“Red Heat” is a buddy cop film in the same spirit as “Lethal Weapon” and “Rush Hour” with a winning combination of action and humour. Arnold Schwarzenegger (“The Terminator”, “Commando”) stars with James Belushi (“K-9”) in this fun film.

Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger) is a tough Moscow policeman sent to Chicago to bring back a Georgian drug dealer (Ed O’Ross “Full Metal Jacket”). After the bad guys escape, Danko teams up with Art Ridzik (Belushi), a cocky Chicago officer. Together, the duo chase after the criminals and manage to find friendship as they learn to ignore the tension between America and the Soviet Union.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not remotely convincing as a Russian policeman given his thick Austrian accent but you have to love his delivery of the one-liners. I like the scene in which Schwarzenegger tears off a guy’s wooden leg and reveals the cocaine stashed inside it. James Belushi is surprisingly good as Ridzik. The two have very good chemistry here and I love the conversation in which the two compare how different nations deal with the problem of drugs. The villains look menacing but aren’t too memorable. Peter Boyle (“Young Frankenstein”) feels a little underused as Ridzik’s superior. Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”) is okay as another police officer but his character feels unnecessary.

“Red Heat” is definitely a fun film. The performances are good, the action scenes are entertaining and the comedic aspects work. If you enjoyed the “Lethal Weapon”, “Rush Hour” and “Beverly Hills Cop” franchises as well as films such as “Tango and Cash” then you’ll probably like this one. Perhaps the greatest scene in the film is where Danko is given a .44 Magnum and told that Dirty Harry uses it. He asks who that is and it seems to perfectly capture what a big deal Schwarzenegger is. Unless you really don’t care for police action pictures, I don’t see why anybody wouldn’t like “Red Heat”.