An interesting cast does their best, with some material borrowed from Peckinpaugh and Leone. We get the closeups, and the blood spurting slow motion, along with some genuine tension. Mickey Rourke's character is menacing in an almost mystical way. What is not so good is that one must suspend disbelief, when the posse makes Mickey Rourke their new leader, when men seem to take endless bloody gunshots with little effect, and the distracting, out of place use of four letter words. The scenery is stunning, camera work above average, along with some acceptable acting. I consider "The Last Outlaw" to be a slightly above average western. - MERK
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jdcoates15 January 2019Enjoyed the movie but was distracted everytime Mickey Rourke was on the screen. Why do people in Hollywood persist in having bad face-lifts? Not to be insulting but his character in this movie resembled 1980s pop music performers from androgynous pop and rock music bands. I kept thinking "What are Prince and the Revolution, and Michael Jackson doing in the Wild West."
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In this movie I saw at least 10 great character actors whom I've seen in other movies, and their previous movies were pretty good.. when I read the cast-list for this movie I thought: "WOW, MAN!...this ROCKS!" - so I decided to see this so-called "Exciting Western"... And boy, was I disappointed...words cannot express my feelings of misery after watching this completely meaningless carnage... All these excellent actors, with all that potential, and what are they given?... a handful of cliché-lines, and then getting shot - usually some place where blood can spurt out in gallons, so there's something for the gorehounds!
Well, Mickey Rourke (Angel Heart) did a nice enough job...he portrayed their heinous criminal gang-leader very well, and did all he could do with this generic "Ten Little Indians"-inspired script..
Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns) as the second-in-command was somewhat decent in this role too...very sympathetic guy. Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) ...aw, man... my favorite actor in this semistar-studded cast... I thought his character had some interesting background-information (wearing the army hat and rambling about their previous adventures), but we never really get a chance to know his character before he "exits" (it was fairly obvious, as soon as he started to talk about his "Hacienda" and his future plans, etc).
Keith David (The Thing), plays a seemingly cool guy, but suddenly he turns crazy for some reason, I didn't understand what the hell happened to him... the movie had this sense of "mystery" throughout, as though Rourke's character had supernatural abilities.... Not quite "The Quick and the Dead", but more like "The Superfast and the Soon-to-be-Dead".
John C. McGinley (Scrubs), I've always liked this guy...but he doesn't make sense in this movie either.. why does he have to be a 'knife-man'... when he NEVER even uses the knife for anything, other than accidentally cutting himself...and the 'traitor'-part...money out of the window? Such a stupid script.. All the others are great actors, but they're all totally wasted in this feeble adventure... the sheriff, the banker, the possé, EVERYONE gets it...except...well, you figure it out for yourself.
Other great actors in this flick: Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs), Daniel Quinn (Scanner Cop), Gavan O'Herlihy (Lonesome Dove), Richard Fancy (Seinfeld), Paul Ben-Victor (Tombstone), and many more!
But in some sense, I still liked it, because of the great locations, and some good scenes (where people die, of course)... They probably won't make a sequel to this, but a PREQUEL would certainly kick more ass than this did! A movie where the gang of these intriguing characters go berserk and raid banks and stuff, and how we get to see their development, etc.
