TANGO AND CASH [1989 / 2009] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Two of L.A.’s Cops Are Going To Have To Work Together . . . Even If It Kills Them!
Ray Tango [Sylvester Stallone] and Gabe Cash [Kurt Russell] are rival L.A. policemen with one thing in common: each thinks he is the best. Team them and they're like oil and water. But frame them for a crime and they're like a match and kerosene. Unjustly jailed among lowlifes they put behind bars, the two stages a prison breakout that's a breathless rush of weapons and wisecracks then roar after the shadowy crime lord [Jack Palance] who set them up. Tango & Cash are out to clear their names. Join them and feel the rush.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1990 Razzie Awards: Nominated: Worst Supporting Actress for Kurt Russell for playing in drag. Nominated: Worst Screenplay for Randy Feldman.
FILM FACT No.2: The film ‘TANGO AND CASH’ was chiefly directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, with Albert Magnoli and Peter MacDonald taking over in the later stages of filming, with Stuart Baird overseeing post-production. The multiple directors were due to a long and troubled production process that included numerous script rewrites and clashes between Andrei Konchalovsky and producer Jon Peters over creative differences.
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance, Brion James, James Hong, Marc Alaimo, Philip Tan, Michael J. Pollard, Robert Z'Dar, Lewis Arquette, Edward Bunker, Leslie Morris, Roy Brocksmith, Susan Krebs, David Byrd, Richard Fancy, Jerry Martinez, Michael Jeter, Bing Russell, Alphonse Walter, Peter Stensland, Phil Rubenstein, Elizabeth Sung, Clint Howard, Ed DeFusco, Jack Goode Jr., Geoff Vanderstock, Larry Humburger, Mark Wood, Andre Rosey Brown, Saveliy Kramarov, Michael Francis Clarke, Anne Cooper, Tammy Richardson, Patti Davis, Richard L. Duran, Doug Ford, Kenneth Pruitt, Ronald Moss, Richard Dominguez, Kristen Dalton, Tamara Landry, Anna Joyner, Melissa Bremner, Christie Mucciante, Lucia Neal, Roxanne Kernohan, Dori Courtney, Dale Swann, John Walter Davis, Adolfo Quinones, David Lea, Glenn Morshower, Salvador Espinoza, Christopher Wolf, Larry White, Richard J. Larson, Fred Trombley, Matt Tufo, David Phillips, Lewis Guido, James Reilley, Gilbert Esparza, Martin Valinsky, Donald Zinn, Duane Allen, Robert David Armstrong, Philip Weyland, Paul Lewis, Ron Cummins, Billy Blanks (uncredited), Cibby Danyla (uncredited), Lorenzo Gaspar (uncredited), Richard Hale (uncredited), Conrad Hurtt (uncredited), Michael Lent (uncredited), Geoffrey Lewis (uncredited), Ari Ross (uncredited), Rodney Saulsberry (uncredited) and Benny Urquidez (uncredited)
Directors: Andrei Konchalovsky and Albert Magnoli (replaced Andrei Konchalovsky) (uncredited)
Producers: Barbara Kalish, Jon Peters, Larry J. Franco, Peter Guber, Peter MacDonald and Tony Munafo
Screenplay: Randy Feldman
Composer: Harold Faltermeyer
Cinematography: Donald Eugene Thorin, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD Audio
English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
German: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Italian: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Russian: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Castilian]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Latin]: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish
Running Time: 104 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Warner Home Video
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: ‘TANGO AND CASH’ may not have set the box office on fire or won over critics when it hit theatres in 1989, but it's justifiably earned itself a pretty decent cult following over the last two decades and for good reason. Few films of the era represent the “big” action film as well as this one, and that's saying something when you consider the competition that this picture has running against it. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, ‘TANGO AND CASH’ might be built around a series of longstanding action film clichés more than it is around anything even remotely resembling an original plot, but it doesn't matter, this is pure action film fun in the truest and best sense possible.
The film follows a Los Angeles Police Department narcotics officer named Lt. Raymond Tango [Sylvester Stallone] who's got a penchant for slick wardrobe and investment banking and another LAPD narc named Lt. Gabriel Cash [Kurt Russell] who is pretty much his exact opposite with his torn jeans and messy hair. These two are like oil and water, they just don't mix well and despite a common interest, they don't really get along. That said, they're also the two best cops in the department, which brings them unwanted attention from a drug lord named Yves Perret [Jack Palance] who decides to get rid of these thorns in his side by framing them for the murder of an undercover federal agent.
Yves Perret's plan works and before you know it, Lt. Raymond Tango and Lt. Gabriel Cash are in some pretty deep trouble. Yves Perret, who plans to have the cop's murdered while in prison, has another thing coming, however as Lt. Raymond Tango and Lt. Gabriel Cash accept a plea bargain and wind up in a minimum security facility. Yves Perret's got connections, however, and he soon has them transferred to a maximum security pen where his thugs lay the screws to our two heroes. With their lives in danger and wanting to clear their names, Lt. Raymond Tango and Lt. Gabriel Cash form an unlikely alliance and decide to bust out of the big house and set things right. Complicating matters further, however, is the presence of Tango's foxy younger sister, Katherine 'Kiki' Tango [Teri Hatcher], who soon becomes the apple of Lt. Gabriel Cash's eye.
