I have one serious gripe against the 1991 Bruce Willis action movie directed by Tony Scott. IMDb, Wikipedia, and just about every other reference source I can find today insist on spelling the title as The Last Boy Scout (four words total), even though the movie’s poster art and opening credits clearly (as I read them) spell it The Last Boyscout (three words). Unfortunately, the copyright notice in the end credits uses the same font and doesn’t clear up this issue at all.
In my recollection, when the movie was released in late 1991, the “Boyscout” spelling was explained as a condition of possible legal action from the Boy Scouts of America, which wanted nothing to do with a violent R-rated action flick. However, I can’t seem to find any reference to that now. Is this a false memory, or has that information simply been lost over the years following the movie’s box office failure?
In any case, we still have the matter of how the title is written on the poster and on screen. I don’t want to hear any quibbling about the Y and the S having microscopically more spacing width between them than the other letters in the word. I don’t buy it. Especially in comparison to the large gap between “The” and “Last,” the “Boyscout” part reads as one word with no clear indication of the S being capitalized. As far as I’m concerned, the only valid title for this movie is The Last Boyscout, and that’s how I will always refer to it.
| Title: | The Last Boyscout |
| Also (Incorrectly) Known As: | The Last Boy Scout |
| Year of Release: | 1991 |
| Director: | Tony Scott |
| Watched On: | Blu-ray |
| Also Available On: | Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
By 1991, the salt-and-pepper buddy crimefighting action genre had already started to feel pretty played-out. Throughout the 1980s, we’d gotten two 48 Hrs. movies, two Lethal Weapon entries, and dozens of knockoffs such as Running Scared, Stakeout, and Collision Course. Some of them would try to shake up the formula by partnering the cop or detective character with a dog (Turner & Hooch, K-9), an alien (Alien Nation, The Hidden), or even a zombie (Dead Heat), but by and large, audiences were getting tired of the routine. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop The Geffen Film Company from paying a then-record sum for the new script from Lethal Weapon writer Shane Black. Sadly, despite also getting Top Gun director Tony Scott to make it and Bruce Willis to star, that investment didn’t bring the kind of return expected from it.
The Last Boyscout kicks off with one hell of an attention-grabbing opening sequence. On a dreary and rainy Friday night, odds of winning the most important game of the season look bleak for fictional football team the L.A. Stallions. With only time remaining for one last hail-mary play, the Stallions’ star running back catches the ball, runs down the field, pulls a gun, and shoots a player from the opposing team right in the face. He then shoots a few more players before crossing the goal line and taking his own life in front of thousands of fans.
At first, this seems to have little to do with the movie’s main storyline, in which drunk and down-on-his-luck P.I. Joe Hallenbeck (Willis) takes a job to act as bodyguard for an exotic dancer named Cory (Halle Berry) who says she’s being harassed by a stalker. In virtually no time at all, Hallenbeck fails miserably at that task, and Cory is gunned down in the street by machine gun-toting baddies armed way more heavily than your average pervert.
Cory’s boyfriend, disgraced former Stallions player Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) wants revenge, and we start to see some connections forming. With the police useless to help, he turns to Hallenbeck to find those responsible. As per formula, Hallenbeck only grudgingly accepts, and the two bicker constantly while hunting the bad guys until the inevitable showdown with the main heavy pulling the strings behind everything.
Eventually, the plot is revealed to involve a conspiracy by the Stallions’ rich team owner, who’s attempting to bribe a crooked Senator into legalizing gambling, for which Cory somehow held incriminating evidence. None of that is terribly interesting or important. A movie like this ultimately hinges on the interplay between its main stars. To that end, Bruce Willis already had his grizzled and sarcastic tough guy persona down to a science, and Damon Wayans does a credible job breaking out of the “Homey don’t play that” character that had made him famous on popular sketch comedy series In Living Color. They deliver the often funny dialogue by Shane Black well, though they can’t entirely escape its sometimes horribly misogynist and homophobic streak.
Halle Berry is wasted (literally so) in a brief and rather demeaning early role for a future Oscar winner, but character actor Taylor Negron stands out for his colorful turn as the villain’s main henchman. Meanwhile, Tony Scott orchestrates a series of flashy action set-pieces in his familiar style. Many of them feel a bit by-the-numbers, but the deliriously wild climax at another football game is almost indescribably ridiculous yet hilariously fun, the sort of thing that can make you want to both laugh and cheer at the same time. The Last Boyscout never comes close to breaking new ground, but it’s an enjoyable enough exercise for fans of the genre.
Reportedly, both writer Black and director Scott were disappointed with the film, citing too much creative meddling from producer Joel Silver. (Scott’s later True Romance directly mocks Silver with its depiction of a dirtbag movie producer modeled after him.) Critics at the time gave The Last Boyscout tepid reviews, and audiences weren’t much interested, choosing to pass on this particular buddy action flick and wait for the next Lethal Weapon coming around the corner the following summer. Although mildly profitable in the long term, the movie underperformed at the box office and, in the time since, has mostly remained only a minor cult item on home video.
The Blu-ray
Unfortunately, The Last Boyscout has only been released on Blu-ray twice so far, neither in optimal condition. The first edition (the one I have) came in 2010 as part of a so-called Action Double Feature with Last Man Standing (1996), both movies crammed onto the same disc. Two years later came a Triple Feature adding 16 Blocks (2006). Obviously, the commonality between these titles is that all of them star Bruce Willis.
I’m not clear on whether the Triple Feature further compressed all three movies onto one disc, or if 16 Blocks got a disc to itself. I assume the latter, considering that 16 Blocks was originally released on its own in 2006. The Triple Feature was almost certainly a matter of Warner Home Video combining leftover inventory into one package.
Last Man Standing eventually got a standalone Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory in 2023, but The Last Boyscout hasn’t been so lucky. With all that in mind, I braced for the worst with this one. Amazingly, the Blu-ray doesn’t actually look too bad. Make no mistake, the movie could use a remaster, and a 4K release (however unlikely) would surely be a huge improvement, but if this is all we ever get, it’s adequate enough.
The Last Boyscout is mostly presented at an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on Blu-ray, aside from the opening credits sequence, which is windowboxed as 4:3 in Constant Image Height form. The framing sometimes looks a little tight, most noticeably toward the end. I almost suspect that the video transfer didn’t center the image properly during the last reel, but it’s not too problematic.
Picture quality is often grainy, likely a consequence of Tony Scott shooting in the Super 35 film format. The image is also very contrasty, perhaps a little too much so. Shadow detail has a tendency to fall off too far into black. On the other hand, this contributes to the moody atmosphere of the night scenes. Colors are solid. The neon lighting in many of those night scenes pops nicely.
As I said, this Blu-ray is by no means ideal, but it’s not nearly as bad as I expected.
The only audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. The start of the opening credits, with text that slams together from opposite directions, has pathetically weak bass impact. That’s a poor way to start the movie. Thankfully, the following music and song during the rest of the intro sound better. The track is highly inconsistent overall. Some scenes have powerful gunshots and booming explosions, while others wimp out even with similar effects. In general, the audio is acceptable, if underwhelming.
Neither The Last Boyscout nor Last Man Standing have any bonus features on the Double Feature disc.
Related
- Tony Scott (director)
- Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
- Crimson Tide (1995)
- Top Gun (1986) – 4K Ultra HD
- Top Gun (1986) – 3D Blu-ray
- True Romance (1993)
- Shane Black (writer)
- Bruce Willis
- Damon Wayans
- Halle Berry
- Other buddy crimefighter movies
The Video File Blog 