Last Man Standing

Plot synopsis:
In 1930, Jericho, a backwater Texan town 50 miles from the Mexican border, two crime syndicates, the Italian mob led by Fredo Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg), and the Irish mob led by "Mr. Doyle" (David Patrick Kelly), compete for control of the lucrative border smuggling pipeline. The authorities have been ineffective at keeping the peace, and have have stopped trying. The current Sheriff, Ed Galt (Bruce Dern), actually seems to be exploiting the conflict for personal gain.John Smith (Bruce Willis), a self-described loner without a conscience, enters Jericho and immediately gets into trouble through a careless glance at Doyle's girl Felina (Karina Lombard). Doyle's henchman, Finn (Patrick Kilpatrick), notices Smith ogling Felina and confronts him. After some mutual trash talk, Finn smashes the windshield of Smith's car and slashes his tires, then casually directs him to the Sheriff's office. Smith pays a visit to Sheriff Galt and his mute deputy, Bob, who refuse to get involved. Galt advises Smith to buy a gun.Smith enters the town saloon, finding it empty except for the owner - Joe Monday (William Sanderson), and orders a whiskey. He takes a set of guns from his pack, and walks back across the street to the Irish HQ to have a word with Finn. John asks tentatively if he will cover the damages. Finn draws first - but is sent flying across the street with a few bullets in his chest. Smith shoots up the place - the others don't move.Soon, Strozzi offers Smith a job on his team. Smith gets a room at the Italian controlled Hotel, and free meals. Smith meets Strozzi's attractive girlfriend, Lucy (Alexandra Powers), and learns more about Doyle's most fearsome enforcer, Hickey (Christopher Walken). At a communal meal for all Strozzi's men, Giorgio (Michael Imperioli) Strozzi's bad tempered cousin, arrives late - and immediately takes a dislike to Smith. Smith leaves, and returns to the saloon. He becomes dissastisfied with Strozzi's leadership style, and it is implied that Strozzi and Giorgio are incompetent.That night, while spending time with the prostitute Wanda (Leslie Mann), the Irish plan a hit on Smith - but he manages to kill both assassins. Smith was set-up by Wanda. She is hysterical. He knocks her out, and later learns that she was blackmailed. He leaves her to be arrested by Galt.Soon, Smith is summoned to a hideout in the middle of the desert by Strozzi, a roadside diner. They plan a hit on Doyle's next shipment from Mexico... At the border, Smith is given the job to approach the convoy of trucks. He offers the Mexican commandant in charge, Ramirez, an offer to turn on Doyle's men. The Mexicans take it up - and massacre the Irish men under their protection.Later, Smith pays to release Wanda from the cells, and gives her money to take the next bus out of town. He gives a tip to the Sheriff about the convoy heist, and hears another story about Hickey. Back in Lucy's room, Smith offers money for information on Strozzi, and seduces her.Soon enough, Doyle and another of his henchmen, Jack (R.D. Call), attempt to hire Smith to assassinate Strozzi, as his position inside Strozzi's gang makes him perfect. Smith expresses discomfort at the offer and Doyle misinterprets this as a rejection. So Smith decides to play both sides. He quits working for Strozzi. Strozzi pulls a gun on Smith, angrily reminding him "nobody quits me." Smith beats up Giorgio, and then engages Strozzi in an armed standoff. Convinced that Giorgio is a "halfwit" that's not worth dying for, Strozzi stands down.For his next move, Smith does his best to stay sober a few days as he waits for Hickey to show. He learns from the mechanic that Giorgio has been snooping around, trying to get the dirt on him. Smith delivers a tip to Giorgio - to watch out for Ramirez, in case he turns sides again. Giorgio takes the bait and leaves for Mexico. Smith then tells the Irish where Giorgio will be, and also that he will be with the Mexicans that betrayed him - and stole his money and trucks. He is paid for the info, but still won't commit. He finally meets Hickey, who is immediately suspicious of him.Hickey returns to Mexico. He enters a cantina, shoots Ramirez, then a border patrol cop, and captures Giorgio. Meanwhile, Smith meets with Felina in an abandoned church to hear her story.Back in Jericho, Captain Pickett from the Texas Rangers arrives in town to warn Smith and the Sheriff that he is investigating the murder of the border cop. He will return in ten days with more Rangers - and will tolerate one gang in the town, but not two. And he wants Smith to be gone.Hickey returns - and offers a deal to Strozzi -- $100 grand and the trucks for Giorgio. At the drop-off Strozzi pulls a fast one - he has kidnapped Felina. They swap Giorgio for Felina as Smith