rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 10:08:17 GMT -5
THE LAST BOY SCOUT (1991) - ***1/2There is no such thing as a sure-fire blockbuster in Hollywood. You may have "hot" stars and filmmakers booked, but as cooks can tell you, the consumer's taste towards the dish isn't be as predictable as the recipe can be followed. Warner Bros. must have thought they had a guaranteed hit on their hands with THE LAST BOY SCOUT. Producer Joel Silver, behind Hollywood action classics DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON, paid a record-$1.75 million for WEAPON scripter Shane Black, followed by booking action star Bruce Willis and director Tony Scott. Yet THE LAST BOY SCOUT, despite its potency on paper, shot blanks in theatres. While it was marketed as yet another LETHAL WEAPON-esque buddy cop shoot'em up picture, SCOUT is really a polarizing affair even for genre fans. Take the opening sequence, where a drug-junkie football player is rushing down the field while firing his gun at the Linebackers to score a touchdown. And you thought the infamous "Basketbrawl" between Ron Artest and Pistons fans was brutal. If you can't get beyond this crazyness, press the Stop button. SCOUT faithfully follows the action tempo and gunplay as expected of that epoch in Action Cinema, including a major car chase that's too much LETHAL WEAPON 2 for my taste. But it just hikes such crazy-ass option plays that don't just come out of no where, they shock you that a major Hollywood release actually got away with them. From a kid and father yelling F-bombs at each other, to a hero (awesomely) killing a thug by a punch to the nose, and the quotable as hell dialogue from Mr. Black... Wife: I was lonely!Willis: Go buy a dog.Guys can't help but recite such misogynistic lines over and over....which I guess is a compliment, as much as Dave Chappelle helping to make "bitch" virtually a verb in America's dictionary. In fact, in this tale of two guys stuck way over their heads in a deadly conspiracy which celebrates and jabs the genre's cliches, this seems eeriely way too much like Shane Black's later directorial effort KISS KISS BANG BANG, though SCOUT isn't so blatant. Hell, my biggest problem with SCOUT is in its Third Act where, like BANG, the material reaches a point where it gets too self-aware of how smart it is. I mean, a villain saying "Yeah, I'm the bad guy"? That's not clever, that's just silly. But otherwise, I rather enjoyed THE LAST BOY SCOUT and its macho-nutty tale of two depressed losers deep in funk who fight each other, and race in citing the next witty one-liner. With such financial "guaranteed" Hollywood misfires from Bryan Singer's flat SUPERMAN RETURNS to Peter Jackson's boring 3-hour(!) KING KONG remake, I guess I am actually pleased that THE LAST BOY SCOUT was actually pretty good, maybe even a tad ahead of its time. Consider that Tony Scott's next movie was TRUE ROMANCE, scripted by a self-proclaimed major fan of SCOUT in Quentin Tarantino.
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ASYLUMHAUSEN
Fry's dog Seymour
GIFs | Shitposts | Fun
Posts: 24,383
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Post by ASYLUMHAUSEN on Feb 19, 2008 10:15:08 GMT -5
i love this movie.
that is all.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 10:26:47 GMT -5
i love this movie. that is all. You're not the first guy I know to have told me that. Again, I think part of the problem with SCOUT was that with its dialogue and self-awareness, it was just too ahead of its time before the "Pop Culture" filmmaking age of the 1990s came along.
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Brain Of F'n J
Hank Scorpio
Not that cool enough to have one of these....wait.
We Discodians must stick apart.
Posts: 6,890
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Feb 19, 2008 10:35:12 GMT -5
I like the movie, but I think it's problem isn't being so self-aware. By the time it came out, the buddy-cop movie was running itself into the ground. The football backdrop was different, but the formula itself was a lot of same-ol'-same-ol'. It was like hair metal: a genre that still had fans, but was rapidly losing touch with the masses due to overexposure, and nobody in Hollywood seemed to notice the general decline.
Jed f'n Shaffer ~Weren't you doing The Wall sometime soon?
