The cast of RED HEAT features Peter Boyle, Ed O'Ross, Laurence Fishburne and Gina Gershon. The pan and scan version is actually full frame and has the color and image quality of its Letterboxed counterpart. Overall, it makes for acceptable viewing. The Letterboxed transfer is very good looking, with the image being sharp and detailed. Mild film grain was evident in a couple of places.
Colors appear natural and have a respectable level of saturation.
MPEG-2 compression artifacts were seldom noticeable. The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is relatively good for a film upgraded from Dolby Surround to the discrete format. Like most action movies, RED HEAT has a mix that uses a lot of directional effects and bass for explosions, crashes and gunfire. Action fans will want to play it loud. Other soundtrack options include a matrixed Dolby Surround track as well as French and Spanish language tracks.