Review of Red Heat (1988) by Jason G — 23 Aug 2008
Take (...pretty much) the exact same formula used in the far more successful Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte vehicle - 48 Hours... throw in WALTER HILL to direct this film as well... and cross your fingers that "lightning strikes twice".
The music... various elements of the plot... and even the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist coming at one another in a steamy, mist.... ALL copied directly out of 48 Hours!
RED HEAT suffers from some bad edits but is still a few notches above your standard 80's action fare. HILL knows how to direct a movie and RED HEAT is still fun to watch despite it's shortcomings.
Because it's almost impossible to NOT compare it to 48 HOURS... I find that you spend most of the time waiting for RED HEAT to reach that particularly high standard...
It never does...
The scenes in Moscow are nice to watch. Ed O'Ross is pretty convincing as the evil Russian and Arnie actually delivers one of the most "believable" performances of his career as the straitlaced, KGB Captain Danko... but Belushi's role seems to have been delegated to "backseat status" and he never develops to the level of fulfillment that he should have.
The chemistry between Danko and Ritsik in RED HEAT isn't any good because ARNIE doesn't "get" or "react" to any of Belushi's jokes.
Cates might not have liked Hammond in 48 HOURS... but at least he "got" his humour and responded accordingly. NONE of that chemistry exists here.
Some nice action scenes throughout and a fairly memorable showdown at the end of the movie edge this "carbon copy" 80's actioner into the 3 star rating...but only JUST.
This review of Red Heat (1988) was written by Jason G on 23 Aug 2008.
Red Heat has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
