Red Heat (1988)

“Oh, great. We got a pro basketball team coming toward us – with guns! ” – Art

Number of Times Seen – at least 5 times (Cable in the 80’s and 9 Mar 2017)

Brief Synopsis – A Russian policeman must travel to Chicago in order to capture an escaped Russian Drug Lord.

My Take on it – This film came out in the late 80’s right when film makers wanted to try and show how Glasnost could make movies more globally interesting.

The idea here is good, but the execution is done quite poorly.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi are truly mismatched  as partners here and that should be an advantage but in reality their chemistry is almost non-existent together which makes things not work like it should.

Most of their scenes together come across as a farce instead of making it a fun and entertaining buddy-buddy action film.

The story itself feels quite unoriginal and the storyline doesn’t flow like it should which makes things not as enjoyable to watch.

This is by far not one of Arnie’s best films, but he still is able to show the kind of presence that he was known for back in the 80’s.

Bottom Line – Interesting idea for a buddy-buddy cop movie that just doesn’t work as well as it should.  Schwarzenegger and Belushi have no chemistry together and many of their scenes together feel more like a farce than they should.  Doesn’t feel original enough and the story itself is a bit choppy.  Not one of Arnie’s best….

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Walter Hill deliberately chose to tone down the Arnold Schwarzenegger persona, making him more realistic and less prone to wisecracks: “I had confidence in him as an actor. I didn’t want him just to throw a Volkswagen over a building. Arnold has an ability to communicate that cuts through cultures and countries. They just love to see this guy win. But everyone thinks it’s his muscles. It’s not that at all: it’s his face, his eyes. He has a face that’s a throwback to a warrior from the Middle Ages, or ancient Greece”. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy

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