Last Action Hero (Revisited) "The bad guys are in there!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, since so far of late I've been on a bit of a Arnold Schwarzenegger run lately on the blog, I figured I would do another of Arnie's films. So, this one is a film I have watched recently and its the Last Action Hero, which was critically panned on its release and was a box office bomb also. 

However 31 years onward from its release, is Last Action Hero still a dud? Well, let's take a look and find out...  

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

Right, so the story begins with a young boy named Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) who is a fan of the action franchise movies involving the character Jack Slater (Arnie) a rogue LAPD cop who isn't afraid of anyone when it comes to taking down bad guys.  On the the night before the premier of the new Jack Slater movie: Jack Slater IV, Danny is given the chance to see a private viewing of the film courtesy of his friend, Nick (Robert Prosky) an old man who operates a run down movie theatre in New York city.  However Nick tells Danny that his admission ticket is a magic one that was once given to him by Harry Houdini.  A few minutes into the film however while Danny sits enjoying it he is unaware that his ticket stub begins to glow during an action scene where bad guy chase Jack and they throw sticks on dynamite at his car.  But one of them suddenly flies out of the cinema screen right next Danny who flees and runs towards the cinema screen just before it explodes.  

Danny soon wakes up in the back of a car, which turns out to be Jack Slater's as it quickly dawns on Danny that he is now in the movie himself.  After Jack loses the bad guys, Danny tries to explain to Jack that they are in a movie but Jack dismisses the idea and takes him to the police station where Danny sees some outlandish characters such as cartoon detective named Whiskers (voiced by Danny De Vito).

Afterward Jack and Danny drive along to find the bad guys that were behind the attack on Jack and Danny identifies the house he saw at the beginning of the movie, which belongs to the mob boss Tony Vivaldi (Anthony Quinn).  Jack and Danny ring the door bell at the mansion and are greeted by Vivaldi's British henchman, Mr Benedict (Charles Dance) who is know for wearing a variety of different glass eyes who soon turns them away but after they go, Benedict overhears Danny make a reference to a scene he saw earlier in the film.  

After this Jack and Danny meet with Jack's daughter, Whitney (Bridgette Wilson) but are soon raided by Benedict and his thugs.  Benedict has Danny searched and he takes with him the contents of Danny's pockets which includes the half of the magic ticket.  Jack then manages to fight off and kill most of Benedict's thugs but Benedict himself manages to escape and later discovers that he could enter the real world using the magic ticket as it creates a portal for him to travel through.  

Later on Jack and Danny learn that Vivaldi intends to wipe out his enemies during a rooftop funeral for a mob associate by planting nerve gas into the body.  Jack however manages with Danny's help to remove the body from the roof using a crane, which Danny operates and dumps the body into a tarpit just before it explodes.  Benedict soon after at Vivaldi's mansion, kills Vivaldi but afterward Jack crashes into the mansion in Whitney's truck and he beats up Benedict and throws him through a wall but due to the magic ticket, Benedict is transported into the real world via the portal.  

Jack suddenly realises that Danny was right all along as they step through the portal themselves and its from here they must find a way to stop Benedict from wreaking havoc in New York....

THOUGHTS 
 
OK so this might be a rather unpopular view but I happen to like Last Action Hero as a film and its mainly because in a way it was ahead of its time by poking fun at the cliches of action movies of its time and in that respect it makes it a fairly shrewd and intelligent film even if it isn't always entirely successful in that area.  The film however itself on release was a critical and financial failure as it bombed at the box office and it was alleged that even its director John McTiernan wanted to remove his name from the credits.  But despite all that it still has alot of fun moments in it and enjoyable over the top action scenes some of which are quite hilarious because how stupid they are.  Schwarzenegger himself later said he felt Last Action Hero was one of his most underrated films and I'd have to agree with him. 

PERFORMANCES (warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
 
So performance wise Last Action Hero is overall not too bad starting with Arnie who as we all know is far from the world's best actor but when it comes to action movies it is his forte and he fairs pretty well in his role as Jack Slater, who is essentially postmodern version of Dirty Harry.  

Starting with the star of the film, Arnold Scwarzenegger has plenty of amusing moments in the film as well as cheesy one-liners. 

And to quote a few of Arnie's scenes there is the one at the start where Jack defies his superior officer, Lt Dekker's orders to not interfere. So, Dekker says to Jack "Goddamn it, Jack! I'm talking to you! If you go in there, its your badge!" and Jack tosses his badge to Dekker, who looks stunned. So, as Dekker says to him "Do not let him in!" one of the cops says "Piece of cake!" but Jack then faces the cop and says to him "Hey, you want to be a farmer?  Here's a couple of achers!" and he kicks the cop in the testes! Jack then takes the cop's radio and says "Dekker, next one I'll hurt!" and he crushes the radio as we hear Dekker protest.   

Then there is the scene where Danny suddenly finds himself in the movie and in the back of Jack's car during an intense action scene and after they evade some bad guys Danny says "I thought I was dead" and Jack says "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but you're gonna live to enjoy all the glorious fruits life has got to offer - acne, shaving, premature ejaculation... and your first divorce!".  

And another funny moment comes when Danny who is at schools sits during a lecture on Shakespeare and daydreams about Jack Slater being Hamlet.  And we cut to a fantasy scene where Jack dressed in a period costume as Hamlet lights his cigar and says to a man behind him "Hey Claudius, you killed my father" and then he grabs him and says his calling card "Big mistake!!" before throwing the man through a window.  And in the next sequence Jack starts fighting and slaying his enemies with a sword and then he is stopped by an old man who says "Stay thy hand, fair prince!" prompting Jack to say "Who said I'm fair?!" and then produces an uzi and shoots him!     

Then we have the scene where Jack and Danny drive round to find Vivaldi's house and Danny spots it and says "It looks just like that one! In fact IT IS THAT ONE! The bad guys are in there!". Jack then smiles and points to his badge and says to Danny "You know, I think you should wear this" and he hands it to Danny who says "I don't think I've earned it yet". Jack however then tells Danny "You don't understand. You just solved the entire case. you just revolutionized the entire history of police training. I mean all these years at the academy, studying human character, psyche of the terrorists, fingerprint analysis, all the courses that I've taken in surveillance, hostage negotiation, and criminal psychology, when all I have to do is drive around the neighborhood, point my finger at a house, and say, "the bad guys are in there!"?. Danny not amused says "You think you're funny, don't you?" and Jack says "I know I am! I'm the famous comedian Arnold Braunschweiger" and Danny corrects him" Schwarzenegger" and Jack says "Gseundheit!".

Then there is the scene where Jack and Danny question Benedict at Vivaldi's mansion and Benedict threatens that he could have them both killed by his guard dogs by snapping his thumbs and asks if there are any questions.  And Jack says "Yeah two of them.  Why am I wasting my time with a gangster putzes like you when I could be doing something more dangerous - like rearranging my sock drawers?  And two, how exactly are you going to snap your fingers, after I rip off both of your thumbs?!".   

