Upon revisiting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand, I suddenly realized the neo-Western is a stealth Rio Bravo remake. Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies ruled the 1980s and 1990s, but by the time he became Governor of California in 2003, his box office numbers had dwindled.

Following his return to acting and making cameos in The Expendables franchise, there was much excitement when Schwarzenegger announced his big movie comeback, The Last Stand. This cast him as the sheriff of a small town who is tasked with stopping a vicious drug lord trying to cross over into Mexico.

The Last Stand is an old-fashioned, R-rated action film that largely eschews CGI in favor of practical effects and explosions. Sadly, the movie was a disappointment, grossing $48 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), which just about covered its production budget.

Schwarzenegger’s movie comeback didn’t work out well in general; his Stallone collaboration Escape Plan was a modest hit, while Arnie’s Agathie Christie adaptation Sabotage was a flop. Even his return to The Terminator franchise for Genisys and Dark Fate were letdowns, and made The Last Stand look even better in hindsight.

I Just Realized The Last Stand Is A Remake Of John Wayne’s Rio Bravo

The Last Stand doesn’t hide its Western roots

Revisiting The Last Stand for the first time in many years made me realize it’s a modern riff on Rio Bravo. While not a scene-for-scene remake by any means, The Last Stand borrows the framework of that classic John Wayne/Howard Hawks movie, which involved Wayne’s sheriff and his crew of misfit deputies under siege in a small town.

Rio Bravo is a favorite of both Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter, and was Wayne’s response to High Noon. The Last Stand is significantly more action-packed than its 1959 inspiration, but it boils down to the same setup.

When The Last Stand begins, it’s like any modern, high-tech action thriller, but as it gears up for the big third act shootout, it becomes more and more like a traditional Western. Arnie’s sheriff stands in for Wayne’s Rio Bravo protagonist Chance, while Rodrigo Santoro’s Frank takes the Dean Martin role as the drunk in need of redemption.

Jaimie Alexander’s Deputy Torrance fills the role of Ricky Nelson’s Colorado as the mentee of Schwarzenegger’s sheriff, while Luis Guzmán’s older Deputy Figuerola stands in for Walter Brennan’s comic relief Stumpy. Like Rio Bravo, The Last Stand takes time to get to know Ray and his crew before the bullets start flying.

Both movies feature extensive final firefights, where the town itself marshals around the sheriff, even knowing the dangers involved. The Last Stand even underlines its Western influence when Arnie’s sheriff has an old-fashioned duel with Peter Stormare’s henchman Burrell.

The Last Stand Is Far From The Only Rio Bravo Remake

John Carpenter never pᴀssed up a chance to redo Rio Bravo

John Carpenter claims to have become a filmmaker to make Westerns – only for the genre to die out before he started his career. Instead, Carpenter made Westerns in disguise, with ᴀssault on Precinct 13 being his take on Rio Bravo. In Carpenter’s remix, cops are forced to team with criminals when a vicious gang attacks a police station.

Carpenter loves a siege story, and it could be argued movies like The Thing or even Prince of Darkness share DNA with Rio Bravo. His second big remake of the Wayne classic came with 2001’s Ghosts of Mars, which transplanted the action to the тιтular planet.

Again, it involves cops and criminals working together as the villains (in this case, miners possessed by the spirits of bloodthirsty aliens) attack a police precinct. Carpenter’s duology are the two biggest movies to riff on Rio Bravo, but it also influenced the intense French thriller The Nest or modern cult favorite Green Room.

John Wayne Remade Rio Bravo Twice

Wayne knew a good premise when he saw it

Wayne and Hawks so enjoyed making their 1959 Western that they made an unofficial trilogy. This consists of Rio Bravo, El Dorado (1967) and 1970’s Rio Lobo. The second and third movies played around with the original ingredients too, but they always feature Wayne as the steadfast hero under siege alongside a mismatched team of allies.

El Dorado, for instance, made the drunk character the sheriff, with Robert Mitchum being the co-lead alongside Wayne. The second entry moves at a faster pace than Rio Bravo and is arguably more action-packed, but it still takes the time to develop the heroes. It should also be noted that none of these movies feature returning characters or plotlines.

On the other hand, the lame Rio Lobo helped convince Tarantino to retire early, as he fears becoming a filmmaker like Hawks who lost their vital touch in later years. It’s not that Rio Lobo is necessarily bad, but it feels tired compared to the first two entries, while Wayne is too old to convince in the lead role.

The Last Stand Is One Of Arnold’s Most Underrated Movies

Of Arnold’s comeback movies, The Last Stand stands apart

The Last Stand was part of a wave of modestly budgeted action movies like Taken that were led by older actors, leading to the term geriaction being coined, which boded well for his comeback. Unfortunately, The Last Stand’s tepid response has seen it become somewhat forgotten, even among Schwarzenegger devotees.

Of his three post-Governor action vehicles, The Last Stand beats out Escape Plan and Sabotage. It’s got a great supporting cast, the action is well-staged and director Kim Jee-woon gives it a playful edge. A fair critique is that it doesn’t do anything new or inventive, but then it was never designed to do that anyway.

The Last Stand is not among the top tier of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action movies, but it still stands above the likes of Raw Deal or Collateral Damage. It also might be the closest to a proper Rio Bravo remake that we’ll get in the 21st century.

Source: Box Office Mojo