Red Heat
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Red Heat | |
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File:Red Heat.jpg
Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Walter Hill[1] |
Produced by | Walter Hill Gordon Carroll Mario Kassar Andrew G. Vajna |
Screenplay by | Walter Hill Harry Kleiner Troy Kennedy Martin |
Story by | Walter Hill |
Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> |
Music by | James Horner |
Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
Edited by | Donn Aron Carmel Davies Freeman A. Davies |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
Release dates
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June 14, 1988 (premiere) June 17, 1988 |
Running time
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103 min |
Country | United States Soviet Union |
Language | English Russian |
Budget | $29 million[1] |
Box office | $34,994,648 USD (Domestic) 1,292,988 admissions (France)[2] |
Red Heat is a 1988 American buddy cop action film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Moscow narc Ivan Danko, and James Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridzik. Finding themselves on the same case, Danko and Ridzik work as partners to catch a cunning and deadly Soviet Georgian drug kingpin, Viktor Rostavili (Ed O'Ross), who also happens to be the killer of Danko's previous partner back in Soviet Russia.
The film was released with the tagline "Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing more dangerous than making them mad: making them partners." It was the first American film given permission to shoot in Moscow's Red Square - however, most of the scenes set in the USSR (with the exceptions of the establishing shots under the main titles and the final lengthy shot in Red Square behind the end credits) were actually shot in Hungary. Schwarzenegger was paid a salary of $8 million for his role in the film.[3] It has found a cult audience amongst fluent Russian speakers because of the movie's weak portrayal of the Russian language and stereotypes.
Contents
Plot
Captain Ivan Danko of the Moscow Police sets a trap for Viktor Rostavili, a Georgian drug kingpin and crime lord. The ambush severely backfires; Viktor flees the Soviet Union and comes to the USA, after gunning down several other Moscow cops, including Danko's partner.
Loudmouthed Chicago Police Department Detective-Sergeant Art Ridzik, investigates several local murders committed by Viktor's cartel. When Viktor is arrested in Chicago, Danko is dispatched to escort him back to Moscow to face justice in the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly, Danko and Ridzik find themselves partnered together when Viktor escapes custody, gunning down Ridzik's partner in the process. Danko is frustrated when his lack of a diplomatic license prohibits him from carrying a weapon. He shares his candid observations with Ridzik: "This Chicago is very strange city. Your crime is organized, but your police is not."
Danko and Ridzik pursue Viktor and his henchmen around Chicago. Finally, Danko and Viktor commandeer a couple of Greyhound buses, then engage in a high-speed chase, smashing up half of Chicago in the process, with no sign of the cops...until Viktor is side-slammed by a train. He takes on Danko in a running, Texas-style shootout (Danko uses a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum given to him by Ridzik); Viktor is gunned down. Danko returns to Moscow after exchanging wristwatches with Ridzik as an act of goodwill.
Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Capt. Ivan Danko
- James Belushi as Det. Sgt. Art Ridzik
- Ed O'Ross as Viktor "Rosta" Rostavili
- Peter Boyle as Cmdr. Lou Donnelly
- Gina Gershon as Catherine "Cat" Manzetti
- Larry Fishburne as Lt. Charlie Stobbs
- Richard Bright as Det. Sgt. Tom Gallagher
- J.W. Smith as Salim
- Brent Jennings as Abdul Elijah
- Sven-Ole Thorsen as Nikolai, the Russian Danko fights in the snow
- Gretchen Palmer as Hooker
- Pruitt Taylor Vince as Night Clerk
- Michael Hagerty as Pat Nunn
- Brion James as Streak
- Peter Jason as TV Announcer
- Oleg Vidov as Yuri Ogarkov
- Savely Kramarov as Gregor Moussorsky
- Gene Scherer as Consul Dmitri Stepanovich
- Gabor Koncz as Vagran Rostavili
- Roger Callard as Pyotr Tatomovich
Production
Walter Hill says he conceived of the idea for Red Heat because he and Arnold Schwarzenegger had long wanted to work together:
I didn't want to do sci-fi and it's tough to use Arnold credibly in an American context with his accent. I thought it would be interesting if he could play a Russian cop in the US. I wanted to do a traditional John Wayne/Clint Eastwood larger-than-life movie. You then ask the question: Will the American audience accept an unapologetic Soviet hero, someone who will not defect at the end of the movie?[4]
Hill says he deliberately chose to tone down the Schwarzenegger persona, making him more realistic and less prone to wisecracks. Hill:
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.[4]
The music score was done by James Horner. "I told James I wanted something like you're in the Olympics and you've just won a gold medal," said Hill. "I wanted something heroic."[5]
Hill says he wanted to use buses rather than cars in the climactic action scene because it would be more interesting. "Also, I thought it was very appropriate for Arnold. He doesn't fit well in cars."[5]
He described the film as "in an odd way it's a traditional love story between these two guys.[5]
Reception
The movie received a mixed to positive response from critics.[6][7] Red Heat currently holds a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews.
