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Red Heat

Play trailer Poster for Red Heat R 1988 1h 43m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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64% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
A Moscow detective (Arnold Schwarzenegger) shows his local police escort (James Belushi) how to hunt a Soviet drug smuggler in Chicago.
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Red Heat

Red Heat

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Critics Consensus

Red Heat's overreliance on genre formula is bolstered by Walter Hill's rugged direction and a strong touch of humor.

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety Schwarzenegger, who when he dons a green suit is dubbed 'Gumby' by Belushi, is right on target with his characterization of the iron-willed soldier, and Belushi proves a quicksilver foil. Jul 6, 2010 Full Review Geoff Andrew Time Out Surface stuff, moderately contemptuous, but entertaining enough. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times ''Red Heat'' is a topically entertaining variation on the sort of action-adventure nonsense that plays best on television. May 20, 2003 Full Review Stefan Tomas The Hermes Tidings A Classic in the smallest sense of the word. Rated: 2/4 Oct 30, 2025 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Schwarzenegger is watchable in yet another guns-and-stunts adventure, but this production is entirely forgettable. Rated: 4/10 Feb 6, 2025 Full Review Mitchell Beaupre Paste Magazine Red Heat is absolutely worth the watch for the first 15 minutes alone. Rated: 6.5/10 Sep 29, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B It's not bad. I will say this only could've come out in 87'. Arnold as a Soviet is....miscasting of course but I like it still because of his dead pan performance so....I'm kind of ok with it? Belushi isn't bad either as the wise cracking comedic relief but I'm not sure they have the best chemistry ever. But it's not bad to watch them because they are such polar opposites it's kind of fasinating. Everything here is half decent. It's got a degree of self awareness to it I think half the time. Maybe there is underlying commentary on the Cold War here and the flaws of Capitalism but it gets bogged down by the fact you have a man with a clear German/Austrian accent playing a Russian, all the constant wisecracks humor attempts that do work more than they don't, and the actual crime plot. The underlying drug lord hunting down story is....muddled at worst and nothing special at best. One thing leads to another, shootout happens, jokes, and rinse and repeat. It's got pretty much every cliche you can think of when it comes to the buddy cop genre also with a fish out of water twist to it. It doesn't break new ground but it really doesn't do the basics consistently well. The crime plot is hard to follow, the odd dynamics between the two leads, and the hit or miss humor. Also, there really isn't much depth to the characters either. Arnold has some but Belushi really doesn't have any at all and the villian is just ok. It's your standard drug guy you've seen in everything from Bad Boys to Scarface. Some of the action scenes are good though. I liked the bus chase at the end. It's half decent all around honestly. If you've seen a buddy cop movie before especially from this decade than you've basically seen this. But if your a big fan of Walter Hill, any actors here, or 80's buddy cop films than maybe give this a try. It's pretty easy viewing and has a popcorn movie type feel to it at times. Most could skip it and not miss much. It's a shame because this si almost close to being good. But I'm not sure you could remake this given how niche this is. Only in the late 80's could this have come out. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/28/25 Full Review Carlos T Filme: Inferno Vermelho Assistido: Elenco: @schwazenegger @jim_belushi @laurence_fishburner @ginagerhon @instantegiz Ed O’Ross Modelo: #policial #ação Duração: 1h 44m Ano: 1998 Minha opinião: Um filme que Arnold faz o papel de agente russo. E esta atras de um máfioso que foge para os EUA. E assim ele é enviado para os EUA, e lá tem um parceiro que o acompanha Belushi. E os 2 vão atrás do mafioso. E com várias cenas de porradaria, com o Arnold ao estilo bad boy. Vale apena assistir? Saudades deste estilo de filme. Nota: 5 Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/27/25 Full Review Monica A 4/10 means okay Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review thiago s Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas para mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 05/24/25 Full Review Justin W Good old fashion gun action Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/24 Full Review Gregory R I always enjoyed this movie. Not the best Arnie movie, far from the worst. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis A Moscow detective (Arnold Schwarzenegger) shows his local police escort (James Belushi) how to hunt a Soviet drug smuggler in Chicago.
Director
Walter Hill
Producer
Gordon Carroll, Walter Hill
Screenwriter
Harry Kleiner, Walter Hill, Troy Kennedy Martin
Distributor
TriStar Pictures
Production Co
Carolco Pictures Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 17, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.0M
Runtime
1h 43m
Sound Mix
Surround
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