"The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage" by Nick de Semlyen is a thrilling rollercoaster ride through the adrenaline-fueled world of action cinema. With meticulous research and captivating storytelling, de Semlyen chronicles the larger-than-life careers of Hollywood's legendary action stars, from their iconic triumphs to their dramatic feuds. Readers are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of some of the most beloved action films in history, complete with fascinating anecdotes and revealing insights into the personalities behind the characters. De Semlyen's passion for the genre shines through on every page, making "The Last Action Heroes" an exhilarating and must-read tribute to the men who defined an era of blockbuster entertainment.

Nick de Semlyen's book is a comprehensive history of the Hollywood 80s action genre, told through its main stars. It's an intriguing story full of big characters, tall tales, and dumb stories, even if the films being discussed are often of questionable quality. However, there is very little contextualization of the whole genre, and the larger industry context seems to be missing. Overall, it's a minor quibble, but the reader never really gets a sense of why this story is being told beyond "it was there.

This was funny and informative! I know loads about movies and it still taught me loads. I reckon if he wrote about every genre I’d love it! Would recommend to anyone - film lover or not!

In 'The Last Action Heroes', Nick De Semlyen leads us through a fascinating period of cinema history: the rise and decline of the invincible action man. Charting the stories of how Stallone, Schwarzenegger and others caught their first break and cultivated their tough guy images on screen, this book is both entertaining and informative. De Semlyen's writing is engaging and insightful, showing the broader trends which have contributed to this increase in popularity for a certain masculine ideal while weaving together the tales of the eclectic stars. The tales are often bizarre enough that they could be made into films themselves.

The 1980s were a time of excess in the USA, in movies as in so much else. After the shock of America's failure in Vietnam, the country needed to rebuild its view of itself and so a new kind of movie hero was born, an individual strong man who could defeat anyone with massive biceps, a lot of violence and a zingy one liner.

The book covers the careers of the most famous and successful of these - Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Norris, Chan, Van Damme, Lundgren and Seagal - from their first less than stellar appearances through their massive successes and ends with updates of their current situations.

It's a hugely entertaining read from Nick de Semleyn, the editor of Empire magazine, who has been a film journalist for years and so knows the world well and has personally met and interviewed those covered. I am by no means a fan of the kind of films covered, especially those by the likes of Van Damme and Seagal, but found it fascinating to learn more about their characters and how the type of film became so dominant for a period. A real must read for film fans.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in return for an honest review.

#TheLastActionHeroes #NetGalley

A big sprawling history of the Hollywood 80's action genre told through its main stars, Nick de Semlyen is attempting to do for these movies what Peter Biskind did for New Hollywood in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. And its a story that isn't short of big characters, tall tales and dumb stories - even if the films being talked about are often of questionable quality. De Semlyen has worked for a long stint on the movie magazine Empire, and has encountered nearly all of his protagonists first hand, but there is also a touch of the Empire soft review touch here, he is happy to call something terrible when it is, but there is also very little contextualization of the whole genre. There is a discussion early on about the mood in action cinema moving on from the seventies into the eighties, and Reagan pops up often enough, but the larger industry context does seem to be missing - not least when we have a detour into talking about Jackie Chan who really does not fit with the other subjects here (for the record they are: Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Norris, Van Damme, Seagal, Lundgren and Willis). Its a minor quibble but I never really got a sense of why this story was being told beyond "it was there".

Its just as well that the stories themselves are so breathlessly good. Its clear that this has been culled from thousands of newspaper and film magazine puff pieces, from self-promoters who loved talking about their favourite subjects. The Stallone / Schwarzenegger rivalry starts and fuels the book, I almost get the sense was the book in the first place. But this is a history of genre told through lead actors, which is interesting because when we get to the Imperial Phase of these films (the late 80's) they also start to become stories of directors too. But de Semlyen has chosen his style, and his peg to hang it on, he just has to get to the stories. And perhaps the lack of an academic thesis is a strength when considering this as multiple biographies. Its also clear where his sympathies lie - pretty much everyone comes out of it well except Steven Seagal - and even he isn't quite as damned as the facts lined up here suggest they should be.

As someone who lived through this period, and have seen most of these films, sometimes the selective storytelling and omissions annoyed me (barely a mention of Kindergarten Cop and Red Heat, it feels like wrestling and Hulk Hogan should be mentioned as well as Kurt Russell - here only included as part of Executive Decision). But I have to admit it certainly captures the spirit of these films, the cigar champion machismo behind the scenes and perhaps with a more up-front watchlist, could ignite a fresh set of eyes on some broadly maligned (often for a reason) films.

If you had asked me - more than a week ago - to name my favourite book which focuses on the film industry, two titles would have immediately sprung to mind. I would have suggested Tom Shone's Blockbuster or Hollywood .vs. Superman by Jake Rossen.

A new contender has now entered the discussion.

Nick de Semlyen - editor of Empire Magazine - has written The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage. This is a book that is right up my street because it covers my favourite genre of film: action movies from the 1980s and 90s.

