Last Man Standing (1996) ***1/2 [Hill Double Feature Pt. 2]
I saw Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing when released theatrically in 1996. I remember enjoying it, but I don't think I knew at the time that it was a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), which I hadn't yet seen at that point. LMS is, of course, also essentially a remake of Sergio Leone's A Fistful Of Dollars (1964) (review), which I had seen by 1996, but I don't recall if I made the connection at the time. In any event, I hadn't seen the film since at least the DVD days. I think I like it even more now.
Hill's 1930s retelling of the story of a lone wolf turning two gangs against each other in a lawless town is a macho, hyper violent, over the top, and grim noir-tinged western. The Ry Cooder score is killer—with guitars that run the gamut from silky smooth to down and dirty. The cast is fantastic and it's funny to see William Sanderson play the precursor to his E.B. Farnum character on Deadwood (2004–2006) (which Hill directed the pilot for). Bruce Willis' voiceover, a movie cliché that tends to irk most viewers, works for the most part, given the subject matter and genres at play. The whole thing really is just an exercise in genre, so the tropes feel comforting, where in lesser hands they might feel like old hat.
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