Last Action Heroes

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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Author_Nick de Semlyen
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biography
Bruce Willis
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=APFA
Category=ATFA
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Chuck Norris
Conan
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Die Hard
Dolph Lundgren
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fame
famous
filmstars
history
Hollywood
Jackie Chan
Jean-Claude Van Damme
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Lethal Weapon
macho
martial arts
masculinity
movie
muscle
PA=Available
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
Rambo
Rocky
softlaunch
Sylvester Stallone
Terminator
Total Recall
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Product details

  • ISBN 9781529058505
  • Weight: 452g
  • Dimensions: 178 x 234mm
  • Publication Date: 24 Aug 2023
  • Publisher: Pan Macmillan
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
  • Language: English
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'A blast' - Ian Rankin
'A joyous celebration of 80s action cinema' - Robbie Collin, Telegraph
'Vastly entertaining' - The Times

The behind-the-scenes story of the action heroes who ruled 1980s and 90s Hollywood and the beloved films – from Die Hard to The Terminator – that made them stars.

This wildly entertaining account of the golden age of the action movie charts Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s carnage-packed journey from enmity to friendship against the backdrop of Reagan’s America and the Cold War. Revealing fascinating untold stories of the colourful 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 – it chronicles the rise of the invincible action hero who used muscle, martial arts or the perfect weapon to save the day. And how, as the 1990s rolled on, the glory days of these macho men – and the vision of masculinity they celebrated – began to fade.

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.
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'Highly entertaining' - Sunday Telegraph
'A rollicking, anecdote-packed tribute to the cavalier days' - Literary Review

Nick de Semlyen is the editor of Empire, the world’s biggest movie magazine. As a film journalist, he has also written for Rolling Stone and Time Out. Over the years he has orchestrated cast reunions for Lethal Weapon, The Goonies and Gremlins, been driven around Shanghai at high speed by Jackie Chan, visited Jack Nicholson's house, and interviewed everybody from Robert De Niro to David Lynch. He can be seen on screen for two seconds in the movie Jurassic World, being splashed by a water-dinosaur. His first book Wild and Crazy Guys, about the wave of Hollywood comedy stars that ruled the 1980s, was published by Picador in 2019.

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