The Last Match (1991) L’ultima meta | Region-Free NTSC (DVD) | English

Sourced from Japanese VHS.    English Audio, JP subs.

Title: The Last Match (1991)

Genre: Action

Plot Synopsis:

On a Caribbean island, Susan Gaylor, daughter of professional football quarterback Cliff Gaylor, is wrongfully imprisoned on drug charges. When diplomatic efforts fail, Cliff enlists his football coach and teammates to mount a daring rescue mission. Donning their football gear and armed with weapons, the team launches an assault on the prison to free Susan.

Cast and Crew:

• Director: Fabrizio De Angelis

• Writers: Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino

• Cast:

  • Oliver Tobias as Cliff Gaylor

  • Ernest Borgnine as Coach

  • Melissa Palmisano as Susan Gaylor

  • Charles Napier as American Consul

  • Henry Silva as Warden Yashin

IMDb Link: The Last Match (1991) 

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. badpizza – ★★½☆☆
   “An American football team breaking the QB’s daughter out of a foreign prison? Why, it’s a plan that’s just crazy enough to work! While The Last Match really stinks it up in the first 3 quarters, it rallies back late in the 4th. One helluva punt.”

2. Double D – ★★★★☆
   “The daughter of a football Quarterback is framed for drug possession, and thrown into a Caribbean prison run by a sadistic warden played by Henry Silva. The football team, armed with guns and grenades, coached by Ernest Borgnine, which also includes Hall of Fame Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly with a grenade launcher, all in full uniform invade this island to break her out.”

3. Joseph Howell – ★★½☆☆
   “This action film from the dying days of the Italian genre movie takes a while. For about 57 minutes, you get a lot of boring conversations, slumming character actors who look like they’d rather be anywhere else (especially Martin Balsam), and honestly a lot of nothing. Then 57 minutes or so in, the film decides to have our football heroes pick up machine guns and other military weaponry and run rampant, shooting evil foreigners all while dressed in their sports uniforms.”

4. Jon Peters – ★★★½☆
   “Made in the decline of the Italian film industry, as well as a late entry in the Namsploitation genre, a genre of the Bruno Mattei ‘exploding hut’ variety, director Fabrizio De Angelis was no stranger to these films prior to directing THE LAST MATCH (1991).”

5. robert2339 – ★★★☆☆
   “Only the Italian film industry could produce a movie about a football team invading a sovereign nation to rescue a teammate’s daughter from prison without starting a war. Best football movie ever.”

Meta Description:
In The Last Match (1991), a professional football team, led by their coach, embarks on a high-stakes mission to rescue their quarterback’s daughter from a Caribbean prison. Combining sports and action, this film delivers a unique blend of gridiron grit and explosive adventure.