Red Heat (1988 film)
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''Red Heat'' is a 1988 American
buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed, co-written, and co-produced by
Walter Hill Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
and starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
as Soviet policeman Ivan Danko, and
Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
as
Chicago police The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
detective Art Ridzik. Finding themselves on the same case, Danko and Ridzik work as partners to catch a cunning and deadly
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
drug kingpin A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
, Viktor Rostavili (
Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in '' Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in '' Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Ros ...
), who killed Danko's previous partner. Most of the scenes set in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
were actually shot in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. Schwarzenegger was paid a salary of $8 million for his role in the film.


Plot

Captain Ivan Danko and Lieutenant Yuri Ogarkov of the Moscow Militsiya lead a
sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
against
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
drug kingpin Viktor Rostavili. However, Rostavili manages to evade capture, and in an ensuing firefight, kills Ogarkov and flees to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. As Danko is recovering from his injuries, Rostavili is arrested for a minor traffic violation in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and Danko is subsequently dispatched to America to retrieve the felon, under strict orders not to reveal the true nature of Rostavili's extradition. Upon arriving in Chicago, Danko is met by Police Detective Sergeant Art Ridzik and Detective Max Gallagher. As he is interrogating Rostavili, Danko confiscates a mysterious key hidden on his person. While he is being transported to the airport, the group is ambushed by his men and Gallagher is shot and killed, allowing the prisoner to escape. Against the wishes of local authorities, Danko resolves to remain in Chicago to apprehend Rostavili, and Ridzik is assigned to be his
minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
. Through an informant, Danko and Ridzik learn that Rostavili is working with local
street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
to purchase and smuggle uncut
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
into the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The duo confront Rostavili's American wife Cat Manzetti, but are led into an ambush where Rostavili demands Danko return his key, forcing the two to flee. Danko and Ridzik go to a hospital to interrogate one of Rostavili's men, injured during the earlier ambush, but he is killed by another of Rostavili's accomplices disguised as a nurse. Danko subsequently shoots and kills the assassin. Ridzik's superiors confiscate Danko's sidearm, as he is not licensed to carry one in the United States, and order him to cease the investigation. However Ridzik, who still wants to avenge his partner's murder, secretly gives Ivan his spare gun. Returning to his hotel, Danko is attacked by Rostavili's men. While Danko fights them off, Rostavili sneaks into his room and steals the key. Ridzik takes Danko to visit a locksmith, where they match the key to ones produced for lockers at a bus terminal. Rostavili uses the key to retrieve his drug shipment, and steals an empty bus just as Danko and Ridzik arrive. Chasing him in another bus, Danko and Ridzik cause Rostavili to crash into an oncoming train. As Rostavili crawls out of the wreckage, Danko kills him. Later, Ridzik takes Danko to the airport. As a token of their new friendship, they exchange
wristwatches A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
.


