Red Heat

Red Heat
Theatrical release poster
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	Arnold Schwarzenegger James Belushi Peter Boyle Ed O'Ross
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Edited by	Donn Aron Carmel Davies Freeman A. Davies
Production company	Carolco Pictures StudioCanal
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	June 14, 1988 (premiere) June 17, 1988
Running time	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]

Plot

Captain Ivan Danko of the Moscow Militia 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, Gallagher, 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 Tatamovich
• Tengiz Borisoff as Josif Baroda

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]

The script was constantly rewritten during the shoot. Among the writers who worked on it were Hill himself, Harry Kleiner, Troy Kennedy Martin, Steven Meerson & Peter Krikes, and John Mankiewicz & Daniel Pyne. "You've got to understand that Walter likes to create as he goes along," said a source close to the production. "Also, the project was put together quickly based on an idea of his-a Russian cop in Chicago. There was no script." A spokesman for the Writers Guild said Hill was a member in very good standing: "He does tend to hire a lot of people but he pays well above minimums and we feel he's been quite straightforward about screen credit."^[6]

Reception

The movie received a mixed to positive response from critics.^[7][8] Red Heat currently holds a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews.

Box office

The movie was a box office success,^[9][10] but was far outpaced by Schwarzenegger's other comedy film in 1988, Twins.

Home media

The film was a success on home rentals.^[11]

See also

• Déjà Vu (1988 film)

References

External links

• Red Heat at the Internet Movie Database
• Red Heat at AllMovie
• Red Heat at Rotten Tomatoes
• Red Heat at Box Office Mojo