Beverly Hills Cop: Is It Eddie Murphy's Best Movie?

[Music] the heat is on the heat is most definitely on in this episode of Revisited as we're looking back on a quint essential piece of 1980s action/comedy movie making that helped to launch the career of American FY man Eddie Murphy into the stratosphere that's right folk with a much anticipated fourth entry in the series on the horizon we're taking a retrospective look at the Axel F infused goodness that is Beverly Hills C after you you guys are so sweet you know that so unnecessary okay I guess part four isn't necessarily much anticipated but Eddie Murphy has had somewhat of a career Resurgence in recent times but if you had told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring stay-at-home you know house Dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail even I would have took that bit and apart from a slightly tame and disappointing Coming to America and the relative appeal of you people he's made a positive return to the spotlight for now though sit back enjoy your prone sat sandwich and pop a couple of bananas in a tailpipe as we look back on the endlessly quotable Eddie Murphy classic Beverly Hills Cop B the chief ain't chew it all out you still got a little ass there oh 198 for the golden year that gave us melty face dream bothering Psychopaths time traveling cyborgs giant sand worms malevolent yet hilarious Gremlins plus the start of the global phenomenon that was Ghostbusters to name but a few I could go on the list many more big screen Classics that are still much loved and rewatched today however some restraint is in order as it also helped us get acquainted with a character and a star on the rise in Eddie Murphy that is not just Unforgettable but iconic in its own right there was even a time in which Beverly Hills Cop was the highest gross in all rated movie of all time get the [ __ ] out of here I'm serious I said it myself a start which may surprise some however the movie deserves any Accolade thrown at it for many reasons it features many of the classic tropes of the action comedy genre The Fish Out of Water aspect the Beyond ende Dean buddy cop Trio of Murphy's Axel Foley alongside the sometimes hapless well quite often rosew and tet played by the excellent judge reinold and John Ashton respectively the plot of the movie sees Murphy's wise crack in trigger mouth Detroit police officer who travels to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his old friend along the way he encounters a wonderful area of colorful characters go ahead take those bananas great set pieces and violence that set the Benchmark for such movies to often imitate long after its release it was way back in 1977 that the concept for the movie was first developed veloped the sadly late Don Simpson was a Paramount executive at the time and dreamed up an idea that saw a cop from East LA transferred to Beverly Hills the movie was originally titled Beverly Drive and screenwriter denil oach initially delivered a script but leaned heavily more into action and the project subsequently faltered however boyed by the success of the Adrian Lin dance drama Flash Dance Simpson saw the opportunity to resurrect his Fish Out of Water cop flick and brought on Daniel pit Jr to rewrite the script the studio loved the humor that Petri junr had added to the script and the character was also Rewritten with the name Axel Ellie rather than back's initial moniker for the character which was Ellie Axel to be honest neither of those reverse names scream out tough wise cracking all action cup so the name they eventually went with Axel Foley is a much better fit for the character with the film ready to go into production the studio had to choose just who would fill the shoes of Axel Foley and who would take on directorial duties also although you can't imagine anybody but Eddie Murphy playing the role it's fascinating to look back on who they initially approached for the character one such name that would be a ridiculous suggestion nowadays but allbe it a solid choice in the 80s was Mickey Rock his star was on the rise thanks to early roles in movies such as 1981's body heat and Rumble Fish from 1983 he had great movie star presence good looks had a rogus charm that could have added it different but admittedly intriguing spin on the character he even signed a holding contract with the studio for four $100,000 but after the film's pre-production dragged on longer than expected he left to take on another project another out arguably an even bigger movie star was also attached to the project once Ro had left the legendary Italian styling himself Sylvester Stallone who dramatically rewrote the script so that all the humor was gone and it was back to being an allout action epic Stallone also reot several of the make Arters changing Billy Roseway to Simmons and killing him off halfway through the narrative in one of the action scenes he also changed the name of the main character to Axel cabretti and has since described that his vision for the movie would have look like the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan on the beaches of Normandy believe it or not the finale was me and a stoned Lamborghini playing chicken with an oncoming freight train being driven by the ultra slimy bad guy that's not a bad concept for an action movie to be fair but looking back on what the movie eventually became it's a massive departure from what the studio were looking for in fact producer Don Simpson was vocal about not wanting to go ahead with Stallone script in which the main character has spent too long soaping down his muscles an image you could most definitely associate with the actor also according to Legend Simpson managed to get Stallone off the project by sending him to Switzerland and in the meantime Simpson and fellow producer Jerry brookheimer persuaded Eddie Murphy to take the RO and Salone went on the star in the less than Stellar rhinestone in 1984 instead Bo thank you and good night despite Murphy ultimately being off of the role several of the names were attached to the project that are worth mentioning including Al Pino Richard prior James K and Indie himself Harrison Ford who also reportedly turned down the rule it's not just the title star who makes the movie so memorable however as Murphy is backed up by a tremendous cast consisting of the aformentioned Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as Beverly Hills cops roarw and tuget who proved the perfect straight lace file to Murphy's snuggy Foley we also get RoboCop veteran Ronnie Cox as Lieutenant Boba Mill Lisa is baket as Foley's former acquaintance Jenny Summers Steven birkoff as slimy bad guy victim Mand plus better call S Legend Jonathan Banks as henchman Zack rounding out the main players is the superb Gilbert rhall as fo he's take no [ __ ] superior man tell me where the you come off going undercover without authorization for me what the is this