Beverly Hills Cop

The Dominator reviews

Beverly Hills CopDistributed by
Pioneer LDCE

• Cat.no: PLFEC 34811
• Cert: 15
• Running time: 99 minutes
• Sides: 2 (CLV)
• Year: 1984
• Pressing: UK, 1996
• Chapters: 11 (Side 1: 1-6, Side 2: 6-11)
• Sound: Dolby Surround
• Widescreen: 1.85:1
• Price: £19.99
• Extras : None
  

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  Director:

  Martin Brest (Midnight Run, Scent of a Woman)

  Producers:

  Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Crimson Tide, The Rock, Top Gun)

  Screenplay:

  Daniel Petrie, Jr.

  Music:

  Harold Faltermeyer

  Cast:

  Axel Foley : Eddie Murphy (Trading Places, 48 Hrs, The Nutty Professor)
  Det. Billy Rosewood : Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop 2 & 3, Gremlins, Vice Versa)
  Sgt. Taggart : John Ashton (Beverly Hills Cop 2, Midnight Run)
  Jenny Summers : Lisa Eilbacher (Live Wire, An Officer and A Gentleman)
  Lt. Bogomil : Ronny Cox (Beverly Hills Cop 2, Robocop, Total Recall)
  Victor Maitland : Stephen Berkoff (The Krays, Absolute Beginners, War and Rememberance)
  Mikey Tandino : James Russo (Bad Girls, My Own Private Idaho)
  Zack : Jonathan Banks (Freejack, Body Shot)
  Inspector Todd : Gilbert R. Hill (Beverly Hills Cop 2)
  Serge : Bronson Pinchot (Beverly Hills Cop 3, True Romance, Blame It On The Bellboy)
  Jeffrey : Paul Reiser (Beverly Hills Cop 2, Bye Bye Love, “Mad About You”)

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Beverly Hills Copthe film which made Eddie Murphy a star in his own rightfollowing his first big performances in both Trading Places (alongside DanAykroyd) and 48 Hrs (alongside Nick Nolte).

When Axel Foley’s best friend Mikey comes into town, they go out on the townin the clubs of Detriot, and then back to Axel’s flat where two hitmen, oneplayed by the excellent Jonathan Banks, attack Mikey and eventually persuadehim not to interfere in their business…ever again.

Axel takes some vacation time in Beverly Hills. His boss warned him not toget involved on the case, otherwise it would be a permanent vacation…

Of course Axel has to find out what’s going on, and goes to visit an old friend, Jenny, who works at a bizarre store full of expensive items, also populated by the too-friendly Serge, which brought about one of the most oft-quoted lines from the film, “Get the f… outta here!”

Axel feels that Jenny’s boss, Victor Maitland, might hold the key, and you can presume this hunch becomes fact after he’s taken out by several bodyguards and thrown through a plate glass window…after which he is arrested.

It is following this, that he meets up with dum Detective Rosewood acted perfectly by Judge Reinhold, and old-hand Sgt. Taggart, played by John Ashton who also appeared in director Martin Brest’s “Midnight Run”, and by hook or by crook…and with the assistance of bananas, sets out to catch the criminals who killed his friend.

This laserdisc pressing is refreshing in two respects. Firstly, the widescreen picture is excellent with top-notch detail, and the sound is well used particularly in the shootout scenes. Also, after several viewings of the BBC TV version, it makes a great change to view the film in the uncut form.

Chaptering is sparse with 11 covering the whole 99 minutes, and in a not uncommon but bizarre case for Pioneer, chapter 6 is split over the side break which doesn’t make sense as it wouldn’t have affected the movie to end side one at the end of chapter 6, or keep the side break as it is, and add one to the chapter total. The side break comes after Axel and company disarm two gunmen in a nightclub, ending with Axel giving his wide-eyed ‘OK’ symbol, used countless times in the trailers shown on TV.

Overall though, despite the chaptering niggle, if you want to see Eddie Murphy when he was at his best, this is one of the best discs you can get. Also, for the price of a penny under twenty quid, you’ll be laughing..both for the bargain AND the comedy.
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1996.