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Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

December. 05,1984
|
7.4
|
R
| Action Comedy Crime

Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case like only he can.

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Skunkyrate
1984/12/05

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

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Beystiman
1984/12/06

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

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AshUnow
1984/12/07

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Billy Ollie
1984/12/08

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Maziun
1984/12/09

This classic 80's movie could easily have turned out to be a complete mess. The first draft of the movie was finished in 1977. The shooting script was literally pasted together from the half dozen or so scripts written for this project over the years. At one point Axel Foley was going to be played by Sylvester Stallone. It was supposed to be a much darker revenge movie . Two weeks before filming was to start Stallone left the project and used some of his script ideas to make "Cobra" ( a masterpiece of cheesy B-class action cinema). Then miracle happened in the form of Eddie Murphy.When Eddie Murphy was hired he started making massive rewrites to the script. It's also interesting that Murphy as well as John Ashton and Judge Reinhold improvised their lines of dialogue and even some scenes. The filming was hectic and even the moviemakers didn't had any clue what will be the end result. Thankfully a combination of accident , luck and genuine filmmaking enthusiasm gave a birth to a great movie."Beverly Hills cop" is the very definition of a "star vehicle," a movie that's nothing without its main star. Eddie Murphy is pure gold as Axel Foley - one of the most likeable characters in cinema. He is cool , quick-witted , sarcastic , street smart. He usually uses his brain and smooth talking to get out of trouble . He's not your typical tough guy and that what makes him interesting. You could compare him to Bugs Bunny (which is not a bad thing).Murphy is the driving force behind the film, no doubt about it. However , he does have a good support here. John Ashton ("Midnight run") and Judge Reinhold ("Fast times at Ridgemont High") as the grumpy Taggart and naïve Rosewood have great chemistry together and pretty much deserve their own movie. Bronson Pinchot as the art curator has small but very memorable part. Ronny Cox ("Robocop") plays a rare for him role of good guy . Lisa Eilbacher is good eye candy. Jonathan Banks ("48 hours") is quite chilling as the bad guy. The only downside is the boring main villain played by Steven Berkoff ("Octopussy").The plot is pretty much your standard buddy cop movie. It is however also a fish out of water story with some social commentary. The contrast between the different methods of crime and cop life in Detroit and LA works very well. The movie also doesn't have any romance or racial comparisons which gives it a fresh feel. The dialogues and one liners are sharply written and funny. There isn't really much of mystery here and some moments are obviously unrealistic, but it's very easy to ignore."BHC" has a pretty strong soundtrack . "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer is a true classic. It's cool , bouncy and infectious - just like the main character. I don't think there's a person on Earth that doesn't recognize it. Don't forget about other great songs : Glenn Frey "The Heat is on" , Patti LaBelle "Stir it up" and Pointer Sisters "Neutron dance". Overall , the soundtrack is a great blend of pop-rock from the 80's.It's surprising that Martin Scorsese was offered the chance to direct , but turned it down. The director Martin Brest was hired and it was a wise decision. Brest turned out to be a expert when it comes to action-comedies with "Beverly Hills Cop" and later with De Niro/Grodin movie "Midnight run". He skillfully blends action with comedy and creates a sense of lightherted adventure.I give it 8/10. An immensely enjoyable film. It captures everything that was the best about the 80's. It might be a standard movie , but one that doesn't feel mechanical and simply works. There's a real camaraderie between Murphy , Ashton and Reinhold here. The chemistry feels real , the humor works , the action is good. In the long line of action comedies/buddy cop movies (that started in 1982 with "48 hours" also with Murphy) this is the best one.

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Paul Magne Haakonsen
1984/12/10

"Beverly Hills Cop" is a classic movie in its own right, and it is one of those movie that everyone has seen. And it is a very entertaining movie that mixes comedy, action and a good storyline quite well.The story is about Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy), a police officer whose friend is murdered in Detroit, and ends up in Beverly Hills to look into the murder of his friend. He gets tangled in with the Beverly Hills police department and is soon deep in trouble as his snooping around is not appreciated.Story-wise "Beverly Hills Cop" is greatly paced and actually quite nicely built up and has a very good flow to it. The story has a lot of weight to it, and it is the type of movie that you can watch again and again.And lets not forget about the distinctive music score and soundtrack that everyone is familiar with.The movie has a great cast of talents to it, that really do great jobs with their given roles and characters. There is especially a great chemistry between Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton.A great and fun movie that never gets old.

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FlashCallahan
1984/12/11

Axel Foley is a reckless Detroit detective. After the murder of his friend, he travels to California to investigate and track down the killer, who he believes operate an arts dealership as a cover in Beverly Hills. He teams up with two reluctant detectives from the Beverly Hills police force who were supposed to keep a watch on him. But after seeing Foley's different approach to tackling criminals and other illegitimate businesses, they have no other choice but to help him....Here's another movie that gives strong evidence as to 1984 being the best year for movies ever, Beverly Hills Cop isn't just a great action comedy, it's one of the greatest comedies ever made and personifies the eighties as a really great time to be growing up.Murphy easily peaked his career making this, and when watching this, you know that he knows he is making something special, something huge, and on such a straightforward concept.What makes it so iconic though is that you can tell that everyone is enjoying themselves making this, and how at ease everyone is with each other, almost making you feel that you are part of Foley's world, because he is such a likable, and relatable character.Murphy steals almost every scene that he's in, and each little situation almost feels like a comedy sketch, but the writes and narrative seamlessly add the sketch into the plot.The rest of the cast know that this is Murphy's vehicle and just let him go for it. The only Pearson in the film that usurps Murphy is one Bronson Pinchot, and that's only because his part is very short, but memorable for all the right reasons.It's a wonderful, bright, sunny movie that epitomises the eighties, and even the synth soundtrack and hilarious outfits, can't age this movie.Because laughter is timeless......

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zardoz-13
1984/12/12

"Beverly Hills Cop" is one of Eddie Murphy's few genuinely good movies. Murphy is cast as Axel Foley, a Detriot policeman with authority issues who travels to Beverly Hills to learn what happened to one of his close friends. He discovers the ultimate adversary in villainous Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff of "Octopussy"), while he cannot get his head around how the Beverly Hills Police Department operates. Eventually, he makes friends with two blue-collar cops, callow Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") and Rosewood's gruff, no-nonsense partner Sergeant Taggart (John Ashton of "Midnight Run") who have been dispatched to conduct surveillance on him by their immediate superior, Lieutenant Bogomil (Ronny Cox of "Deliverance") who wants Axel out of town. Axel isn't the kind of guy who gives up easily as everybody comes to realize with dire chagrin, especially Maitland. Axel's Detroit Police Department Captain, Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill) is the only person that Axel seems to respect. Anyway, "Beverly Hills Cop" is fast-paced fun with all the dull spots edited out for maximum velocity from the early scenes in the Motor City when he busts cigarette smugglers to his repeated clashes with Maitland and his minions, most memorably Zack (Jonathan Banks), the evil villain who killed Axel's friend and loves to brag about the feat. Martin Brest made his reputation with this top-flight action thriller. Before "Beverly Hills Cop" he made an amusing oldsters actioneer with George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg entitled "Going in Style." He went on to helm the top-notch Robert De Niro bounty hunter thriller "Midnight Run." The bouncy orchestral theme by Harold Faltermeyer became a popular hit. "Beverly Hills Cop" was an early example of a Jerry Bruckheimer & Don Simpson production.

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