Red Heat (1988)

Arnold Schwarzenegger doggedly whacks Russian monsters in this superb action cop duo flick! Though not the strongest of his 80's action bundle, Red Heat still offers a lot to enjoy and will appeal to Arnie fans and action movie fans alike. Arnie plays Russian cop Ivan Danko - pulling off a funny accent - as he travels to Chicago, U.S.A to retrieve Russian fugitive Viktor Rostavili (played by American actor Ed O'Ross - whom pulls off a really convincing accent), whom fled to the States following the murder of a fellow Cop associated with Danko. Rostavili is caught up in an illegal scheme of heroin to ship out to Russia. The plot of the movie revolves around the theme of revenge, as Danko is partnered by Chicago cop Art Ridzik (played proficiently by Jim Belushi), whom lost a friend and veteran cop to Rostavili's Russian mobsters. The chemistry between Danko and Ridzik is noteworthy and excellent. Belushi really nails his part as tough-mouthed Chicago wise-ass cop whom is witty and energetic to the point of having a great sense of character, and this fits perfectly with Schwarzenegger's Danko whom is unbeknownst of American slang and cockiness. As I stated not Schwarzenegger's 80's best but Red Heat is still a great action movie, giving Arnie the challenge of nailing a Russian pistol-bearing cop along with the dogged Belushi - and their on screen chemistry is nothing short of surprises.

If you were to rank all of Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies, "Red Heat" would place somewhere in the middle (in quality as well as in popularity). It's basic, formulaic cops-and-drug-dealers stuff, but expertly directed by action specialist Walter Hill, who also made other violent buddy-movies like "48 Hours" and its sequel. Arnold has a role here that allows him to use his robotic delivery to his advantage (he is almost like a human Terminator); it's one of his better performances, and he is certainly funnier than his co-star, James Belushi ("Hooligani!"). The bus-chase climax is pretty spectacular. **1/2 out of 4.

Red Heat might be a derivative buddy-cop action-comedy but does it really matter? No. It might be a bit dated now but you cannot deny that Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi made a great odd-couple of police officers who are polar opposites forced to work together.Highly decorated Moscow Police Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Terminator) travels to Chicago where ruthless drug dealer Viktor Rostavili (Ed O'Ross, Lethal Weapon) has been located and arrested after evading Moscow Police. There, Ivan Danko meets uncouth and reckless Chicago Police Detective Art Ridzik (James Belushi, K-9) while Viktor is in custody. When the extradition goes wrong after Ivan is ambushed by a group of thugs and break Viktor out of custody, Ivan and Art must stop butting heads and work together to take down Viktor.Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the highly disciplined Ivan Danko yet finds himself like a fish out of water in Chicago, a far cry from Moscow. James Belushi is tailor made for comedic roles and his role as the unorthodox police detective Art Ridzik is a perfect mismatch with Arnold. Ed O'Ross has a good role as the main villain Viktor Rostavili. The rest of the supporting cast including the late Peter Boyle (Everybody Loves Raymond), Gina Gershon (Face/Off), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Natural Born Killers), Richard Bright (The Godfather) and Brion James (Blade Runner) also pop up throughout the movie.Director Walter Hill might have tried to resurrect his formula that worked a treat in 48 Hrs. (1982) and recycle it here, but it is something that be hit and miss. The end result was a moderate success, but there's only so many times you can try it and use it. Use it too many times, audiences are going to dismiss it and treat it with indifference for being unoriginal.Red Heat may not be one of the best movies of all time and it is often criticized for being predictable, derivative and dated now. Personally, none of that really matters at all. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen Red Heat, and I can say that it is a worthy time filler that is still a lot of fun.7/10.

"Red Heat" has a great director and two actors ideally suited to its admittedly trite premise, but then takes forty four minutes to get it's nonsensical plot sorted out so that the premise can come to the forefront. After all that it really only has two memorable scenes: the weird bit at the beginning with a unisex Russian spa and Arnie grabbing a burning rock before punching someone, and a bit right at the very end where Arnie and Belushi go after the villain - a perfectly cast Ed O'Ross - in a bus.These were the only bits that showed be something different, and interesting.Aside from that it's the typical mismatched buddy cop movie, with two guys who hate each other at first and then learn to appreciate each other.But it didn't have to take so long to get there. The plot holds us up and needlessly complicates things with something about a key that opens a locker and someone with half a hundred dollar note. You know this stuff isn't really important; it's about the action and the chemistry between our two heroes.You get the latter more than the former.