Anyone who loves classic, cheesy action movies from the 1980s and 1990s probably owns a copy of Last Action Hero, an absolutely darling spoof of the genre starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Younger kids might not like it very much, since they've grown up on a different type of action movie, but older millennials and Generation X will totally love it.
In the movie, Austin O'Brien is a preteen who has recently lost his father. His mother, Mercedes Ruehl, wants him to spend less time at the movies and more time concentrating on his studies, but boys will be boys, and Austin sneaks out in the middle of the night to watch an advanced screening of the latest installment of his favorite action film franchise, similar to Die Hard. The owner of the movie theater, Robert Prosky, gives Austin a magical ticket, and before he knows what's happening, Austin gets transported into the movie! He gets to pal around with the main character Arnold Schwarzenegger, laugh at the cheesy puns, unrealistic fight scenes, gorgeous bimbos, and plot holes in the script. It's a laugh a minute, and Shane Black's and David Arnott's script hilariously pokes fun of the real actors as well as the genre as a whole. For example, Austin O'Brien tries to convince character-Arnold that he's just a character in a movie, and he actually tells him that an actor named Arnold Schwarzenegger plays him! Character-Arnold has never heard of actor-Arnold, so they go to a video store to rent one of his famous movies. Inside they see a cardboard cutout advertisement of Terminator 2, starring Sylvester Stallone! In the movie universe, actor-Arnold doesn't exist.
When Austin meets F. Murray Abraham in the movie universe, he immediately recognizes him and tries to warn Arnold that he's the bad guy because he killed Mozart. Anthony Quinn, who spent a career playing not very intelligent ethnic characters, plays the quintessential Italian mob boss, who always mixes his metaphors-a fourth wheel, in front of the eight-ball, etc.-much to the irritation of his evil cohort, Charles Dance. If by some miracle you lived through the 80s and 90s and haven't seen Last Action Hero, buy yourself a copy-I did it the old school way and bought a VHS-and get ready for a total laugh fest.
In the movie, Austin O'Brien is a preteen who has recently lost his father. His mother, Mercedes Ruehl, wants him to spend less time at the movies and more time concentrating on his studies, but boys will be boys, and Austin sneaks out in the middle of the night to watch an advanced screening of the latest installment of his favorite action film franchise, similar to Die Hard. The owner of the movie theater, Robert Prosky, gives Austin a magical ticket, and before he knows what's happening, Austin gets transported into the movie! He gets to pal around with the main character Arnold Schwarzenegger, laugh at the cheesy puns, unrealistic fight scenes, gorgeous bimbos, and plot holes in the script. It's a laugh a minute, and Shane Black's and David Arnott's script hilariously pokes fun of the real actors as well as the genre as a whole. For example, Austin O'Brien tries to convince character-Arnold that he's just a character in a movie, and he actually tells him that an actor named Arnold Schwarzenegger plays him! Character-Arnold has never heard of actor-Arnold, so they go to a video store to rent one of his famous movies. Inside they see a cardboard cutout advertisement of Terminator 2, starring Sylvester Stallone! In the movie universe, actor-Arnold doesn't exist.
When Austin meets F. Murray Abraham in the movie universe, he immediately recognizes him and tries to warn Arnold that he's the bad guy because he killed Mozart. Anthony Quinn, who spent a career playing not very intelligent ethnic characters, plays the quintessential Italian mob boss, who always mixes his metaphors-a fourth wheel, in front of the eight-ball, etc.-much to the irritation of his evil cohort, Charles Dance. If by some miracle you lived through the 80s and 90s and haven't seen Last Action Hero, buy yourself a copy-I did it the old school way and bought a VHS-and get ready for a total laugh fest.