I orginally gave this 5/10, but will up the rating to 7/10 because....well, because I liked the cast, and gore is always somewhat entertaining.. and cowboys are so rugged and cool! -
oneflewovertheapocalypse22 February 2004The Last Outlaw
I don't think they could have got a better cast if they tried, you just have to look at the stars in this film to show that, Mickey Rourke, Steve Buscemi, Ted Levine, Keith David, John C. McKinley and the wasted Dermot Mulrony who a lot of western fans will remember him for one of his early roles as Dirty Steve in Young Guns. I saw this when it came out on video in the mid nineties and films that went straight to video back in the nineties were great like Surviving the Game, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man etc and the Last outlaw was the same. The beginning of the film is a blatantly obvious homage to the beginning of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch where they rob the bank and the town's sheriff and his men are waiting for them to have a huge gun battle. But the film really starts when Dermot Mulrony shoot's the leader of the pack Graff (Mickey Rourke) for trying to execute one of there men and that's when the films suddenly becomes a revenge story. Of course Graff survives and is picked up by the posse hunting them down and instead and giving himself up he ends up offering the posse to actually be there leader and hunt down his own men for leaving his for dead. From there it's like a cat and mouse western which doesn't stop till the end credits and it really delves into the story of leadership. You have fine performances here from Mickey Rourke as the sadistic Graff but the films goes to Dermot Mulrony as the desperate Eustos who battles with thought of whether what he did was right as his men are picked off one by one. This film ain't no Good the Bad and the Ugly but it definitely bests any John Wayne film ever made (I'm an obvious John Wayne Hater). -
philkundu12 May 2005Having never been the biggest Mickey Rourke fan and not entirely entirely familiar with Dermot Mulroney's work, i was skeptical about watching this movie. Needless to say, i got past my skepticism. The only complaint I have about this movie was Mickey Rourke's mustache (damn! what where they thinking?) The tension never really lets up throughout the movie. After a daring bank robbery the gang turns on their leader (rourke) and heads for Mexico, never quite sure if the posse is on their trail or not, and not quite sure of their new leader (mulroney.) To call this movie a "thriller" would go to far but if there was ever a "western-thriller-type-movie" then this is it. The whole movie has a very dark overcast, very well put together, and very well written.
P.S. anybody seen THE WILD BUNCH lately? -
bellino-angelo20142 October 2022A gang of former union soldiers is still united and it's under command of Graff (Mickey Rourke) and wants to avenge the abuses they received from the northerners and they had become a gang specialized in robbing banks and terrorizing town, and when the film begins this is exactly what they do. Soon they go in the desert and since Loomis is badly injured Graff considers him a burden and orders Eustis (Dermot Mulroney) to shoot him, but ends up shooting Graff and make him fall down a ledge. So the remaining gang of Eustis, Philo (Steve Buscemi), Lovecraft (Keith David), Clem Potts (Ted Levine) and Wills (John McGinley) runs free but after a while Graff is found alive since he survived the fall and he has only one thing in mind: murder all his men since they left him for dead. He will succedd, but not with Eustis. Why? See for yourself.
It's a decent made for TV Western with a nice cast (Rourke, Mulroney, Buscemi, David, McGinley and Levine) that is directed nicely and it has a nice soundtrack. It has the usual theme of revenge and it's like many other movies of the genre, so it's good and a must for fans of the genre but nothing else. -
jasperjonesk17 July 2019This flick was moderately entertaining. Another goof was at about 1 hour into the film. Rourke is stuffing the big straight walled .45-70 cartridges into his rifle as he chews up one of his hapless prey. For just a half second you can see the head stamp on the cartridge. It is manufactured by R P, or Remington Peter's. Well the movie is set in 1873 but Remington Peter's did not exist prior to 1887. Nice try though.
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tfar200013 November 2001What's with Mickey Rourke? He's like a cross between a bad imitation of Marlon Brando and Charlie Chan. This movie had so much potential with the great character actors in it. The script was deplorable. I've seen Saturday morning cartoons with more of a plausible story line.
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sp3cies13 January 2005For a modern Western movie this is very decent, considering we're talking a TV movie here this is very much above average. I really have a hard time understanding why this movie's rating isn't much higher as 5,7. Sure, this is no 'Unforgiven' or 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', but i don't think it pretends to be. This is just a fast-paced, violent action flick, which 'borrows' some elements from famous westerns and well, it works! I've seen this movie more then once, and it caught my full attention each and every time. As mentioned in a lot of these reviews Mickey Rourke is really great here. He's tough, he's mean, and he almost perfectly imitates Clint Eastwood's frown in close-ups. But the character I like most in this movie is Potts, played by Ted Levine. He's so dirty you can almost smell him, and he delivers some very cool lines. If you want to see a fun adventurous western movie i really recommend this one.
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gazineo-121 December 2001Competent but otherwise not so original western about a bunch of outlaws who made a great assault and afterward started to struggle between themselves for the money. Violent and taut script goes on well and Rourke, as the sadistic but brave chief of the bandits, looking for revenge, gives a solid and convincing performance. A good option for western fans, especially those who liked spaghetti western because this movie has some elements of the genre and resembles some Italian entries, like, for instance, "Black Jack" and "Django" (the first of the series, with Franco Nero in the title role). I give this a 6 (six).
