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It's a fun action-comedy and that's that! You can make all the arguments you want. This is definitely not for the discerning viewer. Maybe I'm just easily satisfied by the buddy cop genre. Plus, I love Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies, in general. His action scenes are always fun to watch, and he always seems to come up with great one-liners. In this case, he spouts out a few dryly humorous lines as his stonefaced Russian character. Jim Belushi provides most of the laughs, though, as his unorthodox partner. They both do a good job, though Arnold's Russian accent seems quite strained. Then again, as the film heats up, you really don't pay attention to details like that. Also look out for the beautiful Gena Gershon in an early performance. Those in the mood for "Henry V" should definitely steer clear. Those in the mood for mindless buddy cop fluff that'll keep you excited and keep you laughing should check this movie out.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

The first 15 minutes of the movie occurs in Red Square in Moscow. Grim, Stone-faced, distant Moscow homicide cop Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tries to apprehend Russian Georgian drug dealer Viktor Rostavili (Ed O'Ross) and his brother. Viktor escapes, but not before he shoots Danko's partner, Yuri. In turn, Viktor's brother is killed. Viktor escapes to Chicago, where he teams up with black thugs known as the Cleanheads. They are cocaine pushers.

Danko is sent to Chicago where he teams up with vocal, wisecracking, plainclothes detective Art Ridzik (John Belushi) in order to track down Victor to extradite him. After he was captured and escorted by Danko and Ridzik, though, Viktor escaped when he was assisted by the Cleanheads, who were dressed like policemen. Ridzick's partner was killed in the mêlée.

Thus the only plot of this action-thriller is to capture Viktor; there is neither mystery nor intrigue. There are, however, the obligatory shoot-outs and chase scenes. Note that neither Ridzick nor Danko believes in the Miranda Act. The ending involves a bus chase through the streets of Chicago at night, followed by a duel. This is the first movie in which an American director was allowed to film on location in Red Square. It was also filmed in Budapest and in Chicago.

Red Heat is a surprisingly good movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi have good chemistry in this Russian cop/cop buddy film. In this film at least it makes sense for Arnie to have an accent. There is some good lines and the back and forth between these two is pretty funny sometimes. When Jim Belushi plays a cop he puts on this irreverant "I don't like the rules but I get things done" style. It is this style combined with Arnold's "complete objective at all costs" style that makes this film work. The footage that was shot in Red Square is breathtaking, and overall the movie manages to take a basic plot and make it entertaining. On a side note, the holdout gun used by the villian (Ed O'Ross) in the movie is pretty damn cool if you're into that kind of thing. Bottom Line: This is worth getting, or you can rent it every once and awhile if you can only take Arnold for so long.

Walter Hill is an underrated guy. He kind of single-handedly created the cop buddy genre with 48 hours and Red Heat. Arnie's best days are long gone (they probably ended with Twins and Total Recall), but here, he gets to shine, maybe because the character of Danko perfectly matches his sometimes "wooden" performance. It's definitely one of his strongest roles. Ed O'Ross is also brilliant as Danko's counterpart and although only has a few scenes, he owns them. Usually, he plays funnier characters (even in Moonlighting or Full Metal Jacket, his characters seem a bit tongue in cheek), but this is probably the strongest role I remember him in.

The movie oozes atmosphere. The rainy weather, the streets of Moscow(Budapest), the great soundtrack by James Horner...sure, it's a movie that has clichés and the story is nothing extraordinary, but the movie works well and is entertaining every time, even if you know what's going to happen. There's just something about basically making this kind of a Soviet affair in American land. Highly recommended.

Arnie's best days are long gone but here, he gets to shine, maybe because the character of Danko perfectly matches his sometimes "wooden" performance. It's definitely one of his strongest roles. it's a movie that has clichés and the story is nothing extraordinary, but the movie works well and is entertaining every time, even if you know what's going to happen.