looks on. It's war!Lucy meets with Smith, she tells him that Strozzi and Giorgio found out that she slept with him, and subsequently beat her and mutiliated one of her ears. Smith falls for her story, and gives her $500 to get the next bus out of town. Smith accepts Doyle's offer - but wants $1000 up front. He tells Doyle that he "heard a rumor" that Strozzi has more trigger men arriving in town that night, playing on Doyle's fears that Felina could be targeted again.Doyle sends Smith to the hideut where Felina is being kept. The place is heavily guarded. He steps in through the front door. Immediately, Doyle's men know something is up. Smith opens fire. He kills every last one of them. Smith puts Felina in a car, and tells her to flee across the border. She gives John her cross. Smith knows he should leave, but instead he waits at the hideout to deliver the bad news to Doyle. Doyle arrives the next morning, and believes his story that Felina was taken. He is devastated. But Hickey is on to him.Smith returns to Jericho, and takes a bath. Hickey drops by - someone had seen Felina over the border, where she had sold the car. In the room, they find her cross. Smith is taken to a basement over at Doyle's hideout. Jack and Hickey mercilessly beat Smith as Doyle talks about how he "saved" Felina from a crappy life in Mexico. When it becomes clear that Smith will not give up any information, he is left for dead.The next day two goons return - but Smith is missing. Suddenly he jumps out from a metal cabinet, and using the smaller man as a shield pumps about a dozen bullets into the larger thug. He escapes. Doyle's men try to find him. First he hides out in the saloon, in the walls behind slabs of ice.He relays some intel to Galt. Galt tells Doyle that Smith is at Slim's Roadhouse in the desert, but knowing really that the Italians are hiding there. Doyle's men set the building ablaze, and proceed to shoot everyone who attempts to escape the flames. Strozzi and Giorgio admit defeat, promising to leave town if they are spared, but Doyle's men coldly gun them down. The Irish assume that Smith has died in the blaze.Smith returns to the abandoned church to heal. Joe brings him food and bandages everyday, but soon enough the Irish catch onto this. Joe is taken and beaten.Galt finds Smith and tells him about Joe. Hickey and Doyle are in Mexico, still looking for Felina. John takes Galt's gun, and heads off to Strozzi's old hotel - where Joe is kept. On his way there, he picks up his lucky hat - and stops by the window of the Undertaker's - one of his few friends in town!Smith storms in to the hotel. Bad guys are blown away like they're on bungee ropes with the force of each gunshot. John follows Jack to an upstairs room -- inside is Joe, tied up. Joe motions with his eyes - and Smith shoots through a cabinet dresser. Jack falls out, dead.Smith has been shot - but just the once. He pours some whiskey on his wound. He leaves a tommy gun against the door as a message for Hickey, and tells Galt that he'll be at Slim's Roadhouse waiting. Everyone is leaving town - Galt to Houston, and even the Undertaker is getting away while he can!Smith and Joe wait at the burnt-out building. Doyle, Hickey, and Bob arrive the following morning. Joe hides. Doyle wants a truce. He is lovesick - and just wants to find his girl. Joe jumps out and shoots him dead in retaliation for ruining his town. Bob raises his shotgun, so Smith fires a few rounds into his body. Hickey drops his tommy gun. He walks away - he doesn't want to die in Texas. He asks Smith if he would shoot an unarmed man in the back. Smith tells him he's done a lot worse. Hickey pulls out a pistol and turns - but Smith shoots him in the head.Smith takes the cross from Doyle's lifeless hand, gets in the car, and leaves to continue his journey.

Tags: neo noir, murder, violence, good versus evil, action, romantic, revenge

Review:
Plot summary: In a prohibition era update of Yojimbo, Bruce Willis shoots a load of gangsters.First off I will never understand why Walter Hill does not have a better reputation.
He scored a cult hit with "The Warriors", he delivered one of the best westerns ever with "The Long Riders", and put all other car chase movies to shame with the ultra cool "The Driver." As anyone who has seen these films should realise, Hill should be mentioned in the same breath as Peckinpah, Woo and Rodriguez when it comes to slow-mo gunplay."Last Man Standing" doesn't rival these earlier works, but it is a tough, gritty film with some fantastic shootouts.
Willis is not Mifune or Eastwood, but he does suit the mysterious drifter character well and this is one of his better action man roles.All things said, the film certainly doesn't come close to "Yojimbo", but it does give the more rough hewn "Fistful of Dollars" a run for its money.
