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Having seen “Jack Slater III” a handful of times at the same theater, Danny has developed a friendship with the theater’s projectionist Nick (Robert Prosky). Nick tells Danny that if he can make it back to the theater at exactly 12 midnight, he’ll treat Danny to a sneak preview of “Jack Slater IV.” Upon arrival to the theater, Nick gives Danny a magic ticket given to him by Harry Houdini. As Danny sits back watching the new Slater film, suddenly a stick of dynamite flies through the screen. Seems like this ticket really is capable of magic as Danny awakes and finds himself in the back of Slater’s car! Add in that Slater’s infamous enemy Benedict (Charles Dance) has plans for Slater in this “IV” trip. Now it’s up to Danny and Slater to figure out how to finally stop Benedict before something far more dangerous occurs. What results is a highly entertaining film that essentially is one huge parody of everything we’ve come to love from both action and Schwarzenegger films.

Parody is a subject that “Last Action Hero” handles with extreme ease and intelligence. At its release in 1993, both action films and star Arnold Schwarzenegger were bigger than life itself. Action films in particular had their go to guy in Director John McTiernan who had helmed many of the bigger action-packed movies of the late 80s/early 90s. Schwarzenegger, fresh off the mega successful “Terminator 2: Judgment Day“, entered this role thinking it was time for a parody of what made him the star he has become. From the first moment Schwarzenegger is on the screen, the lampooning begins. When Danny lands in his car, he’s being pursued by a couple of henchmen. Random explosions ensue followed by pure insanity, something that we can’t help but laugh at. I don’t really want to mention anything more as I feel it will ruin the lasting charm of the film, but I can’t help but wonder why exactly this film was such a failure upon its release.

I will easily admit that “Last Action Hero” does run a bit too long in moments (more in Slater’s world vs. Danny’s world), but the overall impact of the film still sticks with me today, some 17 years later. “Hero” nor any of its characters ever takes itself seriously. And that’s the true charm of the movie, something that fans of it are quick to point out when people lambast it. I honestly feel that due to Schwarzenegger’s ability to draw in audiences at this time, people expected a movie like “Terminator“, an action fest. Yes “Hero” is an action fest in moments, but there’s more to the movie. Take in point when Slater enters Danny’s world. Everything is different from here both visually and physically (when he breaks a car window he goes “damn that hurt”). “Hero” does give us a sense of seriousness mixed it with its overall parody. The movie’s ability to realize that its poking fun at both the action films that made McTiernan a household name as well as Schwarzenegger’s past efforts, all while throwing in a few serious notes, give “Hero” the long-lasting place it has in our hearts.

In closing, “Last Action Hero” is still as fun and enjoyable as it was some 17 years ago. While the film does stretch its length at times, the different styles of parody and lampooning on display here make this one of my all time favorite Schwarzenegger movies. Recommended for both fans of Schwarzenegger as well as those looking for an all-around fun way to spend 2 hours.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte, dual layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2:40:1 aspect ratio. Basically taking place in two totally different locales, “Last Action Hero” features the kind of transfer that many will initially write up due to the opening moments. The issue here seems to lie in how the film was shot. Glancing into Director McTiernan’s other efforts out on Blu-ray (“Die Hard” and “Predator“) see mixed transfers. Here, like the aforementioned titles, the film’s detail tends to waver from scene to scene. As the film opens, Danny’s world has sequences of highs (really the day exteriors) but also scenes of lows (the inside of the theater). The film’s color palette here is dominated by darker blacks. Once we move to the ultra hyper Jack Slater world, everything is pretty much pumped up. The colors become brighter (while somewhat overly toned up) as well as the detail. The film’s print is in good condition thought with only a few instances of noise or grain. This makes me believe the faults listed above may be the result of what the film was shot. If their expectations are set correctly, I believe most will be somewhat pleased with this effort from Sony. All in all this earns a decent “3.5 Star Rating“.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Dialogue is well reproduced with no instance of drop out. Volume levels are fine, so zero need to fiddle with the remote. Moving to the rears, the film’s dynamics are solid throughout though might not be quite what fans expect. The rears do open up quite a bit once we enter Slater’s world, either thanks to varying explosions or background dialogue of the busy LA Police Station. Atmosphere does create a fairly believable soundtrack but at times the overall impact did feel a bit flat. Pans are good with a fine transfer between rears. LFE is fine as well with most of the thumping and booming coming courtesy of Slater’s over-the-top gun. Especially after viewing another 90s action title in “Cliffhanger“, I can’t help but feel I expected a bit more considering the film at hand. Still, all in all this earns a good “4 Star Rating“.

Bonus Materials on this release do not exist!

• BD-Live: As per all Sony titles, BD-Live is included and gives access to trailers as well as information on Sony titles. Also included is movieIQ. which runs alongside the film popping up an occasional fact or two about the film.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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