The Last Stand - Uncut Version - DVD

Movie: In recent years, the Terminator quote I`ll be back seemed to be Arnold Schwarzenegger`s catchphrase. Whether at political events as governor of California, movie premieres or interviews, whenever there was a microphone or camera nearby, Schwarzenegger would let his I`ll be back ring out. Now he has finally backed up his words with action, delivering his true comeback as an action star with The Last Stand after small guest appearances in The Expendables 1 + 2.

Directed by Kim Jee-Woon (I Saw the Devil), Schwarzenegger plays Sheriff Ray Owens, who keeps law and order in the small town of Sommerton Junction near the Mexican border. Owens and his team don't have much to do. Rescuing a cat from a tree or writing up parking violators is already considered a high point for the Sommerton Junction police. But then powerful drug lord Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) manages to escape from the hands of the FBI during a prisoner transport. And his route to Mexico will take him through Sommerton Junction, of all places. Though FBI Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) doesn't believe a bunch of small-town cops can stop the drug lord and his men armed to the teeth. But as his attempts to recapture Cortez fail miserably, soon only Owens stands between the gangster and his Mexican refuge. And so a bloody duel looms, with the drug lord and his army only seemingly at an advantage...

The Last Stand almost feels like a promotional film for the American gun lobby. The absurd statement of an NRA spokesman that a bad man with a gun can only be stopped by a good man with a gun seems to be the overriding leitmotif of the film, as even a lovable granny picks up a gun to support Arnie in his fight against the bad guys. The Last Stand could therefore be seen as a contribution to the current discussion about the tightening of gun laws in the USA. And given the horrific events that have claimed so many innocent lives in recent months, it's hard to see a film like The Last Stand as anything other than a political issue, but as a simple entertainment film. But since Kim Jee-Woon doesn't want to make a political statement, but rather entertain in an admittedly simple, but effective way, genre fans shouldn't question the whole thing, but simply switch off their brains. Because only then they can enjoy this absolutely solid thriller with good action, some humor and wonderfully illogical shootouts properly.

Whether the spectacular escape of the drug lord, the duel of good against evil in the middle of the almost extinct small town, which seems like a modern Western, or even the way in which Arnold Schwarzenegger flirts with his age, all this makes The Last Stand an extremely entertaining representative of its genre. Admittedly, some scenes overshoot the mark in the truest sense of the word. Especially the character of the gun nut Lewis, played by Jackass Johnny Knoxville, is overdone and sometimes seems a bit too silly. Admittedly, the film never really takes itself seriously. But Knoxville's capers, while occasionally quite amusing, often feel like a foreign body in the otherwise very coherent overall picture due to their over-the-top nature.

Although The Last Stand comes across overall as a representative of classic 80s action cinema, the action itself never feels dusty or antiquated. True, the bounds of logic are repeatedly overridden. But still, the car chases, the gunfights and duels are worth seeing and extremely entertaining staged, which also consoles over the arguably clichéd character drawing and the rather simple dialogues.

So if you manage to turn off your brain when you put the DVD in and only reactivate it after the credits, if you don't question the whole thing too much, you'll get good action cinema here with an Arnold Schwarzenegger who still knows his craft well. On DVD and Blu-Ray the film is released in different versions, whereby the from 18 released Uncut version should be given in any case the preference. The cuts, which were made for a FSK 16 version, keep within limits, but still cloud the fun of the action noticeably. And therefore also applies primarily to the 18 version: well worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The visual realization of the film features slightly exaggerated contrasts, but otherwise pleases with a high image sharpness and an atmospheric, earthy color scheme. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has good surround effects to offer at many moments, such as gunfire or explosions, but also powerfully reproduces the more centrally mixed dialogue. Good!

Extras: In addition to a decent making of (approx. 27 min.) and an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger (approx. 5:32 min.), the DVD also has six cut scenes (approx. 8 min.) to offer, although the special effects have not yet been completed. This makes for some unintentional comedy, especially in a scene that was supposed to feature a spectacular car stunt. Seven extended scenes (approx. 13 min.) and uncommented B-roll footage (approx. 3:30 min.) round out the supplemental offerings.

Conclusion: The Last Stand is a solid old-school action thriller that is neither particularly deep nor extremely original. Nevertheless, the Hollywood debut of Kim Jee-Woon is a very entertaining genre entry, with which Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers a thoroughly convincing comeback as an action star. The DVD presents the explosive action in good picture and sound quality and also has a few extras on board that are worth seeing. And for this, although the film is not the whole big hit, there is still a quite satisfied: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp