Stallone and Russell: Together again, sort of

Kurt Russell, at left, and Sylvestor Stallone in the 1989 movie "Tango and Cash". Although they
never shared the screen, they were both in the same movie gain in 2017 in
"Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2".
Source: https://geekvibesnation.com/sylvester-stallone-wants-kurt-russell-for-tango-cash-sequel/
(May be subject to copyright)

What do you get when you take one action hero and team him up with another? It could be the makings of a great movie or an absolute disaster.

In one case in the 1980s, it worked in a plot where art imitated reality.

It was called “Tango and Cash”, teaming Sylvestor Stallone with Kurt Russell in 1989, in a story where two renowned cops team up to take on some really bad drug dealers and murders.

I remember who I went with just as much as the movie itself.

A new beginning
In the fall of 1989 I moved onto a new floor in my student residence. I had run for vice-president of my hall that February and won the election. The new job came with a room. It was a nice room, with a shower and an office across the hall. The downside was I had to move off my floor to somewhere new where I was acquainted with everybody but didn't know anyone well.

It turned out to be one of the best years of my life.

Going to the movies
The floor was Main Kelsey and what struck me, from the time I did spend there the year before, was how tight they all were. They were always doing things together – going to movies, the pubs on campus, or the mall (In Edmonton at the time there was only one mall – West Edmonton Mall – or “The Mall”).

True to form they included the newcomers, which included me and my friends Chris Vining and Bruce Freadrich. Together we went to see such movies as “The Hunt for Red October” downtown; and “Dead Poets Society” and “Dangerous Liaisons” on campus at the Myer Horowitz Theatre in the Student’s Union Building, also called SUB.

Then one Saturday night we went to see this hyped new release called, “Tango and Cash”.

The show
“Tango and Cash” features two narcotics detectives, considered the best in Los Angeles, who are also rivals. After making a number of headline-grabbing busts, a drug kingpin frames them for murder and conspires to have them tortured in prison. Having only recently met, they team up in prison to get out and clear their names. In addition to Stallone as Ray Tango, and Russell as Gabe Cash, Jack Palance plays the kingpin who frames them for murder.

Parting thoughts
When I saw “Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2”, I was struck by something.

First I saw Kurt Russell then Sylvestor Stallone, two actors who made a major mark on the 1980s. I thought to myself, these guys were in a movie together before, although in Guardians they never actually appear together.

It took a minute, then I remembered.

It was “Tango and Cash”, that action thriller that came out in 1989.

It is a movie I remember fondly – just as much for the show, as for all the new friends, and old ones, I saw it with.