 |
| CULTURALLY DIVERSE |
This
“Action Movie Time Machine” review will conclude this here Arnold-a-thon that
we've been enjoying so much lately. Enjoy!
The year
is 1988. The Hubble Space Telescope is put into commission, the Stealth Bomber
is unveiled and Nike says “Just do it”. Ping Pong becomes an Olympic
sport and aside from playing the long lost brother of Danny DeVito in “Twins”,
Arnold Schwarzenegger makes the long trek from Soviet Russia to Chicago to put
an end to drug traffickers in “Red Heat”.
THE
SKINNY
The film
begins inside a Russian bathhouse as Captain Ivan Danko, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, uses his fists to pound information out of a low lever
thug. Danko and his partner have been investigating Viktor Rosta, a crime boss
responsible for hundreds of deaths, rapes, thefts and in more recent months, he
has been funneling cocaine into Russia.
This bathhouse
scene is neat and all, but like ALL bathhouses, everyone is nude. Including
Arnold, and even during the fisticuffs. I remember seeing this movie as a kid –
at least this part anyhow – and I giggled like the little kid that I was.
Anyhow,
this information leads to an attempt to capture Rosta which is unsuccessful and
even leaves Danko's partner dead. Rosta manages to escape the country, heading
to Chicago to meet with his cocaine connections, a gang known as the “Clean
Heads”. The Clean Heads are a black supremest para-military criminal organization who's
goal it to be a thorn in the side of the “white man”. Selling cocaine to
a Russian crime boss is in their best interests, as it will expose an entire
country of white people to what could lead to debilitating addiction and other
bad stuff.
Danko
receives orders to follow Rosta and apprehend him without the local police or
government learning that he is even there. If his cover is blown, the snafu
could result in a political black-eye for the Russian government. But for
Danko, it's personal. He is only interested in catching the man who killed his
partner.
It isn't
long before his cover IS blown and the Chicago P.D. learn who he is and why he
has come to the States. Detective Sargent Art Ridzik, Jim Belushi, and
his partner are assigned to escort Danko around Chicago, and help him find and
export Rosta back behind the Iron Curtain.
This
doesn't work out so well for Ridzik's partner who is also killed in the line of
duty – making it personal for Ridzik as well. On the up side, Danko learns that
Rosta has stored his drug buying money inside a bus station locker and Danko
has his key. At least, for a little while.
Now the
Russian man of muscle and Chicago's finest must team-up to prevent Rosta from
following through with the drug buy. This isn't so easy as the two men allow
their differences to get between them, especially Ridzik. Remember, this film
was released just months before the Berlin wall fell, so there are
Soviet/American tensions between the characters. Most of these “tensions”
turn out to be pretty entertaining and even shed light on some of our cultural
and political differences.
In one of
these such scenes, Ridzik and Danko interrogate a low level criminal to learn
what they can about the Clean Head's involvement with Rosta. Ridzik explains
that even criminals have what are called “Miranda Rights”. Danko choses to
speed up this interrogation by breaking the perp.'s hand to get him to talk. I
guess they do things differently in Russia.
This
Miranda scene is a set-up for another in which Danko is staking out the
apartment of Cat, an American wife of Rosta who is played by a young Gina
Gershon. As Danko sits in his car, a neighbor comes down to bitch that Danko is
parked in his space. Danko asks the man; “Do you know Miranda?”, to
which the man replies “No, I've never met the bitch.”. Danko follows
that up with knock-out punch. It's something that I didn't expect, but I sure
wont forget.
Moving
on. Danko & Ridzik learn the location of the locker and the time when Rosta
will show up to get the money. They try in intercept him, but what happens is
Rosta steals a Greyhound bus and makes a hasty get-away. So, naturally, Danko
& Ridzik steal their own bus and destroy half of Chicago chasing after him.
Eventually
they follow Rosta gets turned around, and he and Danko play chicken, nearly
missing each other. Mortally wounded, Rosta is finished off by Danko when he
unloads on him. Case closed.
The film
ends with Danko & Ridzik exchanging pleasantries at the airport as Danko
gets ready to leave the country and return to Mother Russia. The End.
THE
VERDICT
“Red
Heat” is better than I remembered. It's a classic “odd couple” team-up in the
same tradition as “48 Hours”. Schwarzenegger doesn't say too much, playing into
the cold and calculated Soviet ideal of what a police officer should be, but he
manages to use this demeanor to set up and deliver some of the funniest gags in
the film. Something, I don't think, Arnold it known for. Intentionally anyhow.
The same
can be said about Belushi. He is perfect as the jaded and wisecracking cop who
knows how to grease the wheels in order to get his job done. But he also nails
being a hard-ass.
The
action is good, the story is simple and entertaining. There are several
memorable supporting characters; Peter Boyle play the Zen seeking Commander of
Ridzik, and a co-worker of Ridzik is played by Lawrence Fishburne during his
younger Malcolm X days.
It's a
shame this film is so underrated. I think this may be – at least in part – the
result of it's original ad campaign. If you watch the trailer you'll see clips
of Belushi joking and Schwarzenegger delivering cold broken English. What's
unfortunate about this is that Belushi isn't just comedic relief, and some of
what Arnold says are punchlines or set up to jokes taken out on context, but
you'd never know it from the trailer.
“Red
Heat” it totally worth checking out if you haven't seen it before. As a
standard detective flick, it isn't as over the top as some of Schwarzenegger
'80s films, which might make it less memorable. But never the less, check it
out if you get a chance.
One final
fun fact about “Red Heat”. The opening scenes that depict...Red Square, or
where ever it's supposed to be, were actually filmed in Russia illegally. The
footage had to be snuck out of the country. Seems like a lot of work for
footage that isn't very important, but it makes for an interesting story.
I’m Cory
Carr and this concludes another trip in the “Action Movie Time Machine”. Until
next time, Semper Fi, Punk!
For more
from Cory, check out his website slaughterfilm.com, where
he and his good friend Forest Taylor record weekly podcasts, reviewing the
films that are legendary, even in Hell!
0 comments:
Post a Comment