Bruce Willis has made a career out of playing men who look like they haven’t slept since the late ‘80s, and The Last Boy Scout is no exception. Released in 1991, this action-packed, expletive-riddled, buddy-cop-adjacent flick directed by Tony Scott and written by Shane Black was basically Die Hard‘s rowdier, more foul-mouthed cousin. And yet, despite its A-list talent and explosive action, it somehow ended up as one of the most overlooked gems of the early ‘90s.

Now, let’s get one thing straight—I loved this movie growing up. So much so that I practically ran my VHS copy into the ground, forcing the poor tape to endure countless rewatches until it finally tapped out. RIP to that beautiful, plastic relic. Hopefully, the DVD holds out a little longer.

So, what the f*** happened? How did this film, with all its star power and razor-sharp dialogue, become more of a cult classic than a mainstream hit? Buckle up, because this ride involves studio battles, on-set feuds, and a whole lot of ‘90s action movie magic.

In case you need a refresher: The Last Boy Scout follows Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis), a disgraced former Secret Service agent turned down-on-his-luck private detective. He teams up with Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), a former pro football player with a gambling problem, after Dix’s girlfriend is murdered in the middle of a blackmail scheme involving politicians, mobsters, and a whole lot of bad decisions.

From the opening scene—where a football player literally pulls a gun and starts shooting defenders on his way to the end zone (a scene so batshit it’s almost too perfect for this movie)—you know this isn’t your typical action flick.

This movie is pure Shane Black. The man practically invented the buddy-cop genre with Lethal Weapon, and here he delivers everything you’d expect: hilarious one-liners, mismatched partners, and a plot so convoluted that you kind of stop trying to make sense of it by the third explosion. Tony Scott directs the whole thing like a high-octane fever dream, and Bruce Willis? He’s in peak Willis mode—cynical, hungover, and dropping insults like it’s his full-time job.

Alright, let’s get into the real drama: why didn’t The Last Boy Scout become a massive hit?

Well for one, the production was a nightmare. The making of this film was so chaotic that it deserves its own Behind the Music-style documentary. The movie had an all-star lineup, but it turns out that when you throw a bunch of Hollywood heavyweights into one production, you’re bound to get some, uh, “creative differences.” Shane Black was the golden boy of ‘80s and ‘90s action screenwriting, and Warner Bros. paid him a record-breaking $1.75 million for the script. It was the most expensive screenplay ever at the time. That’s right—someone paid nearly two million dollars for Bruce Willis to say, “This is the ’90s, you can’t just walk up and slap a guy, you have to say something cool first.” Worth every penny, honestly. Reportedly, Bruce Willis and Tony Scott did not get along. Willis had creative control, and Scott wanted to make his movie. Combine that with studio interference and tension between the producers, and you get a set where nobody was having fun—except, maybe, Shane Black, who was off cashing his million-dollar check. Producer Joel Silver (aka the guy behind Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and The Matrix) was in full Hollywood power-broker mode. He was known for being demanding, and his influence on the film’s production likely made things even more tense.

Some would say the movie was too “hardcore” for its own good. In the early ‘90s, studios were still trying to figure out what audiences wanted from R-rated action movies. Die Hard worked because it had a perfect mix of humor, action, and heart. The Last Boy Scout is…well, meaner. It’s nihilistic, drenched in cynicism, and filled with characters who don’t even pretend to give a shit about each other until they have to.

Audiences expecting Lethal Weapon‘s balance of action and camaraderie instead got Bruce Willis smoking himself into a coma while insulting literally everyone around him. And as much fun as that is for people like me who love their action heroes extra salty, it didn’t exactly scream “four-quadrant blockbuster.”

Despite its $43 million budget, The Last Boy Scout only made about $59 million worldwide. Not a flop, but definitely not a hit either. Part of this was due to stiff competition (Hook and Star Trek VI were big that month), but also because The Last Boy Scout had a reputation as a “troubled” movie before it even hit theaters. Negative buzz, fights on set, and behind-the-scenes drama all contributed to a lukewarm reception. 

Listen, I get why it wasn’t a mainstream hit, but The Last Boy Scout is glorious. It’s a chaotic, trash-talking, bullet-riddled spectacle that only could have come out of the ‘90s. The dialogue is endlessly quotable. The action is brutal and well-choreographed. And Bruce Willis, despite all the behind-the-scenes tension, delivers one of his most underrated performances.

And let’s not forget Damon Wayans! He doesn’t get enough credit for this one, but he and Willis have incredible chemistry. Even when they’re bickering like an old married couple, you want to see them succeed. 

The Last Boy Scout is one of the greatest action films of the ‘90s, yet it has somehow suffered one of the worst home media releases imaginable. Despite being a cult classic, the film has been treated like a forgotten relic. The DVD release was barebones, with no significant extras, and the Blu-ray wasn’t much better—just a slightly sharper version of the same lackluster package…but packaged as a double feature with another Brucie forgotten favorite, Last Man Standing.  Deleted scenes? Nowhere to be found. Behind-the-scenes footage? Probably locked away in a Warner Bros. vault, gathering dust next to True Lies’ long-lost special edition…but that’s a story for another time. 

At this point, we’re practically on our knees, begging Arrow Video, yes Arrow Video, to swoop in and save The Last Boy Scout from home media purgatory. If they can do it for Robocop, 12 Monkeys, Demolition Man and hell, even Jason X, they can give us the director’s cut, the outtakes, the Shane Black-penned scenes that never made it, and—most importantly—let us hear Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans’ best off-camera quips. We need the full treatment: a 4K restoration, interviews with the cast and crew, a deep dive into the film’s infamously troubled production, and maybe even a Joe Hallenbeck cigarette case as a collector’s edition bonus. They surely can rescue one of the greatest buddy action films of all time. Do it for the fans, Arrow. Do it for Friday Night Football!

As we stated earlier, over time, this film has developed a cult following—probably made up of people like me who grew up watching their VHS copies into oblivion. The movie is a perfect storm of everything that made ‘90s action movies great: slick dialogue, brutal fights, insane plot twists, and an unshakable commitment to badassery.

So if you haven’t revisited The Last Boy Scout in a while, do yourself a favor. Just, uh, be careful with your DVD. I’ve already lost one copy to excessive rewatches. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself and remember “Nobody likes you. Everybody hates you. You’re gonna lose. Smile, you fuck.”