The Cold War feels the RED HEAT of Schwarzenegger on 4K ★★☆☆☆
When the Austrian Oak reached across the Iron Curtain with a late-’80s buddy cop movie…
Walter Hill started the “buddy cop” craze of the 1980s, thanks to the success of 48 Hrs. (1982), which led directly to Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987), and all the other imitators. He returned to the genre at the tail-end of the decade with Red Heat, a film inspired by Hill’s desire to work with superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger on his “Russian cop in Chicago” idea. The Austrian Oak (who was on a phenomenal run since 1984 with The Terminator, Commando, Raw Deal, The Running Man, and Predator) agreed to star despite there being no screenplay, based solely on Hill’s concept and description of the opening scene.
Red Heat concerns stoic Captain Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger), a member of the Moscow Militia, whose partner Ogarkov (Oleg Vidov) is killed during a sting operation to capture Georgian drug lord Viktor Rostavili (Ed O’Ross). Fleeing to the US, Viktor is fortuitously apprehended by Chicago cops for a minor traffic violation, which draws Danko to the Windy City to extradite the wanted criminal back to his homeland. Once on American soil, Danko is partnered by cocky detective Art Ridzik (James Belushi) and, after Rostavili escapes custody, they must work together to bring the kingpin to justice.
The screenplay was constantly being rewritten throughout the shoot, and it shows. Red Heat starts promisingly but the story doesn’t grip after the set-up’s been handled, so it’s left to Schwarzenegger and Belushi to try and overcome its problems through sheer force of personality. Unfortunately, this odd couple pairing doesn’t have the same magic as Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs., or Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. Schwarzenegger’s not the greatest actor in the world, so it’s understandable why Hill wrote Danko as serious and deadpan. Those are traits Schwarzenegger can handle as it mostly requires he deliver lines intentionally flat and look unflappable. Danko is almost as robotic as The Terminator, and it seems the only effort Arnie put into the role was learning how to roll his r’s to give the impression his thick Austrian accent’s moderately Russian in origin.
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