Another amusing scene from Arnie also comes after Jack is suspended from duty and he and Danny go back to his place and he enters and without warning fires his gun at his closet door and opens to find an assassin fall dead out of it!  And Danny asks "How did you know there was a guy in there?" and Jack replies "There's always a guy in there. It costs me a fortune in closet doors!". In the scene Jack also laments over his personal situation and how he is divorced and fears for his own life as well as for his daughter's, Meredith. So, Jack tells Danny "Why can't she be like any normal teenager? At nights, she stays home and field strips her AK-47!". 

And another amusing scene is where Jack and Danny are back in the real world they try and find Benedict who has escaped their sights in a taxi and Jack rips open a taxi door only to find its the wrong one and he grabs the taxi driver and says to him " You've seen these movies where they say "Make my day" or "I'm your worst nightmare"? Well, listen to this one: Rubber baby buggie bumpers!" and he turns to Danny saying "Ha! You didn't know I was going to say that, did you?!" leaving Danny perplexed. 

Then there is the moment at the premiere for Jack Slater IV where Jack tries to prevent The Ripper (Tom Noonan) from killing Arnold Schwarzenegger only to have Arnie pounce on Jack instead to stop him from shooting the very man who is trying to kill him!  And afterward the real Arnie says to Jack "You know you are the best movie lookalike I've ever seen!".  And as Arnie tries to persuade Jack into getting roped into celebrity appearances with him Jack stops him and says "I don't really like you, alright?  You've brought me nothing but pain!".  

And last of all there is the scene when up on the rooftops Jack confronts Benedict, who fires a few shots at Jack and Danny as he tells his plan to user the magic tickets to recruit some movie villains. So, Benedict says to Jack "I shall miss you, Jack" and he pulls the trigger and his gun clicks and Jack stands and says "Gee! Did you make a movie mistake?! You forgot to reload of the damn gun!" but Benedict tells him "No, I just left one chamber empty!" and he shoots Jack in the chest. However, before Benedict can finish off Jack, Danny stops him and throws Jack his gun and Jack aims it at Benedict's explosive glass eye and says "No sequel for you!" and shoots him, blowing Benedict to pieces. 

Then we have Austin O'Brien let's face it can be a rather annoying little dweeb at times in this movie but to be fair, he still does OK in his role as Danny, the kid who get's literally caught up in the Jack Slater movie.

And O'Brien does have some amusing moments in the film that include the scene where Danny has an idea and writes down a rude word on a piece of paper and asks Jack to say it who says "Kid, grow up!".  And as Danny presses Jack to say it, Jack says "Kid.  I don't wanna say it!" and Danny teasingly says "Sat what?" and Jack says nothing and Danny grins and says "I knew it!  You can't possibly say it, because this movie is a PG-13!".  

Then there is the scene where Danny while he is in the movie attempts to play chicken with a car while he rides a bicycle he says to himself "Chicken it is!" but it soon dawns on him that " I'm a comedy sidekick. Oh, shit! I'm a comedy sidekick! IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" and he proceeds to do an ET cycle over the moon (via ramping over a house) before he crashes.   

Then we have the scene where Jack goes to the funeral of Leo the Fart and meets with fellow cop, John Practice, who is a corrupt cop, who cuffs Jack to a pipe but Danny surprises him and points a gun at him and shouts "Freeze! How do you get to Carnegie hall?! In a body bag if you don't put that gun down!" but Practice slowly moves to Danny and says "That's doubtful, kid. That's real doubtful!" and he swiftly takes the gun off him. However, in the next scene Danny manages to get the gun and points it again at Practice and says "See you've made the classic movie mistake, you gave too much away. You could have just shot Jack but no, you're the typical villain, dumb!" only for Vivaldi to appear behind with a gun pointed at Danny and he says "You're no genius yourself, kid!". 

Then there is the scene where in the real world Jack plays chicken with a taxi that Benedict is in but they arrives to find Benedict has vanished but his butler who was driving the car lies died having crashed through the cab window. So, Danny tries to persuade Jack to check the cab closer to ensure they are dead and he says "Yeah they always look dead but what about the scene in Die Hard, where the guy was hanging by the chains and he comes back!" and Jack teases him as he goes to check the car "I think he might be wearing a windshield wiper!" but finds Benedict has gone but he finds a newspaper and he looks serious, and Danny suggests "Maybe he used the ticket. We've gotta stop him!" and Jack says "Kid, that ain't the half of it!" and he shows the picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger, which has a big red cross through it.  

And last of all is the scene where Jack arrives back in the movie at the end where he is badly injured from his gunshot from Benedict and Jack persuades Danny to return to his normal life and be there for his mother. So, in the scene Danny emotionally says to Jack "Its just I'm scared I'm never gonna see you again" and Jack says "However says that, is making a big mistake!" and they both hug.

Charles Dance performance wise probably fares the best out of the cast here as he plays the part of Benedict pretty well and seems to enjoy playing up as the villain.  

Dance also has some good scenes in the film that include the scene where Benedict is questioned by Jack at Vivalid's mansion and Benedict threatens him by saying regarding the guard dogs at the mansion "I snap my fingers again and some time tomorrow, you emerge from several canine recta!  Or you and Toto can return to the land of Oz". So, when Jack threatens to "rip off both his thumbs" when Benedict refuses to remove his glass, Benedict relents and we see he has a smiley face eyepiece and he says "Have a nice day" and shuts the door.

Also there is the scene where Benedict turns up with his thugs at Jack's ex-wife's house where he questions Danny and says to him " I must warn you, I've killed people smarter and younger than you!". Danny then tries to con Benedict into taking Jack's countergeit money, which goes funny colours when its burnt. So, Benedict says to Danny "You were trying sucker me with marked bills! Don't play games with adults, little boy, or you will get hurt!". 

Then there is the scene Benedict pretends that Vivaldi's plan to wipe out his enemies went perfectly but then he tells Vivaldi "People were writhing and screaming in pain to get away from the explosion" and Vivaldi laughs and says "Really?" and Benedicts admits  "No.  I'm lying it was a complete and utter balls up and I've had a terrible day thanks largely to you!" pointing a gun at Vivaldi.  And Vivaldi surprised says "All of a sudden you do a 360 on me!" and Benedict corrects him for the last time "180, you stupid, spaghetti-slurping cretin - *180*! If I did a 360, I'd go completely around and end up back where I started!" and Vivaldi looks puzzled and asks "What?" and Benedict finally had enough says "Trust me!" and shoots Vivaldi. 

And lastly there is the scene where back in the real world where up on the rooftops Benedict taunts Jack by saying how he will plan to use Danny's magic ticket to lure out all the worst villains from movies.  And as Benedict is about to shoot Jack his gun clicks and Jack emerges from hiding saying "Gee!  Did you make a movie mistake?!  You forgot to reload the damn gun!" and Benedict says "No, Jack.  I just left one chamber empty!" and then shoots him and afterward saying "You see, Jack.  Bad guys can win!".

