Rating: 
Summary: James and Arnold, a daring duo
Review: A fun shoot-im-up with lots of good chase scenes and a few good plot twists. One of the things that make the movie is Arnold going around strait faced and like the terminator without the metal endoskeleton.
Thoroughly rotten bad guy and drug dealer Viktor Rostavile `Rosta' (Ed O'Toss) flees the USSR after encountering Capt. Ivan Danko `USSR State Police'. We find that he has big plans in Chicago where he plans to do a deal with Abdul Elijah `incarcerated Revolutionary political leader' (Brent Jennings). Abdul has an agenda of his own. Everyone's plans must be adjusted as Danko turns up in Chicago and teams up with Det. Sgt. Art Ridzik `Chicago Police Dept.' (James Belushi) to track down and retrieve Rosta.
In the process of tracking we meet all kinds of dangerous criminals and beautiful women. Ridzik almost gets killed because of his instant affinity with a blond wayward nurse; he is in for a surprise. We also have the obligatory vehicle chase scene with a different twist.
Aside from the main players there are quite a few recognizable character actors which add significantly the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Red Heat
Review: A stone-faced and disiplined Russian officer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) searches for a dangerous Russian drug-dealer who eluded him in a crackdown shootout (leaving his brother dead) and escaped to Chicago. He is forced to team up with a foul-mouthed and incompetant yet fearless Chicago cop (James Belushi) in order to find him.Although highly enjoyable and funny as the team is ridicoulously mismatched, there isn't quite enough action. If this doesn't bother you, you'll love "Red Heat". If you like this film, I would also recommend "48 Hours" Overall rating: 4 stars Rated R for violence, language, and nudity.
Rating: 
Summary: But it's a FUN 'Heat'...
Review: AAARRGH!!! I just bought the bare-bones DVD of this movie a couple months ago, and only in the last couple days did I discover that they put out a Special Edition platter! Okay, so I bought the bare-bones DVD at the local flea market for two bucks; I'm STILL a bit miffed over the whole sad affair. Especially when I take pride my ability to anticipate potential/upcoming DVD double-dip ploys (see my SYLT guide on this annoying phenomenon at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/3CVFIEG84F2PF/ref=cm_aya_av.sylt_sylt/002-4146420-7131215). But this one just came outta left field, ya know? Who'd have ever thought they'd even bother to make an SE version of 'Red Heat' in the first place? 'Course, I never expected 'em to do a Special Edition release of 'The Running Man', either. I WAS expecting an SE version of `Predator', however. Not that that has to do with anything, mind you...
Unfortunately, for the most part I found this edition less than "special". The behind-the-scenes featurette wasn't particularly exciting, nor was the interview with the guy who played the main heavy in the film. And I almost dozed off halfway into the tribute to the movie's stunt coordinator. The theatrical trailer is your standard show-you-the-exciting-parts-and-clever-dialogue-without-giving-too-much-of-the-movie-away type deal. Fortunately, the TV promo spots-- which featured Arnie's and Jim Belushi's characters breakin' down the fourth wall-- had a nice touch of humor to `em. But the best piece was the retrospective on the movie's two producers, Carolco founders Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna. They shared a couple anecdotes and memories that I found fairly interesting, the most notable part being their thoughts on the shoot in Moscow for the opening part of the movie.
On the upside, the improved picture clarity and sound separation is a bit better than what I experienced with the bare-bones DVD release. And the English subtitles are easier to read. Too bad they couldn't get someone-- the director, producers, principal actors, what-have-you-- to cut a feature-length commentary track for this.
That having been said, on to the movie itself:
There's nothin' like an over-the-top Schwarzenegger vehicle to get me over my 80s action flick D.T.s! Sure, 'Red Heat' can be pretty hokey at times-- take Arnie's weird attempt at a Russian accent, for example. Except for switchin' his Vs with Ws like Chekov from 'Star Trek' (bet'cha ten-to-one Walter Koenig actually helped him out with his "accent"), he sounds pretty much the same as he always did... only with more of a monotone, if such a thing is possible. And his emoting of anger (the only emotion most of his characters seem capable of doing) is just as bad as ever. Needless to say, I love every campy moment of it!
Then there's Jim Belushi, the comedic side of this preposterous fish-out-of-water buddy-cop story as he plays the kinda character he does better than almost anybody: a wise-@$$ who's always got some kinda smart-aleck comeback for everything. Ya know, kinda like Bill Murray, except a bit beefier, thereby making him a more suitable action-film sidekick. Not only does he help the main man out by tracking down a Soviet drug dealer through the mean streets of Chicago, he also helps set up the smattering of culture-clash gags going throughout the movie for his stoic partner to knock down... and vice-versa. And just when ya thought all that 'glastnost' and 'perestroika' stuff wasn't gonna work out...