This is testosterone gone berserk.....and very entertaining.Actually, I enjoy watching this film and don't apologize for it, although it has no "redeeming qualities." However, I love the old-fashioned narration, here done by Bruce Willis in great Mickey Spillane/Mike Hammer-style, the period in which it's done (1930s) and the great colors in here.
Even better, he then lurches around like Rondo Hatten in "The Creep Man" plotting his revenge.The film's final action scene is an awful, indescribable mess, and I have always wondered why Hill and usual editor Freeman Davies opted to construct it this way.
Whatever the reasons are for this flawed sequence, it, unfortunately, turns a great movie into a good movie.The opening sequence, replete with Ry Cooder's smooth scoring, is poetic and beautiful; Willis's arrival in town is directed with skill and energy; and cudos are also in order for the scene in which the first shot is fired and a stuntman is sent flying through a door into the dusty street outside.Christopher Walken is fantastic as the violent enforcer Hickey, and it is great to see David Patrick Kelly back on the screen as the malicious Doyle.There are many standout sequences and much to enjoy.
This movie serves fine for some action, with excellently dark shoot-outs being shown as John Smith (Bruce Willis), as he has told us at least, wonders into this town and quickly learns to play the two opposing gangs for all they are worth, willing to kill in the process of course, which he does expertly while wielding two colt .45 1911's masterfully.
Were he wearing a heart rate monitor I am sure the testers might remove it after gun battles to see if it was turned on.So when John Smith wanders casually into Jericho, Texas in his 1920s jalopy looking for whisky and a map, only to find desolation, despair and death, he sees opportunity.The rival gangs that wrestle for control of the town are lead by an Irish guy named Doyle (David Patrick Kelly) and a slick group of Italians lead by Strozzi.
The precious few other citizens of Jericho include an apathetic sheriff (Bruce Dern) - who could care less as long as the violence remains within certain parameters - various hookers, a saloon owner who runs a perpetually empty saloon and an undertaker for whom business is booming.And over the coming days it'll only get better.Smith is immediately 'noticed' upon arriving in town and when the initial intimidation tactics fail he is headhunted for a new vacancy in the Doyle gang.
If he divided his paypacket by lines of dialogue or facial expressions then his salary would be the highest in film history this side of Holly Hunter in The Piano, who might I remind you was mute.Christopher Walken also appears as the menacingly homicidal and universally feared Hickey, the only guy in town with a machine gun and Doyle's right hand man, and as always he takes every opportunity to chew up the scenery and in this case blow a lot of it away.The finale is both preposterous and a little confusing, but then again that is to be expected where on more than one occasion one man with two guns can take down a roomful of trained gunmen before they can even raise their own weapons.Despite the simplicity and illogical elements I liked Last Man Standing.
Bruce once again played the underdog only this time with little doubt that he would emerge victorious, even though he gets the living crap kicked out of him a couple times, and the well directed action sequences are in the main bloodless and suitably gymnastic, with the recipients of some of the many bullets seemingly propelled dozens of metres backwards and flipping over an over again seconds after being shot.Special mention too to the quiet, quiet, quiet, LOUD dirty blues that serves as the score here, it was both familiar but a different approach to the usual action movie backdrop.Final Rating - 6 / 10.
Bruce Willis was hardly breaking new ground when he agreed to do this, but at the same time director Walter Hill managed to make what could have easily been a formulaic action film into something at least worth watching..
Music is by Ry Cooder and cinematography by Lloyd Ahern.Walter Hill's variant on Yojimbo, plot basically sees Willis as drifter John Smith, who after arriving in the dusty town of Jericho, promptly sets about making some serious cash by playing the town's two gangs off against each other.
Although I saw this in the cinema several years ago when it first came out, I feel compelled to add my comments now, because this is the undisputed worst film I have ever seen.It has a legendary status among people I know, because a row of eight of us who went to see it were all asleep at one point.I never thought someone could make a 'blockbuster' with a big name star that still managed to be brain-numbingly boring, but Last Man Standing achieves it with ease.Instantly forgettable characters, a one dimensional linear and at times non existant plot, and absolutely nothing redeeming to keep the viewer interested in where the film's going.If I wasn't so comfortable in the cinema chair drifting into a semi-sleep, this would have been one film I would have had no qualms about walking out of very early on.
There's no excitement in it.If Bruce Willis had just lined the whole cast up before the opening titles and shot the lot of them it would have saved a bit of time and wouldn't really have missed much from the plot.I've never seen the trailer to this film, but even that would be too long to be worth watching.The worst thing about it?
The second remake of the Japanese film Yojimbo from legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, which was initially remade as A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood, Last Man Standing is set in a dusty, windswept Texas city right out of a Hollywood western, yet the characters are all dressed in attire from the 1920's and carry tommy guns.