As for the supporting cast they are all mostly pretty good such as Frank McRae as Lt Dekker, Jack's boss who is always yelling at and berating Jack.  And McRae's most common line in the film is of course "SLATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" whenever he wants Jack in his office.  McRae has some good lines as well such as in the opening scene where he warns Jack not to go in and attempt to rescue his son "The last time you pulled this jive, jitterbug, tough gonad shit - people lost body parts!  Now you go in there and its your badge!" and Jack casually tosses his badge back to Dekker.  

Then there is the scene where goes into Dekker's office, who tells him off for the damages he's done to the city but is concerned by Danny's knowledge of their relationship based on the previous Jack Slater films Danny had seen. So, Danny tells Dekker how his anger to Jack is just a cover for how he feels for him and Dekker asks "Pray tell how do I feel about this sack of puppy poo?!" and Danny says they are good friends and goes on to reveal and private detail that both men shared re: Dekker's ex-wife. Jack however denies telling anyone about it and Dekker shouts "HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW?!" and Jack says "I don't even know this kid!" and Dekker suspiciously says "Well, he seems to know alot about us". So, as Dekker and Jack interrogate Danny, Danny pretends he just fell off a walkover bridge into Jack's car and Dekker says "Finally the truth!". 

Then there is the scene where after Jack's ex-wife's house is destroyed along with some LAPD cops after they unwittingly detonate a bomb which was one of Benedict's glass eyes, Dekker yells incoherently at both Jack and Danny with steam eventually (and literally) coming out his ears!  And Draker finally says "Well see if this is clear enough!  Give me your badge!  And this time you WON'T get it back!".

And last of all is the scene where Jack returns to the movie and he breaks the window of Dekker's office and grins and says "Its working again!". So, Dekker angrily tells Jack "I hope you know that window will come out your meagre but undeserved pay cheque, you wanna fucking tango up and down the Hershey highway!". Jack then tells Dekker "Look, I know why you're like this, you're the comic relief and I'm the hero, so SHUT UP!!".

And I could go on and mention the other cast members who do well enough in their respective roles such as Mercedes Ruehl as Danny's mother, Irene.

So, I will mention one of her scenes, which is the one where Jack and Irene talk and in the morning after Danny brings Jack to his home. So, as Danny wakes up and sees Jack and Irene chat in the kitchen, Irene says to Danny "Why didn't you tell me you were at the police station all night looking at mug shots?!" and Jack also asks "Why do stay out so late and go to the movies all the time when you know your mother is worried?" and Danny groans and says "Mom! You turned him into a wimp!". Danny then makes reference to the Harrison Ford film, Witness and going into hiding and Irene says "We're not Jewish" and Danny corrects her "Amish" and Irene says "Whatever-ish!".

Bridgette Wilson is also pretty good as Jack's daughter Whitney who has a good moment in the scene where Whitney is being beaten by one of Benedict's thugs and she screams in an exagerrated manner. However suddenly she says "Big mistake!" and kills the thug and kills another takes their gun. So, afterward goes into the living room and points her gun at Benedict and says "Freeze! Let him him go, or I'll decorate this room with brain matter grey, got it?!".    

Then there is the scene where after Jack lands in a pool of tar after successfully disposing of Leo the fart in the tar pit who is loaded with explosives and he goes off and Whitney turns up in a jeep with some fresh clothes for Jack. So, as she pulls up, she says "Hey Dad! I heard you were here and thought you might need some fresh clothes!" and Danny asks "Don't you think this is all a bit convenient?" and Jack says "Hey, kid, you always said this was a movie" as he wipes off the tar.

Also Anthony Quinn as the incompetent mob boss Vivaldi who appears to also enjoy himself in delivering Vivaldi's various misfiring puns.

Quinn has some amusing scenes as well such as the one where he has captured Jack's cousin, Frank, who he has tortured and he tells Frank a lie about two opposing mob families joining forces. So, after he says to Benedict "He really thinks they are joining forces together. But soon everyone will know that Tony Vivaldi is number one!". 

Then there is the scene where Vivaldi berates Benedict for failing to kill Jack and he says "You had Slater in front of the eight ball but you always screwed it up!" and he drives off, leaving Benedict annoyed, who takes off his sunglasses and corrects Vivaldi "Its BEHIND the eight ball, you moron!". 

And last of all is the scene where Vivaldi wants to know how Leo the Fart's funeral went anticipating, Leo, who was planted with explosives, took out the rival mob families but was thwarted by Jack. So, as Benedicts arrives back we hear Vivaldi ask "Tell how did it go?" and Benedicts says "It went perfectly!" and Vivaldi "Did it?" and Benedict "Perfect in every detail!" and Vivaldi laughs and says "Come on, I want to hear everything!". Benedict then pretends everyone died in great pain and agony but he comes clean and says "No, I'm lying, it was a complete and utter balls and I've had a terrible day, thanks largely to you!" and he points his gun at Vivaldi. So, Vivaldi looks shocked and says "Look, I was loyal to you and took you up and you do this 360 on me!" but Benedict finally snaps and says "180, you stupid spaghetti slurping cretin! 180! If I done a 360, I'd end up right back where I started!" and Vivaldi looks confused and says "What?" and Benedict says "Trust me!" and shoots Vivaldi. 

Tom Noonan also does pretty well in his role as the serial axe killer, the Ripper who appeared in Jack Slater III and Benedict uses the magic ticket to bring him into the real world to kill Jack and Schwarzenegger. 

I will mention one of Noonan's scenes, which is the one where the Ripper holds Danny hostage up on the rooftops similar to how the ending of Jack Slater III went. So, the Ripper says to Jack "Hi, Jack. Glad you could make it!". The Ripper grins and says "We've been here before, haven't we Jack!" so he goes through the motions of what he did in Jack Slater III. So, the Ripper says "So, you drop your gun and you tell me to put the axe down and tell me to let go of the kid and...I'm getting bored, Jack, let's skip to the end!" and he throws Danny off the roof and his axe at Jack, which misses. So, Jack grabs the axe and his uses to smash into a power unit, which electrocutes the Ripper who screams "I'LL BE BAAAAACK!!!!" and he falls down dead and Jack says "The hell you will!".

And lastly Robert Prosky provides the film with a fairly charming performance as Nick who runs the old run down theatre where he gives Danny a private screening of Jack Slater IV.  

Prosky has some fun moments too such as the scene where he tells Danny about the magic ticket and how Harry Houdini once gave it to him. So, Nick tells Danny how Houdini told him "This ticket has a mind of its own and is a gateway into another world and now its yours!" and he hands it to Danny and says casually "And now its yours". So, Nick tears it in half and gives the other half to Danny saying in a professional voice "Please retain your stub, sir!".  

And later on as he tries to reassure Jack after he is back in the real world there are worse things in life "There are lots of things worse than movies: politicians, wars, forest fires, famine, plague, sickness, pain, warts, politicians..." and Jack says "You already mentioned them" and Nick says "Yeah I know they're twice as worse than anything else!".

