I haven't watched this since it first came out. I remember liking it but not really something that I was very keen on. That is until I rewatched it recently. I can appreciate now what this movie was doing and it is fantastic. Not to mention I love the nostalgic buddy cop movies. This movie has it all for me. Even the kid is pretty good. Some of the special effects don't hold up too well but all in all a fun entertaining movie designed to be a commentary on movies wrapped in an action movie.

Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a young boy who skips school and spends a lot of time at the cinema watching his favourite movie star Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Nick (Robert Prosky) is a kindly old man who works as a projectionist at the cinema whom innocently hands Danny a magic ticket - Nick is somewhat sceptical about this supposed magic ticket and innocently gives the ticket to Danny. However, Danny soon learns that the ticket is very real when he finds himself transported into his favourite action star's world...Clearly, Last Action Hero is intended as a bit of fun and one feels that McTiernan was poking fun out of the action genre - which incidentally is a genre that made him a very big name. This approach works in the first half (when Danny is transported into Slater's world and he's trying to convince Slater that his own existence and everything around him isn't real). Unfortunately, despite the numerous celebrity cameos and the odd in-jokes and nods and winks, this film falls short when it chooses to focus on plot and story (which seem to unfold in real time when Danny becomes part of the movie). It's from this point forward that the film seems to lose a lot of its irony and becomes another weak action film - perhaps that was the point, but it doesn't make for a particularly entertaining film.Worse follows in the second half when McTiernan abandons most of the fun when Slater arrives in the real world in New York. From this point on McTiernan plays it far too straight and carries on as though he's directing a serious action film - he seems to forget that the film is supposed to be fun. Mega star Slater arrives in Hollywood where he is a household name but no-one seems to recognise him. Wouldn't it have been funnier and more satirical if he was stopped everywhere he went for an autograph or a photograph whilst he was in his pursuit of justice??Having said all that, the film certainly has some fun moments and does have some nice nods and winks - Robert Patrick cameos as the T1000 and in the movie-world we have Sylvester Stallone on a Terminator 2: Judgment Day film poster (a character whom Arnie himself famously portrayed). There is also an ET spoof with the bike riding through the sky, but many of the stronger moments are in the first half and I couldn't help but feel that the concept was starting to run out of steam by the 1 hour mark.Last Action Hero isn't a bad film and is one that I would say is watchable (it does provide basic escapism and is fairly undemanding). However, I also felt that it was never as fun as it could have been and is also far too long, the story is weak and it loses some of its satirical edge in its second half. As the saying goes it's close but no cigar...

People who hate on this film don't get it... THIS FILM IS A SPOOF! Arnold Schwarzenegger must have a good sense of humour to be able to be in a spoof of his OWN GENRE!Arnold Schwarzenegger (as he invariably does) gives a good performance as Jack Slater. Not amazing, but he gets the job done to a high standard. Also Austin O'Brien gives a good performance for a child of that age.The story follows young boy Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien), who takes comfort in watching action movies featuring the indestructible Los Angeles cop Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) after the death of his father. After being given a magic ticket by theatre manager Nick (Robert Prosky), Danny is sucked into the screen and bonds with hero Jack Slater. When evil fictional villain Benedict (Charles Dance) steals the ticket and enters the real world, Danny and Jack must follow and stop him.This film brings the laughs, the action and everything else required for a fun action spoof. And for these reasons, I give this film a 9/10 or 4.5 stars.

Continuing my plan to watch every Arnie movie in order, I come to his 1993 flick Last Action Hero. Plot In A Paragraph: With the help of a magic ticket, a young film fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action film character.Both Arnie and director John McTeirnan were riding high when they teamed up for what Arnie promised would be "The biggest movie of the summer" sadly it didn't deliver, and whilst people liked it, nobody really loved it, and all anybody remembers is it tanked/under performed and Jurassic Park killed it. Which for me is more than a bit unfair, as I do enjoy it. I don't rewatch it often, but when I do, I enjoy it for what it is.I think a lot of people miss the joke with this, in that, it is intended as a spoof!! I know I'll be in the minority, in liking it!! For me it's simply fun. I love all the little movie references. It may not be Arnie or McTiernan's finest work, but it is amusing if you get the humour. The jokes and cameos are OK, and Arnie'self-parody is just great. Truthfully not all of the jokes work, but over all it's enjoyable, Last Action Hero grossed $50 million at the domestic Box Office to end the year the 26th highest grossing movie of 1993. Whilst a massive disappoint following T2, in his autobiography Total Recall, Arnie says it wasn't a flop, and actually made money!! Just not as much as anticipated.