Customer Reviews

Last Man Standing [VHS]

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Akira Kurosawa's film "Yojimbo" is a cinematic masterpiece, and in the time it came out, Westerns and Samurai movies were practically one in the same. Consider "Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven" both excellent films in their own right. Similary, "Yojimbo" was remade into the classic Spaghetti western, "A Fistful of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood. It's with this remarkable history that "Last Man Standing" was made.

If you know the story fo Fistful of Dollars or Yojimbo, it becomes clear that this is a role that Willis is well-suited for. He plays a man passing through a town in the middle of nowhere, and the town's split between two rival crime families. As a man skilled with guns, he plays the families off of each other to make a buck, but can't help getting pulled into the dilemmas of this little town.

If you loved Yojimbo or Fistful, and don't want to see this movie out of fear that it will ruin the story, I would put those fears to bed. This movie takes a novel and more modern approach to the story, and Willis adds his own flavor to the 'man with no name.'

Of course, I liked Yojimbo more. But Last Man Standing is a good film in its own right, with a good performance by Willis and excellent performances by Chris Walken, Bruce Dern, and William Sanderson. The gunfights in this movie are enjoyable, but unrealistic in a sort of John Woo/Killer/Hard-Boiled style.

So, if you're interested in seeing a reworking of a classic movie, or if you just want to see a good shoot-em-up, this movie fits the bill.

This has to be one of the best action, western and gangster movies I've ever seen. Willis was perfect for the part of John Smith (his voice-over has some of the best dialogue ever and if you don't believe me check out the opening scene), a gun for hire without a conscience. All elements of each genre are highly spoken for.

The editing, dialogue, cinematography, music, direction and acting are all top class. Everything is fantastically overblown but never preposterous.

As for the film itself, it is very empty but the mood and tone are so very distant and weird, and I totally love it. Walter Hills direction is a well balanced cross between Sam Peckinpah and John Woo. And Cooder's score will transport you right into the movie even on it's own. This wall always be one of my fave movies and it is very much worthy of 5 stars.

The 2.50:1 anamorphic picture is stunning and there are rumors that Hill originally wanted to make it in B/W but New Line Cinema would not let him. To test this out turn your color right down and see how much the film's atmosphere is enhanced from already gloomy to undeniably depressing, BUT IT IS SO COOL.

The DD 5.1 sound quality on this DVD during the gunfights is absolutely amazing. It will bug the hell out of your neighbors, but who cares? Every now and again Walter Hill injects a sudden burst of ferocious, furious and brutal violence that takes your breath away. When people are killed they don't just fall down, they FLY across the room and thru windows.

Extras are brief and not very good (Cast Bios say that Die Hard 4 was released in 1998!) and there is a cool clip of Loaded Weapon 1 hidden in there too.

Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" has seen a lot of remakes done to it over the past 40 years. Some of them have been good ("A Fistful of Dollars") and some of been bad ("Omega Doom"). On the other hand, "Last Man Standing" probably stands out among them all for its interpretation of the film into more modern settings.

Toshiro Mifune is replaced by Bruce Willis, and while Bruce Willis is no Toshiro Mifune, his character doesn't really call for a Mifune-like role. His serious, sarcastic character enters a bordertown in Texas ravaged by two gangs, one Irish the other Italian, much like the two merchants in the original. The roles are nearly picture perfect remakes, with the exception being the role of the "wife" on one of the warring sides being made more of a victim than a contender. However, the one that ranks among them all is Christopher Walken as Hickey, who is almost a perfectly Americanized version of Nasuke. Some of his lines, such as "Can he beat this?" or "Stick around, there's more" are almost directly taken from "Yojimbo." Nasuke's revolver is replaced by Hickey's tommy gun.

Its not an outstanding film and if you don't like guns-blazing action you probably won't like this, but if you do this will definately be your cup of tea. This is as close to John Woo (in his Chinese days) as I've seen most American films get. Bruce Willis having to reload his guns after emptying fifteen bullets on two guys only adds to the realism.

Do I like Yojimbo better? Well, of course, but do I think this is a bad movie? Of course not. And as a remake it certainly excels among others that I have seen, Yojimbo or otherwise.

Okay let me get this clear, I have this wierd obsession of gunfighting, not just gun fighting, but to be more specific dual weapon gunfights. A gun for each hand, to me that is the pinnacle of badass. When I see a action movie I don't care about explosions, attractive women, or stupid car chases. I hate all that garbage American directors throw in thier films. I wanna see gritty no holds gunfighting. I enjoy either a realistic gun battle (Way of the gun, Heat, etc...) or all out unrealistic (The Killer, Hard Boiled, The Matrix, etc...) So combine the gritty dirt quality, with Bruce Willis only fighting with two pistols, and lack of explosions, you can understand why I enjoy this movie. One thing this movie has, that is not used enough in action movies is the depressing voice over, like in the video game Max Payne. That game would make a damn fine movie.

Everyone makes mention of this film being a so-called remake of Yojimbo, but what they fail to mention is that this is in fact the closest we have come to a faithful adaptation of Red Harvest, the masterful Dashiell Hammett novel that Yojimbo (and yes, A Fistful of Dollars) was based on. It's far from a perfect movie, but it captures a lot of the feel of the novel and is definitely worth checking out for fans of hard-boiled fiction. It also improves upon multiple viewings, unlike a lot of modern action movies.