And last of all is the last scene where Danny hands the magic ticket to Nick and says "You were right, Nick, it sure was magic" and Nick says "Achh! The ticket is yours, Danny. In fact to tell you the truth, I think the magic was yours too".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director, John McTiernan despite the rumours of his disgruntlement of working on the film actually does a pretty decent job here and he is no stranger to staging action sequences and doing them pretty well and he does here once again.  McTiernan also manages to keep the pace of the film going at a good fast rate and it rarely ever lags at any time in the film.  McTiernan however later in an interview did state that he felt that the film's release was extremely rushed as it came out just a week after Jurassic Park so it was never going to survive as well at the box office and also that he felt the film needed re-editing in order to improve on it saying that there was "a pretty neat film somewhere in there!".

Score wise the film features a pretty good score by the now late Michael Kamen, who was no stranger to doing action films and his score provides some good beefy moments of rock (such as Jack's theme) and orchestral arrangements.  The film is also noted for its use of some hard rock songs from bands such as AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Aerosmith, Anthrax and Cypress Hill.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

So flaws...... yeah ok Last Action Hero is by no means perfect.

For staters, one thing that does threaten to ruin it is the character of Danny himself as he really is an annoying little dick who is a bit too cocky and self aware and is too keen to pick up on the flaws, cliches or hooks of the Slater films.  Also Danny being a kid rather naively opens his big mouth at the wrong time in the film as he mentions to Jack shortly after the chat to Benedictwho overhears Danny quote lines from earlier in the movie that "he called his boss a Sicilian schmuck!" but surely he probably should have thought better of that as that's what ultimately rumbled Danny and kicked off the events that lead to Benedict travelling through the portal into the real world.  

Danny also is too quick to show off being a smart ass to anyone around him which is well noted in the scene where at the police station he turns to someone and says "Hi, I'm Danny Madigan.  I'll be Jack's partner for the duration of the film!".  And another example is when he makes another smart-ass observation after Jack meets Whitney and says to himself "Hi. I am Danny Madigan and my life has not been long yet.  But from now on, I know it will be all downhill".  Achhh shuddduppp!   

The film also is filled with too many cameo characters such as the animated cartoon detective and John Practice who ultimately don't really serve too much point to the movie even though Practice does betray Jack so he has some sort of semblance of involvement in the story.  Then there are some daft cameo inclusions of the T-1000 (played again by Robert Patrick) and Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) from Basic Instinct at the police station and its like they just appear out of nowhere but again their inclusion overall is pretty pointless other than a superficial reference to other movies of the time.

It also has to be said the film features some pretty daft and rather obvious jokes such as the dead mob associate called Leo De-Fart, who just happened to apparently fart alot when he was still around and his body is used to release poison gas, which prompts the joke from Jack "The De-Fart is going to pass gas one last time!" and later followed by "He was a good man.  A flatulent man!".  Yeah there is nothing too original there!  

They even also try to do a piss-take on Sylvester Stallone being the Terminator in the scene where Danny while in the Jack Slater IV movie,  takes Jack to a video store only to find a cardboard cutout add for Terminator 2 with Sly instead of Arnie pictured, which ultimately backfires as its not that funny a joke.  And strangely enough Sly's much better received Demolition Man (released near the same time) made a similar joke about Arnie being voted as a future president, which after he became the Governor of California wasn't too far off the mark!    

Also toward the end of the film it becomes a bit of a mess in just where the film is trying to pitch itself as it appears to really choke itself on its own sense of self-congratulation and in trying to be clever.  This is especially noted in the scenes where Arnie plays a rather (or seemingly!) exaggerated version of himself who is a total egomaniac and is later stunned as he is saved by Jack who turns to him and says he doesn't really like him.  

The film also seems to invent its own convention such as a mortal wound like a gunshot can all of a sudden magically become a flesh wound in the movies!  So when (SPOILER FOR WHAT ITS WORTH!!) Jack is shot by Benedict and he is dying in the real world as soon as he get's back into the movies its barely as I said a flesh wound so that means basically Jack is virtually indestructable on screen (or IN the screen!).#

Then there is the curiosity of Danny's bruised and cut fingers as its never explained just how he managed to get them in that condition. You could argue that maybe he got into a fight with bullies at school and he did get mugged at his home as he tried to go out but he already had the bruises by then. So, it is a strange inclusion in the film that makes little sense and isn't explained.

And last of all there is the moment where Jack shoots Benedict in the eye, which of course turns out to be explosive as we already knew from earlier in the film when one of the forensic cops finds one of Benedict's glass eyes, he twists a mechanism on it which creates a powerful explosion.  Now my question is this....if Benedict's glass eyes are explosive then why the hell would he wear them in the first place???!!  It just seems to be a crazy and rather suicidal thing to do because what if someone tried to shoot him in the earlier on in the film??!  And that would be the end of Benedict pretty quickly and its a pity Jack didn't think to do that sooner!  Also Benedict clearly does have a real right eye as we see in the scene where he goes back to his home and he removes his glass eye to reveal his real eye beneath, which begs the question why bother wear a glass eye in the first place???!!  It just seems pointless.

Anyway that's me done looking at the flaws.    

SUM UP 

Anyway so that's it for my look at Last Action Hero which despite its flaws is still an entertaining albeit daft action movie, which was also strangely one of the first films to satire Hollywood action movies and for the most part it actually does it quite well. The film also features one of Arnie's most fun performances and he has plenty of funny quips and has fun with the film's outlandish action scenes. Austin O'Brien is quite annoying at times but he does do OK with his role as the precocious Danny, who gets caught in Jack Slater's movie quite literally. The film also features a decent soundtrack from Michael Kamen and solid direction from John McTiernan. 

So, while its not a perfect film, Last Action Hero is still worth a look and I think it remains one of Arnie's most underrated films.

So, I will give Last Action Hero (which may shock you!)...

8 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and to quite Arnie "I'll be back" with another review soon!   

 

True Lies Review "You're Fired!"

 

 

Well guys, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and this will of course by my first post of the year of 2024. So, this one will be on an action film from the 90's and it will be James Cameron action comedy thriller, True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie-Lee Curtis. Also this film celebrates its 30th anniversary this year as it was released in 1994, so a good time as any to review it!

So, with that said let's a look and see how this film fairs...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY 

So, the film's premise is based around Harry Tasker (Arnie) who is a spy for the US Government, who has kept this secret from his family that includes his wife Helen (Jamie-Lee Curtis) and his daughter, Dana (Elisa Dushku). Harry early on in the film tracks the movements of a terrorist leader, Salim Abu Aziz (Art Malik) while also meeting up with an arts dealer, Juno Skinner (Tia Carrea) who is linked to them. Harry pursues Aziz through a shopping mall on horseback but Aziz eventually escapes on a motorcycle.

The following day, Harry decides to pay a visit with Helen at her work to smooth over not making his birthday party the night before (when he was chasing Aziz). However, on arriving Harry overhears Helen talk to someone called Simon on the phone, leaving Harry stunned. Harry then follows Helen, who meets with Simon (Bill Paxton) who claims to be a secret agent himself and that he needs Helen's help to which she relcutantly agrees. Harry then along with fellow agent, Albert "Gib" Gibson (Tom Arnold) follows Simon only to discover that he is in fact a used carsalesman. 

