Rent The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Foul mouthed mish-mash of action film clichés - but I've seen a lot worse... - The Last Boy Scout review by RP

I rented this because I've been catching up on films directed by the late Tony Scott, the less successful brother of Ridley Scott. Having said he's 'less successful' he has directed some fairly well known films - including, in no particular order, 'Man on Fire' and 'Deja Vu' with Denzel Washington, 'Top Gun' with Tom Cruise, 'Enemy of the State' with Will Smith, 'Beverley Hills Cop II' with Eddie Murphy etc etc.

This film stars Bruce Willis (still with hair back in 1991), so you know immediately that it's going to have lots of crash-bang-wallop and gunfire - and so it proves. Plenty of violence and bloodshed, too much f-ing and blinding (even his on-screen 15-year-old daughter is foul mouthed), and the usual car chases, crashes and explosions.

The plot - I think there's a plot in there somewhere - is based around sports gambling, a dodgy American football team owner, a crooked politician, an ex-footballer as sidekick to private eye Bruce Willis who (of course) takes a few beatings but (of course) saves the day. Halle Berry gets an early small part as an exotic dancer and Taylor Negron makes an excellent baddy.

Above all, it's a mish-mash of action film clichés. Of its genre it's OK - I've seen a lot worse, but I've also seen a lot better so I'll give it 3/5 stars.

So Wrong, So Right, So Loud - The Last Boy Scout review by griggs

The Last Boy Scout is a foul-mouthed fever dream of early-‘90s cynicism. It’s a scuzzy, sweaty buddy-action flick that hurls footballs, bullets, and one-liners with gleeful recklessness.

Bruce Willis delivers one of his most gloriously grim performances—chain-smoking, dead-eyed, and barely hanging on. The film is drenched in blood, sleaze, and explosive violence, skewering macho posturing even as it revels in its own bad habits. The plot? Forgettable. It’s just a loose excuse to keep the wisecracks flying and the bodies dropping.

The women? Sidelined symbols or punchlines—victims of the film’s unapologetic misogyny. The men? Washed-up relics clawing at some warped sense of honour with fists and bravado. It’s a brutally honest, stylish, nasty time capsule—full of snappy nastiness, equal parts self-loathing and swagger.

For all its sleaze and swagger, The Last Boy Scout isn’t just revelling in bad behaviour—it’s embalming it. It knows the world it’s portraying is rotten, and rather than fix it, it leans into the decay with a crooked grin and a smoking gun. There’s something oddly compelling in its unrepentant cynicism, like watching masculinity implode in slow motion to the sound of its own punchlines. It may be trash, but it’s knowingly, gloriously iconic trash.

Early Willis but just like any other - The Last Boy Scout review by JD

This film was rated highly in a best action top 50. So I thought it would be worth a blast. It was not disappointing but probably not in my top 50. Willis has done more exiting thrillers and funnier actions since. In this he is, as usual, a super hero detective. Super cool, but super good at detective work and funny too. There is no romantic angle. The cliched relationship development of starting as hateful enemies and ending as close profound friends is 3 fold. The ones involved would be a plot spoiler but I cannot remember seeing a triple before. The best moment of the film for me was a touchdown under pressure in which the player uses a very unusual tactic. Again I won't spoil but I think it deserved a little more reflected gloriousness as it could/should have been a split your sides moment.