Last Man Standing (1996)

Awesome Movie

As Good As It Gets

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Truly the Street Kings (2008) of its day, if any direct-to-video product ever deserved a theatrical release, this is it.In this fast-paced and highly entertaining tale, Detective Kurt Bellmore (Wincott) is a tough L.A. cop who plays by his own rules. His partner Doc (Banks) is retiring soon and wrote a tell-all book about the LAPD's corrupt practices. This doesn't please Lt. Darnell Seagrove (Eastin), who is mired in corruption and kickbacks that go all the way to the top. He's even BFF's with ultra-violent, crafty, diabolical and just downright super evil bad guy Snake Underwood (Fuller). Once some missing money is involved, Bellmore, who is an honest straight-arrow, will stop at literally nothing to take down the bad guys and expose the truth. Even if it means exposing not just himself, but also his wife Anabella (McWhirter) to not just Underwood and his underlings Lucretia (Fabian) and Kazz (LaSardo) - but also the corrupt cops. So they go on the run together. Will they get the justice they seek? This is how all action movies, direct to video or not, should be done. On top of the completely over the top car, gun and action set pieces PM is known for (here they really pull out all the stops), here you also have good acting and an involving plot. Add some silly humor and all the elements come together beautifully.Wincott is in rare form as Bellmore. He has a great, no-nonsense, tough persona. From the minute we see him in his giant yellow suit in the opening chase, we know we're in for something special. He only hijacks awesome vehicles from innocent motorists in the name of the law for his death-defying chases. He might be the most tenacious, determined cop ever. Wincott also does a much better "Noooooo!" in this movie than he does in Fatal Combat (1997).Snake Underwood is the best name PM has come up with for a bad guy since Hologram Man's (1995) Slash Gallagher. Jonathan Banks as Doc should also be singled out for his excellence. Because of his quality performance, it helps invest the audience in the plot. As I believe we've said before on this site, there are such things as GOOD clichés, and not all clichés are bad. It's all in how you do it. Director Merhi seems to understand this, so he delivers explosions and action to the max and killer chase scenes, but it would all mean nothing if we didn't care about Bellmore, Doc and Anabella. So he made sure we do care about the fates of the characters, and that helps immensely. One way Merhi turned convention on its ear, however, is that usually in cop movies and TV shows, IA (Internal Affairs) is portrayed as bad or annoying. Here they are the good guys. So we thought that was interesting. Add that to the expertly-done stunts and you have a definite winner.One of the best PM's and a certified pleasure to watch, make sure you see the rockin' Last Man Standing!

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.

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 movie features the excellent work of a too under-rated actor and martial artist, Jeff Wincott. The cast of supporting actors is top-notch and he and the sexy Jillian McWhirter sizzle together. The action is non-stop and the special effects have you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. Wincott's character is a very cool cop who doesn't do things exactly by the book and always gets called on it, though he gets the job done. He then discovers that his jerk sargeant and the rest are all crooked. When they find out he knows, he and his wife must go on the run and get to the bottom of it before they end up like his partner...dead!! While the plot is not the most original, Jeff Wincott plays out his character is stunning flair and style. What guy wouldn't want to be Officer Kurt Bellmore? This movie is a must-see and Wincott deserves far more accolades than he gets.