Harry then turns up at Simon's car lot and poses as an interested buyer of a Corvette, which they take for a test spin and Simon soon reveals his plan to seduce women by pretending to be a spy and also makes reference to Helen being one of his interests. Harry soon after has Helen put under surveillance (much to the protest of Gib) and follow Helen, who later meets with Simon in a trailer, who asks that Helen pose as his wife for an upcoming "operation" in Paris. Simon then tries to persuade Helen into sleeping with him but she refuses and at this point, Harry and his team (all maksed) storm the trailer and capture Helen and Simon.

Helen is then interrogated by Harry and Gib (from behind a screen using a modulator to disguise their voices) as Harry asks Helen why she wanted to see Simon in the first place. Helen explains she wishes for some excitement in her life and meeting Simon was a way to get it, however as Harry presses her on confirming if she slept with Simon, Helen snaps and shouts no and tries to smash the screen with her chair. Harry then asks if Helen loves her husband and she sincerely says she does and on that, Harry decides to give Helen a little assignment to give her the adventure she needs to which she accepts.

Harry later interrogates Simon with Gib but Simon admits the truth that he is not a spy and just carsalesman who lies to seduce women and on peeing himself out of sheer terror, Harry realises he's telling the truth and let's him go. Harry then has Gib give Helen the assignment over the phone where she is to meet someone at a hotel and dress sexily for them. 

On turning up the hotel, Helen enters the room where Harry sits in the shadows and uses a pre-recorded tape of a Frenchman who instructs her to take off her dress and dance sexily for him, which Helen awkwardly does. After this Helen lies on the bed, as Harry approaches to kiss her and she hits him over the head with the telephone and tries to leave but Harry stops her as he reveals himself. However at this point, Aziz's men arrive to capture them both. 

On being taken to Aziz, Harry is forced to finally reveal the truth to Helen that he is a spy as he tells Aziz what type of missile Aziz has in front of him at this point as he forces Harry to cooperate and video himself taking about Aziz's nuclear warheads and their proposals to use them on American soil. Harry is then soon injected with a truth serum as we see Juno is also involved with Aziz, she says they want to know which agency he works for, Juno also tries to make Helen jealous as she pretends they had a thing together, which Harry denies. Harry then under the influence of the serum, tells Helen he has been a spy for 17 years but as the interrogator comes back in, Harry having picked his handcuffs kills him and a guard. 

And from here, Harry escapes with Helen and they must find a way to stop Aziz and his men from exporting their nuclear weapons into the US...

THOUGHTS

Well, after 30 years, True Lies still remains a very enjoyable action film, which is clearly James Cameron's attempt at making a Bond movie and he succceds for the most part as the film has plenty of fun action sequences and funny moments. Its also another good action vehicle for Arnie, who is no stranger to action flicks by this point and he also get's plenty of quips and amusing dialogue as well as racking up the usual body count. The film also features a fine supporting cast of characters with Gib (Tom Arnold) Harry's teammate, providing some very funny lines and moments in the film to the sexy and alluring Juno Skinner, the corrupt arts dealer working with Aziz, to Helen, Harry's wife, who is uptight and lives under the delusion that Harry is a computer salesman.

PERFORMANCE AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the performances, they are mostly pretty good overall.

Starting with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is great in his role as Harry Tasker, a secret agent, who hides his real vocation from his family only for it to come back and bite him later as he grows jealous of Helen potentially having an affair with Simon, while also trying to stop the terrorist leader Aziz from using nukes on US soil. 

And Arnie has his share of good scenes, starting with the one where Harry chases Aziz through a hotel on horseback as he tells his teammates "Hurry up and get to the hotel as my horse is getting tired!".  And as Harry arrives at the hotel, he sees Aziz riding a motorbike hold a woman roughly against the lift window, so he get's in an opposing left as they ride up to the top, Harry says an older couple "Could you press the button for the top floor, please?". And as he get's out at the top of the roof, Aziz rides his bike off the roof to another hotel roof on the other side as he lands in a pool. So, as Harry tries to jump after him on his horse, the horse stops at the bottom sending Harry flying over the edge of the hotel roof. So, after the horse slowly helps him back up, Harry chastises the horse and says "What the hell is wrong with you?! I mean I had the guy and you let him go! Look at me when I talk to you! What kind of cop are you anyway??".

Then there is the scene where Harry is forced to reveal the truth that he is a spy to Helen when Aziz holds  her at knifepoint and threatens to kill her unless Harry tells him what type of nuclear missile he has displayed infront of them. So, Aziz in the scene asks Harry re: the nuke "You know what this is?" and Harry says "I know what this is..." and Aziz smiles expecting the answer but Harry says "This is an expresso machine" Aziz then walks toward him annoyed and Harry continues "No, its a snowcone maker. Is it a water heater?". Aziz then grabs Helen and holds her a knifepoint and warns Harry, he will kill Helen if he doesn't tell him the truth. So, Harry sighs and says "Its a Soviet Merv 6, an entry launch vehicle" and he says in Arabic "release her and I'll co-operate" and Aziz smiles and let's her go and Helen tearfully looks at him and Harry sighs and says "What can I say? I'm a spy" and she delivers a right hook to his face.

And then there is the scene where Harry having been drugged with a truth serum, is examined by the interrogator who prepares his torture instruments. So, the interrogator says "Is there you would like to tell me before we start?" and Harry tells him "Yes, I'm going to kill you pretty soon". The interrogator amused says "I see, how exactly?" and Harry says "First, I'm going to use you as a human shield, then I'm going to kill guard other with the Paterson trocar on the table and then I was thinking about breaking your neck". So, the interrogator smiles and asks "And what makes you think you can do all that?" and Harry says "You know my handcuffs? I picked them!" and he shows his hands uncuffed and he proceeds to kill the interrogator and guard in the fashion he described. 

And last of all is the scene where Harry turns up in the harrier jet to save his daughter, Dana from Aziz as she has taken the launch key from Aziz's nuclear weapon. So, in the scene, Aziz leaps onto the jet and fights Harry and the two of them struggle as Harry swings the jet around smashes it into an office block. Aziz then get's back up front with his AK-47 and aims it at Harry and shouts "Take this plane down NOW! NOW! Or I'll kill her!". So, Harry nods but then indicates to Dana to hold on as he tilts the jet to make Aziz fall off but he ends up dangling on the end of one of the missles, so Harry primes one of them and says the line "You're fired!" as he launches the missile and Aziz to his death. And after Harry lands safely with Dana, he comforts and says "Dana, its OK, its over now" and Dana looks in shock at him and Harry smiles and says "Hi punpkin!".

Jamie-Lee Curtis next up is excellent in her role as Helen, Harry's unknowing uptight wife, who believes he is a computer salesman (and a boring one at that!) but is also seeing Simon on the side for some excitement in her otherwise dull homelife.  

