Tango y Cash

Back in the 80's, kitsch cinema had two main sections - gory horror movies and daft action films, of which this film obviously fits into the latter. While the gory horror movies of the eighties often lacked credibility, that section of kitsch movies beats the daft action films because of the much higher content of inventiveness; but more often than not, the daft action movies make for good entertainment, even if they're somewhat less than brilliant. Tango and Cash is a notable action movie because it stars two of the eighties most popular action stars - Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell, whose antagonistic partnership makes up the core of this movie. The plot device to get the maverick cops to work together is hardly important, but nevertheless it follows the two as a corrupt state buys into a plot by a criminal kingpin to land them both in jail, which promptly sees our hero's in with the masses of criminals they themselves have sent to the clink. As you can imagine, they're not the most well liked of inmates. Especially not by 'Maniac Cop' himself, Robert Z'Dar...

The action in the movie comes thick and fast and this, when combined with the one-liner packed script make the movie feel more like a parody than a serious take on the genre. This is all good, however, as this movie is pure entertainment, and seeing two of the 80's hottest action stars fire off silly dialogue at one another is a treat to say the least. The action is over the top, and we get to watch our hero's do such things as slide down electrical cables and drive a souped up SUV around an explosion packed warehouse, and it makes for great entertainment. Of course, what the movie packs in action and snappy dialogue, it lacks in other areas such as credibility and depth; but nobody tunes into a kitschy 80's action movie for plot depth and sophistication, so blaming the movie for not offering these things is ridiculous. On the whole, if you're after a good two hours of solid action fare, you could certainly do a lot worse than Tango and Cash. This movie packs a lot of punch, delivered by two strong leading men. Thumbs up!

Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone are the reason why this run-of-the-mill action flick actually works. There's nothing innovative or special about the film, it's nothing we haven't seen before (maybe just Russell in drag) but the film is entertaining as hell thanks to it's two stars.

Stallone is Tango and Russell is Cash, two cops who get set up and sent to jail. They break out and go after the bad guys to clear their names.

The film has got some excellent action scenes, particularly inside the prison and during the break out. It's got some nice eye candy courtesy of one Teri Hatcher. The script also delivers some very funny lines now and then. Couple that with the fact that I actually do like Stallone do comedy and Russell has always been somewhat of a mini favourite; Tango and Cash is very worthy of my time every once in a while.

Downsides; Excellent actor Jack Palance is horrible in the cliché ridden bad guy role (I can't figure out if he's trying too hard or not at all) and the film has a really silly final 10 minutes where the action goes from cool to basically slapstick. Still, early 90's action fans should enjoy this flick.

The #1 reason why I love brainless action movies from the 80s and 90s? Because of the actors playing the bad guys! Just look at this baby; - Jack Palance, Brion James, Robert Z'dar, Clint Howard... Sure enough, the stars of the film are Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell, but for people who always root for the villains - like me - films like "Tango & Cash" are delightful! The set-up for this buddy-action movie is that the two best cops of Los Angeles are framed by big-shot drug/weapon dealer Palance, and end up in prison amidst the vengeful cons they locked away themselves. Plausibility and coherence are of minor importance, but "Tango & Cash" works perfectly because both Stallone and Russell prove themselves to be masters of self-parody, and the chemistry between them is awesome. Good stunt work, James Bond like gadgetry and an incredibly sexy Yazoo-dance by Teri Hatcher only make the film even more amusing.

It looks to me like everyone was having one rollicking good time making Tango&Cash. This is the kind of film that you have to take as seriously as an Indiana Jones adventure. After all their can be only one Indy.

But in this case we've a pair of cowboy cops who work in different parts of Los Angeles. Sylvester Stallone as Ray Tango and Kurt Russell as Gabe Cash are certainly known to each other however due to the headlines they've gathered smashing various criminal enterprises. They're also known to master criminal Jack Palance the Professor Moriarty of the film and he's rigged one elaborate plan for their disgrace and downfall and death.

As much as Stallone and Russell are enjoying spoofing their own action images, this film is absolutely stolen by Jack Palance. With tongue firmly in cheeking and hands twirling some imaginary mustache ends in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition, Palance is having a ball with his part.

Of course even when they're in the worst of trouble there's still that oneupsmanship that Russell and Stallone can't shake. And when Russell shows an interest in Teri Hatcher whom he later finds out is Stallone's sister, things could really have gotten interesting if it weren't for the joint problems they both were having.

When you watch this film, do not for one instant take it seriously and I guarantee a real hoot.

Tango is a smooth cop who dresses like a banker, deals in stocks and shares but loves the action. Cash is a rough and ready action man who lives life fast and dirty but is a better cop for it. Each man serves on opposite sides of the LA and both are thorns in the side of crime kingpin Yves Perret – accountable for losing him millions in seized drugs and weapons. Rather than just have them killed, Perret sets them both up for the murder of an undercover cop supposedly in a sting operation. With all the evidence against them they cop a plea for minimum-security sentence – which they don't get. With a violent and angry welcome for them, Tango and Cash decide they need to escape soon or be carried out – plus, bringing down Perret is now their sole focus.

Although I know just what this film was going to be like, I thought I'd try to give it a chance and watch it again with a fresh pair of eyes. Nothing about the plot summary would lead you to expect anything other than a clichéd action movie and all that comes with it. And that is almost exactly what you get with this. The plot is predictable and really you are just watching it go through the motions and do just what you expect it to at almost every stage. The action is typically over-the-top and lacking the touch of realism that is usually needed to make it really engaging and exciting – instead it is noisy and overblown, managing to be quite fun but certainly not gripping or involving. The character dynamics are also clichéd – it is love/hate, bantering, mismatched cops stuff but ironically it actually works pretty well. The main reason for this is that the script shows that at least Feldman wasn't taking it too seriously – the dialogue allows both to mock each other and stops them settling into their macho images too much.

Happily both Stallone and Russell buy into it and let themselves be made fun of as much as they get to give it. Neither are brilliant but at least they seem to have got the joke and avoid playing it too straight or just going along with the macho clichés. Of course they eventually get back to basics and (along with the film) eventually just gets down to big bangs and action movie traditions but for the majority of the film they just about do enough to make it fun – albeit fun in a silly, rather guilty way. Hatcher doesn't add a great deal but it is interesting to see how good she looked then and how well she has aged in the past 15 or so years. Palance hams it up something awful and is a little painful to watch – but he is matched by equally poor bad guys from James, Hong and a few others. Pollard does his usual stuff and is typical comic relief.

Overall this is a dumb action movie and if you hate that type of film then you will hate this. I must admit that, by the end, the sheer cheesy stupidity of the whole thing had started to grate on me somewhat but up till that point it had been silly and quite fun. The amusing banter is one plus and at least Stallone and Russell aren't taking it too seriously for the most part and provide enough to stop it being a totally predictable genre film – even if it is a close run thing.