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Sony Pictures Entertainment<\/p>\n
Back when Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were duelling at the box office to become the biggest action star on the planet, I was always team Arnie. Not only were his movies cooler, he was also more fun to watch. Even as a kid, I got the sense that Sly took himself a little too seriously, whereas the Austrian Oak was more tongue-in-cheek, seemingly aware how ludicrous his big, silly action flicks were. Playing the Terminator in his star-making role also informed his human characters, too. For the most part, they didn’t get all emotional and angry, they just went about their business blowing stuff up and killing bad guys. But nobody is invincible, however, and one of Arnie’s biggest flops made the man himself cry.<\/p>\n
Released in June 1993, “Last Action Hero” was set to cement Schwarzenegger’s box office dominance over his muscle-bound rival. He and Stallone had matched each other blow-for-blow during the ’80s: Sly had huge hits with his “Rambo” and “Rocky” franchises, while Arnie built on the impact of “The Terminator” with the likes of “Commando,” “Predator,” and by successfully branching into comedy with “Twins.”<\/a> By the early ’90s, Schwarzenegger had asserted his claim as Hollywood’s biggest action star, scoring two massive smashes with “Total Recall” and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” whereas\u00a0Stallone was making a fool of himself in “Oscar” and “Stop!\u00a0Or My Mom Will Shoot.”<\/p>\n Like Rocky Balboa, you still couldn’t count Stallone out, and he bounced back in 1993 with the double-whammy of “Cliffhanger” and “Demolition Man.”\u00a0Yet, Schwarzenegger was at the peak of his popularity, and “Last Action\u00a0Hero” also had the benefit of John McTiernan (“Predator,” “Die Hard”) calling the shots and Shane Black (“Lethal\u00a0Weapon,” “The Last Boy Scout”) on screenwriting duty. Unfortunately, the misguided spoof became one of the ’90s most notorious bombs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n What happens in Last Action Hero?<\/p>\n
Sony Pictures Entertainment<\/p>\n “Last Action Hero” sees Arnold Schwarzenegger sending up his screen persona by playing Jack Slater, the maverick cop at the heart of the fictional “Jack Slater” blockbuster franchise. His biggest fan is 10-year-old Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien), a kid from a broken home who escapes his dreary reality in Slater’s larger-than-life adventures. He can’t wait for the latest sequel and gets closer to the action than he anticipated when the projectionist\u00a0(Robert Prosky) at his local fleapit gives him a magic ticket that transports him into the movie.<\/p>\n Finding himself in Slater’s world, Danny tags along on his hero’s latest case to bring down mobster\u00a0Tony Vivaldi (Anthony Quinn) and his sharpshooting henchman Mr. Benedict (Charles Dance), a stone-cold killer with a fancy glass eye for every occasion. Naturally, the action spills into reality after the ticket falls into Benedict’s hands. While Jack is coping with the revelation that he’s a made-up character, Benedict hatches a plan to take over the world with\u00a0an army of cinematic villains \u2014 not least The Ripper (Tom Noonan), a serial killer who murdered Slater’s son in a previous film.<\/p>\n
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