Red Heat (1988) - Retrospective Review

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Gina Gershon, Ed O'Ross, Peter Boyle

Country: United States / Russia

Rating: R

Run Time: 104 min

Red Heat is a buddy cop film from writer/director Walter Hill (The Warriors) that came out during the buddy cop craze. Hill's 1982 smash hit, 48 Hrs, helped popularize and establish the buddy cop sub-genre and formula in the first place. Six years later, Hill found himself returning to the genre that he helped establish with Red Heat, a buddy cop actioner that sought to portray Russians in a positive manner unlike another 1988 actioner, Rambo III. 

The film is both light Arnold Schwarzenegger and light Walter Hill, neither an exemplary piece of filmmaking in either bad ass icon's filmography nor a blemish either. The story may contain solid substance in the form of a Russian and an American trying to learn how to work together in a post-Cold War world, but it otherwise goes with the motions and engages the viewer in no way beyond a hilarious one-liner here and a bad ass shootout there. Still, action fans would be kidding themselves to miss out on a lesser 80s buddy cop film, especially one starring the biggest action star of the 80s, Schwarzenegger. 

"Cocanum!"

Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a Russian police officer, is in search of Viktor Rosta (Ed O Ross), a Russian drug dealer. When Danko and his partner engage Rosta, Danko loses both his partner and several of his officers in the ensuing shootout. As Rosta flees to Chicago, Danko pursues after him and eventually teams up with Chicago police officer Art Ridzik (James Belushi) in order to obtain jurisdiction in America. The two must learn to work with one another and take down Rosta after becoming personally engaged in the case. 

While other action films of the 80s depicted Russians as villains and Americans as heroes, Red Heat was one of the first to present a solution to the two's indifferences. The crux of the film is its buddy pairing between Danko, a strict and stoic Russian cop, and Ridzik, a foulmouthed but lighthearted American officer. Red Heat straight up addresses the vast differences between the two countries' peoples, but opts for a positive message about team work and setting aside said differences. 

The script finds common ground for its two characters in the form of their profession and quest to combat crime and the cocaine drug craze of the 80s. Danko sends off the film with an excellent line that sums up the entire film's message about the tension between the Russians and the Americans, "We are both cops, not politicians." I don't know about you, but I think that is a rather profound and strong message to end a buddy cop film on. To be honest, it's the only profound or noble message in the entire film, as everything else is pretty much 80s excess. Still, Red Heat shows notable progression in its depiction of Russians in American cinema as opposed to Rambo III's message to the Russians, "F*** em!"

"Freeze motherf*****!"

I know that people love to crap on Arnold Schwarzenegger as an actor, but I think that he gives a very good performance in this film as a Russian officer. Even though he is the furthest thing from Russian, his height, hair cut, and muscles sell the role. Danko learns over the course of the film that his Russian superiors are a tad too intense and that enforcing the law is more important that saving face for his country. 

While it is clear that Danko is the action guy of the buddy pairing, Red Heat is a rare example of buddy cop cinema in which the action guy completely overshadows the more comical guy, that being Belushi's Ridzik. After all, Arnold was a movie star at the time, and it's hard to think of Arnold sharing top billing with any other actor. Therefore, he makes for an interesting choice for a buddy cop film, a sub-genre of action cinema all about sharing screen time and themes of friendship. In retrospect, I am happy to see that Arnold tackled the buddy cop sub-genre at least once in his filmography. I also realized that Ivan Danko's name sounds an awful lot like Ivan Drago, Dolph Lundgren's character from Stallone's Rocky IV. It's an odd coincidence, but both Ivans are Russian, tall, muscular, and have the same haircut. Once again, leave it to Stallone to taint the image of Russians.

Even though Red Heat is as entertaining as most of the action films of its respective decade, the film rarely engages or pulls in the viewer as much as it should. One of the film's weaknesses is in fact its buddy pairing. Although unique, Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi don't exactly make for a lovable duo of characters unlike the unforgettable pairings found in the Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour franchises. One could make the argument that a Russian and an American duo aren't supposed to work together exactly, and that could be the reason for the strangeness of the duo. However, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, an African American and an Asian, played completely different characters in Rush Hour and found a way to become one of action cinema's most memorable duos. Red Heat's buddy pair lacks the chemistry and sense of team work that makes other buddy pairs fun to watch. With everything being particularly dire, and Belushi honestly playing back up to Arnold, Red Heat is a rather humorless affair.