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Post by jamofpearls on Feb 19, 2008 10:36:44 GMT -5
I too loved this movie.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 10:38:09 GMT -5
I like the movie, but I think it's problem isn't being so self-aware. By the time it came out, the buddy-cop movie was running itself into the ground. The football backdrop was different, but the formula itself was a lot of same-ol'-same-ol'. It was like hair metal: a genre that still had fans, but was rapidly losing touch with the masses due to overexposure, and nobody in Hollywood seemed to notice the general decline. Jed f'n Shaffer ~Weren't you doing The Wall sometime soon? Yeah, the 3rd Act becomes virtually a LETHAL WEAPON clone and damn you Shaffer, you and your perfect hair metal analogy. Really, its amazing how many KISS KISS BANG BANG fans I know refuse to comment on the KKBB/LBS similarities... Of course, the same is said for Shane Black's legendary script LETHAL WEAPON, so its pointless. Hell, has Black scripted a movie that was produced that wasn't about two people involved in action and comedy? ~Yeah Jed, THE WALL review is coming...its just too long and winded. Editing needs to be done, plus I have BEYOND THE MAT on the pipeline as well. I'll get crapped on for that one.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2008 10:39:16 GMT -5
I always kinda thought this movie shoulda been called Die Hard: Touchdown or something like that. The character willis was playing was pretty much John McClaine, but a little more grizzled.
I did enjoy this movie as well though.
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Brain Of F'n J
Hank Scorpio
Not that cool enough to have one of these....wait.
We Discodians must stick apart.
Posts: 6,890
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Post by Brain Of F'n J on Feb 19, 2008 10:45:34 GMT -5
Yeah, the 3rd Act becomes virtually a LETHAL WEAPON clone and damn you Shaffer, you and your perfect hair metal analogy. And not only is it appropos due to the similar fan disconnect/decline of product, it's also timely, as the movie came out in '91 ... the same time some band from Washington came out and flushed the Britney Foxes and White Lions down the crapper. Well, the movie's kind of a jumble, so I can understand it needing a lot of words. Jed f'n Shaffer ~If you're going where I think you're going on BTM, I think you'll be surprised how many people agree.
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W.R
Don Corleone
The Undisputed Wrestlecrap Off-Topic Heavyweight Champion.
Posts: 1,909
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Post by W.R on Feb 19, 2008 10:56:20 GMT -5
THE LAST BOY SCOUT (1991) - ***1/2There is no such thing as a sure-fire blockbuster in Hollywood. You may have "hot" stars and filmmakers booked, but as cooks can tell you, the consumer's taste towards the dish isn't be as predictable as the recipe can be followed. Warner Bros. must have thought they had a guaranteed hit on their hands with THE LAST BOY SCOUT. Producer Joel Silver, behind Hollywood action classics DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON, paid a record-$1.75 million for WEAPON scripter Shane Black, followed by booking action star Bruce Willis and director Tony Scott. Yet THE LAST BOY SCOUT, despite its potency on paper, shot blanks in theatres. While it was marketed as yet another LETHAL WEAPON-esque buddy cop shoot'em up picture, SCOUT is really a polarizing affair even for genre fans. Take the opening sequence, where a drug-junkie football player is rushing down the field while firing his gun at the Linebackers to score a touchdown. And you thought the infamous "Basketbrawl" between Ron Artest and Pistons fans was brutal. If you can't get beyond this crazyness, press the Stop button. SCOUT faithfully follows the action tempo and gunplay as expected of that epoch in Action Cinema, including a major car chase that's too much LETHAL WEAPON 2 for my taste. But it just hikes such crazy-ass option plays that don't just come out of no where, they shock you that a major Hollywood release actually got away with them. From a kid and father yelling F-bombs at each other, to a hero (awesomely) killing a thug by a punch to the nose, and the quotable as hell dialogue from Mr. Black... Wife: I was lonely!Willis: Go buy a dog.Guys can't help but recite such misogynistic lines over and over....which I guess is a compliment, as much as Dave Chappelle helping to make "bitch" virtually a verb in America's dictionary. In fact, in this tale of two guys stuck way over their heads in a deadly conspiracy which celebrates and jabs the genre's cliches, this seems eeriely way too much like Shane Black's later directorial effort KISS KISS BANG BANG, though SCOUT isn't so blatant. Hell, my biggest problem with SCOUT is in its Third Act where, like BANG, the material