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charlieb-0312719 December 2018Horrible script. No surprise considering writer's other credits. Mickey Rourke phones in a role as a cartoonish villain with distracting eyeliner. Ted Levine and Steve Buscemi commit their poorly written one dimensional roles. Cliché after cliché. Anyone over 14yrs. old who gave this a "10" must think pro wrestling is wicked awesome and wonder aloud after huffing whip-its why the Academy keeps snubbing Steven Segal.
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TOMASBBloodhound6 August 2008I recall this film since way back to its debut on HBO where it was produced for the small screen. The Last Outlaw might have seemed like a throw-away effort back in those days as many of us were still mesmerized by the character-driven epic Unforgiven. With The Last Outlaw, the emphasis is clearly on action and suspense. Nobody is attempting to re-define the genre with this picture. The film was written by Eric Red, and directed by Geoff Murphy. The films these men are associated with often rely on action and violence to get their message through. This film is no different.
The film begins with an obvious homage to the opening moments of The Wild Bunch. A posse of desperadoes, this one led by Mickey Rourke, rides brazenly into a small town with the intent of robbing a bank. And just like in The Wild Bunch, there is a group of men ready and waiting for them. A violent shootout complete with explosions ensues, and the gang is forced to ride out of town in a hurry. They are shot up and bleeding, but at least they got the money! Once the gang is safely out of town, they stop and regroup. Tensions between leader Rourke and his lieutenant Dermot Mulroney quickly boil over about leaving a wounded man behind. Rourke is shot and left for dead. But he sure as heck isn't dead. The rest of the film details the remaining gang members' attempt to flee to Mexico with a posse from the town hot on their trail. And Rourke, through some interesting complications, finds himself reincarnated as THE POSSE'S leader! Nothing will stop him from hunting his old gang down and killing them off one by one! Dozens of gunshot victims from both sides are soon strewn across the New Mexico countryside.
The film has a lot going for it. The cast is uncommonly talented for such a film simply made for cable. Rourke is as good as ever. Mulroney has never impressed me as an actor, but he sure looks like real a cowboy.Great support from Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, and Steve Buscemi, among others. Even the guy who plays Fraker in Death Wish 3 has a part as a cocky town marshal. The scenery of the countryside surrounding Sante Fe is quite breathtaking, and the DVD transfer makes it look even better than it did on cable. Most of the cowboys in this film are said to be former Confederate soldiers. Many still wear items from their old CSA uniforms. And there is talk of how Union soldiers raped and murdered Rourke's wife and daughters while he was off fighting. This is perhaps what made him such a hardened killer. This angle is likely inspired from Eastwood's Josey Wales character, though it is common knowledge that many of the Confederacy's more violent types headed west after the war since there was nothing left for them back home.
The film has some flaws, as it is not a true classic of the genre. Some of the action is truncated, and gunfights are often used simply to trim down the number of active characters so we the audience can hopefully keep up with them all. It looks like many of the horses on this set were perhaps treated pretty rough. Many stunts involve horses falling to the ground or having to climb treacherous hillsides. I just hope none were killed like they were on the set of Heaven's Gate. Also, Keith David's character was a bit out of place. Not because he's a black man with a bunch of former rebels, but because they have him trying to use voodoo bones to predict who will die next. Kind of dumb, unless they would have developed it more. The film's brief running time just probably didn't make deep characterization possible for everyone. And it must be said that there are some VERY graphic killings for a western. People don't just simply get shot and we see them fall off their horse from thirty feet away. Some guys get turned into goo!! Overall this is a fun, and diverting western. Probably a bit better than it deserves to be. 8 of 10 stars.
The Hound. -
davejp4 March 2003Not having seen a western for some years (except of course John Wayne)I found this to be a refreshing change from the white and black stetsons. Nicely gory but some of the best actors (John C. McGinley, Steve Buschemi) were woefully under used. Verdict a decent move that doesn't require a shed load of concentration. 7/10.
