In Last Man Standing, Bruce Willis plays the part of an unnamed drifter (claiming to be "John Smith") who is trying to outrun the law when he comes upon an overly-corrupt nigh-ghost-town, Jericho, run by two gangs and policed by a crooked, lazy sheriff. Smith is quite the gunslinger and figures he'll use the conditions in Jericho in order to make a buck or two. It seems, however, that John Smith has a soft spot for women, which inevitably gets him into trouble. When everything really gets hot, it's interesting to see the best come out in some people.
The action and acting is solid, with a brilliant performance (and makeup, for that matter) of Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken. Last Man Standing has a film noir feel, thanks to Bruce Willis' nearly-constant narration. It's probably this fact that caused Last Man Standing to remind me more than once of Sin City and left me wanting to re-watch it.
The Last Boy Scout features Bruce Willis as a down-and-out private investigator named Joe Hallenbeck and Damon Wayans as a comparatively washed-out, ex-pro-football player with "the best arm in the league," but who now has a busted knee and an addiction to pain-killers (among other things). Joe's boss, Mike Matthews (Bruce McGill) is an old friend of his from way back, but as of late, is more "into" his wife. When the girl Mike has Joe playing bodyguard to - a stripper named "Cory" (Halle Berry) - winds up killed in a professional hit, her boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), the aforementioned down-and-out football player and Joe end up in an unlikely team-up to find out who was behind her death and to make them pay.
Actually, it's worth mentioning that I had been wanting to see The Last Boy Scout for some time, but didn't remember what the name of the movie was. Specifically, I kept remembering the opening scene involving a professional football player who buckles under threats from organized criminals and pressure to score points and gets excessively violent, pulling out a gun and blasting his way to the goal line, only to remove his helmet and shoot himself in the head - but only after setting the tone of the movie by saying, "Ain't life a bitch?" This scene had stuck with me all these years, but I couldn't place it. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that it was unfolding before my eyes when I started watching The Last Boy Scout.
While Last Man Standing made me long to see Sin City, The Last Boy Scout reminded me of the Die Hard series. To some degree, in this time period, pretty much all of Bruce Willis' characters were very "John McClane." It's what could be called a Bruce Willis - style action flick: some poor working slob is just trying to make ends meet as a (cop / private investigator / outlaw / dentist), and is merely going about his business (going to a Christmas party / acting as a bodyguard / running to Mexico / visiting a theme park) when he discovers that something has happened (the building is taken over by terrorists / crooked politicians are involved / the town is run by two rival gangs / the roller-coaster failed inspection) and everything goes to hell-in-a-hand-basket, leaving our unlikely hero right in the middle of fist fights, gun fights, explosions and some sneaky maneuvers, leading to our hero (or what's left of him) inevitably saving the day. We love happy endings; he has to win. However, in a Bruce Willis style action movie, the unlikely hero takes quite a beating in the process. It's a formula, granted, but it's a formula that works. Put me on a couch with a tub of popcorn and a Dr. Pepper and put a Bruce Willis action flick on with explosions in surround sound and I'm riveted. Throw in a pizza or two, and I'm all in for a double feature. And, as Bruce Willis movies go, these two aren't bad at all.
The picture looked great on both, and the surround sound was good as well, but these are intended more for a casual audience than a die-hard fan (no pun intended), since there are absolutely no special features. You don't get commentary, making-of... not even so much as deleted scenes. What you do get is a pretty slim menu, that gives you the few options you have and where the last option on the right is to play the other movie, which takes you to the other feature's menu screen. Both features are on the same side of the Blu-ray, which, combined with the simple menus, make it really easy to get in and start watching a movie. One really nice feature of the menu system is that upon completing one movie, you are directed to the menu screen of the other movie. Again, this makes it really easy to start the next film. And, since this double feature retails for $24.98 USD, you're getting two movies for about the entry price of a typical Blu-ray... not a bad deal to help bolster your movie collection. If you're not the kind of person who wants to see all the special features on a movie, I would highly recommend The Last Boy Scout/Last Man Standing: Action Double Feature; it's a great deal.
