Red Heat

"Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing worse than making them mad. Making them partners."

1988 1h 44m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 1,690

ActionCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.

“Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing worse than making them mad. Making them partners.”

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Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ivan Danko
Jim Belushi
Art Ridzik
Peter Boyle
Lou Donnelly
Ed O'Ross
Viktor Rostavili
Laurence Fishburne
Lt. Stobbs
Gina Gershon
Cat Manzetti
Richard Bright
Sgt. Gallagher
Brent Jennings
Abdul Elijah

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Walter Hill
Writers: Troy Kennedy Martin, Harry Kleiner, Walter Hill
Languages: English, Russian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Walter Hill, shot by Matthew F. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Donn Aron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi and Peter Boyle carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing worse than making them mad. Making them partners.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0095963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Walter Hill directs. Matthew F. Leonetti behind the camera. James Horner scores. Donn Aron cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Russian.
3Directed by Walter Hill, shot by Matthew F. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Donn Aron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi and Peter Boyle carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing worse than making them mad. Making them partners.".
8IMDB entry: tt0095963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "drug dealer", "martial arts", "police brutality", "showdown".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Donn Aron
Production design: John Vallone
Costume design: Dan Moore
Makeup / hair: Michael Germain
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $29,000,000
Box office: $34,994,648
Return: 121% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Red Heat (1988)

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Walter Hill

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Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522019-10-19
★ 7/10
Entertaining enough buddy-cop movie has some fun action scenes (the bus chase sequence was great). Only thing holding it back was the pairing of Schwarzenegger and Belushi never quite worked for me. Still a good flick from Walter Hill, though not sure it ranks all that high compared with others from the era. 3.5/5
John Chard2020-08-30
★ 7/10
Look out Chicago, Arnie & Jimmy are loose on the streets. Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a no nonsense Soviet cop who is sent to Chicago to pick up a murdering Russian drug dealer. Upon arriving in the windy city, Danko is teamed with Art Ridzik (James Belushi), a wise-cracking street cop notorious for cutting corners to get the job done. Complete polar opposites, both men form an unlikely alliance as Danko's Soviet methods blend with Ridzik's free spirited street wise techniques. There were quite a few buddy buddy films around in the 1980s, certainly the teaming of unlikely cop partners was nothing new at the time of Red Heat's release. Yet for all it's obvious reliance on clichés, and its out dated Russian/American guffaws, Red Heat is a romping, violent and funny picture. Pairing the big Austrian Oak Schwarzenegger with the Americana that is James Belushi pays off in bundles. Yes it's sometimes crass, but Belushi's cocky mannerisms play off Schwarzenegger's robotic frame with comedic joy. All played out in amongst carnage and murder created by director Walter Hill, who is quite frankly, and thankfully, just extending the formula that he started in 1982 with 48 Hrs. The support cast is not to be sniffed at either. Peter Boyle, Ed O'Ross, Laurence Fishburne, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Brion James and Gina Gershon. All line up to add fuel to the Arnie and Jimmy fire. Also good to see is that Hill shot on location in Illinois and Moscow to give the film some scenic impetus, whilst James Horner's score is suitably bombastic and at one with the material. It's no rocket scientist who observes a film like this and calls it popcorn fodder, because it so obviously is. But within its buddy buddy framework lies a very quotable film that's essential for fans of Arnie & Jimmy. Sometimes that's all one needs from a film like this. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-11-06
★ 6/10
I am not sure how much actual acting Arnold Schwarzenegger had to do in this rather derivative crime caper. A bit like John Wayne in "Brannigan" (1975), he is despatched to partner up with a cop abroad to order to repatriate a dangerous criminal. In this case, though, he is a Russian and it is wise-cracking American "Ridzik" (Jim Belushi) that he must bridge the culture-gap and work with to track down a murderous drug dealer who did for his partner and fled. To be fair to Arnie, he has his tongue a bit in his cheek here, but Belushi just mis-fires once too often in this rather sloppy adventure. The escapades are all rather predictable and the underlying joke/scenario wears thin all too quickly. I suppose it nods a little to the thawing in the post-Reagan relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union, but the delivery borders on the slapstick at times and I was never really a fan of Belushi's brand of rather puerile comedy - indulged in spades here by a trio of writers including the usually far more reliable Troy Kennedy Martin. It passes the time effortlessly enough, and reminds us who lived through that period of just how dodgy some of our fashions were, but thereafter it's all pretty mediocre fayre.