The characters themselves aren't exactly memorable or likable beyond the actors who play them too. The film adds insult to injury with a plot that heavily drags in its action-less second act, relying mainly upon formula and expected story beats. Most flawed films suffer from weak second acts, and Red Heat is one of them. If the film didn't feature the Russian angle, than it would be like any other bland buddy cop actioner out there with only style to boot, and style can only go so far when you've seen the umpteenth amount of action films that I have.

"You are a stupid!"

All insults aside, Red Heat is still a blast to watch. The film is pure Andrew Vajna and Mario Kassar produced 80s action, backed up by director Walter Hill and composer James Horner. The film is packed with everything that one adores about 80s action cinema: excessive violence, memorable one-liners, larger than life characters, scummy villains, unnecessary nudity, recognizable character actors, foul language, and vehicular mayhem. Hill's buddy flick also features some of Arnold's most hilarious one-liners, especially the unforgettable, "Cocanum!" Other hits include, "Who is Dirty Harry," "You are a stupid," "I am not sh*tting on you," and "Holy carne." 

Hill is one of the great filmmakers of bad ass cinema, haven directed several classics (The Warriors, The Long Riders, Southern Comfort) as well as a few lesser films (Extreme Prejudice, Last Man Standing, Bullet to the Head) that entertain no matter how good or bad they are. His eye for action is as great as ever here, directing a minimal but memorable selection of action sequences. As with most buddy films, the body count is especially light, although the sequences are quite good. Highlights include a bevy of solid shootouts, as well as a fantastic final car chase in which Arnold and Ed O Ross' characters plow buses through Chicago's city streets and landmarks. Despite a rather cheap and lousy final face off between Danko and main villain Rosta, Red Heat is filled with satisfactory action from start to finish.

Surprisingly enough, the most annoying element of the entire film is Horner's score. While typically an amazing artist, the late composer delivers a sub-standard and highly repetitive score that will grate your ears thirty minutes into the film. I honestly wondered to myself if Horner wasn't just re-composing tunes from Commando several scenes into the film. However, Horner is notorious for his similar sounding scores. Therefore, I should have known what I was getting in too. 

Nothing like a good ol' bus chase.

Red Heat is a perfect example of style over substance for 80s action cinema. The film's action is directed and photographed well, but the story that surrounds said antics is fairly bland and predictable for those who have been around the action block before. That being said, Red Heat is commendable for its positive message about team work amongst varying nations and for Arnold's great performance as a Russian officer. Besides, 80s action cinema is so popular and beloved amongst action fans that they honestly don't need me to tell them whether or not to check this one out. If Arnold and Hill are your guys, than put Red Heat on your to watch list. Otherwise, steer clear if mediocre buddy cop actioners aren't your thing. 

Rating: 6.5/10 - I typically don't give scores with a .5 rating, but I am going to give it to Red Heat. Action fans will definitely want to check this out, but its predictability and non-engaging plot pulls it down to the lower ends of action cinema. Than again, a lower level 80s action film is ten times more entertaining than half of today's contemporary action films.

Bad Boys II (2003)

Director: Michael Bay

Cast: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Peter Stormare, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Molla

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 147 minutes

Whereas Bad Boys was a small scaled cops and robbers genre picture with a $19 million budget, Bad Boys II was a full fledged blockbuster with a whopping $130 million price tag. The sequel finds Bay in full form eight years after the release of the initial film, amping up everything from the comedy, to the action, to even the budget and run time. If two hours of Bad Boys wasn't enough, than how about two and a half? Bad Boys II is pure excess from start to finish, a cinematic guilty pleasure if there ever was one. Heck, Edgar Wright even admitted his love for the film in his own Hot Fuzz.

Bad Boys II is a much better film than its predecessor simply for how unabashedly ridiculous and over the top it is. Bay blows the hell out of Miami with a plethora of set pieces that put every action scene in Bad Boys to shame. However, viewers should not expect a better film in terms of plotting or character development. Bad Boys II is more of the same, right down to its insanely offensive comedy and over sexualization of women. In fact, Bad Boys II finds a way to be even more offensive than the original Bad Boys by cracking jokes at the expense of both homosexuals and animals. While I groaned out loud at Bay's sense of humor, I was in pure cinematic bliss during his action sequences. Few filmmakers deliver the same level of high octane entertainment and juvenile immaturity time and time again as Michael Bay. At this point, the only person that you can blame for your suffering while watching a Bay film is yourself, as the filmmaker is not going to change any time soon.

