The Last Match Blu Ray Review (Cauldron Films)

The Last Match (aKa L’ultima meta) is a 1991 action film produced and directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (Karate Warrior franchise, Thunder franchise, Cobra Mission, Killer Crocodile, Deadly Impact, The Overthrow, and The Manhunt) under the alias of “Larry Ludman”. It was written by Gianfranco Clerici (The Antichrist, Don’t Torture a Duckling, The House of Clocks, Delirium, Phantom of Death, Murder-Rock, Devil Fish, House on the Edge of the Park, Cannibal Holocaust, Last Cannibal World, and The New York Ripper) and Vincenzo Mannino (The New York Ripper, Violent Rome, Devil Fish, Cobra Mission franchise, The Last Shark, Five Women for the Killer, Django Shoots First, House on the Edge of the Park, Phantom of Death, The Raiders of Atlantis, and The Sweet House of Horrors). Football star Cliff Gaylor (played by: Oliver Tobias from Cobra Mission, Jesus of Nazareth, Vendetta, and Method) calls an audible when his daughter Susan (played by: Melissa Palmisano) is framed for drug smuggling during a Caribbean vacation out of nowhere. She’s being held in jail by a sadistic warden Yashin (played by: Henry Silva from Code of Silence, Above the Law, Almost Human, The Boss, Dick Tracy, Alligator, and Ghost Dog). He must do whatever it takes to get her free before it’s too late. When the American Consulate (played by: Charles Napier from Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Blues Brothers, The Manchurian Candidate, The Incredible Hulk, Maniac Cop 2, and The Silence of the Lambs) wants nothing to do with helping the innocent girl out during this chaotic situation and the local shady attorney (played by: Martin Balsam from Psycho, All the President’s Men, Two Evil Eyes, Death Wish 3, The Delta Force, and 12 Angry Men) only wants you to grease his palm with no guarantees of a good result. Cliff has no absolutely choice but to fix it himself. So he decides to take matters into your own hands for his next play. His coach (played by: Ernest Borgnine from Escape from New York, Red, Gattaca, The Dirty Dozen franchise, Airwolf, and BASEketball) and the rest of the football team arrive from a plane loaded with so many dangerous weapons and lots of cash aimed to free his daughter or die trying!!!!The Last Match is a very interesting low budget Italian production that mixes action with football. It’s more action than anything but I did enjoy all football stuff that was included in The Last Match. It has a little Midnight Express influence to it also. It was written and directed by some of the most talented people in Italy when it comes to cinema. They took something that could have been really silly and it flipped it to something unique for the genre. It’s one of those rare occasions when the Italians did something original rather than just ripping something off. Oliver Tobias is honestly just okay as Cliff Gaylor when it comes to being the lead here. I guess it works better than most movies considering the type of flick so it could be much worse. It just doesn’t help that he’s surrounded with so much talent in this and they all outshine him in their smaller roles. Henry Silva, Ernest Borgnine, Martin Balsam, and Charles Napier really elevate The Last Match. The rest of the supporting cast includes Melissa Palmisano, NFL legend Jim Kelly (Buffalo Bills), Rob Floyd (Sliders), Jim Kiick (American Gladiators), Elmer Bailey (Miami Dolphins), Jeff Moldovan (Oblivion franchise), Walter Levine (Blues Brothers franchise), and Nancy Duerr (Bad Boys II). It takes a little bit for The Last Match to go somewhere but when it does, it’s totally worth the wait. It’s loaded with plenty of violence and action. It achieves it’s goal of entertainment and it’s a blast to experience. It has solid replay value to it, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Cauldron Films! This 1080p (1.66:1) unrated transfer is from a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. This is a major improvement over any of the other previous versions and it honestly wasn’t that easy to find before Cauldron Films put this out. It has an English: DTS Mono track on the disc. The audio has it’s moments especially during the action so it’s very solid for it is. All of the dialogue is crisp, the madness is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with critic Michael A. Martinez. It has the little over 16 minute “Blown Away”. It’s an interview with special effects artist Roberto Ricci. He breaks down the process with producers in the Italian film market and differences between some projects. He chats about the main producer and director of this. He kept costs low and pocketed whatever money he could on these films. He shares his experiences on a variety of things here including The Last Match. He’s not shy at all and he doesn’t hold back in this. It’s in Italian with English subtitles. It has the 29 minute “American Actors in a Declining Italian Cinema”. It’s a documentary short from Mike Malloy. This is an interesting look at actors that went overseas and made low budget films for quick cash. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, John Saxon, Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Napier, Martin Balsam, Henry Silva, and others are brought up in this. It’s very detailed and it some entertaining information about this process that was very popular back in the day. It has the almost 18 minute “Understanding the Cobra”. It’s a video-essay from expert Eugenio Ercolani. He gives a little history of Italian cinema. Lots of talented people and crazy projects are brought up in this. It has a little over a minute “Image Gallery”. It has the “Trailer” for The Last Match. It also has reversible artwork. It originally had a limited edition home video release but that’s been sold out for awhile now. This is the standard version. It’s available everywhere right now including DiabolikDVD.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!