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Red Heat

Play trailer Poster for Red Heat R Released Jun 17, 1988 1h 43m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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69% Tomatometer 26 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 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 Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Red Heat is a fast-paced action comedy, with gun fire, bursting with mishaps all around. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 7, 2022 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Red Heat is a slick, effective cop movie, revealing that Schwarzenegger could dominate the screen given a role tailored to his unique style Rated: 3/5 Mar 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Nawt W Flailing the most stereotypical portrayal of a Soviet cop the 1980s could manifest as the main draw of the story, it unfortunately fails to do anything but the bare minimum with its own concept. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Sometimes you gotta bring the heat down Walter Hill directs an action buddy-cop flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Belushi, Peter Boyle, Laurence Fishburne, and Gina Gershon A Moscow detective Ivan Danko is hunting a Soviet drug smuggler Viktor Rostavili He follows him to NYC with the help of an American officer Art Ridzik Viktor's wife is also a big part in bringing him down Ultra-violent, action-packed, and two strong leads help the movie be exciting The gun fights are brutal and this moves by pretty quick The final chase involving two buses is filmed very slickly For all its formula the two actors are the best bits seeing the differences of justice between the East and west It's the stuff made for tv but highly entertaining Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/18/23 Full Review max n This is average enough. Not one of Arnold's best movies in my opinion, but Red Heat isn't too bad. Though I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review matthew d Arnold plays a Russian detective in an underrated action thriller! Director Walter Hill's action-comedy thriller Red Heat (1988) is one of the greatest buddy cop movies ever made to be honest. Hill's direction is so stylish and exciting. Shadows all over the wonderful Chicago backdrop alongside the smoke and grimy street corners. Seeing Moscow and Budapest was neat too. Red Heat opens up on naked Russian ladies and bodybuilder men in a sauna that Arnold walks into and punches some bad guys out while still nude. That's the fun tone that Red Heat starts with, then proceeds to be both an intriguing crime drama and hysterical action-comedy. Plenty of men get shot as the jokes fly like bullets. There's shady cocaine deals, people jumping through glass, and a bus car chase for thrills among all the shootouts and interrogations. Red Heat is one of Arnold's funniest comedies, where he gets to be a very cool Soviet Russian detective that's no nonsense and all secret intelligence. Red Heat is worth seeing for Arnold's fun acting alone besides Belushi's funny supporting role. They're a blast together! I wasn't expecting much at first, but Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi have fantastic chemistry with their combative relationship as officers of the law from different countries. Red Heat is like Dirty Harry and Ninotchka meets Rush Hour. Red Heat feels similar to Rush Hour's dynamic of buddy cops, instead of differing races, Red Heat is all about opposing countries with Capitalist America having to collaborate with Soviet Russia. Walter Hill, Harry Kleiner, and Troy Kennedy-Martin's brilliant script features tons of hilarious jokes about the different ideals between American Capitalism, Soviet torture, Miranda Rights, and so much more. All the humor made me actually laugh out loud with clever writing and a sarcastic sense of humor. Arnold Schwarzenegger is awesome as the muscular Soviet Russian Captain Ivan Danko. Arnold plays it straight and feels believable as a ruthless and competent detective. He fires away at criminals with no moral qualms about murder. His straightlaced performance is pretty endearing and one of Arnold's better acting performances too. James Belushi is a riot as the sleazy and ever complaining Chicago Detective Sergeant Art Ridzik. Belushi's every line is funny and had me laughing throughout Red Heat. Peter Boyle is great as the strict and cunning Chicago Police Commander Lou Donnelly. Ed O'Ross is creepy and fierce as the Russian cocaine drug lord Viktor Rosta with his guttural voice and leering eyes. Laurence Fishburne is excellent as the overly confident by-the-book cop Lieutenant Charlie Stobbs. His smug smirks are really great. Gina Gershon is very sexy as Cat Manzetti, but her foolish character gets an off screen death, strangely. This is my only real complaint about Red Heat, but it makes sense for her role as Cat is in over her head. She gets a fun dance choreography scene besides her chase sequence and farewell with Arnold. Richard Bright is very charming as the friendly Sergeant Max Gallagher. All of his lines with Arnold are really fun. Brent Jennings is fascinating in a character acting role as crime boss Abdul Elijah. Gretchen Palmer is cute as the shocked Hooker in the seedy Chicago motel. Composer James Horner delivers a triumphant score full of massive orchestral glory and exciting themes for the action. I like how often he incorporates Russian music into his score to really nail that Soviet vibe for Red Heat. Dan Moore's costumes are fun, but especially great on Arnold in his Soviet uniform and green Gumby suit. Make-up artists Jeff Dawn, Michael Germain, and Erzsébet Forgács give every girl big curly 80's hair and each person loose 80's clothes that feel realistic for streetwear. In all, Red Heat is thrilling and hilarious. It remains one of Arnold's best and certainly most overlooked movies. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Red Heat

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Cast & Crew

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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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