Bullet Points: Tango & Cash

One of the reasons that action movies of the 1980’s are looked back upon so fondly is due to the impact that they had on the movie industry for the years and even decades that followed. Movies like Terminator and Die Hard inspired countless movies that would follow.

1987’s Lethal Weapon made the buddy cop movie en vogue and like Terminator and Die Hard, it inspired other movies to try to capture that buddy cop magic and box office dollars.

1989’s Tango & Cash combined two proven action heavyweights and was among the first movies to try to duplicate the success of Lethal Weapon…

• You Gotta Know How to Tango: The movie starts off with Lt. Raymond Tango (Sylvester Stallone, Cobra) pursuing a tanker truck that is being driven by Face (Robert Z’Dar, Young Rebels). The scene is a great introduction to the Tango character and we learn he has balls of steel as he stands in the middle of the road with his police revolver in his hand and the tanker truck heading straight at him. Tango has a hunch the truck isn’t hauling gasoline and once he dispatches of Face, Tango has a chance to prove his hunch was correct… the tank was filled with drugs! This is the sort of bust that will get you headlines, and it does.
• Cash In, Cash Out?: We’ve met Tango, so it is only fair that we are introduced to our other headline grabbing cop, Lt. Gabriel Cash (Kurt Russell, Big Trouble in Little China). Cash enters his apartment and almost becomes the victim of an assassin’s bullet. This leads to a foot chase that turns into a car chase inside a parking garage and establishes that Cash will go to great lengths in the name of law and order.

• Triangle of Terror: Two super cops in Los Angeles are two too many if you are crime bosses Quan (James Hong, Missing in Action) and Lopez (Marc Alaimo, Avenging Force). Both Quan and Lopez want to kill Tango and Cash and be done with them, but there is a third member of this triangle of terror that thinks differently, Yves Perret (Jack Palance, Chato’s Land). The eccentric Perret, who we learn has a love of TV screens and mice, believes making Tango and Cash martyrs will ignite a war with law enforcement that they’d be better off not getting into. Instead Perret, with the help of his right hand man Requin (Brion James, Hong Kong 97), frames Tango and Cash for the murder of an undercover agent during a drug deal gone bad. Our heroes have their names dragged through the mud and their asses thrown in jail.
• Behind Bars: Tango and Cash find themselves in a prison filled with convicts they helped put behind bars. Their first night there finds our wrongfully convicted cops being dragged out of their cells and tortured by their fellow inmates, including Face, all under the supervision of Requin. Fortunately for Tango and Cash, they do have somebody on the inside that is on their side, Assistant Warden Matt Sokowski (Phil Rubenstein, RoboCop 2). Sokowski, who was Cash’s first commanding officer, gives them some prison blueprints and helps them hatch an escape plan… but if you’ve ever seen an action movie, you know that the escape does not go as smoothly as planned.

• Bad Cop, Worse Cop: Once they are out, Tango and Cash attempt to clear their names by tracking down those who testified against them and looking for answers. After going their separate ways to cover as much ground as possible, the two are reunited at the home of Kiki Tango (Teri Hatcher, Brain Smasher… A Love Story)… where Tango walks in on his sister and Cash in what appears to be a compromising position, further adding to Tango’s confusion is the fact that Cash is in drag… but that’s about the time Tango’s friend, Captain Schroeder (Geoffrey Lewis, Double Impact) shows up with a tip on Requin. This leads to one of the more memorable scenes in the film, with Tango and Cash interrogating Requin with a technique they dub “Bad Cop, Worse Cop”.
• Heavy Machinery: Requin spilled the beans on Perret and is “fortress”. This is where Cash’s buddy at LAPD Research & Development (R&D for those in the know) comes in, providing our heroes with “The RV from hell”, the perfect vehicle to get behind enemy lines with. As luck would have it, Perett’s forces have some heavy machinery of their own and we get a unique action set piece to build to the inevitable final confrontation with Tango and Cash and the man who orchestrated their imprisonment, Yves Perret!

With a release date of December 22, 1989, Tango & Cash was the last big action movie of the 80’s.

Given the star power involved, Tango & Cash was a box office disappointment during its initial release. But it feels like the general public’s rejection of the film made Tango & Cash an unsung film for the action movie loving community and the love for the film has only grown over the years.

Now how about some love for these Bonus Bullet Points…

• The Debate is Over: I feel like anytime I watch Tango & Cash and see Kiki perform at the club, Teri Hatcher instantly goes to the top of my favorite Lois Lane list.
• Familiar Faces: Speaking of the club, one of Kiki’s fellow dancers is played by Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo and Steel Frontier fame… Creepy Clint Howard (The Wraith) plays Slinky, Ray Tango’s cellmate in prison… And Philip Tan (Showdown in Little Tokyo) played the gunmen who tried to kill Cash in Cash’s apartment.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell shower together, then Tango & Cash is the movie for you.
• Memorable Quote: “Did you bump uglies with my sister?” – Raymond Tango