When Jason Clarke spoke with MovieWeb about The Last Frontier, his new action-packed thriller series on Apple TV+, he waxed poetic about an upcoming reunion with a beloved collaborator:
“I love Kathryn [Bigelow]… Let me just say there’s only a couple of directors in the world, I think, capable of that level of execution in a film. She lands the film, the end of it, on a pinprick. I saw it for the first time about a week ago, and it shook me, even though I was part of it. There is something about it.”
House of Dynamite is an acclaimed new action thriller from Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Clarke worked with her on the latter, and he can’t wait for audiences to experience their new project during its theatrical release. As he put it, “There is something wonderful about sitting in a cinema with hundreds of people and sharing it.”
For Clarke, Bigelow’s genius is on full display in the film’s ending: “To land on a ‘boom’—and the ‘boom’ is inside of you on ‘A House of Dynamite’—is exceptional talent in the mechanics of [film making] and storytelling.”
‘The Last Frontier’ Riffs On Another Action Movie Classic
The Last Frontier is no slouch when it comes to edge-of-your-seat action. Clarke stars as Frank Remnick, an Alaskan U.S. marshal left to deal with a downed plane that was packed with violent inmates, including one of particularly clandestine interest.
If that plot sounds slightly familiar, it’s because it seems to riff on the concept of Con Air, a 1997 action classic directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage. The twist this time, which makes the proceedings all the more compelling, is a combination of harsh elements in the Alaskan wilderness and the small town’s retiring marshal forced to face astoundingly tough odds.
Throw in the mysteriously troubled Agent Sydney Scofield (Haley Bennett) sent by the government to secure the situation, and you’re left with a veritable powder keg. For Clarke, the similarities between the new series and the upcoming Netflix feature aren’t just on the surface, but in the excellence of the craft. “I feel like I felt the same way on our show [The Last Frontier],” he explained. “Every episode ends on a cliffhanger, and to land [effectively] on a cliffhanger… that’s exceptional.”
The secret sauce behind the effective action in The Last Frontier might have come from behind the camera as well, in the guise of stunt coordinator extraordinaire turned director Sam Hargrave. Clarke continued:
“Sam [Hargrave] and his team are so good… I’ve seen the stuff they did in Marvel movies, and I saw Sam’s work on ‘Extraction’ with Chris Hemsworth… some of those sequences have become legendary, and so here we are in the snow with a plane and a helicopter, and you just go, ‘Yeah… this is it.”
The sequence Clarke is referring to takes place in the very first episode of The Last Frontier, serving to introduce both his character and the audience to the intense danger that has suddenly crashed into their world. From then on, the series never lets go of the rope.
The Last Frontier premieres on Apple TV+ on October 10, 2025, and A House of Dynamite is in limited theatrical release on October 10th as well, followed by a Netflix premiere on October 24th.
- Release Date
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October 3, 2025
- Runtime
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113 minutes
- Director
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Kathryn Bigelow
- Producers
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Brian Bell, Greg Shapiro