Tango & Cash (1989)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Andrei Konchalovsky

Writer (WGA):

Randy Feldman (written by)

Release Date:

22 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Two cops are framed and must clear their names.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Escape | Framed | Torture | Crime Boss

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Lt. Raymond Tango
Kurt Russell	...	Lt. Gabriel Cash
Teri Hatcher	...	Katherine 'Kiki' Tango
Jack Palance	...	Yves Perret
Brion James	...	Requin
James Hong	...	Quan
Marc Alaimo	...	Lopez
Philip Tan	...	Chinese Gunman
Michael J. Pollard	...	Owen
Robert Z'Dar	...	Face
Lewis Arquette	...	Wyler
Edward Bunker	...	Capt. Holmes
Leslie Morris	...	Hendricks
Roy Brocksmith	...	Fed. Agent Davis
Susan Krebs	...	Prosecutor

Also Known As:

The Set Up (USA) (working title)
Tango & Cash (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Duo de choc (Canada: French title) [fr]
Tango & Cash (Finland) [fi]
Tango és Cash (Hungary) [hu]
Tango a Cash (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Tango da Keshi (Georgia) [ka]
Tango e Cash - Os Vingadores (Brazil) [pt]
Tango et Cash (France) [fr]
Tango i kes (Serbia) [sr]
Tango ve Cash (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Tango y Cash (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

98 min | USA:104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:16 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | UK:15 (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Irwindale, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The scene where Tango (Sylvester Stallone) faces an oncoming truck with nothing but a gun was borrowed from Ging chat goo si (1985), where Jackie Chan (a good friend of Stallone's) performed the stunt.

Goofs:

Continuity: Tango smashes the screen door when he jumps through it, but when it is on top of the police chief it is in one piece.

Quotes:

Ray Tango: Why just use your Plan A?
Gabriel Cash: Because it's a hell of a lot better than your Plan B, which you don't even have.

Movie Connections:

References Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Soundtrack:

Don't Go

Just Who's The Best Cop In LA?

It looks to me like everyone was having one rollicking good time making Tango&Cash. This is the kind of film that you have to take as seriously as an Indiana Jones adventure. After all their can be only one Indy.

But in this case we've a pair of cowboy cops who work in different parts of Los Angeles. Sylvester Stallone as Ray Tango and Kurt Russell as Gabe Cash are certainly known to each other however due to the headlines they've gathered smashing various criminal enterprises. They're also known to master criminal Jack Palance the Professor Moriarty of the film and he's rigged one elaborate plan for their disgrace and downfall and death.

As much as Stallone and Russell are enjoying spoofing their own action images, this film is absolutely stolen by Jack Palance. With tongue firmly in cheeking and hands twirling some imaginary mustache ends in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition, Palance is having a ball with his part.

Of course even when they're in the worst of trouble there's still that oneupsmanship that Russell and Stallone can't shake. And when Russell shows an interest in Teri Hatcher whom he later finds out is Stallone's sister, things could really have gotten interesting if it weren't for the joint problems they both were having.

When you watch this film, do not for one instant take it seriously and I guarantee a real hoot.