Sure, Sylvester Stallone celebrated his breakthrough in 1976 with “Rocky”. Not only did he star in the three-time Oscar-winning boxing drama, but he also penned the screenplay that launched the franchise, which continues to this day. What came after that is history. What came before that is pretty much unknown. One of the few home cinema innovations that will be released between Christmas and the turn of the year brings a little light into the darkness
As of today, December 28th, “ The Last Way Out ” is available on DVD and Blu-ray. In the thriller from 1973, Sly can be seen in one of his first leading roles, even before he gained a foothold in the film industry with the gangster film ” Capone ” and the trashy racing spectacle ” Frankenstein’s Death Race “.
Digi Dreams is releasing the film in the Platinum Cult Edition, which not only includes the film on both DVD and Blu-ray, but also a bonus disc. The 3-disc set is limited to just 666 copies and will probably be sold out sooner or later – depending on how many Stallone fans take the home cinema comeback as an opportunity to fill a gap in their collection with the film.
But is the forgotten thriller with Sylvester Stallone even worth it? There seems to be a general consensus on this…
“THE LAST RESORT”: ONLY FOR HARDCORE STALLONE FANS
A look at the largest film rating portals on the Internet shows how unknown “The Last Way Out” is even today. At IMDb, for example, only 801 ratings have been submitted so far, at Letterboxd there are only 211 votes (as of December 28, 2022). Is that why Robert Allen Schnitzer ‘s thriller is also an insider tip? Well secret yes.
With ratings of 4.1/10 ( IMDb ), 2.2/5 ( Letterboxed ) and 1.5/5 ( Amazon ), the film is one of the worst in Sylvester Stallone’s career. Despite a crisp running time of well under 90 minutes, numerous reviews accuse the thriller of being endlessly boring.
“Stupid and boring”, “This film solves all problems falling asleep” and “junk” are just a few of the terms that users use to describe “The Last Resort”. Anyone who nevertheless recommends that the film “must be seen as a Sly fan” is more likely to have experienced it at least once – in order to then at least be able to remove it from the watch list forever. You don’t have to get the Blu-ray right away, after all, the film is currently also available as a subscription to Amazon Prime Video:
And that’s what “The Last Resort” is about: A group of activist students (including Sylvester Stallone) makes a momentous discovery: a supposedly reputable company is making common cause with unscrupulous dictators in Central America – and is producing under the guise of manufacturing them for tigers in Truth cages in which prisoners are kept. In order to put an end to the hustle and bustle, the activists are ready to resort to any means: the group plans a bomb attack, even contacting an experienced terrorist – and soon finds itself in the sights of the FBI…
By the way: What is absolutely worthwhile in contrast to “The Last Resort”, and not only for die-hard Stallone fans, is “Rambo“. The iconic action milestone will celebrate its cinema comeback in a few days: