Beverly Hills Cop [Blu-ray]

The packaging is in great condition and the film looks and works well. This movie came out in my favorite year, and while I was not born in the 80's or before this is such an amazing film. Just like the second one the 80's feel is present and you can tell Eddie Murphy and the rest of the cast had a blast and this is a movie I love very much.

"That the film turned out to be coherent is a miracle. That it is successful proves there is a God." -Martin Brest on his own movie.It's easy to understand his feelings when you consider the endless changes made to Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr's script. They got an Academy Award nomination, but the final product is a million miles away from what they originally conceived.Axel Foley was originally written for Mickey Rourke, then it was geared around Sylvester Stallone, who significantly rewrote the script further before abandoning the project a couple of weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin. Eddie Murphy was brought on board at the last minute, and the script was re-written yet again to form the movie we know today. Bizarrely, all of the work Stallone did on the script was recycled into his reprehensible 1986 action movie Cobra, which, on top of being nothing at all like Beverly Hills Cop, called itself an adaptation of a novel called Fair Game by Paula Gosling (which it also bore little-to-no resemblance to). Nine years later, that novel was once again made into a movie of the same name starring William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford, which bore no resemblance to Cobra. When I say that Beverly Hills Cop had the biggest hodgepodge of a shooting script ever, you better believe it.The story could not get any simpler. Young renegade Detroit cop Axel Foley, forever tormenting his no-nonsense boss with his reckless antics, meets up with a childhood pal only for him to be murdered that very night. Axel follows the trail and travels to Beverly Hills in his crappy, banged-up sky-blue Chevy Nova. It's a world away from the streets of Detroit. Even the patrol cops look like soap opera actors. Axel's fast and loose work ethic, barely on the good side of the law, doesn't sit well with the Beverly Hills police department. Detectives Taggart and Rosewood (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold doing a Laurel and Hardy routine) are assigned to keep an eye on Axel as he very quickly discovers the bad guy.No twists, no surprises, and barely a couple layers deep, it's amazing that a story so superficial is able get 105 minutes of mileage. The film works thanks to Murphy's cheerful, upbeat performance and Martin Brest's ability to keep it light. Beverly Hills Cop would not have worked as a dark thriller. Harold Faltermeyer's iconic score and world-famous Axel F theme tune certainly help the happy-go-lucky nature.There are certainly shortcomings. Steven Berkoff, as Victor Maitland, is completely unconvincing as the villain. In fact, with the exception of Bennett from Commando, he's probably the least threatening/most campiest villain I've ever seen in a movie. And, as I have mentioned, the story is very straightforward. Taggart and Rosewood do virtually no police work and are just bystanders watching and reacting to Axel's hustles. Apart from one cruise along Rodeo Drive, we never really see or feel the glamor of Beverly Hills to juxtapose it next to the grime of Detroit. There are just too many interior scenes.But it never fails to entertain and is truly the highlight of Murphy's career. Once, long before he sold out to family audiences, his R-rated movies were huge business, and Beverly Hills Cop showcases his leading man ability at its very best.The Blu Ray sports a fine 1.78:1 1080p picture with DTS HD-MA sound and a slight amount of old, recycled extras. Unfortunately, it also comes in a cheap, flimsy, easily broken eco-case.

Funny movie, will recommend if you haven’t seen the BHC trilogy. Sucks they didn’t go through with the show!!

One of my all-time favorite Eddie Murphy movies and this is him at the peak of his powers.I was very fortunate of snagging a copy at a very cheap price and it arrived at my mailbox in timely fashion and in pristine condition.

This one does NOT hold up well over the years...a few brief funny moments, but overall mediocre...and had to hit the mute button a few times with all that awful soundtrack music in the background...oof

pog

Watched an oldie but goodie

A great film that can be watched over and over. Subtle Murphy who is in shape for this great cop revenge movie with a not overly done crucifixions of the sleaze. Wonderful and you can watch this on a plane many times in a row to get you there feeling great.

I really like this film from purchasing it originally on video years back. The quality of this is excellent, the conversion to HD is very good, some conversions are better than other, but this one is really good. At the time I purchased, Amazon had an offer for three Blu Ray's for £15, so I got the first and second Beverly Hills Cop and another Blu Ray (has I don't really like Beverly Hills Cop 3).Eddie Murphy plays an excellent part and is extremely funny (interesting to find out from the extras on this Blu Ray, that Sylvester Stallone was originally cast to play Axel Foley, really pleased the producers decided on Eddie Murphy for the part). The other actors are excellent too and are really well cast for the parts. Inspector Todd is really funny and very blue too.Taggart and Rosewood play a superb part too, and its nice to see them all become close friends with Axel Foley as the film progresses.If you are a fan then I can highly recommend get BHC on Blu Ray, HD is definitely worth it.

It's often worth checking out Eddie Murphy in Raw and Delirious when he was a young stand up. Quick, fast, excruciatingly funny.John Landis summed it up when he directed Murphy in Trading Places (1983) and then again in Coming to America (1988) and he admitted he felt Murphy was almost a different person. Fame changed him.In Beverley Hills Cop you see Murphy in what was probably only his third leading role. As some of the extras show in interviews, this was a Mickey Rourke vehicle then Sly Stallone came in and it was only when Sly's action fest changes took the script over budget that they bought in Murphy.Today Eddie is synonymous with Axel Foley. I wish the same could be said with the title song - my kids yelled 'Crazy Frog'.In this you see Murphy almost at his best. As shown in the Extras a lot of the key 'gags' and 'Murphy bits' were ad libs. What is just as interesting is how much of the Taggart and Rosewood interaction is also from ad libs at the auditions.So this is a step back into the 80s. How does it fare? Well as a film, surprisingly well. Especially well considering there was a lot of rewriting when Murphy came on board just two weeks before shooting started.As a Blu Ray the picture is good. Better than I expected from a film that will soon be THIRTY YEARS old, but don't expect it to stand up to anything HD released today. Sound - strangely better with the pop music soundtrack than with normal dialogue which seemed a bit quiet. A whack up on the volume sorted that.Let's just say I finished watching and wondered why it had taken me so long to buy it. Hopefully No.2 will appear on Blu Ray in the UK soon. Not sure about No. 3. Never seen it.

Eddie Murphy's finest hour, and one of the great 80's films, that surprisingly stands the test of time, unlike Murphy's other early big hitters such as Trading Places and 48 Hours. It's full of loud eighties music, and shoulder pads, but Martin Brest keeps the film moving along at a brisk pace, and the action sequences are excellently filmed, and quite brutal. However, Beverley Hills Cop magic lies in the razor sharp script with Murphy having a field day with the Axel Foley character.. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton & Ronny Cox provide great back up to Murphy as the bewildered California cops. Steven Berkoff, as always solid in the bad guy role. Never gets old this one.

No idea how I missed this film up to now, but ordered it on a whim after a discussion on 80s films with my husband about "Axel F". Great acting and a genuine punchy storyline, such a refreshing change from a lot of more recent films. Has dated well. Eddie Murphy shows that he is a great actor and not just a comedian (although there are many comedy moments). Good balance of drama, action, humour. Some violence but not too much. Liked the music too. Looking forward to watching again and would definitely recommend for a Friday or Saturday night.

A must for Eddie Murphy fans lots of action and very funny.