Diagonaldi
Very well executed
Hulkeasexo
it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.
Clarissa Mora
The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Taha Avalos
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Comeuppance Reviews
Susan (Tweed) and Eric Drake (Pucci) seemingly have the perfect life. Eric's a successful stockbroker and the two live in the lap of luxury. However, it's all built on some shady dealings, as Eric very, very stupidly stole five million dollars from the mafia. So mob boss Lombardi (Di Cicco) kidnaps Susan, and with the help of his goons, which include Frankie (Miano) and Spider (Trejo), spirit her away to a hiding place in a big skyscraper until Eric can come up with the money in return for her freedom. But Eric is a nerdy nebbish who has never shot a gun in his life. So he calls upon Susan's ex-husband Jeff Flynn (Pare), who, despite similarities in their names, was never a member of ELO. Jeff is a cop, a toughguy, and a quasi-belligerent meathead, so he can go in and get the job done. So despite some awkwardness about their personal lives, the two men team up to save the woman they both love. But can they do it? Hmmm, a movie about a rugged hero who is fighting his way up a high-rise building to save someone, who communicates to the lead baddie by walkie-talkie, wears a tanktop and has to fight through goons (mainly a blonde hench-person - in this case it's the token female baddie). Doesn't seem familiar at all. Of course, it's time for the video store staple, the "DieHardInA" movie, but this time they didn't even change the location. It's still a building. The only tweaks are that there's only one hostage - Shannon Tweed - and there are two men trying to save her. One is a blockheaded, mullet-headed meathead, and the other's a dweeb. They're the original odd couple! Their squabbling is more annoying than productive, and honestly, the two dudes aren't that likable. This keeps the audience from truly caring that much.The main bad guy isn't that menacing, which is a problem (the female baddie was more intimidating), and the goons are hapless. There wasn't much of a threat for audiences to get that invested in. We're not even going to criticize the movie for lack of originality this time. We're beyond caring about that. It's not that The Last Hour is bad, it's just really, really dumb. Many brain-numbingly idiotic things happen during the course of the film. But sometimes those things lead to unintentional laffs. For instance, there's a really flimsy excuse for Michael Pare to get shirtless, and no excuse for Danny Trejo to get, and remain, shirtless. Why these two men needed to be shirtless at all remains completely unexplained. So we laughed at that, for example.Some more goons for Pare to kill, and more locations besides just the one building would have elevated the movie immensely, much like the many scenes in elevator shafts herein. That way all the rampant dumbness wouldn't be confined to minimal locations, the stupidity could have run wild and free. But there is a slo-mo shootout for absolutely no reason, and the time-honored sax on the soundtrack, firmly placing it in its place and time. I.e., a video store shelf which patrons peruse by, but fail to notice.Quite possibly the best part of the Academy VHS are the two trailers included before the movie. They are Edge of Honor (1991) and Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990), proving that the two Coreys were still livin' the dream at this point in history. As for The Last Hour, the plot couldn't be more simplistic - the guys have to rescue the girl. End of plot - but it seems only fans of DieHardInA movies of the day (are there any out there?) will really get anything out of this particular outing.
metalrox_2000
Despite the cluster of action, this is a very well place formula action flick. It delivers what the viewer wants, and despite some later drama that seems to play right out of Caseblanca, the movie works, pure and simple. Michael Pare, famous for his role in Eddie & the Cruisers is more then up for the challenge, and is more believable as an action hero then the overrated Jean Claude Van Damme. Former playboy playmate Shannon Tweed gives one of her best performance (man Gene Simmons forms Kiss, and marries Shannon Tweed, boy he's lucky) that i've seen. Perhaps one of the best scenes comes at the end. effectively shot from long distance, when the main villain's body hits the ground, you actually are amazed at what you just saw. I'd never scene a film that included that kind of shot. Shooting it from Long distance proves you don't need a close up of gore for a death scene to be effective. rent it, buy it, or just go out and steal it. You MUST add this flick to your collection, or you can not call yourself an action film fan
SPaS
Years ago I watched a heavily- edited version of this grade-Z-copy of "Die Hard". Has Michael Pare on the lead, and I've never thought much of his films- but I must say that I liked this one! Reasons for this: The setting: yes, I'm a sucker for "claustrophobic action". The directing: considering the budget the guy does wonders with lights, slo-mo- action and a few cool angles to squeeze every bit of juice out of a poor plot. Okay, so maybe he borrows his share and then some from guys like J. McTiernan, but so what? So do plot and the sta... ahem, ACTORS.Well alright; also the "actors" do an okay job- SLIGHTLY above the average (that is, in B-movie terms). Besides, it's kind of funny to see Danny Trejo in one of his earliest roles!On a tie with Van Damme's "Sudden death". Would have beated it had the plot been better (they could have also added in a couple more bad guys).
Ripper-10
If the names "Shannon Tweed" and "Michael Pare" appear at the top of a movie's video box, it's generally a good sign that you will be throwing away an hour and a half of your life by watching it. Luckily for me, I was able to accidently start watching this movie on cable. I didn't know what it was at first, and by the time I realized that Tweed and Pare were both in it, I had already been intrigued enough by the plot that I decided to keep watching.The plot is basically like this: bad-guy is mad at some weasel-guy, so bad-guy kidnaps weasel-guy's wife until weasel-guy coughs up some serious $$$. Meanwhile, weasel-guy's wife's ex-husband(who, naturally, is a cop), stops by weasel-guy's house to pay his ex a visit. He discovers what is going on, so he and weasel-guy get a bunch of weapons(because all cops seem to carry a full arsenal of weapons in their trunk), and fight their way through a giant high-rise building until they reach the top, where the wife is being held. Shoot-shoot-shoot, blood-blood-blood, movie is over.A b-movie? Certainly. But is it an entertaining b-movie? Definitely. The movie, despite it's many cliches, obvious one-liners, and obligatory action scenes, carries on at an electrifying pace and has a cinematic energy that make it hard to turn away from the TV. It's one of those movies that you will enjoy, but feel guilty about enjoying later.And I should say that, once again, in the constant battle between Shannon Tweed's clothes and gravity, gravity wins. Once again, her dress falls to the ground for a quick 2-3 minute "love" scene. But luckily(or unluckily, depending on what you like), her "talents" are confined to the first 15 minutes of the film, and it's all business from that point on(though nakedness is replaced by torn and skimpy outfits).Overall, a guilty pleasure.