Box office
The movie was a box office success,[8][9] but was far outpaced by Schwarzenegger's other comedy film in 1988, Twins.
Home media
The film was a success on home rentals.[10]
Media Type |
Release date |
Country |
Publisher |
Format |
Region Code |
Ratio |
Resolution |
Audio |
Subtitles | Notes |
REF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VHS |
1 January 1990 | United Kingdom | Cinema Club |
PAL | N/A | Unknown | 480i Analog |
Stereo | No | Part of Double Pack Conan the Destroyer/Red Heat. | [11] |
VHS |
9 June 1998 | United Kingdom | Cinema Club |
PAL | N/A | Unknown | 480i Analog |
Stereo | No | Part of Triple Pack Gunmen / Wanted Dead Or Alive / Red Heat . | [12] |
VHS |
1 October 1999 | United Kingdom | Cinema Club |
PAL | N/A | Unknown | 480i Analog |
Stereo | No | N/A | [13] |
DVD |
20 May 2002 | United Kingdom | Momentum | PAL | 2 | 16:9 | 480p Digital |
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 |
English | Additional Audio Options German:Surround Sound and Spanish:Mono | [14] |
DVD |
10 October 2005 | United Kingdom | Momentum | PAL | 2 | 16:9 | 480p Digital |
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 |
English | Part of Quadruple Pack Total Recall, Red Heat, Raw Deal and Red Sonja. | [15] |
DVD |
4 August 2008 | United Kingdom | Optimum Home Releasing |
PAL | 2 | 16:9 | 480p Digital |
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 |
English | N/A | [16] |
Blu-ray |
28 June 2010 | United Kingdom | Optimum Home Releasing |
PAL | A/B/C | 16:9 | 1080p Digital |
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
English | N/A | [17] |
Blu-ray |
25 October 2010 | United Kingdom | Optimum Home Releasing |
PAL | A/B/C | 16:9 | 1080p Digital |
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
English | Part of Quadruple Pack Total Recall, Red Heat, Raw Deal and Red Sonja. | [18] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Box office figures for Walter Hill films in France at Box Office Story
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Director Hill puts extra dimension in Hollywood themes Thompson, Anne. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file) [Chicago, Ill] 17 June 1988: GL.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Action man with an eye for character Dwyer, Michael. The Irish Times (1921-Current File) [Dublin, Ireland] 13 Jan 1989: 14.
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External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1988 films
- 1980s action films
- American action thriller films
- American films
- Buddy films
- Carolco Pictures films
- Cold War films
- English-language films
- Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department
- Film scores by James Horner
- Films about organized crime in Russia
- Films about drugs
- Films directed by Walter Hill
- Films set in Budapest
- Films set in Chicago, Illinois
- Films set in Moscow
- Films set in the Soviet Union
- Gangster films
- Police detective films
- Russian-language films
- TriStar Pictures films
- Cold War in popular culture