Last Man Standing

This film is actually pretty good. There is good chemistry between Wincott and Jonathan Banks, and it's certainly one of Joseph Merhi's best films. The stunts are excellent, half of the budget must have gone into that side of the production, including three great car chases, and a very big explosion halfway through the film.

It's a b-movie, but a very good one.

7 out of 10 stars for this effort.

Jeff Wincott stars as a cop (Who smokes a lot) who takes on mobsters after the death of his partner (Jonathan Banks) however after becoming the target of said mobsters he decides to show why he will be the last man standing, especially when the man in this equation is martial arts expert Jeff Wincott. Jillian McWirter is Wincott's wife who goes on the lam with our hero. Last Man Standing (No relation to the Walter Hill/Bruce Willis dud) is one of those movies that is akin to playing Grand Theft Auto III (I'm out of date on video games) it comes from the film-making equivalent of "Who cares, if there is a plot, i'm just going to shoot random people!" of course the story is fairly well written, the action quite spectacular and basically it is everything you could want in a low budget action flick. Plus Wincott makes for an interesting hero, in that his unattractive face adds a grittiness that is instantly likable and believable. In fact I may check out The Killing Man next week at my rental shop. Also thank goodness for bargain bin DVDs that give the world fun-dumb actioners for a cheap price.

* * * out of 4-(Good)

... this BAD in 1995?

DO NOT WATCH this piece of nonsense. I'm asking because I was there and I can't remember seeing anything like this! Perhaps I was lucky, until now. I mean, we had Seven and Die Hard and Bond and HEAT and Just Cause and 12 Monkeys and THIS piece of trash has somehow managed 5.6 on IMDb??? You must be joking!

I repeat: DO NOT WATCH or waste you time, as I have just done ...

Jeff Wincott has for me at least, always stood out somewhat from the plethora of movie action stars of the late eighties and nineties such as, Van Damme, Seagal, Grunier, Wilson, Lundgren etc etc. on the very simple account that Wincott is actually a rather good actor when the material allows. Unfortunately, this film doesn't allow Wincott to flex his acting muscles however.....Oh dear I hear you cry. Bad news then? Well luckily, not really, as the action happens to more than make up for it. Yes, here we have a plot and character thin effort which despite said flaws nonetheless balances the scales with sheer entertainment value. It has to be said that the action sequences are very well staged throughout including multiple shootouts, some Michael Bay style freeway chases and of course, capitalising on Wincott's martial arts expertise, a few decent fight scenes to. As B-movies go, this is very much a high end production; Well worth checking out me recommends.

Years ago the word was 'Last Man Standing' was Jeff Wincott's best effort from PM Entertainment. So now that I've seen it, I understand why. What they did very well is on full display here. Great stunt work, multiple fireball explosions and decent car chases. Only downside? Story is an absolute test pattern. Two parts cliche and one part very predictable.

LA detectives Kurt Bellmore (Wincott) and veteran partner 'Doc' Kane (Jonathan Banks) stumble onto criminal Snake Underwood (Jonathan Fuller) completing his latest deal. When he makes bail easy and some of the evidence disappears, Snake goes onto commit bank robberies as the picture of dirty cops being involved starts to emerge. Then Kurt gets suspended and his bank exec wife Anabella (Jillian McWhirter) is personally involved.

The faces in the cast certainly earn it some points. Wincott gets to juggle guns / fisticuffs while Fuller goes full ham with the villain. Michael Greene (Eve of Destruction, To Live and Die in LA) plays a police captain while Robert LaSardo and ex-Playboy Playmate Ava Fabian play main baddies. It sucks Banks doesn't have a bigger part or more to do, but he delivers nicely given his small role. McWhirter getting in on the action - firing off guns, taking out baddies, saving her husband - is a nice change of pace from the stock female role usually found in these pics.

It's hard to hate on 'Last Man Standing' as a b-movie fan because what it does so well partially offsets the weak storyline. There's even some gratuitous female nudity here via a trip to a strip club. Too bad the dialog and musical score in addition to the plot are such howlers. If you like 90's dtv cheese, PM or enjoy Jeff Wincott it's still worth a view though.