Double détente

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.

I really liked this movie. I have a thing for late 80's action flicks like Beverly Hills Cop or 48 hrs. I thought this was pretty good movie. One of the members on here said Belushi's character was the worst part of the movie. I thought Belushi was pretty good and comedic. I love the dialogue in the movie between Danko and Ridzik at the coffee shop. Overall I would definitely recommend this movie. I also find the content to be appealing. Russian Mob and drug smuggling. I also thought the bad guy Viktor was a really cool part played by Ed O'Ross who also plays Dutch Schultz right hand man in Hoodlum which is not nearly as good as Red Heat.

Walter Hill is a director known for his tough guy action movies (The Warriors, Extreme Prejudice, Southern Comfort) and in the early 80s he scored big with 48 Hours, a story of mis-matched partners working together to catch the bad guys. He repeated that formula again in 1988 with Red Heat, though it had become a regular cliché by this point.

Ivan Danko is a no-nonsense Soviet cop sent to Chicago to extradite a notorious Russian criminal back to Communist soil. While in America he is teamed-up with easy-going Detective Art Ridzik as they jump over new hurdles and suffer multiple setbacks. As an action comedy it offers a fare amount (but just not enough) of laughs and thrills. Big Arn is amusing a the brick-faced Danko and Belushi (in his first of three appearances in Arnie movies) is likable enough. Peter Boyle and a young Laurence Fishburne help appear in smaller roles as Ridzik's cynical superiors, but are not given much else to do. Gina Gershon (yum yum) shows up as a damsel in distress, but extends the plot without deepening it. Even James Horner's score is kind of middle-ground, neither good nor terrible.

There's no real problem or fault with Red Heat except that is just doesn't offer an exhilarating amount of what it sets up. It's so straight-forward and lacking in mystery and intrigue when it could so easily have written in. A bit of a missed-opportunity, but certainly worth watching and owning for action and Arnie fans.

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.

This movie was excellent for it's kind. Two good guys were thrown together in a dangerous situation of good vs. evil. The film's title Red Heat refers to a war between cops and druglord's in the former USSR and also Chicago. Arnold of course played the tough guy character and Jim plays the comedy relief. My favorite movie of it's kind besides Bad Boys. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of this type of film.