And what's an Arnie flick without a few hilariously implausible action scenes? They save the best for last here as both the bad guy and the good guys do a charter bus chase & game of 'chicken' through a seedy area of the windy city, with one of the buses meetin' up with a train. Warner Bros. would lift the latter part of this action sequence and do it a lot better in "The Fugitive" movie several years later. Which I'm sure was their revenge for 'Red Heat' lifting the infamous 'back-lit Dirty Harry emerging from the shadows to take on the bad guys at the amusement park' climax from "Sudden Impact" and using it as part of Arnie's one-on-one "High Noon"-type shootout with the main heavy. Adding to this amusing development was the fact that our Austrian hero used a .44 Magnum revolver to mete out final justice. Coincidence? I think NOT...
Speakin' of the .44 Magnum: there was one shootout scene where Arnie fired off more than six shots with the gun without reloading once! Even Dirty Harry hadda reload every once in a while! How d'ya think he came up with that "Did I fire six shots... or only five?" routine?! Sheesh-- whatever happened to realism & plausibility in action flicks, huh?! I swear...
'Late
Rating:
Summary: RED HEAT Movie Review!
Review: Ah-nuld and Jim Belushi join forces as buddy cops from two different sides of the world. Schwarzennegger is a stiff cop from Moscow and Belushi is the wise-cracking Chicago cop forced to babysit him as they track down the Russian drug dealer who ironically murdered both of their partners. There's a whole lot of cursing, violence, Gina Gershon as a chain-smoking dance teacher, Peter Boyle as a short-tempered police captain, and Laurence Fishburne as a geeky liuetenant who plays it by the book. There's also that always entertaining "opposites attract" buddy formula that we all love so much. Arnold fans will love, so will buddy cop movie fanatics, but cinematic art critics might want to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: But it's a FUN "Heat"...
Review: Ahh... nothin' like an over-the-top Schwarzenegger vehicle to get me over my 80s action flick D.T.s! And ya gotta admit, 'Red Heat' can be pretty hokey at times. Take Arnie's weird attempt at a Russian accent, for example. Except for switchin' his Vs with Ws like Chekov from 'Star Trek' (bet'cha ten-to-one Walter Koenig actually helped him out with his "accent"), he sounds pretty much the same as he always did... only with more of a monotone, if such a thing is possible. And his emoting of anger (the only emotion most of his characters seem capable of doing) is just as bad as ever. Needless to say, I love every campy moment of it! Then there's Jim Belushi, the comedic side of this preposterous fish-out-of-water buddy-cop story as he plays the kinda character he does better than almost anybody: a wise-@$$ who's always got some kinda smart-aleck comeback for everything. Ya know, kinda like Bill Murray, except a bit beefier, thereby making him a more suitable action-film sidekick. Not only does he help the main man out by tracking down a Soviet drug dealer through the mean streets of Chicago, he also helps set up the smattering of culture-clash gags going throughout the movie for his stoic partner to knock down... and vice-versa. And just when ya thought all that 'glastnost' and 'perestroika' stuff wasn't gonna work out... And what's an Arnie flick without a few hilariously implausible action scenes? They save the best for last here as both the bad guy and the good guys do a charter bus chase & game of 'chicken' through a seedy area of the windy city, with one of the buses meetin' up with a train. Warner Bros. would lift the latter part of this action sequence from this flick and do it a lot better in "The Fugitive" movie several years later. Which I'm sure was their revenge for 'Red Heat' lifting the infamous 'back-lit Dirty Harry emerging from the shadows to take on the bad guys at the amusement park' climax from "Sudden Impact" and using it as part of Arnie's one-on-one "High Noon"-type shootout with the main heavy. Adding to this amusing development was the fact that our Austrian hero used a .44 Magnum revolver to mete out final justice. Coincidence? I think NOT... Speakin' of the .44 Magnum: there was one shootout scene where Arnie fired off more than six shots with the gun without reloading once! Even Dirty Harry hadda reload every once in a while! How d'ya think he came up with that "Did I fire six shots... or only five?" routine?! Sheesh-- whatever happened to realism in action flicks, huh?! I swear... BTW this DVD includes the movie both in widescreen and pan-&-scan aspect ratios. Personally, I could care less whether or not I watch this in one format or the other, but at least the disc's producers had the common courtesy to give you, the Arnie-action-movie-loving DVDphile, a choice in the matter. And if you're deaf or hard of hearing, here's a bit of warning: the subtitles don't always completely match the spoken dialogue. So if ya really wanna know what's bein' said, you'd better have the screenplay handy, or learn to read lips... 'Late
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as 1st release
Review: Don't bother wasting your money if you think you are upgrading like I did. The earlier ARTISAN release is still much better than this special edition. The image is better and ALSO the sound. I don't know what Lions gate thought they were doing, but remastered? no. I compared both several times before writing this even though I only had to compare once. Might as well wait for a HD DVD to come out, this is a waste unless you want the additional features.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent action comedy.