reaches a point where it gets too self-aware of how smart it is. I mean, a villain saying "Yeah, I'm the bad guy"? That's not clever, that's just silly. But otherwise, I rather enjoyed THE LAST BOY SCOUT and its macho-nutty tale of two depressed losers deep in funk who fight each other, and race in citing the next witty one-liner. With such financial "guaranteed" Hollywood misfires from Bryan Singer's flat SUPERMAN RETURNS to Peter Jackson's boring 3-hour(!) KING KONG remake, I guess I am actually pleased that THE LAST BOY SCOUT was actually pretty good, maybe even a tad ahead of its time. Consider that Tony Scott's next movie was TRUE ROMANCE, scripted by a self-proclaimed major fan of SCOUT in Quentin Tarantino. I love the opening scene, the drugged out guy in the beginning is billy blanks. You know I actually prefer this movie to all the lethal weapons. My brother disagrees but that's my opinion. Add pearl harbor to that list of high prices bombs, rra.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 11:00:13 GMT -5
THE LAST BOY SCOUT (1991) - ***1/2There is no such thing as a sure-fire blockbuster in Hollywood. You may have "hot" stars and filmmakers booked, but as cooks can tell you, the consumer's taste towards the dish isn't be as predictable as the recipe can be followed. Warner Bros. must have thought they had a guaranteed hit on their hands with THE LAST BOY SCOUT. Producer Joel Silver, behind Hollywood action classics DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON, paid a record-$1.75 million for WEAPON scripter Shane Black, followed by booking action star Bruce Willis and director Tony Scott. Yet THE LAST BOY SCOUT, despite its potency on paper, shot blanks in theatres. While it was marketed as yet another LETHAL WEAPON-esque buddy cop shoot'em up picture, SCOUT is really a polarizing affair even for genre fans. Take the opening sequence, where a drug-junkie football player is rushing down the field while firing his gun at the Linebackers to score a touchdown. And you thought the infamous "Basketbrawl" between Ron Artest and Pistons fans was brutal. If you can't get beyond this crazyness, press the Stop button. SCOUT faithfully follows the action tempo and gunplay as expected of that epoch in Action Cinema, including a major car chase that's too much LETHAL WEAPON 2 for my taste. But it just hikes such crazy-ass option plays that don't just come out of no where, they shock you that a major Hollywood release actually got away with them. From a kid and father yelling F-bombs at each other, to a hero (awesomely) killing a thug by a punch to the nose, and the quotable as hell dialogue from Mr. Black... Wife: I was lonely!Willis: Go buy a dog.Guys can't help but recite such misogynistic lines over and over....which I guess is a compliment, as much as Dave Chappelle helping to make "bitch" virtually a verb in America's dictionary. In fact, in this tale of two guys stuck way over their heads in a deadly conspiracy which celebrates and jabs the genre's cliches, this seems eeriely way too much like Shane Black's later directorial effort KISS KISS BANG BANG, though SCOUT isn't so blatant. Hell, my biggest problem with SCOUT is in its Third Act where, like BANG, the material reaches a point where it gets too self-aware of how smart it is. I mean, a villain saying "Yeah, I'm the bad guy"? That's not clever, that's just silly. But otherwise, I rather enjoyed THE LAST BOY SCOUT and its macho-nutty tale of two depressed losers deep in funk who fight each other, and race in citing the next witty one-liner. With such financial "guaranteed" Hollywood misfires from Bryan Singer's flat SUPERMAN RETURNS to Peter Jackson's boring 3-hour(!) KING KONG remake, I guess I am actually pleased that THE LAST BOY SCOUT was actually pretty good, maybe even a tad ahead of its time. Consider that Tony Scott's next movie was TRUE ROMANCE, scripted by a self-proclaimed major fan of SCOUT in Quentin Tarantino. I love the opening scene, the drugged out guy in the beginning is billy blanks. You know I actually prefer this movie to all the lethal weapons. My brother disagrees but that's my opinion. Add pearl harbor to that list of high prices bombs, rra. Billy Blanks?!? Really? Wow. Funny enough, looking back at my reviews...I gave LETHAL WEAPON and LBS the exact same rating. Interestingly, I think I might agree with you partly on LW in terms of its sequels...LW 3 and 4 can suck a golfball through a hose. And I didn't include PEARL HARBOR because....I suspected it would suck as I read the words: "Directed by Michael Bay." The fact that HARBOR defied my expectations....wow. Funny enough, that was the last Bay picture I willingly paid to watch...and I intend to keep it that way.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Feb 19, 2008 11:08:20 GMT -5
The reason to see "The Last Boy Scout": Bruce Willis doing a jig!
