If you're in the mood for a fun, action packed comedy with a ridiculous plot and silly characters, then 'Tango & Cash' is definitely one to consider. Stallone and Russell make an entertaining cop duo with their comical behaviour and funny one-liners.The ending is admittedly rubbish, but to be honest I wasn't particularly bothered. This isn't a movie to be taken seriously anyway - it only aims to be a quick comedy fix and I think it fulfills that aim relatively well.'Tango & Cash' is far from being a great action/comedy movie but it does provide the odd funny moment here and there.

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1989's Tango & CashPlot In A Paragraph: L.A's top two cops Tango (Stallone) and Cash (Kurt Russell) are jailed, after being framed for murder, and must escape to clear their names. Suited up and wearing his own glasses Stallone looks great in this (and he should since he had someone fired since the were not lighting him well enough) Russell is at his wise cracking charismatic best, whilst Palance is in full pantomime villain mode. In a world where no matter the situation, a hero always has a funny quip, and an unlimited supply of bullets, it's easy to watch with your brain in neutral, but it poor film making, and just not very good.How on earth did this movie miss like it did?? Sly and Kurt Russell in a buddy cop movie, with Jack Palance as the bad guy and Teri Hatcher as a love interest. Well the production was beset with problems from the start. The intended star, Patrick Swayze, dropped out to star in Roadhouse. As with 'Lock Up' principal photography began without a completed script. Sylvester Stallone had the original director of photography, Barry Sonnenfeld, fired. Then, the producer, Jon Peters, fired the director, Andrey Konchalovskiy. The film ultimately went $20 million over budget and had to be completely reedited by Stuart Baird prior to release.Once again, Stallone altered the script!! One example on this occasion was 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. Stallone loved it, and rewrote the entire script to give Requin a much bigger role.It's one of the worst movies in Stallones post 'Rocky' filmography!! Utter none sense, but camp fun. When it could have been the start of a Lethal Weapon style franchise. Instead it's a missed opportunity and a mess like Cobra.

When I was a kid, starting at maybe 9 or 10 years old, I would get the flu every year, without fail. For a week straight, I'd literally watch Tango & Cash every single day. Some years I would just wish for the flu.I cannot express to you how much I love this movie. This is the first time in probably 12 years that I've seen it, and I'm saddened it's been that long. There are so many great one-liners in this and the back and forth between Stallone and Russell is brilliant.Yeah the plot is a little ridiculous and some of the characters are a little over the top, but damn it if it doesn't put a smile on my face every time I see it. Add in an awesome score that I hum every now and then and a smoking hot Teri Hatcher and you've got yourself an unbelievably entertaining buddy cop film.Ending with the greatest high five in movie history, Tango & Cash is an action film that is borderline a parody of the action genre. Everything in this is big and ridiculous, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Tango and Cash is one of those films that people can get a huge amount of enjoyment out of when taking it for what it is, or there will be others who'll find it not to their taste. From personal taste, there are a number of shortcomings but I cannot bring myself to hate it.Pros: It's stylishly made, if very 80s, and competently directed, nothing comes over as amateurish. The soundtrack does pulsate with energy and is easy to remember, if a little intrusive in places(not that that is uncommon in action films). The script is snappy and delivered like dynamite, the banter between Stallone's Tango and Kurt Russell's Cash is a lot of fun. The story on the whole while very silly and predictable but it doesn't really ever become dull and it is easy to follow, the standout scenes being the opening, which is one of those scenes that sets things up so well it makes one excited for what will happen next and the brilliant prison escape, the prison scenes in general are among the better scenes in the film actually. The action, while very over-the-top, is decently edited, cool and endearingly kitsch without feeling too much. Sylvester Stallone is charismatic and effectively low-key and shows that he is at ease in the action scenes, his comic timing while much criticised in general is pretty good here, while Kurt Russell is a witty, soulful partner, the two of them being a well-matched pair. It is not everyday where you see Russell in drag, don't worry it is not as weird as it sounds.Cons: Tango and Cash does have problems. The biggest problem is that it falls apart in the final 10 minutes, an ending so disappointing that it's easy to bring the film down more than one notch. It loses the energy that the rest of the film has and it goes well overboard in the silliness factor, with the slapsticky final fight feeling out of kilter. The main villain Perrett's comeuppance is also very anti-climatically handled. Teri Hatcher is probably at her sexiest here but her acting feels vapid. More problematic are the villains, here are very stereotypically written(especially Perrett, the drugs baron stereotype has been done a number of times and nothing interesting is done here) and only Brion James, here looking as if he is having so much fun, is memorable. You'd think that Jack Palance, a master of suavity, deadpan and intimidating menace, would be, but here he gives one of his weakest performances but it is not helped by that he is very underused and that he is the most clichéd character in the whole film. Palance was a great actor, and excelled better than most in villain roles but this is a portrayal where he does try way too hard that he's almost pantomimic, it also manages to be quite bland compared to his usual standard. His henchmen are even more blandly written, and sees James Hong in a rare completely uninvolved performance.All in all, won't work for some and it is a long way from flawless but still incredibly entertaining and has a good deal of charm. Don't expect sophistication, anything new or depth, you'll be disappointed. In its defence though Tango and Cash never strived to be that kind of film. But if you are looking for an enjoyable, switch-your-brain-off-at-the-door film, there is a good deal to like. 6/10 Bethany Cox