Smith goes full action hero in Bad Boys II.

Bad Boys II is nearly the same as its predecessor: Mike and Marcus, two narcotics division detectives, must take down a drug smuggler and his cash. However, their investigation is complicated when Marcus' DEA sister, Sydney (Gabrielle Union), finds herself undercover within the same case. Bad Boys II is the cinematic equivalent of candy. While candy may be terrible for me, I admit to enjoying it slightly, just as I do Bad Boys II. In fact, I would go one step further and say that Bad Boys II is sugar coated garbage, a real piece of unadulterated trash that can only be enjoyed by numb skulls or those willing to turn off their brain for two and a half hours.

Michael Bay directed such mega hit films as The Rock, Armageddon, and Pearl Harbor in between both Bad Boys features. The man had most definitely amped up both his budgets and his level of destruction since Bad Boys' measly $19 million antics. Therefore, Bad Boys II finds Bay in full form with his signature teal and orange color pallet, rotating camera shots, juvenile humor, and an insane amount of on screen destruction. Bad Boys was merely a warm up for the massive vehicular damage on display in Bay's sequel that puts the Bay in "Bayhem."

Unfortunately, Bay had not matured as a filmmaker since the original Bad Boys adventure and showcases the same storytelling flaws as before. Bad Boys II follows a very specific pattern from start to finish: comedic banter between Smith and Lawrence, bad guy plots drug smuggling, the boys run into Marcus' sister, crazy action sequence ensues, and than the captain yells at them for the damage they caused. If seeing this pattern of events repeat itself for 147 minutes does not interest you, than do not watch Bad Boys II, as the film is nothing more than this.

Bay's money shots are one of the film's saving graces.

Bay finds a way to be even more offensive than before, taking shots at both homosexuals and animals in some of the most mean spirited comedy I have ever witnessed in a major motion picture. When main villain Tapia (Jordi Molla) shows his cohorts where he hides his money, he discovers that numerous rats pester his home's sewers. Instead of just showing Tapia shoot at the rats for comedic purposes, Bay takes the time to include shots of rats exploding from Tapia's bullets. It's enough to show someone shoot without a result, by why go so far as to show bodily harm in such explicit detail?

Bay goes even further with his degradation of animals when Mike and Marcus go undercover as rat exterminators in Tapia's home. When Marcus hears a pair of rats having sex, he turns around to see the two of them humping one another in the missionary style and declares, "They have sex just like us!" I cannot recall the last time that I groaned so loudly at a film's awful attempt at humor. How did no one on the production team, including Jerry Bruckheimer, step in and tell Bay that a shot of robotic animal sex was too much and completely out of tone with the rest of the picture? Or how about that rats don't have sex like that in real life!

Animal humor is one thing, but homophobic humor is a whole other realm of insincerity and immaturity. Remember when I complained about the liquor store scene in Bad Boys and how it halted the plot for no other reason than more comedy? Well, Bay one ups himself and includes an even longer and more unnecessary scene in Bad Boys II where the boys visit an electronics store to view footage from a destroyed camera. Instead of being content with just showing the boys watch porn on a large screen television (already unnecessary enough), Bay includes a scene where Mike and Marcus sit on a couch and talk with one another about Marcus' anal injury from the opening action scene of the film.

However, the boys don't realize that they are being filmed by a set of cameras that project footage to the monitors on the main floor of the electronics store. What follows is two grating minutes of bystanders mistaking Mike and Marcus' conversation for a discussion of anal sex, resulting in numerous homophobic jokes that just about set me off. The fact that this kind of humor was allowed in a film from 2003 is almost shocking. Bad Boys II feels like a film made by all of the insensitive bullies from your high school days at times.

**** just got real.

Contrived humor and ridiculous plot points aside, Bad Boys II features a plethora of exciting action sequences that any hard nosed action fan would be hard pressed not to love. Even cinematic guru Edgar Wright considers it to be one of his favorite action films, or at least one of Danny Butterman's. One cannot help but bask in Bay's gorgeous visuals and distinct style at times. Bay lights up the screen with J.J. Abrams-esque lense flares and a teal and orange color palette that brings Miami, Florida to life on the big screen as no other filmmaker before him.

