Tango & Cash (1989)

Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance, and Teri Hatcher. Stallone and Russell star as Raymond Tango and Gabriel Cash respectively, two rival LAPD narcotics detectives, who are forced to work together after the criminal mastermind Yves Perret (Palance) frames both of them for murder.

The film was chiefly directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, with Albert Magnoli and Peter MacDonald taking over in the later stages of filming, with Stuart Baird overseeing post-production. The multiple directors were due to a long and troubled production process, that included numerous script rewrites and clashes between Konchalovsky and producer Jon Peters over creative differences.

The film was released by Warner Bros. in the United States on December 22, 1989, the same day as Always. Both films were the last to be released in the 1980s.

Storyline
Beverly Hills LAPD Lieutenant Raymond Tango and Downtown Los Angeles Lieutenant Gabriel Cash are considered the two best cops in Los Angeles. They are opposites in almost every way, and have an intense rivalry with both considering himself to be the best. Their actions often makes headlines for their large drug busts through the Southern California area. Unbeknownst to them all the shipments actually belong to a single criminal organization headed by Yves Perret. After Tango's latest bust Perret's associates convince him that the two officers have become a problem and it must be addressed.

Perret, believing that having them killed is too "quick and easy," develops an elaborate scheme to discredit and humiliate them before finally torturing them to death. Individually informed of a drug deal taking place later that night, the detectives meet for the first time at the location and discover a dead, wire-tapped body just as the FBI arrive and surround the duo. Agent Wyler finds Cash's backup pistol with attached suppressor on the floor and arrests them. At their murder trial, Tango and Cash are incriminated by an audio tape; verified in court by Skinner, an audio expert, it appears to reveal them shooting the undercover FBI agent after discussing a drug purchase. With the evidence stacked against them, they plead no contest to a lesser charge in exchange for reduced sentences in a minimum-security prison; instead, they get transported to a maximum-security prison and are housed with many of the criminals they had each arrested.

Once in prison, Tango and Cash are roused from their beds and tortured by Requin, Perret's henchman, and a gang of prisoners, until Matt Sokowski, the assistant warden and Cash's former commanding officer, rescues them. Sokowski recommends that they escape and provides them with a plan, but Tango opts out. When Cash tries to escape, he finds Sokowski murdered and is pursued by the guards. Tango rescues him and they head to the roof; Cash ziplines outside the prison walls, but Tango is attacked by the inmate "Face" before he can follow. Tango manages to electrocute Face by knocking him into a transformer before escaping. To clear their names, they separate; Tango tells Cash that if he needs to contact him, he can go to the Cleopatra Club and ask for "Katherine."

The detectives visit the witnesses who framed them in court. Tango intercepts Wyler, who admits that Requin was in charge of the setup; Wyler gets killed in a car bomb while trying to escape. Cash discovers that Skinner made the incriminating tape himself; he starts destroying Skinner's expensive equipment until he agrees to help exonerate them. Cash finds Katherine, Tango's sister, but is quickly surrounded by cops; she helps Cash escape the night club by dressing him as a female. Later that night, Tango reunites with Cash and the duo are met at Katherine's house by Schroeder, Tango's commanding officer. He gives them Requin's address and tells them they have 24 hours to find out who he works for; Tango and Cash apprehend Requin and trick him into telling them Perret's name. Cash's weapons expert friend Owen lets them borrow a high-tech assault vehicle and the duo storm into Perret's headquarters to confront the crime lord. However, Perret has kidnapped Katherine and starts a timer that will trigger the building's automatic self-destruct procedure. After killing Perret's core security personnel and fellow crime lords, Requin appears, holding Katherine at knifepoint. He throws her aside to fight the detectives hand-to-hand and Cash kills him. Perret appears in a hall of mirrors holding a gun to Katherine's head; both detectives pick out the correct Perret and shoot him in the forehead. They gather Katherine and barely escape as the building explodes. They joke half-seriously about Cash's desire to date Katherine as a newspaper headline announces they've been completely vindicated.

Sound Effects Used

 * Hollywoodedge, Bullet Ricco Whiz By CRT040201