| The Last Movie | |
|---|---|
 US film poster | |
| Directed by | Dennis Hopper |
| Screenplay by | Stewart Stern |
| Story by |
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| Produced by | Paul Lewis |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Edited by |
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| Music by |
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Production company | Alta-Light |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages |
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| Budget | $1 million |
The Last Movie is a 1971 metafictional drama film directed by Dennis Hopper, who also stars as a horse wrangler named after the state of Kansas. It is written by Stewart Stern, based on a story by Hopper and Stern, and stars an extensive supporting cast including Stella Garcia, Don Gordon, Peter Fonda, Julie Adams, Sylvia Miles, Samuel Fuller, Dean Stockwell, Russ Tamblyn, Tomas Milian, Toni Basil, Severn Darden, Henry Jaglom, Rod Cameron, Kris Kristofferson and Michelle Phillips. The plot follows a disenfranchised stuntman (Hopper), who begins a filmmaking-centric cargo cult among Peruvian natives after going into self-imposed exile.
Greenlit after the success of Hopper's previous film Easy Rider, Universal Pictures gave the director/star complete creative control over the project, which was budgeted at $1 million and was shot in Peru. Hopper only loosely followed the script by Stern, filming hours upon hours of footage built around friends whom he invited to the set, including several of his collaborators Fonda and Basil. The film's elongated post-production came from Hopper's constant editing and re-editing of the film while suffering from the effects of his drug habit, leading to allegations of self-sabotage and missing the film's initial deadline to deliver a final cut by nearly six months.
Despite high expectations, including a well-received screening at the 1971 Venice International Film Festival, the film was a critical and financial disaster. Dissatisfied with the finished product, Universal Pictures gave the film a staggered, limited release under multiple alternative titles. Its poor reception led to Hopper's self-imposed exile from Hollywood for several years, barely starring in any film until Francis Ford Coppola hired him for Apocalypse Now (1979), not directing another film until Out of the Blue (1980), and never writing another film again. In the decades since its release, it has undergone a critical reappraisal and has become a cult classic.