Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils his most underrated film, which descended into legendary chaos…
Arnold Schwarzenegger is synonymous with legendary action movies and blockbusters. But beyond Terminator and Total Recall, the actor’s entire filmography has not been unanimous and some projects have not met with the expected success. Sometimes unfairly, depending on the principal concerned… especially with regard to Last Action Hero.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, via MoviePilot, the former governor of California reflects on the failure of this 1993 fantasy action comedy directed by John McTiernan which sank into oblivion.
He was murdered before he was seen. It was literally a political attack because I was campaigning for [George H.W. Bush] but Bill Clinton won. Last Action Hero was great – it wasn’t fantastic but it was underrated. Now more and more people see it and say, ‘I love this movie.’ I get the residual checks so I know it’s true. He brought in money – that’s always a big thing for me. Because it’s show business, right?
As a reminder, the film follows the adventures of Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien), a young eleven-year-old film buff who, thanks to a magic ticket, can transport himself to the – fictitious – world of his favorite action movie character. . The latter, Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is a modern-day crusader, and together they face danger and always triumph. But things get complicated when ill-intentioned people take the ticket and reach New York, where crime pays even more than in the cinema.
Columbia Pictures
REWORKED SCENARIO AND DIFFICULTIES
Political story or not, the film is also known to have encountered several obstacles during its writing phase. Last Action Hero initially benefited from an original screenplay by Zak Penn and Adam Leff, intended to parody typical action movies like those written by Shane Black. Ironically, the studio then asked the latter to rewrite the film. Several screenwriters (uncredited) then reworked the screenplay – including Carrie Fisher – so that the final story differs greatly from the original.
The feature film thus ended up failing at the box office having reported “only” 137.3 million dollars against a budget of 85 million. Thirty years later, Last Action Hero However, it remains a parody of a fun and underestimated action film that we invite you to discover if you haven’t already done so.
Last Action Hero is currently available to stream on Netflix.