Red Heat starts in Russia where drug baron Viktor 'Rosta' Rostavili (Ed O'Ross) is busted by cop Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger) but he manages to escape shooting & killing Danko's partner & friend Yuri (Oleg Vidow),on the run Viktor then flees to Chicago & starts to set up a huge drug deal with a local gang but is arrested on a minor traffic charge. Russia wants Viktor back & sends Captain Danko to Chicago to take custody of Viktor & escort him back home, however Viktor's people manage to bust him out in a shoot-out in which Chicago cop Detective Sergeant Tom Gallagher (Richard Bright) is killed. With the Russian's humiliated, a Chicago cop killed & Viktor free again Captain Danko teams up with Gallager's partner Art Ridzik (James Belushi) to bring Viktor to justice...

Co-written, co-produced & directed by Walter Hill this buddy buddy mismatched cop action thriller is not too dissimilar to his earlier film 48 Hrs. (1982),as an overblown late 80's Hollywood action film Red Heat is watchable & entertaining but not outstanding. I think that if you were to ask anyone to name one Schwarzenegger film from the 80's nobody would say Red Heat, this is minor Arnie that doesn't particularly distinguish itself but is still a decent watch all the same. The script is a fairly routine rehash of the genre clichés, the two opposing character's who have to overcome a personality clash & other differences to take down some bad guy, one goes by the book while the other is a loose cannon on the edge cop who cracks lots of one-liners, there's the blatant disregard for credibility as a police commander actually lets this Russian & one of his cops run around with guns, there's either an action scene or shoot-out at regular intervals to take your mind off the wobbly story that is rather predictable & feels wholly routine & the inevitable ending where the two mismatched partners actually realise they can work together & develop a new found respect for each other despite their differences. To be fair for what it is & what it sets out to do, basically be an entertaining buddy buddy mismatched cop action thriller, Red Heat passes the time harmlessly enough & if it wasn't for the fact that it does feel a little generic it would probably be quite highly thought of amongst 80's action film junkies. The dialogue is quite snappy & amusing at times especially Belushi's foul mouthed wise cracking cop. There's nothing wrong with Red Heat as it were but at the same time it's not a film that really stands out, still perfectly watchable though.

Director Hill does alright, the production team was actually refused permission to film is Russia although they sneaked Arnie in & filmed him in Red Square while no-one was looking... The action scenes are well shot & edited, you can clearly see what's going on & there's none of that modern shaky hand-held camera movement or ultra quick cut editing which makes it impossible to see what's going on. This is the way an action film should be shot. Most of the set-pieces consist of shoot-outs & fights until the end when there's a pretty cool bus chase through Chicago some of which was later edited into the rubbish killer Cockroach film They Crawl (2001). Probably one of the few big budget Hollywood action flicks where nothing explodes or gets blown up. The film is dedicated to experienced stunt coordinator Bennie Dobbins who died on set on February 5th 1988 in Vienna while staging the opening scene of the fight in the snow. I must admit that I actually found the opening titles really annoying & the way that the 'R's & 'N's in people's names were reversed, I don't know why I just found it highly irritating to read. Also one has to mention the over-the-top sound effects which can sound really silly at times, just check out the sound effects at the start as Arnie beats the guy up in the snow to hear what I mean.

Technically the film is good, it has good production values & is well made. The cast is pretty good, Arnie is rather wooden, Belushi is fun, Gina Gershon is alright in a small role, Ed O'Ross makes for a good villain although I'm not sure about his accent while Laurence Fishburne does OK in an early role before he hit the big time with The Matrix trilogy.

Red Heat is a film that you can't really say much about, it's a fairly generic buddy buddy mismatched cop action thriller although taken for what it is it's above average for the genre. I liked it & I am sure most action fans will too.

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.

2 cops, one from Soviet Union , bouncing Arnold Schwazzenegger, other from Chicago cop , wisecracking James Belushi , join forces to catch the Eastern Bloc's biggest drug czar. The hunk , unstoppable Russian arrives in Chicago , teaming up with a reluctant , unorthodox cop on the traíl of Soviet pusher , cop killer , Ed O'Ross. Along the way , the Russian Arnold who barely smile in this one , walks in, demolishes the bad guys and walks out again , just some odd bruise for effect. Later on , the peculiar relationship among the outlandish cops goes on growing , including sympathetic dialog , as the cops compare firepower and the Russian policeman states : Who is Dirty Harry¿ . This main cast formed by the boxoffice actors Arnold Swazzenegger and James Belushi being well accompanied by a competent support cast as Peter Boyle as chief police , Richard Bright as a deputy , Pruitt Taylor Vince as a hotel manager , Brent Jennings as bad guy , Gina Gershow as a dance girl , Brion James as a prisoner and Larry Fishburne as a Police Inspector , among others.

Lots of slam-bang action , swearing , shouting , shooting , and knocking over cars and other convenient obstacles with no much sense , it claims to be the first Hollywood production to be shot in the Red Square , Moscow . But , at times , it seems too similar to Hill's previous films . There shows up the tough Arnold , no matter how different the script , producers always give him the same role .Here is much the same in any language , even when Arnie is a Soviet policeman comes to Chicago to bring home a Russian ringleader who shot his comrade copm. Here presumably Arnold takes his shirt off less than other films . Arnie growls the usual phrases and expeditive sentences, along with James Belushi as a local cop giving some passable lines in a canon of crass national jibes .This is "48 hours" by Walter Hill formula crosses with Gorky Park by Michael Apted .This is a surface material , moderately entertaining and contemptuous , as well as amusing enough , thanks to the loads of action and fights .At any rate, a partíal return to form for Walter Hill with Arnold playing the Soviet the way he plays all his juggernaut , only more taciturn, as usual . The most visually interest stuff happens in Moscow when Arnold takes off enemies and the thrilling final , when occurs a violent confrontation between large buses , being hugely amplified by spectacular vehícles crashes .

It contains atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti.And pounding and thrilling musical score by the prolific James Horner , though composed by synthesizer . This is a major production , well and lavishly financed by the powerful producers Maro Kassar , Andrew Vadjna from Carolco Productions . The motion picture was professionally directed by Walter Hill.The veteran craftsman Hill is a good writer , producer , filmmaker who has made a lot of films of all kinds of genres , working from late 60s , early 70s to nowadays . As he has directed action movies as Hard times , The driver , Southern comfort , The warriors , Extreme prejudice, 48 Hours , Another 48 hours , Last man standing , Johnny Handsome , Undisputed. Science fiction: Supernova . Western: Geronimo American legend, Wild Bill . Long riders . Comedy : Brewster's millions . Terror : Tales of the Crypt . Musical : Crossroads . Rating 6/10.