Cast

*
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
as Captain Ivan Danko *
James Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
as Detective Sergeant Art Ridzik *
Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof ''Young Fra ...
as Commander Lou Donnelly *
Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in '' Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in '' Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Ros ...
as Viktor Rostavili / Viktor Rosta * Larry Fishburne as Lieutenant Charlie Stobbs *
Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail (1988 film), Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat (1988 film), Red Heat'' (1988), ''Showgirls'' (1995), ''Bound (1996 film), Bound'' (1996), ''Face/ ...
as Catherine "Cat" Manzetti * Richard Bright as Sergeant Max Gallagher * J. W. Smith as Salim *
Brent Jennings Brent Jennings (born January 1, 1951) is an American actor. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and is a 1969 graduate of Little Rock Central High School. He played Oakland Athletics coach Ron Washington (later manager Management (or manag ...
as Abdul Elijah * Gretchen Palmer as Hooker *
Pruitt Taylor Vince Pruitt Taylor Vince (born July 5, 1960) is an American character actor. He became best known for his roles in the films '' Shy People'' (1987) and ''Mississippi Burning'' (1988). He also appeared in ''Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), '' Nobody's Fool'' ...
as Night Clerk * Michael Hagerty as Pat Nunn *
Brion James Brion Howard James (February 20, 1945 – August 7, 1999) was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in ''Blade Runner'' and appeared in ''Southern Comfort'', '' 48 Hrs.'', ''Another 48 Hrs.'', '' Silverado'', ''Tango & Cash'', ' ...
as "Streak" * Gloria Delaney as Intern *
Peter Jason Peter Edward Ostling (born July 22, 1944), also known as Peter Jason, is an American character actor. He has appeared in over eighty films and a hundred television series. He played Con Stapleton in the series '' Deadwood''. He was a frequent col ...
as TV announcer *
Oleg Vidov Oleg Borisovich Vidov (russian: Олег Борисович Видов; June 11, 1943 – May 15, 2017) was a Soviet Russian American actor, film director and producer. He appeared in 50 films beginning in 1961. A refugee from his native Sovi ...
as Yuri Ogarkov *
Savely Kramarov Savely Viktorovich Kramarov (russian: Саве́лий Ви́кторович Кра́маров; 13 October 1934 – 6 June 1995) was a Soviet, Russian and American actor. He acted in at least 42 Soviet films, and later appeared in several mo ...
as Gregor Moussorsky


Production


Development and writing

The film was based on an original story by Walter Hill. He 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?
According to Schwarzenegger, when Hill approached him he did not have a complete script – he just had the basic premise and the scene in which Danko rips off a henchman's leg to discover it is wooden and contains cocaine. Schwarzenegger agreed to make the movie on the basis of this and Hill's track record, in particular his earlier buddy action comedy ''48 Hours''. The wooden leg scene originally came from a script by Harry Kleiner that had been sent to Hill. Hill did not want to do the script but loved the scene and paid Kleiner for it. "I think it's the best scene in the movie", said Hill later. "The movie, after he left Moscow, I never thought was much good, but I thought that was a terrific scene." 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.
Schwarzenegger says Hill told him to watch
Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
's performance in ''
Ninotchka ''Ninotchka'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch, based o ...
'' (1939) "to get a handle on how Danko is charactershould react as a loyal Soviet in the West. I got to learn a little Russian, and it was a role for which my own accent was a plus." 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." The second movement ("Philosophers") of
Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
's '' Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution'' was used in the opening and closing titles of the film. 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." He described the film as "in an odd way, it's a traditional love story between these two guys". 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."
Film title design Film title design is a term describing the craft and design of motion picture title sequences. Since the beginning of the film form, it has been an essential part of any motion picture. Originally a motionless piece of artwork called ''title art ...
er
Wayne Fitzgerald Wayne Fitzgerald (March 19, 1930 – September 30, 2019) was an American film title designer. Over a career that spanned 55 years, he designed close to five hundred motion picture and television main and end title sequences for top directors such ...
created a new font for the film, a morph of English and Russian alphabets. For example, he removed the bar in "A" so that it imitates the Russian Л (Λ), and flipped letters N and R, so that they coincide with Russian И and Я, respectively.


Filming

The first half of the opening scene was shot in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
's Rudas Thermal Bath. It features a brawl between naked men, including Schwarzenegger. He approved the scene saying that "Whenever the scene calls for nudity and it fits into the movie, I don't mind that .. But if it is exploiting the whole idea and is thrown in for no reason, then it bothers me and I stay away from it." The second half was shot in Austria because Budapest had no snow. The film shot in Moscow for four days, primarily at
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
, which became possible due to the rapid warm up of the cultural and political relations between the Soviet Union and United States. Despite obtaining permission to film in Moscow, the film crew was unsure about exactly where they could shoot; hence many "Moscow" scenes were eventually filmed in Budapest. For example,
Buda Castle Buda Castle ( hu, Budavári Palota, german: link=no, Burgpalast) is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian Kings in Budapest. It was first completed in 1265, although the massive Baroque palace today occupying most of the si ...
was used as the Soviet
Ministry of home affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
.


