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Laramie Movie Scope:
The Last Man Standing

A Old West kind of gangster film

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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September 21, 1996 -- "Last Man Standing" is an extremely violent, pointless film dressed with stunning photography, wonderful sets, costumes and stuntwork.

One certainly can't fault the acting or the production values in this great-looking film. The problem is, the story doesn't start anywhere and it doesn't go anywhere. Even that wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't all so grim.

The story is based on the old Kurosawa film "Yojimbo." You couldn't prove it by me. My recollection is that "Yojimbo" was a lot funnier. To me, this seemed more like some of those old spaghetti westerns like "For a Fistfull of Dollars."

You know the basic story. A mysterious drifter, John Smith (Bruce Willis) comes into a run down little Texas town called Jericho sometime in the 1930s. He finds a town almost entirely populated by mobsters running bootleg booze out of Mexico.

Smith (not his real name) decides to play the two rival gangs against each other. A dangerous game to say the least. Smith has no fear as he senses both gangs are made up of incompetent idiots and he's packing a couple of hot automatic pistols. The law is no problem since the sheriff (Bruce Dern) is as crooked as the rest of them.

Smith starts a war between the two gangs, breaking an uneasy peace. The bloodshed comes early and often. There are numerous shoot-outs. Most of them are very similar to Western shoot-outs. There are blood and bodies everywhere.

Although Smith says he has no conscience, it becomes apparent he does have one as he comes to the rescue of a friend and helps a couple of women escape from the bad guys. This isn't a love story, though. It's just one long gunfight, with some beatings added in for good measure.

Willis is very good as the somber anti-hero. Bruce Dern does a nice turn as Sheriff Ed Galt. Christopher Walken is very good as Hickey, one of the main bad guys. He has one of the better parts in the film, one of the few characters given something intelligent to say.

The film is passable entertainment because of the acting and production values. It is competently directed by veteran Walter Hill. Hill directed last year's "Wild Bill." He also directed "48 Hours" and contributed the story for "Aliens." Kudos to Barry Chusid (art director) and Allan Graf (stunt co-ordinator) for their fine work. Although Hill did a good job directing the film, his story lacked much in the way of entertainment. This film rates a C.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

For more information on this film, including , click on this link to the official home page of .

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Copyright © 1996 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)