Bullet Points: In Search of the Last Action Heroes
From the initial idea, to the 2018 Indiegogo campaign, to the actual production of the documentary, to the countless hours of editing and post production work… In Search of the Last Action Heroes, the brain child of Oliver Harper of Oliver Harper’s Retrospectives and Reviews, has been a long time in the making.
- The Narrative: In Search of the Last Action Heroes doesn’t just celebrate the awesome arsenal of action movies that made the 1980’s and 1990’s so great, it examines the evolution of the action movie genre pre-golden era to present day. 1982’s First Blood gets the nod as the movie that transitioned the industry from the 70’s style action to the over the top 80’s style. While 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day is positioned as the movie that capped off the 80’s style filled with practical effects and stunts and merged them with the CGI wave of the future. It is hard to argue either of these points. Not surprisingly the films of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the two titans of action’s golden era, receive the most screen time in the documentary. But make no mistake about it, In Search of the Last Action Heroes spotlights a ton of movies in its two plus hours.
- The Interviews: In Search of the Last Action Heroes managed to interview a great mix of action stars, key crew members and behind the scenes players, all of whom contributed to the action genre. Action stars Cynthia Rothrock (China O’Brien), Vernon Wells (Commando), Matthias Hues (I Come in Peace), Jenette Goldstein (Aliens) and Michael Jai White (Spawn) were among the actors interviewed for the documentary… Among the crew members interviewed were Writers Shane Black (Predator) and Steven E. Du Souza (Die Hard), Producer Mario Kassar (Total Recall) and Directors Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop) and Sam Firstenberg (American Ninja). I’ve said it before in other posts… but I can listen to Sam Firstenberg talk action movies all day.
- The Gold: There are two reasons action fans would want to watch a documentary like In Search of the Last Action Heroes. First and foremost, it is a chance to wax nostalgic and relive the glory days when there were action blockbusters in the theaters and more B-movie action at the video stores than you could keep up with. The second reason is the gold that is unearthed in these interviews with the people who were actually there and making the movies… from the revelation that Capcom’s vision of the Street Fighter film was basically identical to what Steven E. Du Souza came up with… to Eric Roberts throwing Sly and Arnold under the steroid bus… to Sheldon Lettich calling out Frank Dux on some of his bullshit… to Ronny Cox revealing that he was actually contacted about being in RoboCop 2 with the idea that whatever was left of his character Dick Jones after his demise in the original would be salvaged and turned into a robotic villain. Pure gold for an action movie junkie!
In Search of the Last Action Heroes gets my absolute highest recommendation. Oliver Harper, Timon Singh and the rest of the team did an amazing job bringing this one of a kind retrospective on the action genre from idea to crowdfunding to reality.
The two hour and twenty minute runtime absolutely flies by and when it is over, you’ll find yourself still wanting more. If that is not a testament to the quality of this documentary, then I don’t know what is.
Want more of this review? Check out these Bonus Bullet Points…
- One of Us: Scott Adkins was interviewed for the documentary and while he is obviously an action star of the modern era, he was not a direct part of the golden era. So in this piece Scott really is just one of us… a fan.
- Music Music Music: In Search of the Last Action Heroes devotes a good chunk of time celebrating some of the unforgettable scores like Jerry Goldsmith’s work in the Rambo films, Brad Fidel’s iconic Terminator score and don’t worry Stan Bush is not left out!
- Cutting Room Floor: I could have done without the appearance of Alex Winter (Death Wish 3) in the documentary and his not so low key crapping on my beloved Cannon Films.
- First Impression: Moments after popping the In Search of the Last Action Heroes Blu-ray in, it immediately made a great first impression with me (before I even hit play mind you) with the beautiful artwork and 80’s synth music featured on the menu screen.
