The Last Outlaw (1993)

Wonderful Movie

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely Fantastic

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Crazed ex-Confederate Micky Rourke is shot in the back by his own men and left for dead. Captured by the posse sent to hunt him down, he assists them in the pursuit of the men who double-crossed him. He soon manipulates the situation until he's firmly in charge (!) and proceeds to exact brutal vengeance on his old gang.The Last Outlaw is made exciting and memorable by an odd, amusing performance by Rourke, who looks almost feminine with his pencil-thin eyebrows, along with loads of familiar character actors, including Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Keith David and a nasty little script by Eric Red (The Hitcher).This is definitely worth checking out. However, if you're turned off by bloody violence, this might not be your cup of tea. The scene where Steve Buscemi bites it, might be the goriest gunshot in western film history!One flaw: jet exhaust can be clearly spotted in the sky in one scene.

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 OutlawI 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).

Not having seen a western for some years (except of course John Wayne)I found this to be a refreshing change from the white and black stetsons. Nicely gory but some of the best actors (John C. McGinley, Steve Buschemi) were woefully under used. Verdict a decent move that doesn't require a shed load of concentration. 7/10.