Tango & Cash (1989)

Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance, Brion James, James Hong, Michael J. Pollard, Robert Z'Dar, Michael Jeter, Clint Howard, Geoffrey Lewis

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Two of L.A.'s top rival cops are going to have to work together... Even if it kills them.

Plot: Ray Tango and Gabriel Cash are narcotics detectives who, while both being extremely successful, can't stand each other. Crime Lord Yves Perret, furious at the loss of income that Tango and Cash have caused him, frames the two for murder. Caught with the murder weapon on the scene of the crime, the two have alibi. Thrown into prison with most of the criminals they helped convict, it appears that they are going to have to trust each other if they are to clear their names and catch the evil Perret.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

If you've ever wanted to see Sylvester Stallone's butt and Kurt Russell's butt AND you wanted to see them in the same picture AND the same frame, then this is your movie.


Watching it for the first (and last time, sadly) I was struck by how close everyone came to making a great fucking end-of-the-80s action flick with two huge stars. There were moments of fun between the two leads but there was enough of it that felt forced that kind of took the wind out of those sails for me. The story was sometimes force, too, like much of the prison sequence which takes up a huge chunk of screen time. A lot of it felt like filler to cover up the lack of good storytelling. It's nicely shot and it feels like the big budget Hollywood actioner that it is but it's also lacking a good framework for the chemistry Stallone and Russell periodically had. Now if they had brought in Billy Dee Williams for Stallone's partner like in NIGHTHAWKS (1981), THAT would have made for a better film. I guess I'm disappointed because I really like Stallone and I really like Russell...but not so much in this vehicle.