all about as well as aliens and more more recently stranger things Star poor Riser I'm trying to tell you Jeffrey this is none of your business this is not my locker plus the unforgettable Bronson pin show is a scene steing surge get the out of here no I cannot it's serious while the process of finding the star for the movie had been something of a chore for the studio the process of hiring the film's director was somewhat more straightforward Martin scor sey was off of the gig but turned it down as he felt the concept for the movie was too similar to that of 1968's kougan bluff and even body horror Maestro David Cronenberg was offered the chance to direct the movie ultimately it was a great Martin breast who was hired to helm the movie and despite his dismissal from war games in 1983 he delivered exactly what was required for both the film star and the studio this is nice there's a scene towards the beginning of Beverly Hills cup that helps to establish the KE relationship between Axel Foley and his Beverly Hills counterparts that sums up what works so well about the movie after being arrested for allegedly breaking into Victor M's office and a scene that ends with one of the funniest lines in the movie Disturbing the piece that got thrown out of a window what's the charge for getting push out of a moving car huh jayw walking this is bull fley Rosewood and taret meet for the first time and Sparks Fly ending with Target punch and foly in the gut it's the perfect setup for the relationship between the characters later in the movie not just because it establishes just how easily 4 gets under the skin that was usually common collected counterparts but also because t get forc apology shows just how much of a fish out of water Foley really is in Beverly Hills look where I'm from cops don't file charges against other cops no I don't want to do that after Axel Foley's friend is murdered in Co blood and Detroit he heads to Beverly Hills to track down the killer after hearing from his former friend about his security sh he had there courtesy of a mutual acquaintance Jenny Summers Mike had also shown Axel some German barab bonds he had acquired which ultimately led to his cold blooded killing outside of Foley's apartment after Foley rly agrees with Inspector Todd that you'll leave the case alone and get his head wound treated at the hospital he betrays this trust and goes after some retribution what follows is not only an iconic violent and extremely funny movie but one that holds up pretty well a few decades later yeah there may not be the flashy Quick Cuts utilized by many recent action movies but this works in the film's favor each scene is crafted in a measured but very efficient way with the characters and situations they find themselves in given room to breathe and the gags when they arrive come thick and fast with their natural setup the action is also well handled especially an opening truck Chase with Foley hanging off the back of a speed and Juggernaut as it carves its way through the city streets demolishing cars and almost pedestrians as it goes director breast keeps Y and beats coming efficiently and although the violence is blunt and effective it serves as the perfect foil to the comedy Murphy's relationship with Rosewood and tget is a touching highlight and there's a nice moment of their Two Worlds colliding with the Beverly Hills cops being roasted by their colleagues for the banana and the tailpipe incident just as Murphy had been by his own counterparts for messing up the drugs bust at the start of the movie the real beaten heart of the film then is the key Trio of Foley and the initially hapless But ultimately indispensable rosew and tagget Murphy brings his trademark slick and witty sense of humor to Axel FY not giving a flying about bending the rules or lying about interviewing famous pop Saar to get a room in a luxury hotel however it's his actions with the seemingly moronic rosew and the stiff as a board Target where the movie really shines also we call write a retrospective review on that movie without mentioning the amazing syn score Axel F by Harold falto that pops up in key moments in the film in fact the soundtrack for the movie and axel F by fault Amer in particular was a major contributing factor to the success of the movie overall the composer was originally best known for his work on the Top Gun soundtrack as well as the music and score for the Fletch films starring Chevy Chase Axel left proves so popular that it reached number one in several charts around the world and is easily one of the most memorable elements of the movie The Track was originally written solely for a small part of the film but once fault andaya realized the potential for the ciun he persuaded the studio to use it as the main overarching theme throughout the film Beverly Hills Cop hit theaters on December the 5th 1984 at 1,532 Cinemas in the United States opening that number one at the box office with a gross of 15, 214,50 over its first 5 days of release the movie stayed at number one for 13 consecutive weeks and eventually tied with the Dustin Hoffman comedy Tootsie for the most weeks at the top spot and eventually crossed an impressive total of 234 m760 478 and as we touched upon a little earlier in this retrospective it was the high highest gross and R-rated movie of all time until eventually being surpassed by The Matrix Reloaded in 2003 reviews of the movie were largely positive and it currently holds an approval rating of 83% from 54 Critics on Rotten Tomatoes the initial response to the movie was also positive with the New York Times stating that Beverly hsop finds Eddie movie doing what he does best playing the shrewdest hippest fastest toen Underdog in a rich man's world Eddie Murphy knows exactly what he's doing and he wins at every turn also full of Praise was Tai magazine who wrote that Eddie Murphy exuded the kind of cheeky cocky charm that has been missing from the screen since Kagney was a p snarling his way out of the ghetto the road of Axel Foley is arguably what Murphy is most famous for unless you're under the age of 10 and another a Pon shant for talking donkeys that is you might have seen a house fly maybe even a Super Fly but I bet you ain't never seen a Dy plan as well as an excellent box office and critical praise the movie also won several Awards Awards and was also nominated for best original screenplay at the Academy Awards as always let us know your thoughts on Beverly Hills Cop in the comment section and keep a lookout for more from Axel foi and friends as we dive into the inevitable sequel in our next episode here on Revisited were they able to capture the same humor and Wild Spirit in part two stay tuned to find out movie fans and we'll see you next [Music] time [Music] [Music]

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Id: _j4ybsNHHUA

Length: 14min 2sec (842 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 12 2023