Red Heat

Time Out says

A partial return to form for slam-bang Hill, this is the 48 HRS formula crossed with Gorky Park. Unstoppable unorthodox Russian cop Danko (Schwarzenegger) arrives in the US on the trail of Soviet pusher and cop-killer Viktor (O'Ross), and is assigned to reluctant, wisecracking, unorthodox Chicago cop Ridzik (Belushi). 'We're parked in the Red Zone, no offence' says Ridzik at the airport: perhaps the only passably witty line in a canon of crass national jibes. Big Arnie plays the Soviet the way he plays all his juggernauts, only more taciturn again, but the relationship grows as he breaks a suspect's fingers and generally bypasses Miranda-Escobedo. 'Who is Dirty Harry?' goes a gag, after the cops have compared firepower. The most visually interesting stuff occurs in Moscow; hugely amplified biffs accompany the pell-mell punch-ups; and the ending, a suicidal confrontation between large vehicles, may be intended as a parody of Rambo III. Surface stuff, moderately contemptuous, but entertaining enough.

Author: BC