Rating: ***
Review Date: 8/25/03
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance, Brion James,
James Hong, Teri Hatcher, Clint Howard
A wonderful slice of late 80's action film cheeziness. A typical cop buddy film that finds LAPD's two best cops, Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell), at odds with each other and forced to work together through an extreme situation. The principal villain (wonderfully psychotic Jack Palance) is tired of Tango and Cash constantly meddling in his affairs, and brilliantly sets them up for murder and drug trafficking. After nearly losing their lives in prison, they're forced to escape and find out the truth so they can clear their names and see justice done.
The action is fast, fun, and furious, but the real strength of the film lies in the humorous chemistry and posturing between Stallone and Russell. Stallone's elegant and clean cut Armani style is the perfect foil for Russell's foul mouthed, trigger happy brashness, and it's a sheer delight to watch the two playing off of each other. They both look great in the movie and are at their physical peaks. Stallone's fight scenes are well crafted, and it's apparent that he had been taking some notes from Asian cinema. Nowhere is this more blatantly obvious than a nearly shot-for-shot remake of the classic bus sequence from Jackie Chan's "Police Story" (1985) at the beginning of the film. A fun and entertaining film all around.