Tango & Cash (1989)

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 | Car Bomb

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:

When Brion James was originally hired to play Requin, it was a very small role with only two lines. In an effort to give the character something that would make him stand out, James decided to speak in a cockney accent. Sylvester Stallone loved it, and rewrote the script to give Requin a much bigger role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the beginning of the movie when the truck is bearing down on Tango and he fires at the truck, the windshield "spiderwebs", as it should, since it would be safety glass. However, when the two men fly through the windshield after the truck is stopped, there are no bullet holes in it and it is clearly a plate glass windshield (due to how it shatters).

Quotes:

Gabriel Cash: You don't know anything about electricity, do you?
Ray Tango: No.
Gabriel Cash: As long as you're only touching one wire and you're not touching the ground, you don't get electrocuted.
[Thinks about it for a moment]
Gabriel Cash: Um, right?
Ray Tango: I don't know.
Gabriel Cash: I don't either.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Soundtrack:

Poison

Lovely piece of kitsch from the 80's

Back in the 80's, kitsch cinema had two main sections - gory horror movies and daft action films, of which this film obviously fits into the latter. While the gory horror movies of the eighties often lacked credibility, that section of kitsch movies beats the daft action films because of the much higher content of inventiveness; but more often than not, the daft action movies make for good entertainment, even if they're somewhat less than brilliant. Tango and Cash is a notable action movie because it stars two of the eighties most popular action stars - Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell, whose antagonistic partnership makes up the core of this movie. The plot device to get the maverick cops to work together is hardly important, but nevertheless it follows the two as a corrupt state buys into a plot by a criminal kingpin to land them both in jail, which promptly sees our hero's in with the masses of criminals they themselves have sent to the clink. As you can imagine, they're not the most well liked of inmates. Especially not by 'Maniac Cop' himself, Robert Z'Dar...

The action in the movie comes thick and fast and this, when combined with the one-liner packed script make the movie feel more like a parody than a serious take on the genre. This is all good, however, as this movie is pure entertainment, and seeing two of the 80's hottest action stars fire off silly dialogue at one another is a treat to say the least. The action is over the top, and we get to watch our hero's do such things as slide down electrical cables and drive a souped up SUV around an explosion packed warehouse, and it makes for great entertainment. Of course, what the movie packs in action and snappy dialogue, it lacks in other areas such as credibility and depth; but nobody tunes into a kitschy 80's action movie for plot depth and sophistication, so blaming the movie for not offering these things is ridiculous. On the whole, if you're after a good two hours of solid action fare, you could certainly do a lot worse than Tango and Cash. This movie packs a lot of punch, delivered by two strong leading men. Thumbs up!