This is one of BRUCE WILLIS' best films. An opera of wicked gunplay highlights this retooling of the classic story of YOJIMBO. A great cross between the western and gangster generes that really gets the blood pumping. It's great when filmmakers can show a character that is out for no one but themselves but so damn cool you just have to root for them. WILLIS is great and delivers lines like "I was born without a conscience" with believeable tough guy conviction. Some expertly crafted shoot- outs courtesy of fraymaster WALTER HILL, who knows how to make an action movie that is gritty and mature. Great DVD package that offers great sound (crank the surround during the gun battles for best effect) and picture quality. Great flick.

Set in the days of prohibition, a lone gunman makes a run to the Mexican border to lay low. Along the way he gets sidetracked into a small nothing of a town with two rival gangs fighting over their share of the rum running pie. So like any good hired gun, he proceeds to get into the local war. Any more than that I will not say of the story as I hate to write spoilers.

Now this movie was never made to win an Oscar. What it was made for was to entertain, and that it does if you like movies set in the time period or lots of gunfights. Oh yes, there is a lot of gunfights and its fair share of bloodshed, along with some good old fashion beatings for those that like the action. Also very authentic looking sets and period costumes also, if you even care about that and like action movies.

Little bonuses I also enjoyed include the fact that the movie is also narrated by Willis, and his standard for comments and sarcasm is a star point of this movie. Then there is the appearance of one of the best 'bad guys' to ever do movies... Christopher Walken. Granted it is a supporting role, but one that uses his psychotic edge nicely.

Basically, don't try to overanalyze this movie, just sit back and enjoy the action.

As far as I know, this makes the second movie produced that's based on Dashiell Hammett's 'Red Harvest' (same guy who wrote The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon). The first was Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', which is undoubtedly a classic of Japanese cinema, itself spawning a revolution in American movie making when Sergio Leone began making all of Kurosawa's Samurai flicks into what we now know as Spaghetti Westerns.



If you've seen Yojimbo, or its western rendition `A Fistful of Dollars', and enjoyed either one, then you should get quite a kick out of this Bruce Willis Powered send up to Hammett's first foray into grunge fiction. We already know the story (lonely town, gangs, double crossing, woman, money, gunfights, no good guy just bad guys and indifferent guys), so the delivery is what's going to make the movie.



So how's the delivery? Absolutely Gun-alicious!



The whole movie is quite visceral; the gun fights are reminiscent of John Woo (slightly unrealistic, but convincing) and the dialogue is retailored to match the characters delivery, whether it be quiet and whispered, loud and obnoxious, or just mumbles. Bruce Willis was the perfect choice for the lead, menacing and believable as always. My favorite casting choice was Christopher Walken, the great character actor of our generation. The humor and insanity he brought to `Last Man Standing' is what really tied the whole movie together, and earned it 5 solid stars.



The Bottom Line: Know the history of this movie, and you'll enjoy it all the more.

I love this movie, I actually love this movie so much, that I bought the excellent soundtrack as well.
What can you say, after seeing a movie with the quality of this one? This movie is probably a guy's movie, but it is so intelligent, that both genders will like it. There are many different opinions about this one, since it is in many hearts too violent, but when I see this movie I sit back and enjoy every minute of it.

This is a sort of western / gangster flick. Sounds kind of cheesy? Think again. You have to actually see this movie more than once to get in all of the story, which is cleverly told by Bruce Willis as a sort of narrator, and some of the story is hidden. I love the different characters portrayed in this movie, every one of them tells a story of a different gangster with his own agenda, but still working for the same cause in the gang. It's funny that the main man, Bruce Willis probably has the most black and white character: The man without a conscience, but please tell me about a movie where Brucie had more than an enough fleshed out character. I for one think that Bruce Willis never had a better moment, than in exactly this movie. "Last man Standing" is the worse title for the movie about the man who finds himself stuck right
in the middle of a gang war in a western town in the mid 50's.

Last man Standing performs beautifully what happens, when a man, who couldn't care less about anything, steps right in the middle of an epic emotional war between two proud gangs who fight for dominance in a town already dead.
Listen to the beautiful music, get your girl beside you, and BELIEVE that gun fights should be the way to solve all conflicts.
The rest is up to "Last man Standing." Enjoy.

Yeah, I know that I should not like this movie. . . lots of violence, woman are portrayed in a subservient roles, but gosh darn, I just like it. A gangster movie set in Texas border town of Jericho during the Great Depression, Bruce Willis plays the drifter John Smith who allies himself with two rival gangs as they battle each other for the control of the bootleg liquor trade. The cinematography is beautiful and the gunfights are violent and well done. And yes, when Bruce gets beat up, he is actually hurt to the point of nearly being disable.

The underlying theme of the movie is moral choice each of us has to choose right or wrong. John Smith described himself as a man without a conscience, but as the movie progresses, he is driven not so much as for the profit motive, but to do the right thing, even is it means his death. The Mexican girl, played my Alexandra Powers, whose devotion to God is the moral center in this seemly amoral world of gangs, booze and guns. The Willis character is first drawn to her by her wistful beauty, then later by his determination to free her from white slavery.

No, it is not a masterpiece and will never make the list of the 20th centuries top movies, but it is a guy flick, filled with action, violence and a moral center. So slip this DVD into your player, turn up the sound and get ready to see a pretty good action flick. Perhaps, this may because one of your movie guilty pleasures.