Arnold Schwarzenegger is highly regarded for career embodying invincible action heroes, but one entry in his filmography has gotten far less love than it deserves. I grew up with action movies, full-stop, and the action genre remains essential to my cinematic diet and, indeed, of how I relate to storytelling. Naturally, that means I also grew up with the work of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian bodybuilder turned action star who headlined some of the best action movies ever made, from Commando to Predator and, of course, The Terminator franchise.

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With that stated up front, I have to be frank – Last Action Hero is Arnold’s most underrated movie, by far. Helmed by Die Hard and Predator director John McTiernan, Last Action Hero follows the story of young Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien), an action movie-loving kid who is transported by a magic movie ticket handed down by Harry Houdini into the world of his favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger franchise, the in-universe Jack Slater series. Obviously, I saw a lot of myself in Danny as action movie-loving youngster who gets to be in one, but it’s not mere wish fulfillment that made me so enamored with Last Action Hero. In truth, Last Action Hero is an Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner that delivers on that distinction in every possible way.

Last Action Hero Puts Arnold Schwarzenegger Into An Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie

Last Action Hero came right after Arnold Schwarzenegger had become the biggest movie star in the world with the success of 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. While another breakout star might have chosen to play it safe after hitting it that big, Arnold did want most save for far later in their careers and chose to essentially spoof himself with Last Action Hero. However, Last Action Hero was no farce, with the in-universe Jack Slater franchise played largely straight as what a Schwarzenegger-led cop action movie series would look like (even if the animated cat Whiskers definitely added more fantastical elements than any such Schwarzenegger actioner ever would).

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The opening of Last Action Hero, showing the ending of Jack Slater III, establishes Slater as a humanized protagonist in a larger-than-life world, and leaving him wracked with guilt and PTSD after failing to save his son from the villainous Ripper (Tom Noonan). The opening of Jack Slater IV also brings in an all-timer Schwarzenegger antagonist in Charles Dance’s marksman Benedict, who eventually concocts a plot to use Houdini’s ticket to free the villains of other movies and unleash them in the real world. In both the movies-within-a-movie of the Jack Slater franchise and the larger story of the film surrounding it, Last Action Hero is what might be mathematically referred to as “an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie squared” in all the best ways, and that also exemplifies how far ahead of the game it was in another way.

The 21st century has seen a huge rise in popularity for meta, in-universe one-liners and fourth-wall breaking in both action and superhero movies (a feat the Deadpool franchise can certainly take plenty of credit for). Released all the way back in 1993, Last Action Hero was decades ahead of that trend, and had the perfect apparatus for indulging in meta fun with Danny getting pulled into an in-universe Schwarzenegger movie right as Last Action Hero happens to be a real-life Schwarzenegger movie. Last Action Hero‘s most fondly remembered joke, of course, played upon Schwarzenegger’s action star rivalry in the ’80s and ’90s with Sylvester Stallone with Stallone being the star of Terminator 2 in the Jack Slater universe, and Slater highly praising him with “He’s fantastic, this is his best performance ever!” to a shocked Danny.

What really stands out about Last Action Hero is how much meta fun it has with action movie staples including: Schwarzenegger’s one-liners (“Iced that guy, to ‘cone’ a phrase”); heavy metal soundtracks (personal confession – I discovered a lot of my favorite bands like Megadeth and AC/DC when I first saw Last Action Hero as a kid); and the sheer frequency of explosions in ’90s action movies (“We’ve already had a dozen explosions in this movie,” Danny comments at one point). The climax of Jack having to save the real-world Arnold Schwarzenegger from the Ripper is both packed with suspense and is as meta an action movie climax as one can get, with an added touch of humor as Jack tells a stunned but cordial Arnold: “Look, I don’t really like you, alright. You’ve brought me nothing but pain.”

By the same token, Last Action Hero also shows how much action movies really inspire people like Danny to dream of something better for themselves and their world. For as enamored as Danny is with action movies and the Jack Slater franchise, he also has a firm grasp on how the real world works, constantly warning Slater of the mortality he faces when they cross back into Danny’s world. Coming from a single-parent household and living in poverty with his mother, Danny is an audience avatar in two ways, reminding audiences and especially younger ones of the difference between fantasy and reality but also showing that the fantasy world of action movies can inspire those in bad situations to strive for more in life.

Last Action Hero Is A Great Action Movie On Its Own Terms

Even putting aside Last Action Hero‘s meta and fantastical elements, the movie is a fun ride as an action movie and a real highlight of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s heyday. The stunts, fight scenes, shoot-outs, and chase sequences are all showcased with plenty of flair, impact, and dynamism, while Jack Slater himself has a genuine action hero arc in his relationship with Danny. Despite having his whole world shattered with the news that he is a fictional character, Jack continues to act as a hero in his determination to stop Benedict’s plot to summon an army of fictional movie villains, but his real hero’s journey is in how much Danny makes him the best version of himself.

The movie’s rooftop climax recreates the opening of Jack Slater III, this time with the Ripper holding Danny hostage. That kind of a first act-third act symmetrical pay-off is often seen in action movies, but it’s given a new twist with Jack and the Ripper’s vendetta playing out in world new to them, and Jack saving Danny after he could not save his own son before defeating Benedict on the one-liner “No sequel for you!” When he finally returns to his own world of the Jack Slater universe, Jack’s meta-adventure has made him a new man, while the movie itself has also taken its audience for an action-packed ride that delivers the goods on a more basic level as an action movie.

Last Action Hero might have met a sad demise at the box office (releasing under Jurassic Park‘s shadow), but the cult following it has gradually built-up since shows that no action movie’s value can be measured by immediate box office numbers alone. I’ve included Last Action Hero in my personal album of Arnold’s best for ages. Hopefully, as its cult following continues to grow, more action aficionados will do the same.