Arizona Heat

I bet that, back in the 1980's, the makers of this film thought that pairing a veteran sexist cop (Michael Parks) with a young lesbian partner (Denise Crosby) and turning them loose in Phoenix, Arizona, to catch a cop killer was an original idea. Problem is, all the rest is so unoriginal that you can constantly foresee the nest scene. In addition, Parks makes his character awfully irritating from the very beginning. Only near the end he starts to show his softer side, but by then it is too late, since you are already wishing that he gets killed. Crosby, on the contrary, gives one of the few OK performances in her career (I wonder if that is the reason why she has played so many cops and lesbians ever since), though she is constantly harassed by Parks, who even tries to rape her when she finds out that he has slept with her girlfriend. In spite of this, she can´t help falling in love with him (!!!). Frankly, though the idea of a woman like Denise Crosby (when she was still young and beautiful) being a lesbian seems like a terrible waste to me, I think this is just a piece of misogynist trash about how a though, independent homosexual woman is tamed and brought back to heterosexuality by a sexist moron. Add to this a lame direction work, totally unexciting (and few) action sequences and the fact that anyone can tell very soon who the bad guy is. What you get is just another boring ultra-low-budget thriller not worth the 85 minutes you need to watch it.

Pairing up sexist cop, Michael Parks, with lesbian partner, Denise Crosby, produces stereotypical results, in this buddy cop movie. Parks enormous ego often gets in the way of logical police work. The psycho cop killer is so obvious from the git-go, that there is zero suspense. In addition to the requisite car chases and explosions, there are sexual innuendos flying all over the place, after Parks fails to seduce his new gay partner. There is just enough sexist dialog to keep the pathetically weak story mildly interesting. I cannot recommend sitting through this, except perhaps for dire fans of Michael Parks................ - MERK

This flick has some quirky twists, with a plot of police chasing a murderer. It stars Michael Parks of 'Then Came Bronson' from 1969 TV. Denise Crosby delivers a good performance. She went on to star as Lt. Yarr on the inaugural season of Star Trek: the Next Generation. Good supporting actors, some were very quirky and some were just creepy. Hugh Farrington plays a police captain as he did on TV's TJ Hooker (starring William Shatner). Crosby plays a lesbian, not new, but in 1988, that was not a common topic. She is partnered with Parks and his character, of course, tries to hit on the lesbian. The result is thought provoking. This is a very watchable film. Be sure to sit still for the opening, it is pretty funny. It is a 'B' movie that never went to the theater but is certainly a good video pick for a group of friends.

My review was written in June 1988 after watching the movie on Republic Pictures video cassette.

In the midst of a trend of mismatched cop pics and tv shows, "Arizona Heat" presents a novel variation on the theme. Like filmmaker John Thomas' previous feature "Banzai Runner", this 1986 production is going direct-to-video Stateside, though both films mark him as ready for the big show.

Michael Parks toplines as Kapinski, an Arizona cop with a "manic" reputation due to the level of violence generated on his cases. His boss teams him up with female detective Jill Andrews (Denise Crosbly) who's a pretty but a tough cookie, and duo sets out to find the killer of a string of cops.

Key plot peg is that Jill turns out to be a lesbian, with Kapinski reacting predictably. What's unpredictable is that he goes to bed with her lovely, live-in girlfriend and the already battling partners are really at each other's throats when Jill finds out. Of course, a crisis unites them in the end.

Mystery plot isn't very interesting and the killer's identity is telegraphed from the outset, but director Thomas displays a wry sense of humor and enough odd details to keep the film interesting. Parks and Crosby team effectively, while the Phoenix and Scottsdale locations offer some novelty from the usual screen police beats. Music also helps, with pic atmospherically opening a la "Easy Rider" with Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher' performed by Steppenwolf and closing with Gary Stockdale's excellent out-theme "Caught in the Heat".

When you consider when this film was made, it may have been ahead of it's time. Michael Parks seems to get better and better. Nice ending.

I think some of the chase scenes in the desert were damn good. As good as some I've seen made since then with CGI and all that stuff to help.

True, the plot seems dated now, but it's still worth seeing. Denise Crosby actually acts in this one! And not too bad either.

Plus there's some awfully FUNNY lines too.

The music is done by the same guy who been doing music for Penn and Teller over the years.

It's worth a rental...if you can find it.