# Why the hate for "Last Action Hero"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336 "2010-08-05T21:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/81 "2010-08-09T13:10:10Z")
I’ve always thought it was unfairly maligned because it was marketed poorly. Perhaps this has been said already, but it wasn’t really an action picture. It was seven genres taped together–I forget what they all are, but it starts as a Spielberg-style kid’s fantasy flick, morphs into an action picture and a spoof of action pictures, briefly flirts with romance (between AS and the kid’s mom) and ends up as a Seventh Seal-style art film. There’s also the fact that the AS character must come to grips with the fact that he is a fictional character, giving the film a sort of “meta” angle. There’s no way an audience would connect with this when they thought they were getting an action-spoof, which is what I thought when I saw it in the theater. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/82 "2010-08-09T13:14:20Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > I’ve always thought it was unfairly maligned because it was marketed poorly. Perhaps this has been said already, but it wasn’t really an action picture. It was seven genres taped together–I forget what they all are, but it starts as a Spielberg-style kid’s fantasy flick, morphs into an action picture and a spoof of action pictures, briefly flirts with romance (between AS and the kid’s mom) and ends up as a Seventh Seal-style art film. There’s also the fact that the AS character must come to grips with the fact that he is a fictional character, giving the film a sort of “meta” angle. > > There’s no way an audience would connect with this when they thought they were getting an action-spoof, which is what I thought when I saw it in the theater. Yes, the cliche within a cliche was annoying to me as well. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/83 "2010-08-09T14:23:29Z")
It’s not the fact that he guessed my age, but that he did it in an insulting way he’s all like “man you like this stupid movie you must be 20 or something too young and dumb to understand real movies” you gotta read between the lines ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/84 "2010-08-09T14:27:53Z")
> [@Avumede](#): > > Commando might not be a very good action movie, but it features Arnold at his funniest. It’s really a must-watch. I’ve never seen it, but I still know it has his best one-liner ever: “I let him go.” ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/85 "2010-08-09T14:51:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > > [@Avumede](#): > > > > Commando might not be a very good action movie, but it features Arnold at his funniest. It’s really a must-watch. > > I’ve never seen it, but I still know it has his best one-liner ever: > > “I let him go.” “I lied.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336/86 "2010-08-09T17:18:36Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It’s not the fact that he guessed my age, but that he did it in an insulting way > > he’s all like “man you like this stupid movie you must be 20 or something too young and dumb to understand real movies” > > you gotta read between the lines He guessed that you were young based on what you said about movies from the '80s. He did not say you were too young or stupid to understand real movies. So please let this go. It is not worth wasting any more time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hate-for-last-action-hero/549336.md?page=4)