Big, dumb and loud, ‘TANGO AND CASH’ is a literal blast of a film that lets Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell use their considerable screen presence to play off of one another. A typical 'buddy cop' movie in a lot of ways, it isn't a film that's high on originality but it is a picture that somehow manages to get a lot of mileage out of pretty much every action film cliché you would care to name. That said, there's half the fun of the film right there, and the clichés tend to become so fun that you more or less become immune to it.
Of course, in and amongst all the shoot outs, fights, explosions and chases are the two leading men, veritable titans of eighties action cinema, both of whom bring their best to the picture. Sylvester Stallone may not be the first guy who comes to mind when you think “sophisticated financial type with fancy suits” but he fits the part quite well here and brings just the right amount of snobbish attitude to his Lt. Raymond Tango to make it work. Kurt Russell, on the other hand, excels at playing lower class ruffian types and he was great when he did it in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and he's great when he does it here, this is one of those roles that the actor was born to play and he really does a fine job of it. The pair work well together and have a very infectious chemistry in this film that winds up sucking you in whether you want it to or not. Casting the great Jack Palance as the heavy compliments things quite perfectly, as he delivers exactly the type of performance you'd want out of him, he is sly, sneaky, and sinister, while a young Teri Hatcher provides some welcome eye candy, preventing the film from becoming a complete and utter sausage fest.
Non-stop violence, witty back and forth banter, and nasty bad guys might not be hard to come by in action film territory but rarely do they add up to as good a time at the films as they do with ‘TANGO AND CASH.’ If ever there was a film that really did require you to completely turn off your brain, only to reward you with thrills, chills, laughs and action galore this is it.
TANGO AND CASH MUSIC TRACK LIST
BEST OF WHAT I GOT (Written by John Waite, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon) [Performed by Bad English]
LET THE DAY BEGIN (Written by Michael Been) [Performed by The Call]
DON’T GO (Written by Vince Clarke) [Performed by Yazoo]
POISON (Written by Alice Cooper, Desmond Child and John McCurry) [Performed by Alice Cooper]
IT’S NO CRIME (Written by L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons) [Performed by Babyface]
HARLEM NOCTURNE (Written by Earle Hagen) [Performed by Darktown Strutters]
Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Home Video presents the film ‘TANGO AND CASH’ with a very impressive 2.40.1 aspect ratio and is enhanced with awesome 1080p anamorphic widescreen transfer. Contrast looks spot on and detail is noticeably better than the DVD Standard release and pretty much instantly in both close up shots as well as long distance and medium shots. Explosions look nice and bright without ever bleeding while dark scenes are inky and deep with great shadow detail that never overwhelms the more subtle tones hiding within. Whites are warm and hot without ever feeling over baked while reds are strong and don't leak or bleed at all. There is some minor edge enhancement that you might notice if you're really looking for it as well as a bit of background noise evident in some lighter scenes, but these are minor complaints against what is otherwise a very strong effort on the part of Warner Bros.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Home Video has supplied a stunning 5.1 Dolby TrueHD Surround Mix and a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound mix as well as optional subtitles. As far as the quality of the audio is concerned, obviously the 5.1 TrueHD mix gets the edge in terms of punch and clarity but both tracks suffer from a predominantly front heavy mix. Rears spring to life only occasionally, intermittently throwing in some sound effects during the rain storm and playing with the score a bit. The explosions, shoot outs and action scenes that you would hope to be bombarded with from all channels really only ever truly hits from the front speakers. The end result is a bit disappointing in that it could have been more enveloping than it is, but that said, there's nothing to complain about here in terms of clarity of quality. Dialogue is easy enough to understand at any given point in the film, bass response is alright even if it could have been a little more forceful, and the levels are properly balanced and the mix is just right.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Theatrical Trailer [1989] [1080p] [2.40:1] [1:22] The only extra included on this Blu-ray disc, aside from the mandatory menu and chapter selection sub-menu, this is a fun theatrical trailer that surprisingly enough and includes some brief moments that were not actually used in the finished version of the film. Aside from that, however, this Blu-ray disc release is sadly only barebones.
Finally, ‘TANGO AND CASH’ is a very exciting, well-made, and nicely-acted thrill ride that's one of the 1980s most notable Action/Buddy Cop films that were released at the time. The film enjoys an exemplary sense of tongue in cheek humour that's the perfect complement to the film's high-energy action packed scenes, and you get amazing chemistry between the two leading actors, and a superb film music score that's light and catchy but also a fine compliment to the bullets and explosions. ‘TANGO AND CASH’ retains every bit of its appeal with each viewing experience, and for the most part, refuses to acknowledge its age with the passage of time. Warner Home Video Blu-ray release is just fine where it counts, but the disc is a total disappointment in the nearly complete absence of extra special features content. Nevertheless, the film has never looked or sounded so good for home consumption, and fans will be more than satisfied with the upgrade presented over the standard inferior DVD release. This film is recommended for fans of these two dynamic duo actors and what a shame they did not do a follow up film, as they really worked well together. That is why I have always been a big fan of this awesome film and I have especially always loved the shower scene, where Sylvester Stallone thinks Kurt Russell is going to sexually assault him and Kurt Russell states, "Don't Flatter Yourself," which I think is the most classic quip I have ever heard in a film and again I am honoured to add this classic brilliant action packed film to my Blu-ray Collection, which really is a massive improvement over the inferior DVD release and you will enrich your Blu-ray Collection in purchasing this disc. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
