Last Action Hero
1993 film directed by John McTiernan
Last Action Hero is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies of action films in the form of films within the film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater, a Los Angeles police detective within the Jack Slater action film franchise, while Austin O'Brien co-stars as Danny Madigan, a boy magically transported into the Slater universe and Charles Dance as Mr. Benedict, a ruthless assassin from the Slater universe who escapes to the real world. Schwarzenegger also served as the film's executive producer and plays himself as the actor portraying Jack Slater.
Last Action Hero premiered in Westwood on June 13, 1993 and was released by Columbia Pictures on June 18, 1993 and failed to meet the studio's expectations at the box office, and was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Since its release Last Action Hero gained a cult following, with some noting it as underrated in Schwarzenegger's catalogue.
Plot
10-year-old Danny Madigan lives in a crime-ridden area of New York City with his widowed mother Irene. Following his father's death, Danny takes comfort in watching action movies, especially a series featuring Los Angeles cop Jack Slater, at a condemned movie theater. Nick, the theater's owner and projectionist, gives Danny a golden ticket once owned by Harry Houdini and invites him to watch an early screening of its latest installment, Jack Slater IV.
During the film, the ticket stub transports Danny into the fictional world, interrupting Slater during a car chase.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Last Action Hero” as 1993 film directed by John McTiernan. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1993 film directed by John McTiernan. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q858840. VIAF identifies the subject as 195831581. The Library of Congress control number is n93041460. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Last Action Hero”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Last Action Hero primary sources, Last Action Hero archive and Last research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Last Action Hero”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Last Action Hero” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.