Review: In "Red Heat", Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an iron-man Russian police officer who chases a rather nasty drug czar to Chicago. There he is partenered with James Belushi, a good, but sloppy cop. The two shoot up half the city as they close in on Vicktor Roskov. This movie is pretty much what you'd expect out of an '80s action comedy, vulger and bloody. Walter Hill basicly reworks the same formula from "48 Hours", but he knows what he's doing. I think that it is funnier and more excellerating. There is even an air of mystery and clues that have to be figured out, so it's marginally smarter than your average action thriller. It also has a few future stars, Gina Gershon and Laurance Fishburne. But it is definatly Arnold and Jim's show all the way. It will not change your world, but it is good (not clean, though) entertainment
Rating:
Summary: An excellent action comedy.
Review: In "Red Heat", Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an iron-man Russian police officer who chases a rather nasty drug czar to Chicago. There he is partenered with James Belushi, a good, but sloppy cop. The two shoot up half the city as they close in on Vicktor Roskov. This movie is pretty much what you'd expect out of an '80s action comedy, vulger and bloody. Walter Hill basicly reworks the same formula from "48 Hours", but he knows what he's doing. I think that it is funnier and more excellerating. There is even an air of mystery and clues that have to be figured out, so it's marginally smarter than your average action thriller. It also has a few future stars, Gina Gershon and Laurance Fishburne. But it is definatly Arnold and Jim's show all the way. It will not change your world, but it is good (not clean, though) entertainment
Rating:
Summary: America: Through a Glass Darkly
Review: In RED HEAT, Director Walter Hill presents a view of capitalist America that is grim, squalid, and leavened only by the willpower of its residents to retain a sense of humor. And it is only Chicago detective Ridzik (James Belushi) who can see anything funny beneath the grime and slime through which he must daily wade. Hill contrasts the physical seediness of Chicago with its political sludge counterpart of Moscow at alternating points in the film. Arnold Schwarzeneger is Captain Ivan Danko of the Moscow Militia, a man much feared by the Russian underworld. Danko has no problem with strolling alone into a Moscow mafia bar and arresting a wanted hooligan. By the time both men meet, their sharply contrasting personalities have been etched in the audience's mind. Ridzik is a rules-bending cop who is in as much trouble with his superiors as is his arrest suspects are with the law. Belushi plays Ridzik with the same wisecracking persona that has come to mark his essential screen identity. Arnold as Danko plays the Moscow cop as a cross between the saturnine Terminator and the energetic Conan. When Ridzik is questioning a suspect in a Chicago precinct house and is getting nowhere fast, Danko shows Ridzik how a Moscow cop convinces a suspect to talk freely with a savage wrist wrenching.
The interplay between Belushi and Schwarzenegger hits exactly the right note throughout. The fine contributions of a stellar supporting cast of Gina Gershon, Peter Boyle, Lawrence Fishburne, and Ed O'Ross all meld to serve as a backdrop against which Belushi and Schwarzenegger play out what is essentially a pre-glasnot international Cop Buddy movie. On a political allegory level, the co-operation between the two must have, at the time, served to remind a world that even with two widely opposing world views, it was possible for co-operation to exist if only the parties involved could see that behind the more obvious differences in uniform lay a less obvious commonality of a shared purpose whose ultimate goal could be reached with a little laughter. RED HEAT is a fine movie that entertains even as it preaches. Not many comedies can do that.
Rating:
Summary: Dank You Arnold!
Review: Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger), a Russian police officer is sent to Chicago to find a psychopathic drug dealer. His new partner is Jim Belushi! They don't like each other, but hey, isn't that the key to good buddy flicks? YES. Danko fights guys in the snow at the beginning of the movie which is very amusing and he talks about his family to Belushi. At Danko's apartment, the super makes fun of his last name, disrespectful! Then there's a huge shoot-out in the hallways of the apartments and it's uptight! Talk about action-packed, Danko drives a city bus and plays chicken with the bad guy. Colossal! I've never seen two people play chicken with buses. It was amazing and then Danko exterminated the evil chap. Although, this film wasn't a hit with Schwarzenegger's fans, I loved every minute of it. It was honorable how Danko saluted Belushi at the end and his country. Pure integrity!
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