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matthewdocmeyer28 March 2023I don't know what I didn't like about this the most. Mickey's bad makeup, bad writing or bad production. It was painful to watch. Mickey Rourke looks like a flamboyant pirate cowboy. I've seen high school one act plays with better production and better writing. One outlaw was shot in the hip, they splinted his thigh. Other injuries & gunshot wounds were written like they were merely scratches. The acting is abysmal. I've seen most of the actors in other movies do so much better. The only thing worse than the movie is trying to find enough negative descriptions to review this movie. This is time I'll never get back.
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Cristi_Ciopron21 July 201420 yrs. ago, this movie has been recommended to me as a cool, exciting Western, by the guy from a video store, a rental store (instead, it's trite and boring). Here, Rourke began what has become a series of villain roles ('Double Team', by Tsui Hark, 'Out in Fifty' by B. Christopher and S. Leet, 'Get Carter' by Kay, 'Picture Claire' by McDonald, 'Shergar' by Lewiston)—either thugs or sleazy gangsters. His appearance reminds of Brando's '60s follies. It's also his true first descent into trash.
By his glamor, Rourke always reminded more of Brando, than of Clift or Newman. Instead of the Leone movie, he got this valueless role as a bastard and mean officer.
And suddenly, there's his Asian, striking, outlandish, mean, undeserved look, as if he was playing an alien warlord, with his newfound burnout ugliness and pulp thug menace. From now on, there's no more about hijacking scripts, but about Rourke doing movies on his own, having it his own way, irrespective of what everyone else on the set is doing. His role here could as well fit into one of the cheap fantasy movies of the '80s, like 'The Beastmaster' by Coscarelli, or others.
Otherwise, 'The Last Outlaw' is worthless rubbish, with an annoying lead; I had already seen Dermot Mulroney in 'Bad Girls', and didn't like him.
Costner, Willis, Gibson, Gere, Hackman, Crowe, Depp did images of broadly Western types, from various epochs, in the '90s; Cruise didn't. -
Redpawn321 March 2021First, this has a respectable budget and a star heavy cast (or at least those who became stars/highly regarded). Seriously, check the cast out. The quality of all the actors led me to this.
Next, some reviewers call this a made for TV movie, or straight to cable. Okay if HBO is TV, or cable. The point they're trying to make falls short now in 2021 with major films being Streamed first. This doesn't look like a TV show, TV movie, daytime frame. It had the same picture quality as a well produced Hollywood film.
This is a polished film. Nothing static. Excellent professional cinema photography.
Is it entirely original? Of course not, it's filled with solid well executed western tropes. There's nothing wrong with this.
There's not a lot of political depth here, it's an action western. Here the protagonists are all former confederates now robbing banks -but as the title suggests they're Outlaws- and aren't espousing any Pro-Confederate stances. There is no pretense that they're still fighting the Civil War. They're simply a band of thieves following their former military commander.
It's given they're broken men, who lost and have nothing else. This is clarified with some specifics about Graff's life before, during the war.
As a film, it's enjoyable. But the viewer is left with a lot of unanswered questions. Why are they robbing these banks? As I said above, it's pretty quickly established simply because they've got nothing better to do now. There could've been more meat here, but that's not the story they're telling.
Why does Graff 'break' at the beginning of this movie? What is it that really led to this turning point after 30 bank robberies?
We know who Graff was and that he has nothing left, but why has he deteriorated so far? Was this building? Suddenly here we are with Graff seemingly acting out of character from the time he has spent with his troops.
Suddenly Graff wants to blow the bank up with civilians inside. When questioned -respectfully- he strikes his own and says never challenge me.
When pursued, Graff is overly eager to abandon a wounded member. All very unnecessary and uncharacteristic according to the way Eustis reacts.
Reasonable advice presented by Eustis is ignored by Graff. And the reactions of all seem to suggest Graff has crossed the line.
Graff could've kept the money, but it's clear this isn't about money for Graff. Most likely, none of the 30 bank robberies were about money.
Does Graff simply want to cause as much misery in the world as possible? Why is Eustis only waking to this now?
Other interesting questions could've been explored like why is Lovecraft a member of this band? How did he come to earn everyone's respect?
