The Last Outlaw

For a modern Western movie this is very decent, considering we're talking a TV movie here this is very much above average. I really have a hard time understanding why this movie's rating isn't much higher as 5,7. Sure, this is no 'Unforgiven' or 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', but i don't think it pretends to be. This is just a fast-paced, violent action flick, which 'borrows' some elements from famous westerns and well, it works! I've seen this movie more then once, and it caught my full attention each and every time. As mentioned in a lot of these reviews Mickey Rourke is really great here. He's tough, he's mean, and he almost perfectly imitates Clint Eastwood's frown in close-ups. But the character I like most in this movie is Potts, played by Ted Levine. He's so dirty you can almost smell him, and he delivers some very cool lines. If you want to see a fun adventurous western movie i really recommend this one.

I don't know what I didn't like about this the most. Mickey's bad makeup, bad writing or bad production. It was painful to watch. Mickey Rourke looks like a flamboyant pirate cowboy. I've seen high school one act plays with better production and better writing. One outlaw was shot in the hip, they splinted his thigh. Other injuries & gunshot wounds were written like they were merely scratches. The acting is abysmal. I've seen most of the actors in other movies do so much better. The only thing worse than the movie is trying to find enough negative descriptions to review this movie. This is time I'll never get back.

When I first saw this movie I thought "what is Mickey Rourke doing making himself look slightly homosexual as a cowboy outlaw"!!? As I watched the movie though, it didn't matter how he looked, he was deadly. Probably the only criminal cowboy who could get away with that "dandy" look. I thought that the entire cast was great in their own parts, but once again, as with every movie he is in, Mickey Rourke stood out. It was back in the day, when I chanced upon watching "Rumble Fish", with Matt Dillon, Dennis Hopper, and (my then personal favorite), William Smith, that I noticed the Motorcycle Boy. He stole that movie, no problem. From then on out, it was because of Mickey Rourke that I watched any movie he was listed in. He is like the greatest American actor EVER.

The Last Outlaw

I don't think they could have got a better cast if they tried, you just have to look at the stars in this film to show that, Mickey Rourke, Steve Buscemi, Ted Levine, Keith David, John C. McKinley and the wasted Dermot Mulrony who a lot of western fans will remember him for one of his early roles as Dirty Steve in Young Guns. I saw this when it came out on video in the mid nineties and films that went straight to video back in the nineties were great like Surviving the Game, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man etc and the Last outlaw was the same. The beginning of the film is a blatantly obvious homage to the beginning of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch where they rob the bank and the town's sheriff and his men are waiting for them to have a huge gun battle. But the film really starts when Dermot Mulrony shoot's the leader of the pack Graff (Mickey Rourke) for trying to execute one of there men and that's when the films suddenly becomes a revenge story. Of course Graff survives and is picked up by the posse hunting them down and instead and giving himself up he ends up offering the posse to actually be there leader and hunt down his own men for leaving his for dead. From there it's like a cat and mouse western which doesn't stop till the end credits and it really delves into the story of leadership. You have fine performances here from Mickey Rourke as the sadistic Graff but the films goes to Dermot Mulrony as the desperate Eustos who battles with thought of whether what he did was right as his men are picked off one by one. This film ain't no Good the Bad and the Ugly but it definitely bests any John Wayne film ever made (I'm an obvious John Wayne Hater).

Sad events take place after a bloodbath of a bank robbery carried out by a violent band commanded by Graff (Mickey Rourke). Being betrayed by his gang, the marauder joins a posse led by Marshal Sharp (Gavan O'Herlihy) to seek vendetta. Graff joins the side of the law to hunt his enemies (Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Daniel Quinn) and kill them one by one. Left for dead by his bank robbing gang, you're looking at the face of a killer with nothing left to lose !.

Action-packed Western in which Rourke stars as an ex-Confederate officer who leads a gang of outlaws until his violent excesses leave even them disgusted, then the bank robbing band shoots him but of course he doesn't die and he sets out for vengeance. It follows the style and plot of the classic Wild Bunch, a gang carrying out a robbery and being relentlessly pursued by a posse led by a tough Sheriff, although the leadership later changes with the appearance of an unexpected boss. This notable Western packs lots of action, shootouts, horse chases and explosive violence. Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and spectacular bloodletting filmed in gorgeous outdoors. Here stands out a good cast of actors led by Mickey Rourko, who if in their time were not so well known, today they have prestigious and long film careers, such as: Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Daniel Quinn, Gavan O'Herlihy. Rich in texture taken right out of "The Wild Bunch" and including intelligent screenplay full of incidents and tension enough. The action climaxes in an old-time blazing shootout.

In 'The Last Outlaw' (1993) excels the impressive and colorful cinematography by Jack Conroy, shot on location Cerro Pelon, Galisteo, Diablo Canyon, Nambe Pueblo, Abiquiu, Santa Fe, Nuevo México. As well the thrilling and pulsing musical score by composer Mason Daring. The motion picture was well directed by Geoff Murphy. He was born in 1938 in Wellington, New Zealand and died in 2010. Named an 'Arts Icon' by the Arts Foundation, which named New Zealand's 20 greatest living artists. Murphy excelled at fast action films, especially during his decade-long sojourn in Hollywood, such as : The Last Outlaw, Freejack , Fortress 2 , Red King, White Knight, Spooked, and making knockabout comedies , such as : Goodbye Pork Pie , Wild Man. Geoff was a good director and actor, especially known for Spooked (2004), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), The Quiet Earth (1985) and The Last Outlaw(1993). Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average Western. Well worth watching .