Last Man Standing

Rating:
Summary: A Wasteful Two Hours Watching a Rehash Of Old Westerns
Review: "LAST MAN STANDING" IS A REMAKE OF KUROSAWA'S CLASSIC "YOJIMBO" WITH SOME WESTERN FILM CLICHES THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE. WITH THIS IN MIND "LAST MAN STANDING" IS AN ENTERTAINNG MEANS OF WASTING TWO HOURS ON LOTS OF GUN PLAY AND PATHETIC TOUGH GUY LINES TO WIPE AWAY ANY EMPTY FEELINGS LEFT BY A LACKLUSTER SCRIPT. THE FILM'S BIGGEST DOWNFALL IS THE PLOT BASEICALLY STEALING IDEAS FROM EVERY WESTERN AND GANGSTER FILM EVER MADE. THE PLOT: 1931 TWO RIVAL GANGS FACE OFF TO CONTROL THE ILIEGAL LIQUOR TRADE IN COMES JOHN SMITH,A LONER WHO PLAYS BOTH SIDES AGAINST ONE ANOTHER, SOUNDS FAMILLIAR? "LAST MAN STANDING" PROBABLY SETS A RECORD FOR FILM PREDICTABILLTY IT'S THE ONLY FILM I'VE SEEN WHERE THE ENDING CAN ACCURALTY BE PREDICTATED SIMPLY BY HEARING THE TITLE. BRUCE WILLIS IS THE ONLY REASON TO GO RENT THIS FILM, HE PLAYS THIS CHRACTER VERY WELL WITH NO HELP FROM HIS CO-STARS.

Rating:
Summary: Last Man Still Awake
Review: **1/2

Through a muttered and phlegm-ladden voice narrative, a squinting Bruce Willis is the first hero ever who manages to vanquish two gangs and dozens of enemies through the awesome power of sheer boredom. More than that, the narrative is the most interesting thing about this movie too! The movie's cliches are an education in cliches. Willis' character's tedious observations and petty ironies ("I was right, they're better off dead," etc.) create this mind-numbing fascination in the viewer.

In an attempt to pay homage to Kirosawa's YOJIMBO, this movie centers on a dusty Texas town in the Prohibition Era . The dustiness doesn't stop there. A dusty script, plot, production, and cinematic style highlight an inanimate study in blase` heroics. You could about choke on the dustiness; it doesn't make for easy viewing. The best part was when Willis and Walkens' characters meet eachother for the first time. Great scene. Apart from that, this movie is great to watch right before nap time. Sleep tight.

Rating:
Summary: Screw 'Yojimbo" - This is America!
Review:

I'm sick to death of hearing about some ... remake of a Japaneese "Yojimbo."

This version, KICKED ...!

Let me sum it up for you:

Bad guy: "I guess you'll have to kill me."

Willis: "It'll hurt if I do..."

Bullets and bad guys fly!

What more do you need?

Buy this quick!

Rating:
Summary: Probably one of the best remakes
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A novel take on a classic movie
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A novel take on a classic movie
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Bruce shoots his gun again, can be fun
Review: Bruce came back briefly for this ultra-violent tale of deceit in the dustbowl of the prohibition era in this flick. It can be boring, but it can be fun and has some pretty good lines in it (In a voice over, we see Bruce sitting alone on a porch telling us (paraphrased) "I didn't have anything to drink for two days. And for me, that's a long time." Christopher Walked also breaks things up with his typical evil demeanor, and in the end we really don't know if good prevailed what with all the shooting. But it's not all Bruce Willis. The director, Walter Hill, seems to relish in fantastic gunplay, sometimes ridiculous but at the same time still pretty cool, in a weird way.

Rating:
Summary: Same as "a fistful of Dollars"
Review: Has nobody noticed the story of "last Man Standing" it's exactly the same as in the movie "a Fistful Of Dollars".
One man playing two families off against one another. A woman and her child. Everythings the same, except for the time period that is.
I liked the version with Clint Eastwood better.

Rating:
Summary: OK, so it ain't Yojimbo - neither was Yojimbo!
Review: How many action movies can you name that include a scene showing the hero stuffing ammunition into magazines? This scene is a minor rhinestone in this piece of costume jewellry from Walter Hill. Check out Bruce Dern's performance - he's the best crassly ineffectual lawman since Dean Jagger in "Bad Day at Blackrock". Then there's William Sanderson as the hotel clerk, a consummate pragmatist. Is Bruce Willis any good in this? I enjoyed his performance very much, always remembering that Larry Olivier never accepted such a role. Willis is convincing with two .45s in his fists and, thank God, there's a minimum of slo-mo, the worst distraction from good action cinematography to date. Walken's performance as an amoral killer is a bit tiresome to those who have seen him otherwise, such as in "The Dogs of War". If you enjoy action films with a bit of reflection thrown in, and if you typically buy movies, I think you'll enjoy owning this one.

Rating:
Summary: A letdown -- could've been much better
Review: I actually would give this film 2.5 stars. I opted for 3 (instead of 2) because it's leaning more toward 3, as it is not boring and didn't cause me any feeling of pain.

As you probably have discovered by now, this is a remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, or, as more of you know, Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, starring the great Clint Eastwood. It's a pretty interesting story and concept, but in Last Man Standing the execution is not there.

For one, the characters are just plain bad. I like Bruce Willis, and here he gives a decent (at best) performance. But Clint Eastwood he's not. They try to go for character development with him (and only him) and it more or less fails. I've seen worse, but this is hardly memorable. The other characters are not even worth discussing, other than the fact that the dialogue is particularly wretched.

And then there's the action. It's simply not that good. This movie could have possibly redemeed itself had the action been remarkable. The director Walter Hill goes for the Peckinpah-Woo style of gunplay (which I happen to love), but unfortunately does not succeed. The result is a second-rate job. It's not terrible, but Rodriguez did a better job in Desperado for sure. Hill unwisely does not use enough slow motion, which is too bad. That would've helped a lot. You would think there would be a western in the past 30 years that could top The Wild Bunch's quality of action, but nope.

Not only is the action not that impressive, but there's not nearly enough of it. Leonard Maltin wrote in his review that this movie is "rife" with gunplay. In actuality, it's not. You don't get a whole lot. There should have been much more.

Visuals are uninteresting. There's not much to see. The DVD picture quality is good, though, I'll give it that.

There are no special features on this DVD worth mentioning, just so you know. A director's commentary would have added, so we could hear Hill defend this film.

The one thing I'll give this film is that it isn't boring. Fans of The Wild Bunch and John Woo will be diappointed. It passes the time fairly quickly, but in the final analysis, Last Man Standing is a forgettable movie.