Trivia / Red Heat

• Approval of God: This is the film where French voice actor Daniel Beretta started dubbing Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold himself was impressed upon hearing him on the phone after he was submitted by his talent agent, and chose him on the spot. No role of Arnold has escaped French dubbing by Beretta since.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The line where Danko pulls a lid from inside a Georgian's leg amputee storing cocaine and disposing of the drug is actually "Кокаином!" in broken Russian, not the commonly misheard "Cocainum!"
• California Doubling:
  • Averted with the few shots of landmarks in Moscow. They were filmed there, a first for an American movie shot before the end of USSR. The Détente and Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity greatly helped.
  • Budapest substituted for Russia for some scenes.
  • The opening fight scene in the snow had to be shot in Austria, because both Hungary and Russia had an unusually warm winter that year.
• Completely Different Title:
  • The film's title was changed to character-centric Danko in Italy (with a hammer-and-sickle forming the centre of the D, natch).
  • Spain did it both ways by calling it Danko: Red Heat.
  • Known in French as Double Détente, which can be translated as either "Double Détente" (because it's set during this period of the Cold War) or "Double Trigger".
  • The film was titled Red Bull in Japan.
• Deleted Scene: Several scenes were cut to reduce the film's runtime. They include:
  • A subplot of Viktor's wife Cat trying to help Art and other cops to set up a trap for Viktor in a park during the baseball game while he is on some deal, but it turns out that Viktor was lying to Cat and cops are left empty handed.
  • A subplot revealing the Cleanheads were planning to betray Viktor and begin selling to a rival dealer, explaining why he backstabs them over the course of the film.
  • A scene establishing in-passing that Danko was raised in East Germany, explaining his accent In-Universe.
  • A scene of Danko proving his strength to the Cleanheads in a lifting competition, and subsequently fighting several of them at once.
  • A foot-chase between Viktor and Danko after his escape from the hotel.
  • Several scenes were trimmed of graphic violence in order to keep the film from getting an NC-17 rating:
    • There was a clip of Viktor grabbing a Mook and using him as a body shield, and subsequently returning fire by shooting through him.
    • A shot of a Mook being shot through the throat, stumbling and spurting blood for several seconds before being finished off.
    • A Mook being shot in the head through cover.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Arnold Schwarzenegger lost and James Belushi gained weight for their roles.
• Fake Russian: Arnold Schwarzenegger, and some of his "Soviet" co-workers as well. The "Moscow" cast includes several Hungarian actors playing both cops and gangsters, including Viktor's brother. Likewise, Ed O'Ross has no Georgian ancestry.
• Fatal Method Acting: Stuntman and director Bennie Dobbins suffered a fatal heart attack while filming a fight scene in freezing conditions outdoors in Austria. The scene required Arnold Schwarzenegger and another actor to fight near-naked in deep snow. Dobbins over-exerted himself trying to install fan heaters in the snow to prevent them from suffering hypothermia.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to its stunt coordinator, Bennie E. Dobbins, who died from a heart attack on the set.
• Irony as She Is Cast: The fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger portrays an heroic Soviet cop who is derisive of American capitalism is hilarious considering that, in real life, Schwarzenegger is a staunch Republican and opponent of communism.
• Real-Life Relative: Marjorie Bransfield, James Belushi's second wife, makes a cameo as a waitress.
• Similarly Named Works: There's also a women-in-prison film called Red Heat from 1985.
• Stillborn Franchise: There were talks of a Red Heat sequel which would have had Ridzik traveling to Moscow to reunite with Danko to take down a new criminal, but it was canceled for unknown reasons.
  • Might have been related to the fact that the Soviet Union collapsed months after the movie came out, making the whole Communism v Capitalism sub plot obselete
• What Could Have Been: More of the film was meant to be shot in Moscow, but the crew were unable to secure the proper permits, and as such shot there "guerilla-style." They were caught, but because of Schwarzenegger's popularity among the populace (including local law enforcement officials), they let it slide.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: The script was constantly rewritten during the shoot. Among the writers who worked on it were Hill himself, Harry Kleiner, Troy Kennedy Martin, Steven Meerson & Peter Krikes, and John Mankiewicz & Daniel Pyne. "You've got to understand that Walter likes to create as he goes along," said a source close to the production. "Also, the project was put together quickly based on an idea of his-a Russian cop in Chicago. There was no script." A spokesman for the Writers Guild said Hill was a member in very good standing: "He does tend to hire a lot of people but he pays well above minimums and we feel he's been quite straightforward about screen credit."

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