The Last Stand Information

The Last Stand is a 2013 action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, written by Andrew Knauer and directed by Kim Ji-woon. The film is Schwarzenegger's first lead role since 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as well as the first American production for the South Korean director Kim Ji-woon, cinematographer Kim Ji-yong and composer Mowg. The film focuses on a small town sheriff and his deputies who must stop a dangerous drug lord from escaping to Mexico in a modified sports car.

Plot

Sheriff Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction, Arizona, after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled and his team decimated. The range of crimes experienced in Sommerton range from the Mayor parking his Camaro in the fire lane and vintage arms collector Lewis Dinkum (Johnny Knoxville) firing off guns at slabs of meat with the deputies. One night, international drug lord Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) makes a daring escape from FBI custody in Las Vegas and speeds off in a modified Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1, taking Agent Ellen Richards (Génesis Rodríguez) as his hostage as he races southbound toward Mexico at speeds over 200 mph. Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) has a blockade set up in Bullhead City, Arizona, but Cortez's men mow down the police officers on site and clear the road for him to continue his getaway. Cortez also uses his extraordinary driving skills to immobilize two SWAT vehicles headed toward Summerton Junction. Before flying to Arizona, Agent Bannister has his team do a financial background check on all agents involved to find out how Cortez managed to escape so easily.

Sometime past 4:00 in the morning, Owens dispatches deputies Jerry Bailey (Zach Gilford) and Sarah Torrance (Jaimie Alexander) to visit the residence of the local farmer Parsons (Harry Dean Stanton), who has suddenly missed his usual milk delivery at the diner. After discovering that Parsons has been murdered, the deputies follow a trail of tire tracks that lead them to Cortez's henchman Thomas Burrell (Peter Stormare) and his mercenary cutthroats, who are planting a mobile assault bridge across the canyon that marks the U.S./Mexico border. Bailey is fatally shot in the middle of a shootout between the deputies and the thugs before Owens rushes in to bring his officers back to his precinct. Shortly after being notified by Agent Bannister of Cortez's presence, Owens gathers Torrance and senior Deputy Mike "Figgy" Figuerola (Luis Guzmán). He also deputizes jailed local Frank Martinez (Rodrigo Santoro), a former Marine with PTSD who developed a streak of never finishing what he started. Because Bailey was his friend, Martinez insists that he will not falter. Finally, Owens recruits Dinkum to protect their town. Dinkum agrees only if he becomes a deputy and if he keeps the gun he used at the beginning of the movie (having gotten in trouble for it previously).

At 7:10 AM, Owens and his deputies have the town's main road barricaded with cars when Burrell and his men arrive, prompting a lengthy firefight. Armed only with a Tommy Gun, Figuerola holds off the thugs before being injured by a sniper. Owens and Dinkum mow down a majority of the thugs with a Vickers machine gun mounted on the back of a school bus, while Torrance snipes several gunmen on the rooftops. After Owens kills Burrell, Cortez's Corvette eventually arrives in town, veering past the barricade as Owens and the deputies shoot at it. Cortez ejects Agent Richards from the car before speeding through a corn field. Suddenly, he encounters the Mayor's red Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 commandeered by Owens before both cars collide with a tractor. A dazed Cortez continues his escape on foot, but Owens meets him at the bridge. Owens ignores Cortez's bribe offers before both men wrestle each other. Despite sustaining slashes and stab wounds from Cortez's push dagger, Owens defeats the drug lord and handcuffs him before dragging him back into town with the battered Camaro. Agent Bannister arrives to take Cortez back into custody and arrests Agent Richards for taking the drug lord's bribe and aiding in his escape. Deputies Figuerola and Dinkum are taken to the hospital to be treated for their wounds. Martinez turns in the deputy's badge, Bailey's badge, that Owens had given him earlier. Owens tells him to keep it, as he's earned it. As the Mayor sees what is left of his Camaro, Owens warns him about parking in the fire lane before he, Torrance and Martinez walk into the diner.

Cast

• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Sheriff Ray Owens
• Johnny Knoxville as Lewis Dinkum
• Forest Whitaker as Agent John Bannister
• Rodrigo Santoro as Frank Martinez
• Peter Stormare as Thomas Burrell
• Jaimie Alexander as Deputy Sarah Torrance
• Eduardo Noriega as Gabriel Cortez
• Luis Guzmán as Deputy Mike Figuerola
• Zach Gilford as Deputy Jerry Bailey
• Génesis Rodríguez as Agent Ellen Richards
• Daniel Henney as Agent Phil Hayes
• Tait Fletcher as Eagan
• John Patrick Amedori as Agent Aaron Mitchell
• Harry Dean Stanton as Parsons
• Sonny Landham as Henry
• Titos Menchaca as the Mayor
• Richard Dillard as Irv
• Doug Jackson as Harry
• Matthew Greer as Sam

Production

Filming started on October 17, 2011 in Belen, New Mexico and Nevada. On December 17, 2011 shooting of the film was briefly interrupted, but on January 3, 2012 it continued. The processing ended February 2, 2012 and the subsequent post-production continued in Los Angeles. The theatrical trailer premiered with The Expendables 2 and has been available online since August 2012. The film was released worldwide on January 17, 2013 and in North America the following day.

Reception

The film has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It currently holds a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 146 reviews with the consensus stating: "There's nothing particularly distinguished about it, but for Schwarzenegger fans, The Last Stand provides perfectly undemanding entertainment." Metacritic has the film rated at 54 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.

IGN editor Jim Vejvoda rated the film 6 out of 10 and wrote "The movie's shortcomings are clear whenever anyone is required to speak or act. That may not be the reason why most viewers will go to see The Last Stand, but it's grating enough to chip away at the overall enjoyment of the film. The Last Stand is a formulaic action flick, but it still delivers enough decent car stunts, shoot-outs and fistfights to warrant a look-see for Arnold fans".

Richard Roeper enjoyed the film, giving it three stars out of four and stating, "If you've got violent-movie fatigue, and you're too exhausted from real-life carnage on the news to enjoy an R-rated blood-fest in which a number of kills are executed as deliberately funny visual punchlines, you do not want to go anywhere near this film. But if you're a fan of stylish, relentlessly loud shootouts, questionable plot developments be damned, this is your ticket to weekend escapism."

Box office

The movie ranked at number 9 at the box office earning on its debut. The film performed below expectations grossing only $6.3 million on opening weekend. With a budget of $30 million, the movie's gross surpassed it with $35,183,178 as of March 20th, 2013.