Red Heat | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Walter Hill |
Produced by | Walter Hill Gordon Carroll Mario Kassar Andrew G. Vajna |
Screenplay by | Walter Hill Harry Kleiner Troy Kennedy Martin |
Story by | Walter Hill |
Starring | |
Music by | James Horner |
Cinematography | Matthew F. Leonetti |
Edited by | Donn Aron Carmel Davies Freeman A. Davies |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
Release date
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June 14, 1988 (premiere) June 17, 1988 |
Running time
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103 min |
Country | United States Soviet Union |
Language | English Russian |
Budget | $29 million |
Box office | $34,994,648 USD (Domestic) 1,292,988 admissions (France) |
Red Heat is a 1988 American buddy cop action film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Moscow narc Ivan Danko, and James Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridzik. Finding themselves on the same case, Danko and Ridzik work as partners to catch a cunning and deadly Soviet Georgian drug kingpin, Viktor Rostavili (Ed O'Ross), who also happens to be the killer of Danko's previous partner back in Soviet Russia.
The film was released with the tagline "Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing more dangerous than making them mad: making them partners." It was the first American film given permission to shoot in Moscow's Red Square - however, most of the scenes set in the USSR (with the exceptions of the establishing shots under the main titles and the final lengthy shot in Red Square behind the end credits) were actually shot in Hungary. Schwarzenegger was paid a salary of $8 million for his role in the film.
Captain Ivan Danko of the Moscow Militia sets a trap for Viktor Rostavili, a Georgian drug kingpin and crime lord. The ambush severely backfires; Viktor flees the Soviet Union and comes to the USA, after gunning down several other Moscow cops, including Danko's partner.
Loudmouthed Chicago Police Department Detective-Sergeant Art Ridzik, investigates several local murders committed by Viktor's cartel. When Viktor is arrested in Chicago, Danko is dispatched to escort him back to Moscow to face justice in the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly, Danko and Ridzik find themselves partnered together when Viktor escapes custody, gunning down Ridzik's partner, Gallagher, in the process. Danko is frustrated when his lack of a diplomatic license prohibits him from carrying a weapon. He shares his candid observations with Ridzik: "This Chicago is very strange city. Your crime is organized, but your police is not."