What depth there is then is left to be discerned in the distant and hard stares of Graff and Eustis. Like Lovecraft says, "You boys savvy what you savvy and I'll savvy what I savvy."
Enjoyable movie, it isn't trying to be more than what it actually is. -
ma-cortes9 April 2024Sad events take place after a bloodbath of a bank robbery carried out by a violent band commanded by Graff (Mickey Rourke). Being betrayed by his gang, the marauder joins a posse led by Marshal Sharp (Gavan O'Herlihy) to seek vendetta. Graff joins the side of the law to hunt his enemies (Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Daniel Quinn) and kill them one by one. Left for dead by his bank robbing gang, you're looking at the face of a killer with nothing left to lose !.
Action-packed Western in which Rourke stars as an ex-Confederate officer who leads a gang of outlaws until his violent excesses leave even them disgusted, then the bank robbing band shoots him but of course he doesn't die and he sets out for vengeance. It follows the style and plot of the classic Wild Bunch, a gang carrying out a robbery and being relentlessly pursued by a posse led by a tough Sheriff, although the leadership later changes with the appearance of an unexpected boss. This notable Western packs lots of action, shootouts, horse chases and explosive violence. Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and spectacular bloodletting filmed in gorgeous outdoors. Here stands out a good cast of actors led by Mickey Rourko, who if in their time were not so well known, today they have prestigious and long film careers, such as: Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Daniel Quinn, Gavan O'Herlihy. Rich in texture taken right out of "The Wild Bunch" and including intelligent screenplay full of incidents and tension enough. The action climaxes in an old-time blazing shootout.
In 'The Last Outlaw' (1993) excels the impressive and colorful cinematography by Jack Conroy, shot on location Cerro Pelon, Galisteo, Diablo Canyon, Nambe Pueblo, Abiquiu, Santa Fe, Nuevo México. As well the thrilling and pulsing musical score by composer Mason Daring. The motion picture was well directed by Geoff Murphy. He was born in 1938 in Wellington, New Zealand and died in 2010. Named an 'Arts Icon' by the Arts Foundation, which named New Zealand's 20 greatest living artists. Murphy excelled at fast action films, especially during his decade-long sojourn in Hollywood, such as : The Last Outlaw, Freejack , Fortress 2 , Red King, White Knight, Spooked, and making knockabout comedies , such as : Goodbye Pork Pie , Wild Man. Geoff was a good director and actor, especially known for Spooked (2004), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), The Quiet Earth (1985) and The Last Outlaw(1993). Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average Western. Well worth watching . -
leqesai14 November 2023The Last Outlaw doesn't break the mold but it certainly is fun. The general premise of the film is fairly shallow but the characters are great. From the bank robbers to the posse I found the characters more believable than I expected given the film's introduction.
Mickey Rourke plays his role decently even though I wasn't terribly fond of the accent/demeanor of the character for much of the movie, but by the end he grew on me.
I really enjoyed the entire supporting cast. The bank robber gang was likable and certainly worth rooting for despite being murderous criminal scum. By the end of the movie there is a near perfect reversal of roles both for the posse and bank robber gangs, and the climax was thoroughly enjoyable when viewed alongside the fantastic theme song.
For people who enjoy movies with rough edges I heartily recommend this. -
patternpitstop8 July 2023I honestly tried to like it. It had it's decent points, but Mickey looked completely out of place. He looked like a glam rocker and his makeup was way overdone. For me, that kept me from taking him seriously as a character. The script was below average. It had some decent cast members, but they didn't really shine like they could have (I believe the script played into that). At times the music was too loud and unnecessary in some scenes. The music did fit into the theme though. I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of hard to please with movies. I love westerns and this one just broke my heart.
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liorelin16 March 2003You can talk a lot about `The Last Outlaw', but each of you will have own opinion about it. The only thing I can say if you like this movie it'll become one of your most favorite films. Poor and simple plot, excessive bloodshed and absence of scenery won't be important for you in this case. If you don't like this movie you'll consider it to be one of the worst films in the world and you'll find fault with it. Another points of view don't exist.