Besides the opening shootout in which Bay makes light of the Klu Klux Klan (no complaints there), Bad Boys II doesn't truly explode until its second set piece: a massive car chase that spans a parking garage, the streets of Miami, and a freeway overpass. This massive car chase is the stand out set piece of the film and it arrives a mere 30 minutes into Bad Boys II's proceedings. As Mike and Marcus chase a semi-auto carrier, the criminals aboard it repeatedly dump various sports cars onto the freeway in order to knock Mike and his fellow police officers off their tail. What follows is several minutes of cars flipping, smashing, and exploding. My favorite moment of the entire car chase occurs right at the tail end as the auto carrier wedges a trailer carrying a boat up against the side of the freeway. When the carrier pulls away, the boat launches off of the trailer, flies through the air, and collides with a police car, resulting in a massive multi-car pile up. Scenes like this are the reason that people keep watching Bay's films despite their dumb humor and over long run times (if you are one of those people who enjoys the humor though than I don't apologize because you need to acquire some taste or a heart).

The sequel also contains a solid close quarters shootout that is complimented by a rotating shot through various holes in the room's walls. This rotating camera shot is a staple of Bay's filmography and can also be seen in Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Pain and Gain. Bay also delivers one heck of a finale jam packed with as much gun fire, explosions, and vehicular damage as you can imagine. This finale is especially neat because Bay pays tribute to none other than Jackie Chan as Mike and Marcus drive a hummer through a hill-side town made of tiny shacks, the exact same stunt that opens Chan's 1985 opus, Police Story.

Gimme more of this and less humping rats.

After nearly redeeming all of its comedic nonsense with an action packed finale, Bad Boys II lets the audience down with a one-two punch of stupidity as a minor character makes a last second betrayal and an abrupt ending brings all of the entertaining chaos to a close out of nowhere. The ending of Bad Boys II is essentially a reminder of Bay's talents as a filmmaker. He is a man who can excel to the greatest of highs at times, only to fall down and take the film with him moments after. I would like to recommend Bad Boys II to all action fans, but know that the mean spirited humor and terrible character interactions will turn off many viewers. Even the two and a half hour run time will turn off viewers, as this film contains about 90 minutes of actual cops and robbers content and about an hour of comedic riffing and ad libbing. Bad Boys II biggest flaw is that its tone is inconsistent. Bay blends animal sex jokes with deadly serious action where people's bodies explode and corpses roll onto the streets. These two things do not mix, as one is painfully juvenile and the other deadly serious. Bad Boys II feels more like a straight comedy at times than it does an actual buddy cop film a-la Rush Hour or Lethal Weapon.

I learned a valuable lesson after watching both Bad Boys films for the first time this past week. If I have to endure two and a half hours of Michael Bay's juvenile humor, disregard for character, and terrible sense of plotting, than I would prefer that it involve human characters shooting and chasing one another in cars than it be robots leveling a city. I also learned that the only person I should be mad at while watching a Bay film is myself, as I know exactly what I am getting into each and every time. I may tackle more Bay films in the future on my blog, as the man did direct The Rock, a legitimately fantastic action film devoid of immature humor and comedic rambling. His first Transformers film is also mildly enjoyable to an extent. However, I think that I fully understand Bay as a filmmaker now after tackling his first franchise. 

Rating: 6/10 - This grating and insensitive sequel is saved by its bonkers action sequences that remind you why people eat popcorn at the movies...and how Michael Bay is a middle aged man with a 12 year old's brain.

Franchise:

Bad Boys (dir. Michael Bay, 1995)

Bad Boys II (dir. Michael Bay, 2003)

The Eastwood Way: The Rookie (1990)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga, Tom Skerrit

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 121 minutes

Clint Eastwood didn't tackle any serious themes or take any risks with The Rookie. The film is your by the numbers buddy cop film that was made purely for genre escapism. I have no issue with this at all because I love genre pictures and enjoy some good buddy humor along with my action sometimes. You also have to allow a serious filmmaker/actor like Eastwood to make a fun film every once and awhile. Unfortunately, The Rookie fails at being funny or exciting, the two biggest expectations of a buddy cop film. 

The film fails in several areas in fact. The jokes never land like they should, the plot never excites or engages the viewer, and the chemistry between Charlie Sheen and Clint Eastwood is incredibly dull. For all of its faults, The Rookie still nails some bad ass moments and delivers several great action scenes. Eastwood's eye for action is at the top of his game in this film as cars crash into one another and air planes explode. Still, The Rookie can't make up for its mistakes despite its fun genre conventions. 

