The Last Action Heroes

Thoughts

I had my hesitations going into the read for this book, but after the first few pages I was hooked. I was never one for history, and thought I knew it all about each of these stars. I mean the amount of times, Rocky, Die Hard, Terminator, Predator, and Rush Hour have replayed on TV when I was a kid is countless. Their names were household and I was pretty sure which movie really sent them into the A-list stage.

After the first couple of pages the author by Nick De Semlyen, is able to pull you in with a bunch of great backstories and tales about each of the action stars. It’s exactly as it describes, trimuphs and flops for each of these great action stars, which during their respective runs were real kings of the movie industry. It was cool to hear about how each of them came up, how they got their start, and the movies that set them apart. One aspect that I really liked about just every movie mentioned in the book, was the box office statistics. Especially back in the older days that amount of money really meant something, and garnering $100mill + at the box office was a huge feat, with the amount of media there was back then.

On top of learning about the stories, the author throws in various quotes, gives some movie reviews, and compiles the headlines of the times when they were released to really set you right in the picture times. The one great thing that this book does provide, is a ton of new movie recommendations for any fan. Getting the chance to learn about the first movies for Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, or Chuck Norris, just added hours to my entertainment and watch list. There’s a few movies listed below that shifted the culture during the times, and really propelled each of the stars into their respective careers.

• Predator franchise
• Die Hard franchise
• Rocky franchise
• Rambo franchise
• Terminator franchise
• Under Siege
• Rumble in the Bronx

This book was a blast (no pun intended).. It really is packed with some behind the scenes action stories, movie drama, and some cool tales on how all of these action stars got their start in showbiz. On top of that you wind up with a ton of movies to add to your watch list!