And Jamie-Lee has some fine scenes that include the one where she has a coffee with her co-worker and complains about Harry's absence from her life due to his work. And in the scene Helen says "I mean he acts like he's curing cancer but he's a sales rep for Christ sake! One good thing though, if I wanna sleep, I just ask him about his day, six seconds and that's me out!".

Then there is the scene where Helen is captured and interrogated by Harry and Gib, who sit in another room behind one-way screen as Harry presses her over the nature of her relationship with Simon. In the scene Harry asks her (with his voice disguised by the mic) "What did you go with him?" and Helen tells him "I just needed something" and Harry asks "What did you need?" and Helen sighs and says "I wanted to feel alive. I wanted to do something outrageous! I mean there's so much with this life I would like to do and I haven't done ANY of it! And the sands in the hourglass in running out and I just wanted to look back and say "I did that! I was wild and outrageous and I fucking did it!". Helen then says "Frankly, I don't give a shit if you understand or not!". Harry then asks "This Simon...did you sleep with him?" and Helen says "No" and Harry presses her "Did you not have sexual relations with him?" and Helen getting annoyed says "You know if I have to keep answering every question twice, this is going to be a long night!". Harry presses her again "Answer the question!" and Helen snaps and grabs her seat and smashes it against the screen "NO! I DID NOT SLEEP WITH HIM! DID YOU HEAR ME GODDAMN IT!!". 

So, after Helen calms down, Harry then asks "Mrs Tasker, I have one last question. Do you love your husband?" and after a moment Helen says sincerely "Yes, I love him and I will always love him" and Harry satisfied nods. Harry then tells Helen "There is only solution to your problem Mrs Tasker and that is you work for us. If you don't you will placed under arrest and sent to prison, your family will be destroyed and alone" and Helen sarcastically says "Gee, that's a hard decision" and Harry says "Yes or no?" and Helen says "Of course yes!". Helen then asks "What must I do?" and Harry says "You will be contacted with details of the assginment. You're contact's name will be Boris and yours will be..." and Helen asks "Natasha?" and Harry says "No. Doris". Then later drop her off in a van and speed off and Helen angrily throws her mask at them and shouts "PRICKS!!!".

Then there is the scene where Harry and Helen having been captured by Aziz's men and Aziz forces Harry to reveal his knowledge of a nuclear weapon and blow his cover. So, in the scene Harry says to Helen "What can I say? I'm a spy" and Helen punches him in the face. Helen then shouts at Harry "You bastard! You lying son of a bitch!!" and Harry slow gets up and says "Sorry, Honey" and Helen shouts "You don't call me honey! You don't EVER get to call me honey again, you pig!!". 

And this is followed by the scene where Harry having been drugged by a truth serum is asked by Helen "What is that they gave you?" and Harry says "Sodium penithol, or something other true agent" and Helen asks "That makes you tell the truth?" and Harry says "Hmm mm" and Helen asks "Is it working?" and Harry says "Ask me something I would normally lie to" and Helen asks "Are we gonna die?" and Harry definitely says "Yep!". Harry elaborates "They're gonna shoot us in the head, or they're gonna torture us to death, or leave us here where the bomb goes off..." and Helen shouts "HARRY!" to shut him up. Helen then asks "How long have you been a spy, Harry?" and Harry says "17 years" and Helen takes a breath to take this in and asks him "Have you ever killed anyone?" and Harry says "Yeah but they were all bad!" and Helen looks on amazed.

WARNING: SPOILER RELATING TO THE END OF THE FILM AHEAD!!!

And last of is the final scene of the film where Harry and Helen are now both spies for the government and on assignment at a lavish party (similar to the one at the start of the film) Helen spots Simon disguised as a waiter hitting on a hot girl, doing his spy shtick. So, Harry and Helen go up to him and Harry says "We meet again, Carlos" and Simon freezes in fear and Helen puts what looks like the butt of a gun up to him and says "Honey, I'm gonna do him right here" and Harry says "Go for it" and Simon terrified, pees himself again and Helen says "Fear is NOT an option" and Simon runs away in a panic, only for Helen to reveal she was holding her lipstick and she finishes the film doing a tango with Harry. 

Tom Arnold next up is very good in his role as Gib, Harry's teammate and close friend at the agency and he get's the funniest dialogue in the film without a doubt and has plenty of amusing moments.

So, the first scene I will mention of Tom's is the one where Gib sets up a spy camera in a packet of cigarettes and using a pair of shades, Harry sees from the camera that his daughter Dana steals some money from Gib's jacket. Harry then says to Gib as he runs after "She's ripping you off!" and Gib says "I knew it!" but Dana takes off on a friend's bike before he can reach her. 

So, in the ensuing scene, Gib driving his jeep with Harry groans about kids in general "Kids! 30 seconds of joy and 30 years of misery! At least I was never stupid enough to have any". Harry then says "But she shouldn't be stealing, I taught her better than that" and Gib reminds Harry "You aren't her parents anymore, her parents are Axel Rose and Madonna, you can't compete with that kind of bombardment!". 

Then there is the scene where Harry is stunned on learning that Helen is seeing another man (i.e. Simon) and in a dazed state he goes back to Gib's jeep, who is waiting for him. So, Gib asks Harry "Hary what's up?" and Harry can barely get his words out "Helen..." and Gib asks "Helen?" and Harry again says "Helen..." and Gib says "Its something to do with Helen, I'm guessing!" and Harry finally says "Helen...is having an affair!". Gib takes a moment and then smiles and hugs Harry "Welcome to the club man! Same thing happened to me with wife number two, 'member? I have no idea nothing's going on, right? I come home one day and the house is empty, and I mean completely empty. She even took the ice cube trays out of the freezer. What kind of a sick bitch takes the ICE CUBE trays out of the FREEZER?!".

Gib then tries to cheer up Harry and says "Come on, Harry, she still loves you, she probably wants to just bang this guy for a bit..." and Harry then grabs Gib and pins him against the jeep and shouts "Stop cheering me UP!!". Gib then more serious tells Harry "What do you expect, Harry? Helen's a flesh and blood woman and you're never there, its just a matter of time". Gib then tries to cheer up Harry again and says "Tell what, let's focus on work. That's what I do when my life turns to dogshit, we're gonna find some terrorists and beat the crap out of em and it'll be great!". So, as they get in the jeep, Gib says to Harry "Women! Can't live with em, can't kill em!". 

Then there is the scene where Gib calls up Helen using a disguised voice on the phone and tells her "Doris? I have your assignment" he tells her to go to a hotel and to "dress sexy". Helen then nervously asks "You don't expect me to..." and Gib says "No, he has very specific tastes, he likes to watch. When you arrive the hotel, plant the bug you have under the phone in the bedroom. If you don't complete your mission, the deal is off" and he hangs up and says to himself "I'm going to hell!". 

Then there is the scene where Gib tells Harry that Dana has been kidnapped by Aziz, and says to Harry "Listen, Harry. Aziz has got a hostage, its Dana" and Harry shocked asks "My Dana?" and Gib says "Yeah but we'll get her back. We've already got a man on it". Harry however then goes over to one of the harrier jets and get's in and prepares for take off and as he starts to Gib says to the pilots "He's had hundreds of hours in the harriers there! Its like riding a bike! You never forget really!!" but then as Harry makes a messy take-off, Gib looks on in shock and says "Fuck!!!". 