Wisecracking Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood is Detective Nick Puvolski (which sounds a bit like Walt Kowalski from Gran Torino). He is hot on the case of Strom (Raul Julia), a German felon leading up a grand theft auto organization. After Strom murders Puvolski's partner, he is assigned a new by the book partner, David Ackerman (Charlie Sheen). Puvolski and Ackerman start to locate Strom's money hideouts and slowly take all of Strom's product and money from him. Enraged, Strom kidnaps Puvolski and demands $2 million in ransom money for his life. It is now up to Ackerman to bend the rules in order to save Puvolski before Strom kills him.

My biggest gripe with The Rookie is that the comedy rarely works. Eastwood and Sheen have no chemistry with one another. While Eastwood plays it up to the camera and clearly has a lot of fun, Sheen maintains the same stone faced look and attitude for most of the film. I know his character is supposed to undergo a whole arc as he becomes a rule bender like Eastwood, but his character felt flat as far as his emotions and performance went. This is a real bummer because bad chemistry is a kiss of death to a buddy cop film. There are also numerous jokes and one liners that come crashing to the ground. Some of these attempts are so bad that I groaned out loud and had to cover up my eyes in order to not feel embarrassed.

The worst attempt at a joke takes place during the most awesome scene of the film. How is this possible you ask? Well, Eastwood and Sheen find themselves inside of a building that is about to explode. Therefore, Eastwood and Sheen hop into a car and drive it out of the building. It's a great stunt and arguably the highlight of the film. However, Eastwood ruins this scene by inserting a joke about buckling one's seat belt twice. As Sheen hops in the car, Eastwood tells him, "Buckle your seatbelt." Okay, that's funny, I like that line. Eastwood than floors the car out the window and the building explodes behind them. The film than cuts to a shot of the two in the car with a green screen explosion behind them and Eastwood says, "Buckle your seatbelt." Again. Why is this joke repeated twice in the same scene? It doesn't make any sense because it ruins the awesome and explosive stunt by cutting to a silly green screen shot of the actors in order to deliver a useless line. If Eastwood had kept the first line and than shown the stunt, it would have been a knock out action scene. Oh well.

Live footage of Charlie Sheen at a bar this weekend.

Besides the script, I also blame the film's failure on Eastwood's style of filmmaking. Eastwood makes slow and steady films that usually have drama, action, and a little bit of comedy too. However, Eastwood's fortei as a filmmaker is minimalistic drama. The main goal of a buddy cop film is to entertain the audience with an exciting pace and to help them laugh along the way as well. Unfortunately, Eastwood's style of filmmaking is not suited for this kind of high octane and fun to watch genre. I believe that Eastwood's filmmaking tendencies did not gel with the typical buddy cop genre that audiences had been accustomed to in the 80's and early 90's. Let's face it, The Rookie cannot stack up to the humorous and energetic likes of Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop, and 48 Hours.

It's also bizarre that The Rookie has numerous similarities to the Dirty Harry franchise which had just ended a mere two years before. Both Harry Callahan and Nick Puvolski are single detectives with a sense of humor and a no-nonsense attitude. They get in shootouts, car chases, fist fights, and even bed a woman every once in awhile. They also get the crap kicked out of them in one scene or another. Both characters have lieutenants that constantly berate them about breaking the rules and causing damage in order to stop criminals. And both characters are stationed in California; with Harry being in San Fran and Nick being in L.A. The Rookie is merely a more comical version of Dirty Harry where significant screen time is given to the buddy cop, that being Charlie Sheen's character.

Even though the performances don't work as well as they should, everyone is still watchable. Eastwood is clearly having a lot of fun as Nick Puvolski. He constantly smokes a cigar and asks nearly every character, "Do you got a light?" If I was into drinking games, than taking a shot every time Eastwood asks for a light would make for a fun one. And even though most of Eastwood's line delivery falls flat, he has a few bad ass zingers in there. It's Eastwood for goodness sakes, it's not like the guy is always on autopilot. He also gets to be especially bad ass in several fun scenes and action sequences.

"Fasten your seatbelt!"

It's hard to believe that there was a time when Charlie Sheen starred in action films. How the mighty have fallen. Anyways, Sheen maintains a monotone voice and stone face throughout most of the film. It isn't until the half way point when his character comes to life and undergoes an arc into badass-ery. Sheen's character surprisingly has the most depth of anyone else in the film. It is established early on that Ackerman accidentally let his brother fall to his death Vertigo style when he froze up while on a roof long ago. Since than, Ackerman has played by the rules and tortured himself with that death. 

