Miami Cops (1989) / Arizona Heat (1988)
2-disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Miami Cops: Al Bradley (akaAlfonso Brescia) (Beast in Space) / Arizona Heat: John G. Thomas (Banzai Runner)
STARS: Miami Cops: Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Young Warriors), Harrison Muller (Final Executioner), Richard Kiley, Michael Aronin / Arizona Heat: Michael Parks (Sidewinder 1, Club Life), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), Hugh Farrington
SYNOPSIS: Two buddy cop / Lethal Weapon rip-offs.
Miami Cops: Never has a film so shamelessly misled viewers with its title; the first hour of Miami Cops takes place in Detroit and the last 30 minutes in Italy! The mismatched partners this time are a grizzled black Detroit detective (Roundtree) and a nerdy white newbie (Muller) fresh out of the academy. Muller's father was an officer who was killed on duty years earlier by a villain with a thick New Yawk accent. Roundtree teaches Muller the ropes of being a street smart cop and the old guard learns a few tricks from the upstart as well. The partners are hot on the trail of an international drug dealer which eventually leads them to Italy, a blonde femme fatale, and the man who killed Muller's father. You might be surprised to see Roundtree doing most of his own stunts; jumping over fences, diving out of a speeding boat and at least four fight scenes including one with a chainsaw! Packed with shoot-outs, cheesy humor, chases, hot saxophone, car stunts, fights and explosions all of which do not take place in Miami.
Arizona Heat: This film was released barely a year after Lethal Weapon. The mismatched partners in this one are a cranky old school cop (Parks) and a young lesbian newbie (Crosby). It starts off with a botched drug bust in which a few cops are killed along with the dealers. Soon after this incident a leather clad, motorcycle riding, faceless killer starts knocking off policemen in a dusty Arizona town. The killer mixes up his murders with a car bomb, shooting, stabbing, hit & run, etc. Parks is on the case and has fresh faced, short haired blonde, Crosby paired with him. At first he teases and flirts with her but when he finds out she's a lesbian he gets outright livid. He basically tells her it's not natural. Despite this they somehow manage to cooperate long enough to get into shoot-outs, a car chase and the classic abandoned-warehouse-finale showdown with the killer. Action with a good dose of comedy although Parks' nasty reaction to lesbians falls pretty flat. Hard to believe his attitude would have worked for audiences even back in non-PC 1988. Performance wise Parks is entertaining as always with his weird line readings. There's even a very 80's sounding theme song "Caught in the Heat" over the end credits.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Miami Cops: Al Bradley (akaAlfonso Brescia) (Beast in Space) / Arizona Heat: John G. Thomas (Banzai Runner)
STARS: Miami Cops: Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Young Warriors), Harrison Muller (Final Executioner), Richard Kiley, Michael Aronin / Arizona Heat: Michael Parks (Sidewinder 1, Club Life), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), Hugh Farrington
SYNOPSIS: Two buddy cop / Lethal Weapon rip-offs.
Miami Cops: Never has a film so shamelessly misled viewers with its title; the first hour of Miami Cops takes place in Detroit and the last 30 minutes in Italy! The mismatched partners this time are a grizzled black Detroit detective (Roundtree) and a nerdy white newbie (Muller) fresh out of the academy. Muller's father was an officer who was killed on duty years earlier by a villain with a thick New Yawk accent. Roundtree teaches Muller the ropes of being a street smart cop and the old guard learns a few tricks from the upstart as well. The partners are hot on the trail of an international drug dealer which eventually leads them to Italy, a blonde femme fatale, and the man who killed Muller's father. You might be surprised to see Roundtree doing most of his own stunts; jumping over fences, diving out of a speeding boat and at least four fight scenes including one with a chainsaw! Packed with shoot-outs, cheesy humor, chases, hot saxophone, car stunts, fights and explosions all of which do not take place in Miami.
Arizona Heat: This film was released barely a year after Lethal Weapon. The mismatched partners in this one are a cranky old school cop (Parks) and a young lesbian newbie (Crosby). It starts off with a botched drug bust in which a few cops are killed along with the dealers. Soon after this incident a leather clad, motorcycle riding, faceless killer starts knocking off policemen in a dusty Arizona town. The killer mixes up his murders with a car bomb, shooting, stabbing, hit & run, etc. Parks is on the case and has fresh faced, short haired blonde, Crosby paired with him. At first he teases and flirts with her but when he finds out she's a lesbian he gets outright livid. He basically tells her it's not natural. Despite this they somehow manage to cooperate long enough to get into shoot-outs, a car chase and the classic abandoned-warehouse-finale showdown with the killer. Action with a good dose of comedy although Parks' nasty reaction to lesbians falls pretty flat. Hard to believe his attitude would have worked for audiences even back in non-PC 1988. Performance wise Parks is entertaining as always with his weird line readings. There's even a very 80's sounding theme song "Caught in the Heat" over the end credits.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Miami Cops: Al Bradley (akaAlfonso Brescia) (Beast in Space) / Arizona Heat: John G. Thomas (Banzai Runner)
STARS: Miami Cops: Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Young Warriors), Harrison Muller (Final Executioner), Richard Kiley, Michael Aronin / Arizona Heat: Michael Parks (Sidewinder 1, Club Life), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), Hugh Farrington
SYNOPSIS: Two buddy cop / Lethal Weapon rip-offs.
Miami Cops: Never has a film so shamelessly misled viewers with its title; the first hour of Miami Cops takes place in Detroit and the last 30 minutes in Italy! The mismatched partners this time are a grizzled black Detroit detective (Roundtree) and a nerdy white newbie (Muller) fresh out of the academy. Muller's father was an officer who was killed on duty years earlier by a villain with a thick New Yawk accent. Roundtree teaches Muller the ropes of being a street smart cop and the old guard learns a few tricks from the upstart as well. The partners are hot on the trail of an international drug dealer which eventually leads them to Italy, a blonde femme fatale, and the man who killed Muller's father. You might be surprised to see Roundtree doing most of his own stunts; jumping over fences, diving out of a speeding boat and at least four fight scenes including one with a chainsaw! Packed with shoot-outs, cheesy humor, chases, hot saxophone, car stunts, fights and explosions all of which do not take place in Miami.
Arizona Heat: This film was released barely a year after Lethal Weapon. The mismatched partners in this one are a cranky old school cop (Parks) and a young lesbian newbie (Crosby). It starts off with a botched drug bust in which a few cops are killed along with the dealers. Soon after this incident a leather clad, motorcycle riding, faceless killer starts knocking off policemen in a dusty Arizona town. The killer mixes up his murders with a car bomb, shooting, stabbing, hit & run, etc. Parks is on the case and has fresh faced, short haired blonde, Crosby paired with him. At first he teases and flirts with her but when he finds out she's a lesbian he gets outright livid. He basically tells her it's not natural. Despite this they somehow manage to cooperate long enough to get into shoot-outs, a car chase and the classic abandoned-warehouse-finale showdown with the killer. Action with a good dose of comedy although Parks' nasty reaction to lesbians falls pretty flat. Hard to believe his attitude would have worked for audiences even back in non-PC 1988. Performance wise Parks is entertaining as always with his weird line readings. There's even a very 80's sounding theme song "Caught in the Heat" over the end credits.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R