That moment was PRICELESS!!!!
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 11:34:22 GMT -5
Yeah, the 3rd Act becomes virtually a LETHAL WEAPON clone and damn you Shaffer, you and your perfect hair metal analogy. And not only is it appropos due to the similar fan disconnect/decline of product, it's also timely, as the movie came out in '91 ... the same time some band from Washington came out and flushed the Britney Foxes and White Lions down the crapper. Well, the movie's kind of a jumble, so I can understand it needing a lot of words. Jed f'n Shaffer ~If you're going where I think you're going on BTM, I think you'll be surprised how many people agree. Really? Whats sad is....I don't know what you mean about "going where I think you're going" regarding BTM.
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Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
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Post by Chainsaw on Feb 19, 2008 11:36:27 GMT -5
Shane Black can do no wrong.
This is probably my second favorite Bruce Willis movie, behind Die Hard. And I probably quote it more than I do Die Hard. Such a fun goddam movie.
And yes, these pants do not have a TV in them or something.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 11:45:35 GMT -5
Shane Black can do no wrong. This is probably my second favorite Bruce Willis movie, behind Die Hard. And I probably quote it more than I do Die Hard. Such a fun goddam movie. And yes, these pants do not have a TV in them or something. "I am very old." We're dealing with the inventor of Scrabble here.
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Massive G
Hank Scorpio
yo hago esto
Posts: 6,224
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Post by Massive G on Feb 19, 2008 12:00:05 GMT -5
"Milo? Where are you calling from, the bottom of the pool?"
that's got to be one of the best movie lines ever.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 12:03:46 GMT -5
"Milo? Where are you calling from, the bottom of the pool?" that's got to be one of the best movie lines ever. Terrific line, as well as: "You think he's dead?" *Willis fires several bullets into car* "He is now."
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bigHEADinc
El Dandy
Wanted Conway Twitty as a special title.
lest we forget...
Posts: 7,711
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Post by bigHEADinc on Feb 19, 2008 12:12:07 GMT -5
Never saw this but whenever I see Damon Wayans in a buddy comedy with a white guy, I can only think of Bulletproof with Adam Sandler... I remember it being pretty sweet but I haven't seen it since a year or two after it came out.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Feb 19, 2008 12:18:26 GMT -5
Never saw this but whenever I see Damon Wayans in a buddy comedy with a white guy, I can only think of Bulletproof with Adam Sandler... I remember it being pretty sweet but I haven't seen it since a year or two after it came out. Bah, thats nothing compared to THE LAST BOY SCOUT. A football player tries to screw with Wayans, and the brother aims a loaded shotgun in his face: "You want to be kicked OFF this planet?!?"
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Post by Zombie Mod is not a ghoul. on Feb 19, 2008 12:32:33 GMT -5
great movie, fair review.... now i'll have to watch this movie ( again) tonight. probably my most over watched dvd.
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Post by T.J. "the Crippler" Stevens on Feb 19, 2008 12:33:08 GMT -5
I love the recurring joke about the $600 pants. "They don't have, like a TV in them or something?" When he hands him the brief case with $6,000,000 in it. "Here, Merry Christmas. Buy yourself a new pair of pants."
Definitely a quotable film with Milo (a terrific villain) having some of the best. My brother and I still say, "You think you're so smurfing cool, don't you?" in Milo's voice to eachother. Usually when we're jealous because the other one is catching fish.
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