As for me I think the main in `The Last Outlaw' is the glorious play of Mickey Rourke as colonel Graff. Nobody could play this character better than he could. I like how Graff manipulates situations and people around him without any efforts very much. I like to watch his play between life and death, I like to look at his face and dark eyes and learn to control the events as he, though I disapprove his choice of murderous way.
I wish those of you who hasn't watched this movie yet to see it without fail. But don't except neither special effects nor tricks and adventures. Simply watch, think and learn. Because the film is worth it. And I wish those of you who's already watched this movie but hasn't understood it to see it time and again. May be you'll discover a lot of new for and about yourself.
Liorelin -
NateWatchesCoolMovies15 August 2016The Last Outlaw is a revenge themed western written by Eric Red, and if you're at all familiar with his other works (he also penned The Hitcher and Near Dark), you'll have some idea of how bloody and intense it is. It's a smile story populated by hard bitten, gruff sons of bitches, and the violence comes fast and hard from all directions as soon as a few backs are stabbed, and several ravenous tempers ignited. Often in westerns the violence is clipped and minimal, the damage which a six gun does to flesh oddly shirked in favour of theatricality. This one has no use for that, and messily displays exactly what such a weapon does to people, repeatedly and with no discretion. It's rough, gritty, Walter Hill style stuff, with not a trace of levity, smash or buckle, and every character kicking up dirt and anger the whole time. The film opens with a daring bank robbery, executed by former civil war Colonel Graff (Mickey Rourke), and his brutal gang. Their victory turns sour when mutiny looms among them in the form of Graff's second in command, Eustos (Dermot Mulroney). He can't abide by Graff's sadistic methods, and bitterly betrays him. The rest is a bullet ridden cat and mouse game in the dusty deserts and shanty towns of the southwest, as the bodies pile up and the blood spatters in the dirt time and time again. Rourke is an implosive, grade A dickhead as Graff, a man less concerned with the fruits of his labor and more driven by the desire to exact violent retribution. One wonders if that's what he's in the game for anyway, to bide his time until something goes amiss, and the revel in the carnage. The supporting cast is just epic, with work from Steve Buscemi, Ted Levine, Paul Ben Victor, Richard Fancy, John C. McGinley and Keith David. It's essentially one big stylish bloodbath, a pulpy ride through the gutter of arrogant machismo. Terrific fun, if that's your thing.
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deloudelouvain30 December 2021I can't say I was impressed byt this movie. It started all right though but towards the second part of this western it looked like the writers got a bit sloppy. The scenes didn't make much sense at that point, clearly a lack of inspiration towards the end. The cast was appealing though, certainly for a tv-movie, with names like Steve Buscemi, Mickey Rourke, Ted Levine and Keith David, but not all of them were at their best. For a western I guess I've seen worse but it could clearly have been better. It should have been better with that cast.
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larsshlindstrom1 November 2021This was the best western I seen in years. Realistic action . Good actors. Mickey Rourke is always good to see.
Suspence all the way. We learned the characters from the start, the Good side and the bad side. The story take unexpected turns all the time. The director is very good. This is a tv movie. For Me it's unusual that a tv movie from this time is so graphic . The graphic violence is necessary in this movie. It gives you a touch of reality.
If you haven't seen this movie yet, see it. -
rogercg127 March 2021Wow. This is a really badly done movie with an inane plot and lots of over the top performances by normally excellent actors. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, not that it matters here...let's just say most of the problem lies in the unlikeable character Roarke plays and the dialogue and performance he brings with it. Pretty dumb all around.
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peegeedee320 January 2005When I first saw this movie I thought "what is Mickey Rourke doing making himself look slightly homosexual as a cowboy outlaw"!!? As I watched the movie though, it didn't matter how he looked, he was deadly. Probably the only criminal cowboy who could get away with that "dandy" look. I thought that the entire cast was great in their own parts, but once again, as with every movie he is in, Mickey Rourke stood out. It was back in the day, when I chanced upon watching "Rumble Fish", with Matt Dillon, Dennis Hopper, and (my then personal favorite), William Smith, that I noticed the Motorcycle Boy. He stole that movie, no problem. From then on out, it was because of Mickey Rourke that I watched any movie he was listed in. He is like the greatest American actor EVER.