RED HEAT
US, 1988, 106 minutes, Colour,.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Peter Boyle, Larry Fishburne, Gina Gershon.
Directed by Walter Hill.
Red Heat is a star vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He plays a Russian policeman, has opportunity to show off his brawn as well as indicate some kind of relentless brainwork as a Russian official. It is also a star vehicle for comedian Jim Belushi who acts in his usual zany way. They make an unusual police team.
The film was written and directed by Walter Hill, best known for such tough entertainments as Southern Comfort, 48 Hours, Extreme Prejudice. This film is particularly tough and violent. It has Chicago settings, confrontations, shoot-outs, chases - especially a culmination with two buses confronting each other.
The film belongs to the popular genre of the '80s with the police buddies and the police chase. It also reflects the drug culture of the '80s - not only in the US but in the USSR. The film also reflects the glasnost of the late '80s with some of the filming done in Moscow and Budapest.
Exactly what is expected from Schwarzenegger and Walter Hill.
1. Police thriller? Action thriller? Drugs? Russians and Americans together?
2. Russian locations, Chicago locations? Authentic? Light and darkness? The shadow world of the drug couriers? Special effects, stunt work? Musical score?
3. The title - and its reference to American-Soviet? relationships?
4. The focus on Danko: the opening in Russia, the strong men and women, the baths, the fight? Danko and his work? The mission from the Russian authorities? Viktor and his drug-running in Russia, the confrontation in the club, the deaths? Danko's arrival in Chicago, the encounter with Art - and the contrast between the two? His not revealing his mission, the extradition? The encounter with the police chief? The other officials? Settling into the hotel? The confrontation with Viktor, the violence? The key? The Chicago police finding out the truth? Working with him? The contacts, Viktor's wife? The set-up? The confrontation, Viktor and his killings? The hotel murders? The pursuit, the car, the buses? Viktor's death? His friendliness with Art, getting to understand him, explanations about his background? Mission achieved?
5. The contrast with Art, the wisecracking Chicago police, the initial mission, dangers, violence? Drugs? Helping with Danko? The dangers, the confrontations? With his superiors? The interrogation of the informer and the breaking of his hand? Accompanying Danko, trying to understand him, the dangers? Viktor's wife, her death? The friendship?
6. Viktor, Russian drug criminals, record? The United States, drug deals? Brutality? The American wife? The murders, the confrontations? The final violence and his death? The film's comment on Russian criminals?
7. The picture of the police: the chief, his co-operation, exasperation? The chief's assistant and his files, information, interrogations?
8. The world of the criminals: Viktor and his connections, the black drug dealers, the shoot-outs? The girl and her marriage, her death?
9. The picture of crime in the streets of Chicago? The role of law enforcement agencies? Collaboration between east and west?
