The Last Action Heroes

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The behind-the-scenes story of the action heroes who ruled 1980s and 90s Hollywood and the beloved films - from Die Hard to The Terminator - that made them stars. This wildly entertaining account of the golden age of the action movie charts Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger's carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship against the backdrop of Reagan's America and the Cold War. Revealing fascinating untold stories of the colourful characters who ascended in their wake - high-kickers Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan, glowering tough guys Dolph Lundgren and Steven Seagal, and quipping troublemakers Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis - it tells the story of how the era of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts or the perfect weapon to save the day began to fade. And how, when Jurassic Park trounced Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero in 1993, the glory days of these macho men - and the vision of masculinity they celebrated - were officially over. Drawing on candid interviews with the action stars themselves, plus their collaborators, friends and foes, The Last Action Heroes is a no-holds-barred account of a period in Hollywood history when there were no limits to the heights of fame these men achieved, or to the mayhem they wrought, on-screen and off. ______ Praise for Nick de Semlyen's Wild and Crazy Guys: 'Pithy and propulsive' - The Times 'I loved it so much!' - Stuart Heritage 'A fabulous romp of a book . . . stuffed full of juicy tid-bits' - The i 'A terrific contribution to the genre' - Hadley Freeman

Reviews

This book takes you so close to the action, you can smell the sweat, cigar smoke, and bad cologne that brought these movies to life. Along the way, Nick de Semlyen reveals tales of stunts gone wrong, conversations between Stallone and Reagan, the origin of Jean Claude Van Dammes buns, and all of the stories from set that people were too afraid to telluntil now. -- Paul Scheer
A testosterone-fueled ode to action movies . . . packs a punch. * Publishers Weekly *
In his riveting chronicle of the ass-kicking, neck-snapping, biceps-rippling action heroes of the 80s and 90s, Nick de Semlyen not only paints the story of the movies and stars of the Reagan era, he shines a light on what they meantand still meanto us. A juicy, fun as hell read. -- Chris Nashawaty, author of "Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story"
Nick de Semlyens love letter to the action cinema of the 80s and 90s reads like those films play: fast-paced, wryly funny, and unapologetically entertaining. His research is meticulous and his analysis is impeccable, but he also keenly understands why these movies hit like they did: because they were fun. And, unfailingly, so is The Last Action Heroes. -- Jason Bailey, author of 'Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies That Made It'
In his revelatory history of the Golden Age of action cinema, Nick de Semlyen vividly renders the story of the larger-than-life legends who defined and shaped an era. Equally insightful and entertaining, this book is an absolute blast to read, as thrilling as the genre itself. -- Priscilla Page
The action stars of the 80s and 90s werent out to make history at the outset of their careers, but thats what they did all the same. Nick De Semlyen chronicles the rise and fall (and sometimes rise-again) of the worlds most popular action heroes in this juicy, highly entertaining, and informative book. -- Leonard Maltin

Author Bio

Nick de Semlyen is the editor of Empire, the world's biggest movie magazine, and the author of Wild and Crazy Guys. As a film journalist, he has also written for Rolling Stone, Stuff, and Time Out. He lives in London.