"The Last movie" appears to be rough footage strung together--possibly from several different incomplete films. The first portion just starts on the set of a Sam Fuller film and is very rough. Then, abruptly, this ends and one of the film crew (Dennis Hopper) stays behind in Peru and the rest of the film are his VERY random adventures. Some of the lovely things that occur to him or around him include: the locals making a 'movie' using fake equipment and real violence, some rich Americans showing up and acting like obnoxious capitalist swine (as they pay local women to have sex with each other as they watch), Hopper's prostitute girlfriend demanding a refrigerator (and many other things) even though they have no electricity, Hopper beating up this prostitute for no apparent reason, Hopper's friend (Don Gordon) talking on and on and on about his gold mine and several other irrelevant plot elements--none of which make up a coherent whole.
The only reason I saw this film is that I have a crazy quest to see all of the films from the Harry Medved book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" and this is one of the last five I have yet to see. In some cases, the films in the book were laughably bad--such as "Robot Monster" or "Santa Claus Versus the, Martians". And others, such as this film, are just plain bad--and not in a fun or enjoyable way. And yet, like some of these truly terrible films, some people find great significance and meaning in the film. I read through the reviews for "The Last Movie" and it sounded like a Fellini or Truffaut film--full of brilliance and insight. All I saw was a lot of very rough and poorly filmed footage strung together rather incoherently because the people making the film were reported very stoned throughout the production--which is very, very easy to believe. Instead of a film, this is more like bits and pieces of many films thrown together rather randomly--and in the process, some actors embarrassed themselves--such as Gordon and Julia Adams (of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" fame).
The film is an incoherent mess--randomly edited, with long and pointless musical interludes that were intended as deep and meaningful, completely amateur acting throughout and no discernible script. A few of the many plot elements COULD have been the basis for a good movie--such as the idea of Hollywood or American consumerism destroying a native culture. Too bad 2/3 of the budget was apparently spent on drugs instead of writers, directors and actors.
This may not be the very worst film I have ever seen, but it's sure in the running. I would say it was the film that wasted its budget more than any other and I would also say it was the most incoherent film I have seen--and with over 10000 reviews to my credit, that's saying a lot.
It's a shame, as Hopper's previous directorial project was "Easy Rider"--a film with amazing depth and insight. So, it's obvious that he could have done better and did do better when he was using less drugs.
The only reason I saw this film is that I have a crazy quest to see all of the films from the Harry Medved book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" and this is one of the last five I have yet to see. In some cases, the films in the book were laughably bad--such as "Robot Monster" or "Santa Claus Versus the, Martians". And others, such as this film, are just plain bad--and not in a fun or enjoyable way. And yet, like some of these truly terrible films, some people find great significance and meaning in the film. I read through the reviews for "The Last Movie" and it sounded like a Fellini or Truffaut film--full of brilliance and insight. All I saw was a lot of very rough and poorly filmed footage strung together rather incoherently because the people making the film were reported very stoned throughout the production--which is very, very easy to believe. Instead of a film, this is more like bits and pieces of many films thrown together rather randomly--and in the process, some actors embarrassed themselves--such as Gordon and Julia Adams (of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" fame).
The film is an incoherent mess--randomly edited, with long and pointless musical interludes that were intended as deep and meaningful, completely amateur acting throughout and no discernible script. A few of the many plot elements COULD have been the basis for a good movie--such as the idea of Hollywood or American consumerism destroying a native culture. Too bad 2/3 of the budget was apparently spent on drugs instead of writers, directors and actors.
This may not be the very worst film I have ever seen, but it's sure in the running. I would say it was the film that wasted its budget more than any other and I would also say it was the most incoherent film I have seen--and with over 10000 reviews to my credit, that's saying a lot.
It's a shame, as Hopper's previous directorial project was "Easy Rider"--a film with amazing depth and insight. So, it's obvious that he could have done better and did do better when he was using less drugs.