The Last Action Heroes

The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage

By: Nick de Semlyen

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

The behind-the-scenes story of the action heroes who ruled 1980s and ’90s Hollywood and the beloved films that made them stars, including Die Hard, First Blood, The Terminator, and more.

“Entertaining . . . This is a book that makes you ache for the days when the movie screen belonged not to men who dress in superhero capes but to those who lift weights.”—Washington Examiner

A NEWSWEEK BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Last Action Heroes opens in May 1990 in Cannes, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone waltzing together, cheered on by a crowd of famous faces. After years of bitter combat—Stallone once threw a bowl of flowers at Schwarzenegger’s head, and the body count in Schwarzenegger’s Commando was increased so the film would “have a bigger dick than Rambo”—the world’s biggest action stars have at last made peace.

In this wildly entertaining account of the golden age of the action movie, Nick de Semlyen charts Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship against the backdrop of Reagan’s America and the Cold War. He also reveals fascinating untold stories of the colorful 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. But as time rolled on, the era of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts, or the perfect weapon to save the day began to fade. 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.

©2023 Nick de Semlyen (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Fans of ’80s excess will revel in the book’s accounts of the boozy bacchanals and ego-driven feuds that played out behind the scenes of the biggest movies in Hollywood history.”—The Seattle Times

“An all-you-can-eat feast . . . [a] deft, hilarious, overlapping weave of anecdotes and detail.”—AirMail

‘If it’s bulging biceps, titanic tantrums, sculpted shoulders and Herculean drug habits you're after, then Nick de Semlyen is the author for you. His book The Last Action Heroes is not bad either, a hugely entertaining romp through ’80s and ’90s action cinema, every page riddled with a zillion bullet holes.”—Edgar Wright

Entertaining, but lacks depth

I enjoyed the author's book on the 80's comedy stars, and this one is good, too. While I learned a lot, I just felt he could have dug deeper. And while there was a basic chronological order, a clear through line didn't develop. All that said, I can recommend this book for anyone who was, and still is, a fan of the action heroes who dominated the 80's and 90's.

Entertainment for 80s Action movie fans

The book gives excellent behind-the-scenes and biographical details. Much like the movies covered in the book, it’s simple and easily digestible entertainment!

Easy Listening Nostalgia

Heard many of the Behind the scenes stories before but there are plenty of new ones in here to enjoy as well.

You son of a b**ch I'm in!

Bronson delivers yet another great read of course.
These are fascinating stories for anyone fascinated by these stars and the period that propelled them to stardom. I found the volume so easily digestible, like many others I was wanting more in depth coverage - as I am a voracious hunter of this kind of lore. Don't let that deter you, listener, you'll have a great time with it. I sure did.

A VERY ENJOYABLE BOOK

I enjoyed the behind the scenes stories of rags to film fame. Loved it! will listen again. The narrator did an excellent job.

Fantastic!

This is one of those audiobooks I finished quickly because I couldn't stop listening to it. It's entertaining and provides a lot of background on the different actors and their major films, but also doesn't stay in any one place too long. In some ways it was a trip down memory lane as these were the movies being made when I grew up.

I have a few minor complaints about the book itself. One is that, even though these films are old, I haven't seen all of them, and the book really gets you interested in them -- so the spoilers as to how some of those movies *end* weren't a good thing. Also, the book's accuracy may not be great, as someone not extremely well versed in these films like myself was able to catch 2 errors: "Dream Warriors" was the 3rd "Nightmare on Elm Street" film, not the 4th as stated by the book; and Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in more than 2 Terminator films after T2 ("Rise of the Machines", "Genisys", and "Dark Fate" -- plus lends his likeness to "Salvation").

Sadly, my biggest complaint about the book is the narration. When I saw that Bronson Pinchot was going to narrate, I thought "Oh wow, that'll be cool.". I've always liked him. But his narration reminded me of being in school, when the teacher would have different students in the class each read a paragraph from whatever book we were reading. It sounds as if he's reading this for the first time while recording, and that the entire book was recorded without any retakes. He seems to ignore punctuation, and often a sentence would end and he'd just sort of continue in to the next one. It threw me off numerous times. Or, he'll read a quote, but you can't really tell where the quote ends by the inflection of his voice. The emphasis, or lack thereof, on certain words, made it confusing at times. Also, not uncommon for audiobooks, there are mispronunciations, the most humorous of them being when he refers to film critic Roger Ebert as "Rogert Ebert", THREE TIMES. The first time I heard it, I had to rewind to make sure I'd heard it correctly. There are times he'll pronounce his name correctly, but three times he mangles it into "Rogert". I can't believe they didn't correct this.

Overall it's a great audiobook, but I think the print or Kindle edition may be easier to understand at times.

Excellent overview

Like some of the other reviews here, I found myself wishing that this book had dug deeper into the well chronicled lives and experiences of the 80s action heroes depicted. That being said, this is an extremely well written, well researched and fun lesson for anyone looking for an overview of a bygone era of movie heroes. I found myself coming away with more respect for Sylvester Stallone and even Jean-Claude Van Damme (sorta) than I ever thought I would have thought possible. And Steven Seagal seems as psychotic and egomaniacal as previously reported.

I couldn’t stop listening

I loved this book. A lot of interesting tidbits that I didn’t know about, and I consider myself an action hero expert.

Simply Wonderful

This whole book was extremely interesting and enjoyable. There wasn’t one moment that I was not thoroughly amused. A perfect read.

So good, I want more!

Great listen in no small part to Bronson Pinchot. Love all the stories and hearing the side by sides of these action stars. Would love to hear more in depth of the last 25 years, or even the next wave of action stars like statham, jet li, Matt Damon, Tony Jaa, vin diesel, the rock, and others like them. Make more books like this!!!