It's is an unusual visual dichotomy that proves to be about the most engaging thing in Last Man Standing, a film that seems to be almost pointless, lacking any real reason to exist other than to watch characters blow other characters away.John Smith (Bruce Willis) is a loner making his way through the Texas desert and stops off at the city of Jericho.
This all eventually leads to a whole lot of death and carnage, not to mention bad feelings on both sides.Director Walter Hill has been in a Western mode for several years, having made Geronimo, Wild Bill, the pilot for HBO's Deadwood and an upcoming AMC miniseries set in the old west, and it's obvious that he is applying that same motif where he can in Last Man Standing.
Hill seems to like these kinds of movies where tough guys act tough, and you don't get much tougher than blowing people away at the drop of a hat.Aside from it's violence, Last Man Standing doesn't really offer anything to the viewer.
Aside from Willis, Imperioli and Kelley overact a bit too much, Eisenberg is okay, and Walken manages to make Hickey a despicable character, but since Smith isn't exactly our idea of a hero, can we really work up an dislike for Hickey (It doesn't help that he is "movie insane", shooting wildly at walls and throwing things around with abandon.
Now, Bruce Willis is no Clint Eastwood, but I generally find his films to be a pleasant way to spend my time - I watched Hostage for the fourth or fifth time last night.He does a reliably good job as a gangster in this film and is supported by a truly evil bad guy, Christopher Walken.
Another Smash Hit From Bruce Willis & Co. Last Man standing is simply amazing, I didn't think much of the DVD case at my mate's house since the spine and front cover looked like an action man film, since it was bright orange.
All of those elements make Last Man Standing a great Action-Thriller that is Walter Hill and Bruce Willis at their best.Set during the prohibition-era in the 1920s,Last Man Standing tells the story of John Smith(Bruce Willis),a mysterious gunslinger who arrives in the deserted town of Jericho,Texas and gets caught in the middle of an war between Irish and Italian bootlegging gangs from Chicago who are fighting over the control of illegal alcohol.
Smith decides to get some money by manipulating both sides and things are going well until things become more out of control leading to violent results.Released in 1996,Last Man Standing is a wonderful and memorable Action-Thriller that was the first and only collaboration between director Walter Hill and actor Bruce Willis.
Last Man Standing is pure entertainment from start to finish with Walter Hill mixing elements and influences of classic films such as Akira Kurosawa's Yujimbo,Sergio Leone's A Fistful Of Dollars,Dashiell Hammett's novels Red Harvest and The Glass Key while mixing together different film genres such as Action,Gangster movie,Film Noir and the Western film(in a 1920s setting)giving viewers a solid film that for 101 minutes is very over the top and a prime example of Pulp storytelling where everything from the characters,Action or dialog everything is pushed to the limit with tons of thrills and excitement but at the same time the film is intense and brutal.
The Action scenes in Last Man Standing are fantastic,over the top and right next to The Long Riders,Southern Comfort and Extreme Prejudice some of the most violent Action scenes Walter Hill has ever done because there is a lot of gunfights,bullets and a huge body count that gets higher and higher as you watch the film.
Ted Markland(Deputy Bob),Lesile Mann(Wanda),Patrick Kilpatrick(Finn)and Luis Contreras(Commandante Ramirez)give good performances as well.The direction by Walter is outstanding and stylish,with Hill bringing a gritty and atmospheric look to the film with great angles while doing an amazing job with the Action scenes.
Fine score,Cooder.In final word,if you love Walter Hill,Bruce Willis,Action Movies or Gangster Films I highly suggest you see Last Man Standing,an excellent,underrated Action-Thriller that is Walter Hill and Bruce Willis at their best.
Last Man Standing is by far my favorite action movie starring Bruce Willis.
Known as John Smith, Bruce Willis says little and throughout the course of the film ends up depopulating the town of Jericho.
Last Man Standing has much great action and is somewhat a hybrid between the western, mob movies and Hong Kong style heroic bloodshed films made popular by director John Woo. The action is very much in that style, but it is well done and intense.
As the city is controlled by two warring gangs, Strozzi's (Ned Eisenberg) and Doyle's (David Patrick Kelly), Smith starts playing both gangs against each other as a means to earn some cash as a hired gun.Yet another adapted version of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', this time turned into a gangster film (with a touch of western).
It is proof of how good that story was that, decades and multiple re-adaptations later (my favorite being Sergio Leone's 'A Fistful of Dollars'), the story still manages to be interesting and entertaining.The movie is well directed by Walter Hill, who manages to give it a very stylish yet desolate look.
