Last Man Standing is a 1996 American action film written and directed by Walter Hill and starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo.
Plot
In Prohibition-era Texas, a wanderer named John Smith (Bruce Willis) drives his Ford Model A Coupe into the small bordertown of Jericho. As he arrives, a young woman named Felina (Karina Lombard) crosses the street, catching Smith's eye. Moments later, a group of Irish mobsters led by Finn (Patrick Kilpatrick) surround Smith's car. They warn him against staring at "Doyle's property" and smash up his car.
Stranded and with no money to get his car fixed, Smith goes to see Sheriff Ed Galt (Bruce Dern); the cowardly Galt refuses to help him. Instead, Smith walks to the town hotel, run by Joe Monday (William Sanderson), gets a drink and a room, and takes two M1911 pistols out of his luggage. He then goes to Doyle's headquarters at a nearby social club and challenges Finn to a duel, which Smith wins with alarming speed. Smith departs and returns to the hotel, much to the surprise of Jericho's residents.
Learning of Finn's death, Fredo Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg), the head of Jericho's Italian gang, offers Smith a job in his outfit. Strozzi is eager to wipe out his rivals and is spending heavily to recruit anyone who can fight into his gang. Smith agrees to his offer and meets Giorgio Carmonte (Michael Imperioli), son of a prominent Chicago mobster who is monitoring Strozzi's activities in Jericho. Carmonte expresses his immediate distrust and dislike of Smith, who leaves and then seduces Strozzi's mistress, Lucy (Alexandra Powers).
Smith accompanies Strozzi and his men to the backcountry, where they meet Ramirez, a corrupt Mexican police lieutenant on Doyle's payroll. The gang ambushes Doyle's men and seizes a caravan of illicit foreign liquor. Carmonte travels to Mexico to cut more deals with Ramirez, while Doyle (David Patrick Kelly) and his right-hand man Hickey (Christopher Walken) return to Jericho and are informed of Finn's death and the loss of the shipment. Smith defects to Doyle's side and reveals Ramirez's betrayal. Hickey travels to Mexico, kills Ramirez and a corrupt Border Patrol officer involved in the liquor trade, and kidnaps Carmonte. Doyle contacts Strozzi and demands a large ransom for Carmonte, as well as the return of his trucks. Strozzi in turn kidnaps Felina and offers to trade her instead. The two gangs make the exchange and return to their respective empires.
Smith is apprehended by Sheriff Galt, who brings him to meet with Captain Tom Pickett (Ken Jenkins) of the Texas Rangers. Pickett has been ordered to investigate the dead Border Patrol officer's death and warns Smith that the State of Texas will not tolerate Doyle and Strozzi's war any longer. He intends to bring a company of Rangers in ten days to wipe out both sides if one isn't destroyed within the week. As Smith leaves, Pickett warns him that if he finds him there after ten days, he'll kill him as well.
Lucy comes to Smith and reveals that Strozzi had her ear cut off for sleeping with him. Smith gives her some money and gets her a ride out of town. The next day, Smith relays a false rumor that Strozzi is preparing to bring in more men. Playing on Doyle's obsession with Felina, he convinces Doyle that Strozzi will try to kidnap her again to learn where Felina is being kept. Smith kills the men guarding Felina and gives her one of Doyle's cars to escape. The next day, Smith is waiting at the safehouse when Doyle arrives, and claims that he arrived too late to keep Strozzi from kidnapping Felina. Doyle's new enforcer, Jack McCool (R. D. Call), believes Smith's story but Hickey does not. Doyle goes berserk and declares that he will wipe out Strozzi's gang later that day.
Smith's plan goes awry when Hickey ambushes him, having received word that Felina was spotted heading towards Mexico. Doyle imprisons Smith and has him tortured, demanding to know where Felina is. Despite the heavy torture inflicted on him, Smith refuses to talk. Later that night, he overpowers his guards and escapes with Monday and Sheriff Galt. As they are driving out of town, they see Hickey and his men slaughtering Strozzi's gang at a roadhouse. Strozzi and Carmonte try to surrender but are gunned down without mercy.