Weapons

In the film, Danko is using "the best Soviet gun of 9.2 mm caliber designed by Podbyrin". Hill wanted it to be an unusually large and threatening weapon resembling
Walther P38 The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08 ...
. Tim LaFrance designed the gun at his workshop in San Diego, starting from
Desert Eagle The Desert Eagle is a gas-operated, semi-automatic pistol known for chambering the .50 Action Express, the largest centerfire cartridge of any magazine-fed, self-loading pistol. Magnum Research Inc. (MRI) designed and developed the Desert Eagle. ...
as an inspiration; hence the gun was nicknamed the "Hollywood Eagle". After release of the movie, its copies were sold in the United States as "Pobyrin pistol". As to the weapon of the main villain, Viktor Rostavili, Hill wanted it to be a concealed, mafia-style gun. LaFrance designed it as a modified
derringer A derringer is a small handgun that is neither a revolver nor a semi/ fully automatic pistol. It is not to be confused with mini-revolvers or pocket pistols, although some later derringers were manufactured with the pepperbox configuration. ...
, which was strapped to a forearm using a spring-based system. The gun was hidden in a sleeve, and slid into the hand after a certain hand movement.


Release


Theatrical

''Red Heat'' opened in Los Angeles and New York on June 17, 1988. It was distributed by
TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
.


Reception


Box office

The film opened at the top spot at the box office, it grossed $35 million in the US, but was far outpaced by Schwarzenegger's other comedy film in 1988, ''
Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
''. Schwarzenegger later wrote the film "wasn't the smash I'd expected. Why is hard to guess. It could be that audiences were not ready for Russia, or that my and Jim Belushi's performances were not funny enough, or that the director didn't do a good enough job. For whatever reason, it just didn't quite close the deal." Walter Hill said the film "did pretty well at the domestic box office but not as well as what we hoped it would do. It was big foreign. It was a very big seller on cassette. Did the movie do poorly, medium or well?"


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 68% based on reviews from 25 critics, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's consensus states: "''Red Heats overreliance on genre formula is bolstered by Walter Hill's rugged direction and a strong touch of humor." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
the film has a score of 61% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave it 3 out of 4, and wrote: "The film is punctuated by violence, a great deal of violence, although most of it is exaggerated comic-book style instead of being truly gruesome. Walking that fine line is a speciality of Hill." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave it a positive review, stating "Schwarzenegger ..is right on target with his characterization of the iron-willed soldier, and Belushi proves a quicksilver foil.
Hal Hinson Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow critic ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' panned the film: "''Red Heat'' is poorly, or even indifferently, made. It's a joyless exercise, and too much angry resignation seeps in for it to be very funny or very entertaining." Film historian
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
seemed to agree with Hinson, calling the film "...cheerless and foul-mouthed, with two of the least-appealing characters imaginable as the good guys."


Other media


Video game

A video game based on the film was released in 1989, for various computer platforms.


References


External links

* * * {{Walter Hill 1988 films 1988 action thriller films 1988 action comedy films 1980s comedy thriller films 1980s buddy cop films American action thriller films American action comedy films American comedy thriller films American buddy cop films American buddy action films American police detective films Carolco Pictures films Cold War films Cold War in popular culture Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department Films scored by James Horner Films about the Russian Mafia Films about drugs Films directed by Walter Hill Films produced by Gordon Carroll Films produced by Walter Hill Films set in Budapest Films set in Chicago Films set in Moscow Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Austria Films shot in Budapest Films shot in Moscow Films shot in Chicago Films with screenplays by Walter Hill Films with screenplays by Troy Kennedy Martin Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner 1980s Russian-language films TriStar Pictures films 1980s English-language films 1988 multilingual films American multilingual films 1980s American films