The cast is absolutely perfect, everyone looking and acting their roles to perfection; in special: the gang bosses, Christopher Walken as Doyle's right-hand man, Bruce Dern as the sheriff and William Sanderson as the bartender and Willis' helping hand.
Smith plays the two gangs against each other leveraging them from more money until things get out of hand and eventually he has to choose between the two.The movie has a really good cast with Bruce Dern, Leslie Mann, Christopher Walken, Michael Imperioli amongst others.The movie is basically a remake of the Kurosawa film Yojimbo and while it doesn't quite equal the heights of that it's a solid film but not great..
The two lead female characters in the film play a major part in the development of the story despite not having large roles.Overall Last Man Standing is a fantastic movie, but not in the sense that it's a good movie but the sense that it is quite unrealistic.
Well you decide.You want to see something fun, shot well, something that successfully mixes the two sub-genres of western and gangster films, something that's got Bruce Willis going Desperado on Christopher Walken?
The main character isn't very sympathetic and is just as cold and merciless as everybody in the ghost town of Jericho.The only difference is while everybody's taken sides, he's playing both of them and although it's just a blatant retelling of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" (1961) and "A Fistful of Dollars" (1967) it definitely has its moments.Bruce Wills plays John Smith, a hired gun on the dodge from what, nobody knows but when he stumbles across the border-town of Jericho and finds two rival gangs on brink of war, the opportunity is too good to resist and he's not the type of guy to pass up some fast-bucks cause if you ask him - "They were all better off dead".Directed by Walter Hill, Last Man Standing is tough as nails and if you're in the mood to see some no-holds-barred killing and gun play then by all means watch, but if it's meaning you're looking for then steer clear because this one definitely won't change your life..
and after all kurosawa wrote the original story for last man standing - yojimbo) people flying to the dust in slomo while being hit by an uncountable number of bullets are an established style of showing violence and this is celebrated in lms.if you like a gritty, dusty, action-movie like that - look no further..
Last man Standing is a great film that has a good cast which includes Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Ned Eisenberg, Alexandra Powers, Michael Imperioli, Ken Jenkins, R.D. Call, Ted Markland, Leslie Mann, Patrick Kilpatrick, Luis Contreras, Raynor Scheine, Tiny Ron, John Paxton, Jaime Méndez, and Thomas Rosales!
If you like Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Ned Eisenberg, Alexandra Powers, Tiny Ron, John Paxton, the rest of the cast in the film, Action, Thrillers, Crime, Dramas, and interesting films then I strongly recommend you to see this film today!.
This is purely a man-night movie for Bruce Willis fans and not much else.As far as a piece of cinema, this film was lacking in a lot of ways.
Greetings from Lithuania.Although "Last Man Standing" (1996) plays like a conventional action movie (which it is), its good that at least they tried something different.
If you are a fan of highpowered action films, Walter Hill, Christopher Walken, or Bruce Willis check this movie out.
The acting was bad, Bruce Willis was boring and what little action this movie had wasn't that entertaining.
Walter Hill used to be a great action director - before he started making crap."Last Man Standing" is one of those poor 1990s Bruce Willis action movies where nothing really sticks together.
However Smith becomes too involved & as the situation spirals out of control just about everyone wants him dead...Written, produced & directed by Walter Hill I thought Last Man Standing was an average & fairly forgettable action/western remake of Yojimbo (1961) & A Fistful of Dollars (1964).
in this crime drama/action film Bruce Willis plays John Smith,a drifter in a small town who finds himself in a small town caught in the middle of a war between two rival gangs during sometime during prohibition era.i won't mention anything plot wise beyond that.to me,it felt like a western as well.Walter Hill Directed the film.obviously there is lots of violence here.the film is very fast paced.i thought the dialogue was very good.it was well written.if you're not a fan of violence,i would avoid this movie.besides Bruce Willis,Bruce Dern,William Sanderson,and Karina Lombard also star.but it's Christopher Walken who really makes an impression as Hickey.as for the film,i found it very entertaining.for me,Last Man Standing is an 8/10.
Bruce Willis plays John Smith (which is really a man with no name) who stumbles on a border town in which two gangs fight for control.
Upon learning this, Willis decides that it is in his best interest to stay in the town, play each gang up against the other, and then walk out with a lot of money.This is really an action/western style movie.
And she has one ear.Bruce Willis plays some loner who comes to town that does not really takes sides but you never really know if he is a good or bad guy....but by the end of the film he gets into a gun battle with about 12 men with only 2 pistols that is beyond ridiculous.