And last of all is the final scene where Harry and Helen are now both agents on an assginment at a lavish party, they tango with one another much to the annoyance of Gib, who provides back-up in the van outside nearby. So, Gib says at the end of the film "You know what? I'm sick of being in the van! You guys are going in the van next time. I've been in the van for 15 years, Harry!". 

Tia Carrea next is also very good in her role as Juno Skinner, the sexy and seductive arts dealer, who is working with Aziz and his terrorist organisation, Crimson Jihad. 

And I will mention two of her scenes that include the one where Harry and Helen are both captured by Aziz and are about to be interrogated and Juno tells Harry about why she is working with Aziz.

So, Harry asks her "So, why are you helping these raving psychotics?" and Juno says "Because they are very well funded raving psychotics and I'm getting paid alot of money. Do you think I care about their cause or yours? Not at all!" and she puts her arms around him and Harry says "You're damaged goods, lady". Juno then looks at Helen and asks "Do you tell her about us, Harry?" and Harry says "There IS no us, you psychopathic bitch!" and Juno says "Say that now!" and she kisses him full on the lips and says "Goodbye, Harry. It was fun while it lasted". 

And last of all is the scene where after Aziz belives he has blown up Harry with a rocket launcher (but he survived as he dived off into the water in time) Juno finds Helen hiding points a gun at her. So, Juno tells Helen "Let's go" and gives her a fake look of sympathy "My condolences to the widow" and Helen with a look of fury, delivers a powerful slap across Juno's face, who has a scratch on it and she looks at Helen's ring and points her gun at her and is about to shoot when Aziz stops her and says "We may need the hostage" and Juno says to Helen "OK, lets go Suzy homemaker!".

Bill Paxton next up is excellent in his role as Simon, the sleazy car salesman, who tries to seduce women by pretending to be a spy himself and he lures Helen into helping him so he can nail her basically.

Bill also has some funny scenes that include the one where Simon spots Harry out in his car lot looking at a Corvette model. So, in the scene Simon walks out to Harry and smiles and says of the car "It wants you too. You hear her vibrate? How about we take her for a spin?" and Harry smiles and says "Sure". So, as Simon drives the car, he tells Harry "You see, its not just a car, its your whole image. I mean this isn't some high-tech sports car, tell the truth it doesn't handle that great. What are we talking about here? Pussy right?" and Harry laughs and says "Absolutely!" and Simon laughs and pats Harry's shoulder and says "Let's face it, Harry, the vet get's em wet!".  Simon then says "But its not enough, if you really wanna close that escrow, you need to have an angle!" and Harry asks "I bet you have an angle?" and Simon laughs and says "Oh! Its a killer!" and Harry asks "What is it?" and Simon laughs and says "No, sorry, trade secret!".

However when they stop for a hotdog, Simon explains his ploy to seduce women "Alright, imagine these bored suburban housewives, stuck in a rut, looking for some adventure and release, I create that for them". Harry then says "So, you're just lying your ass off the whole time, see I could never do that". Simon then says "What are you boyscout? No, just think of as an adventure, a roleplay, get's them out of their suburban grind for a few hours". Harry then asks "What about the husbands?" and Simon mockinlgy says "Dickless! I mean if they took care of business, I'd be out of business, you know what I'm saying?!" and Harry laughs half-heartedly and says "Those idiots!".

So, as they drive back, Harry is at the wheel and he asks Simon "Who are you working on now?" and Simon tells him "Oh, I got this couple on the line just now. The wife, I've got her panting like a dog!" and Harry asks "What does she do?" and Simon says "Some legal secretary or something, you know uptight and conservative but she could be so hot if she wanted to be". Harry then teases "If she could be with you, she get's to be hot yeah?" and Simon laughs and says "Oh yeah, red hot! Its just like a dying plant, needs a little water. Those uptight chicks, you get their pilot lit, they'll suck start a leafblower!". And as Simon brags on about Helen more, Harry looks increasingly angry as Simon says "She has incredible body, a pair of titties, make you wanna stand up and beg for buttermilk, ass like a 10 year old boy!" and Harry finally punches Simon, apparently killing him, but then it cuts back to reality as Harry drives back to the car lot with some expert flash driving skills. Simon then says "What do you say? Shall we start up the paperwork?" and Harry says "Let me think about it, hold it for a day will you?" and Simon smiles and says "Hey because its you..." and winks.

And last of all is the scene where after Simon has been captured, he is taken out into an acquaduct in just his vest and underwear and held at gunpoint near the edge by Harry and Gib, who are still masked. 

So, Harry taunts Simon "Son of bitch, do you think you can still elude us, Carlos?!" and Simon scared says "Hey, you've got the wrong guy, my name is Simon". Simon then pleads with them "Come on, there's no reason to kill me, I haven't seen your face..." and they both take off their masks and Simon panics and looks away "I didn't see them! I didn't see em!". Simon then looks up and sees it is Harry and says "Hey, its you! Are you sitll interested in that vet at all?" but Gib intimidates him with Simon's false alias "Hey, Carlos, the game is over! You're history as a terrorist is well documented!" and Simon says "No!" and Gib says "Oh yeah! OH YEAH!!". Simon terrified now pleads with them and says "I'm not a terrorist, I'm nothing! I'm navel lint! I have to lie to women to get laid and I don't score much. I've got a little dick, its pathetic!" prompting a funny look from Harry who has him at gunpoint. Then it becomes too much for Simon, who pees himself, humuliated he says to them "Would a spy pee himself, huh?!" and Harry finally relents and says "Get the fuck out of here! Just beat it, go!" and pushes Simon away. Simon however panics and says "No, you're gonna shoot me! Hey! You can have the car for free! What do you say?!" but Harry ignores him and heads back to the jeep and Gib takes out his gun and says to Simon "Get lost dipshit!" and fires it at the ground a few times before driving of leaving Simon alone in his underwear.

Art Malik is also pretty good in his role as the main villain, Aziz, the leader of the terrorist group, Crimson Jihad, who Harry chases throughout the movie. 

Malik has a few notable scenes himself that include the first one where Aziz is talking to Juno Skinner at the art gallery and he poses as a workman while Harry is there posing as a prospective buyer with the surname of Renquist. So, Aziz goes into Juno's office after the meeting and asks her "Miss Skinner, may I have a word with you please?" and he shuts the door and slaps her roughly in the face and admonishes her "Stupid undisciplined bitch!" and Juno says "Its a good thing you're paying me alot of money!". Aziz warns her "You know they surveillancing us and yet you are laughing and flirting like a whore with this Renquist" and Juno says "He checked out OK..." but he slaps her again and says "I do NOT tolerate mistakes!". Juno then asks "What is it you would like me to do?" and Aziz tells her "Find out what this Renquist knows".

Then there is the scene where Aziz having captured Harry and Helen, has one of his nuclear missiles brough out for Harry to see and identify. So, Aziz says to Harry "You know what this is?" and Harry says "I know what this is...its an expresso machine" and Aziz doesn't look amused and Harry continues "No, its a snowcone maker! and Aziz approaches him and Harry asks "Is it a water heater". Aziz the grabs Helen and holds a knife to her and says "This man has been brought here to verify that Crimson Jihad is a nuclear power" and Helen tearfully says "How can he do that?! He's just a salesman for Christ's sake!". Aziz then holds the knife to her throat and says "You're wrong about him and the last thing you will see is your blood spray across his face!" and Harry relents and tells Aziz what it is.

And last of all is the scene where Aziz and his men arrive on US soil and do a broadcast from an office block while holding Dana captive. So, as the TV crew are brought up, he addresses them and says "We are all prepared to die! All it will take is the turn of a key" and the reporter asks "Which key?" and Aziz points and says "That key!" but its not there and Aziz shouts at his men "Who's taken the key?!" and we see Dana has it and runs off as Aziz chases after her up to the rooftops. And as Harry arrives in the harrier jet, Aziz and him fight on the jet itself and Aziz grabs his AK-47 and shouts at him "Take this plane down NOW or I'll kill her!! Take it DOWN!!" only for Harry tilt the plane, knocking off Aziz onto the end of one of the jet's missles, which Harry fires off taking Aziz with it as it explodes with his own men's helicopter. 

Charlton Heston also makes a brief appearance in the film as Spencer Trilby, Harry and Gib's superior, who strangely enough wears an eyepatch over one of his eyes. Heston does well enough with his short role although he is totally underwritten in the film, so he can only do what he can with what James Cameron has given him to work with here.

And I will mention one of his two scenes being his first one where Trilby admonishes Harry for his botched mission at the start of the film. So, Trilby says "Well Harry, you really screwed pooch last night didn't you?" and Gib says "Well there are different totalities of screwing pooch" and Faisil pitches in and says "Yes its a scale from a perfect mission on one end to a total pooch screw on the other". Trilby then asks Faisil "You're new on Harry's team aren't you?" and Faisil says "Yes" and Trilby asks him "Then how does any of the slack I cut him translate to you?". And as Faisil shows the data they have, Trilby says "So, far this isn't blowing up my skirt gentlemen. You better get them quickly or the president could be waking up with a nuclear weapon in his trunk!".

And last of all Grant Heslov is pretty good also in his role as Faisal, the other member of Harry's team, who is the youngest of the three men. 

And I will mention two of Grant's scenes with the first being the one where Harry, Gib and Faisal brief Spencer on their findings on Harry's mission at the start of the film. So, in the scene, Faisil tries to downplay the failure of Harry's pursuit of Aziz and on Trilby's assertion that Harry "screwed the pooch" on the mission. So, Faisil says "Its a scale really, with a perfect mission on one end a total pooch screw on the other". Trilby then grills Faisil and says how does any slack relate to him even if he is new to Harry's team. And after this, Harry sets up another meeting with Juno Skinner, whom he tangos with at the start of the film and Gib and Faisil tease Harry over this and Gib asks Faisil "Care to tango?" and Gib says "Oh yes I would!" and they dance together as Harry says to them "Assholes".

And later on in the scene where Harry, Gib and Faisal finally dig up info on Aziz, Faisil tells Trilby "They call him the Sand Spider" and Trilby asks "Why do they call him that?" and Aziz says "Probably because it sounds scary".

DIRECTOR 

Finally moving onto the director, James Cameron does an excellent job here as he confidently handles the film's impressive action sequences and the film itself was the first one to cost 100 million dollars in budget and it certainly shows itself onscreen here. Cameron actually adapted the film from a French spy film, La Totale, which features a very similar premise and he provides for the most part, a funny well written script (although some people might disagree!) which is way better written that Titanic for sure! In fact for me personally, this was Cameron's last really enjoyable film (well in my humble opinion that is) as I was really not keen on Titanic or Avatar, which followed later. 

MUSIC

As for the music score, it was by Brad Fiedel, who composed the scores for the first two Terminator films and his score here is excellent and sounds quite different from what we've expected from him in the past as it has a lot more orchestration here than just synthesizers although Fiedel did work on a lot of films in his career until the late 90s when he retired. The score also features plenty of good tracks and moments particularly the theme, which is really good and also the tracks for where Helen and Simon are captured and Harry rescues Dana from Aziz in the harrier jet. So, overall this a very good score and well worth a listen. 

FLAWS

As for flaws...yes, I would be lying if I said it didn't have any. ;-)

For starters, I think we can all agree that the scene where Helen is interrogated by Harry is definitely quite unpleasant and a form of torture in its self as Harry cruelly tries to extract the truth from her about the nature of relationship with Simon. To her credit however, Jamie-Lee Curtis plays the scene brilliantly and shows her acting chops very well in it but its a scene that has gotten alot of deserved flack for how Helen's character is treated here. 

Another issue is to do with the subplot of Simon and Helen, which is kind of tedious after a while as it takes up at least half an hour of the movie and it does drag the pace down a bit although I do appreciate Bill Paxton has some amusing dialogue in these scenes. However, I can't help but feel that Cameron did drag this subplot out a bit more than he actually should have before getting back to the main action. Further to this, it has to be said that Simon's character is quite offensive also, as he refers to some of the women he has lined up as "skanks" and not just good looking ones, proving more than anything he is a chauvanistic d***. 

There are also some ridiculous moments in the film for sure (it is an action movie of course!) such as where Aziz makes that ridiculous motorcycle jump from one hotel roof to another adjacent hotel roof at least several hundred metres apart! Yet in the scene, Aziz perfectly manages to land his bike in the pool without any problems whatsoever! And what's even more stupid is that Harry thinks he can make the same jump on horseback, which is just absolute horse crap in itself! Thankfully the horse is smart enough not to commit suicide as it stops short of the roof although Harry is flung off the horse and hangs on just by the reins and no more. So, Harry is a total arse fo sure if he thought he had ANY chance of realistically making that jump on a horse! 

Another slight issue I had was with Harry saying to Helen that they were going to die during his truth drug scene when in the following scene, he tells the interrogator he intends to kill them pretty soon instead. If he was under the truth drug at that point, he could have said to Helen on her question "Are we going to die?" "No, we aren't, I'll kill them and we'll get out of here". However, I guess they just didn't want to raise that as a possibility at that point although I think the interrogator was out the room at this point although the guard might not have been. :-/

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, True Lies remains a very entertaining action film even after 30 years on from its release and features some fun performances from its cast with Arnie, Jamie-Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold all providing fine performances. James Cameron's direction is also very solid and his action sequences are great and provide some good suspense even if the pacing drops a bit during the Helen and Simon subplot and yes he did get some well deserved flack for his interrogation scene with Helen. Despite this though, its still a lot of fun and well worth a look again and I will look forward to when the 4K Blu-ray release comes out later this year.

So, I will rate True Lies:

8.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Till then bye for now!