Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the big screen in The Last Stand in his first leading role in years. The action crime/thriller will be one of the first to hit cinemas in the New Year, and given its leading star, we’re expecting it to do very well.

Acclaimed South Korean director Kim Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) is at the helm, and with its release now on the horizon, the final US trailer has debuted online, giving us more action-heavy footage to look forward to.

“Sheriff Owens is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for one of the most daring face offs in cinema history.”

Schwarzenegger stars alongside a rather promising cast, joined by Genesis Rodriguez, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Rodrigo Santoro, Luis Guzmán, Harry Dean Stanton, Peter Stormare, and the excellent Jaimie Alexander.

Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) is directing from a script by newcomer Andrew Knauer, with script supervision from Grieg Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau, The Bourne Ultimatum).

The Last Stand will be hitting US theatres on 18th January, 2013, before coming to the UK a week later for a 25th January release. It promises to be an explosive start to the New Year, and here’s the latest trailer to prove it.

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