However, Puvolski teaches Ackerman to loosen up, dress casually, break the rules, and have fun with life. There's a great symbolic moment where Ackerman sets a bar on fire and walks over to his motorcycle. When he sits on it, he looks at his helmet and tosses it to the ground, thereby symbolizing his turn to the side of the bad ass cops who don't play safe. It's a great visual moment and a fun transformation as well. Regardless of The Rookie's lifeless comedy and dull plot, nobody can say that Eastwood didn't at least try a little bit with this film.

Our main villains are two Germans played by two Latin American actors, Sonia Braga and Raul Julia. There's no doubt about it, Julia and Braga are hear for their paychecks and just having fun. Their villains are very dull and probably some of the most underwhelming foes in all of Eastwood's filmography. The Rookie also contains arguably one of the worst and most awkward sex scenes in cinema history. When Braga's character has Puvolski tied up in a chair, she cuts up his face and full on rapes him! I kid you not. She sets up a camera and records herself raping Puvolski, who doesn't seem all that resistant. I am damn sure that Eastwood threw this scene into the film just so he could get his rocks off for a little bit. But my goodness. This is the worst scene in the film and it sticks out like a sore thumb.

It's no surprise that The Rookie's strong points are its great action sequences. Eastwood really pulled out all of the stops in order to make the stunt work as marvelous as possible. Unlike other Eastwood vehicles, The Rookie features a lot of explosions and car crashes. The opening action scene is an awesome car chase where Puvolski chases after a long semi-auto carrier with its car loader down. As Eastwood exchanges fire with the men on the carrier, they eventually star releasing cars from the carrier in order to take out Puvolski. However, all of the cars miss Puvolski and usually end up colliding with some poor innocents. This makes for some great vehicular stunt work as cars crash into one another and fly through the air. There is also a pretty cool fight scene where Ackerman snaps and finally becomes bad ass by beating the crap out of a bunch of bar patrons Seagal style with pool sticks and beer bottles.

Best buddies until the end.

One of the blessings of The Rookie is that it is rated R. Therefore, you still get no nonsense kills, blood, and vulgar language. These things should be enough to help any action fan get through the film's dull moments and bad comical scenes. If Eastwood and Sheen had better chemistry, than their comedy may have come off more natural and felt less forced. But alas, you win some and you lose some, and not even an icon like Eastwood can knock them out of the park every time. Even with this film's flaws, I still find it watchable. Eastwood is cool as usual and the stunt work is excellent. Recommend to the most die hard buddy cop and Eastwood fans.

Rating: 6/10 - While the comedy falters, the action hits the bullseye with this weak but commendable Eastwood actioner.

The Eastwood Breakdown:

Character Traits:

- Breaks rules established by superiors

- Sense of humor

- Immense love of cigars

- Hatred for color green on cars

Main Villain(s): Strom (main physical villain) / Liesl (secondary villain / right hand woman)

Kill Count: 4

- Puvolski shoots at a car thief who grabs another thief as a human shield.

- Puvolski snaps a henchman's neck as he hangs from an elevator shaft.

- Puvolski shoots at a henchman driving an airplane. The henchman seems alive but clearly wounded by the blood on his head. His dazed state causes him to drive his airplane into another and therefore explodes.

- Puvolski shoots Strom in the forehead.

Themes:

- Problem with authority/rules (as seen in Dirty Harry series, basically any cop role of Clint's)

- Buddy Cops (as seen in Dirty Harry series)

- Jazz Soundtrack (as heard in Dirty Harry, Tightrope, Bird, etc.)

- Automobiles (car chases and love of car culture also seen in Dirty Harry series and Gran Torino)

Cop or Cowboy?: Cop

Directed by Eastwood?: Check

Champion Bad Ass One Liner: When Puvolski and Ackerman hijack one of Strom's vehicles, the henchman inside says, "I saw you die!" Puvolski recants, "Welcome to hell, ass hole." 

Champion Bad Ass Moment: While I am sure some action fans may consider Charlie Sheen's bar fight to be the bad ass highlight of the film, I think that Clint driving the sports car out of the exploding building takes the cake for the bad ass moment. I also love that even after his car lands, he throws on the brakes and slides through a window into another building! You get two great practical stunts in a matter of seconds. That's bad ass to me.

Poster: The Rookie has a poster that is better than the film. I love the floating heads and random red lines that run through the characters' faces. I also love the black background, random revolver, and exploding plane near cop cars. This is definitely one I'd hang in my room even though the film isn't all that great.