Tango & Cash (1989)
55%RT Audience Score: 52%
Awards & Nominations: 3 nominations
Brutally violent and punishingly dull, this cookie-cutter buddy cop thriller isn’t even fun enough to reach “so bad it’s good” status
If you’re looking for a movie that’s so bad it’s good, then ‘Tango & Cash’ is the perfect pick. Stallone and Russell play two cops who are so macho they make Rambo look like a wimp. The one-liners are cheesy, the action is over-the-top, and the plot is ridiculous. But that’s what makes it so entertaining. It’s like a time capsule of the 80s, complete with big hair, shoulder pads, and synthesizer music. So grab some popcorn, turn off your brain, and enjoy the ride.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Park Plaza Hotel – 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1989
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 30, 2005
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance, Brion James, James Hong, directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy, written by Randy Feldman, crime, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Gene Siskel, Michael Wilmington, Henry Sheehan, produced by Jon Peters, Peter Guber, Larry J Franco, R rating, police officers, narcotics experts, drug lord, FBI agent, prison escape, buddy cop, action, adventure, comedy, thriller, gunfight, car chase, explosions, one-liners, macho, tough-guy, eighties, cheesy, over-the-top, popcorn flick, cult classic, Tango and Cash, Katherine “Kiki” Tango, Yves Perret, Requin, Quan
Worldwide gross: $63,408,614
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $154,512,335
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 823
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 16,849,764
US/Canada gross: $63,408,614
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $154,512,335
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 502
US/Canada opening weekend: $6,628,918
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $16,153,162
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 753
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $55,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $134,022,459
Production budget ranking: 266
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $72,171,094
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$51,681,219
ROI to date (est.): -25%
ROI ranking: 1,537
Kurt Russell – Lt. Gabriel Cash
Teri Hatcher – Katherine “Kiki” Tango
Jack Palance – Yves Perret
Brion James – Requin
James Hong – Quan
Director(s)
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Writer(s)
Randy Feldman
Producer(s)
Jon Peters, Peter Guber, Larry J. Franco
Film Festivals
Berlin, Venice
Awards & Nominations
3 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (33)
‘Tango & Cash’ turns 25 years old next month, which means if it were a person, it’d be right around the right age to start realizing what a stupid movie ‘Tango & Cash’ is.
June 7, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
The jokes seem lame and the rivalry fraudulent, as the two boys play with their big guns.
June 11, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
The film looks like the sort of queasy fever dream that might be produced by sitting through an entire Orson Welles film festival while eating pepperoni pizzas.
June 11, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Dave Kehr
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Both men think that the best way to deliver the right to remain silent to the usual suspects is via a right hook.
June 11, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4
Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Tango and Cash is a waste of talent and energy on all levels: unworthy of Konchalovsky, unworthy also of Stallone, Russell and every superior technical credit on the film.
June 11, 2014
Michael Wilmington
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
The ostensible humor here is of the macho one-liner variety, and much of it falls flat.
June 11, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Henry Sheehan
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Tango and Cash is at least active and acrobatic… not too bad. [Full review in Spanish]
July 1, 2022
Rene Jordan
El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
Stallone and Russell are entirely watchable as two larger-than-life juggernauts portraying the same cheeky tough-guy characters they always play in their actioners.
September 8, 2020 | Rating: 5/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
That ‘Tango & Cash’ was an undeserved testament to the action cinema of the eighties is evidence that the implacable judge called time has revealed it in a more than painful way. [Full Review in Spanish]
April 22, 2020
Sergio Benítez
Espinof
It is impossible not to see a film that, voluntarily or involuntarily, is placed under the advocation of the comical and James Bond. [Full Review in Spanish]
March 26, 2019
Casimiro Torreiro
El Pais (Spain)
Despite imaginative sets and bursts of action — the prison scenes are particularly vividly staged — this is a fitfully boring film with perished elastic in its would-be whiplash dialogue.
March 21, 2019 | Rating: 2/5
Sky Staff
Sky Cinema
…an ineffective misfire that surely looked a whole lot better on paper.
June 15, 2018 | Rating: 2/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews…
Plot
The polar opposites, Ray Tango, a suave and sophisticated police officer, and Gabe Cash, his overzealous long-haired partner, are a mismatched LAPD crime-fighting duo who work tirelessly to bring down their arch-nemesis, the ruthless drug lord, Yves Perret. However, when Perret manages to incriminate the pesty team with falsified evidence, Ray and Gabe will soon end up in a maximum-security prison, where an almost endless parade of inmates previously incarcerated by them, are waiting for their captors impatiently. Now, more than ever, Tango and Cash need to put their differences aside to come up quickly with a good plan, not only to escape the jail’s walls but also to even the score with the evil kingpin who put them behind bars once and for all. Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell play their usual tough-guy characters in this cookie-cutter buddy cop thriller.
Andrey-Konchalovskiy.jpg
