Bullet Points: Moscow Heat
Over the years I have watched and reviewed numerous Alexander Nevsky movies, but Moscow Heat provided me the opportunity to watch one of Nevsky’s earlier efforts in the world of action movies… in fact it was the first movie Nevsky wrote and produced, along with having a starring role.
- Father and Son: The movie begins with Roger Chambers (Michael York, Austin Powers) and his son Andrew Chambers (Adrian Paul, Dead Men Can’t Dance) engaging in a friendly fencing match. But the father/son bonding time is interrupted when duty calls and Andrew and his partner Rudy (Robert Madrid) make their way to upstate New York for an undercover assignment to take down arms dealer Nikolay Klimov, played by a bleached blonde Richard Tyson. Long story short, Andrew doesn’t make it out alive… but Nikolay manages to make it out of the country and back to Moscow!
- Destination Moscow: After the funeral for Andrew, Roger Chambers wants to track down the man who killed his son, and since he is a retired diplomat, he pulls some strings and soon finds himself in Moscow, along with Rudy Souza. Posing as tourists, the duo find themselves hitting up a rival of Nikolay, who is more than happy to provide them with guns, ammo and where Nikolay will be later that night… a swanky club downtown. It is at the club where Nikolay and Rudy have quite the dust up, including both men taking the plunge from the second floor balcony to the dance floor below… when it is all said and done, Rudy ends up with a bullet in his shoulder courtesy of Nikolay, the cops show up, including Vlad Stepanov (Alexander Nevsky, Showdown in Manila)… I should also mention that Nikolay once again manages to slip away, this time taking out Vlad’s friend on the police force, Denis.
- Diplomatic Immunity: Rudy ends up in the hospital for basically the duration of the film and Roger ends up at the police station where he is not forthcoming with the exact nature of his business in Moscow. Vlad is no dummy and knows Roger is withholding information, but even in retirement Roger has the all important DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY and he abuses the hell out of it. In fact, the best thing in Moscow Heat is Michael York’s performance and constant undermining of the authorities… if anyone else did it, they would come off as a total asshole, but somehow York still comes off charming as ever. And to Vlad’s credit he does manage to neutralize Roger’s freelancing with some help from his grandfather, a chess board and vodka!
- Reverse Red Heat: There is a lot about Moscow Heat that was clearly inspired by 1988’s Red Heat. In this case the tough Russian cop, Vlad, gets to stay on his home turf and finds himself teaming up with the visiting “American”, Roger Chambers. Of course by the time the two get on the same page and team up to track down Nikolay, none of it is official police business. But the murderous Nikolay has made it personal for both men, so bending the rules to do what’s right is completely justified.
Moscow Heat was a good first effort by the multitasking Alexander Nevsky. Nevsky wisely surrounded himself with more experienced actors and actors with name value to the action community that this movie was intended for. This is a formula that Nevsky would continue to use going forward.
The action to story ratio in Moscow Heat did seem a little off to me and that would probably be my biggest complaint… not enough action. With that said Michael York and Richard Tyson engaging in a sword fight in a castle, was pretty awesome.
If you haven’t had enough Bullet Points, you’re in luck, because here are some Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to hear Michael York call Adrian Paul a “cheeky bastard”, then Moscow Heat is the movie for you.
- Directed By: Jeff Celentano, who will always be Wild Bill from American Ninja 2: The Confrontation to me, directed Moscow Heat. Jeff also had a small role as the aforementioned Denis, the slain partner of Vlad.
- Familiar Faces: Joanna Pacula of Death Before Dishonor and Marked for Death fame plays Sasha, Vlad’s contact in the intelligence community… Andrew Divoff of Toy Soldiers and Stealth Fighter fame plays an old contact of Roger Chambers.