The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen

All of the heavy-hitters from that period of time are covered in de Semlyen's work.
Starting with Sylvester Stallone's rise from an unknown to the success he achieved with Rocky, the book introduces all of the 80s and 90s heavy-hitters in the order they came along in the movie industry. To, if you pardon the pun, rifle off names in no particular order: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jackie Chan, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris are all given the spotlight in this journey through the boom period of the action movie.

As I've already mentioned, this category of movie was my go-to back in the day. The Last Action Heroes allowed me to take a trip down Memory Lane to recall some of those big movies, but also to learn about what it was like for some of the people who worked on those films. It was also intriguing to see how good (or bad) the titles did at the box office.

Rocky Balboa is my favourite film character, so it was interesting to read everything about Sylvester Stallone's post-Rocky career right through to - I suppose - going by how the book concludes: publicity work for The Expendables II.

Speaking of The Expendables franchise - I have recently found myself being recommended videos of Dolph Lundgren being interviewed by TMZ and other street reporters on YouTube. I always find these vids interesting because Lundgren always comes across as charming and down to earth.

I had recalled he and Grace Jones were in a relationship during the mid-80s and had assumed they had met while working on A View to a Kill. However, I learned - through this book - that Lundgren had picked up the job on the Bond film because he happened to be there with Jones during the shoot.

Rocky IV came along shortly after that. Could you imagine if Lundgren hadn't been dating Grace Jones at that particular moment in time?

Of all the stars to appear in this book, I found Steven Seagal to be the one I liked the least back in the day. Reading about his rise to fame in The Last Action Heroes made me wish I could have invested more time in his work.

It would have been interesting to state the least.

I have given The Last Action Heroes five stars on Good Reads. It is the perfect book for someone like me who grew up in the 80s and 90s during what I would consider to be the golden age of the action movie.

I came away with a plethora of trivia notes and knowledge that I didn't have before coming across the book. That's a win-win.

Nick De Semlyen's last book was Wild and Crazy Guys, a highly entertaining look at the comedy stars that took over Hollywood in the 1980s and early 90s. His latest effort follows a similar formula, but focuses on a very different bunch - the macho, testosterone-fuelled action heroes that ruled the box office during the same time period.

We get a fascinating glimpse into each of their personalities and a behind the scenes look at the movies that made their name. Schwarzenegger comes across better than most - a driven, hard-working fellow who seemed to have the golden touch when it came to choosing scripts. His great rival Stallone fares worse - undeniably talented, but insecure and in possession of a colossal ego. A good-natured Chuck Norris flew the flag for Team America in all of his films, even if their artistic quality was questionable. Jackie Chan is bestowed with saintly status, a humble individual who broke new ground with his outrageous stunts. Steven Seagal is the biggest joke of all, a narcissist who invented complex backstories for himself in the hopes of appearing mysterious and as it later emerged, treated his co-stars very badly.

The book is full of entertaining anecdotes that I had not heard before. For example, Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago himself) has an IQ of 160 and had received an MIT scholarship before embarking on his film career. I was intrigued to hear how Die Hard was only Bruce Willis's third movie, and Fox bet the farm on him after a host of other stars had turned down the role of John McClane. And I found out that Stallone was so poor before writing Rocky, he sold his beloved dog Butkus to make some money (and bought him back when he sold the script).

I grew up watching these movies, and while not all of them stand up as well today, I will always have a particular fondness for them. De Semlyen's research is meticulous and each chapter is an enjoyable, nostalgic dive back into a simpler time. I did think the book ended rather abruptly, and I would have enjoyed a deeper examination into why the appeal of these actors faded. But that's just a small complaint - The Last Action Heroes is a fun-filled, insightful chronicle of an era when sweat, muscles and masculinity dominated the silver screen.

The Last Action Heroes is a fantastic look at the big screen action heroes of the 1980s and 1990s, the films that made them and the behind the scene stories that defined them.
Author Nick de Semlyen pulls no punches, delivering an engaging but honest look on screen giants such as Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Norris, Segal, Chan and Van Damme - with plenty of off-screen stories that paint an honest and often less than rosy look at these stars.
Even if you have read all their autobiographies I guarantee there a plenty in here that will be new.
The book itself is written in an engaging yet informative tone, making this one just as much fun to burn through as many of the films it covers.
This is a fascinating look in what was a unique period of Hollywood for action movies and is highly recommended.

Empire magazine’s editor and all-round movie guru De Semelyn’s chronicle of the jingoistic, testerone-filled action epics of the 80s and 90s is a brilliant and fun read.
It charts the highs and lows of muscle men Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren and the many others who beat, shot and bludgeoned their way through pre-CGI, pre-superhero action-fests.
De Semelyn analyses the social and cultural influences on and of their blockbusters, and also offers very readable biographies of the stars, trivia and entertaining tales from behind-the-scenes.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

5/5 stars! I really enjoyed this memoir. Getting to relive some of my favorite cinematic moments was amazing and learning behind-the-scenes facts was great. Plus the cover is amazing. No complaints! Highly recommend!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Very excited to acquire this. They just don’t make action stars like they used too! I know this title will be very popular with our readers. It is a great guide to some of our most beloved action hero’s offering loads of great information and photos! Highly recommended and enjoy!