DVD Review: Beverly Hills Cop
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: A-
DVD Special Features: A

Out of all the Eddie Murphy vehicles out there, this is probably my absolute
favorite.  Maybe it's because my father took me to see it or maybe it was
because my mother wasn't real thrilled with the idea of her young teenage son
seeing a film with so much profanity.  Then too, maybe the film just has some
sort of magic going for it, a magic that is lost over each of its two
sequels.  Whatever the reason, it's about time Paramount dusted the mothballs
off the series and released it.

Murphy plays Detroit Police Detective Axel Foley. When Foley's childhood
friend Mikey (James Russo) is killed in what appears to be a professional
hit, he heads off to Beverly Hills to track down the killers.  "Beverly Hills
Cop" then turns into part fish-out-of-water, part action and a whole lot of
comedy.  Murphy showcases an incredible talent for improvising dialogue that
no scriptwriter could ever come up with and it serves him well here.  After
checking into a hotel in typical Murphy fashion, Foley seeks out another old
friend who had gotten Mikey his last job.  Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher)
points him in the direction of her boss, an art collector named Victor
Maitland (Steven Berkoff).  It's when Foley barges into Victor's office and
starts asking questions about Mikey that he starts to smell a rat.  Maybe
that's because he's thrown out the front window and then arrested.

It's in the Beverly Hills Police Station that Foley meets Sergeant Taggart
(John Ashton), Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Lieutenant
Bogomil (Ronny Cox).  Bogomil thinks Foley is nothing but trouble and orders
his men to follow him around.  Without help and relying only on his hunches,
it's up to Foley to figure out who's responsible for Mikey's death, get the
proof, bring the bad guys to justice and somehow keep the police off of his
tail or bring them on board.

"Beverly Hills Cop" was originally going to be a Sylvester Stallone movie,
but after Sly made several revisions to the script, it was deemed too ex
pensive to shoot and was given to Murphy.  Sly later turned his ideas into
"Cobra" while "Cop" was revised back to a comedic form.  That's where this
film is at its best.  The chemistry between Reinhold and Ashton as a kind of
Laurel and Hardy team is perfect!  When they're together with Murphy, it's
pure magic!  Ronny Cox plays Reinhold's and Ashton's boss with authority, but with intelligence as well.  He believes in doing things by the book, but
isn't so blind that he can't see what's going on.  I wish Lisa Eilbacher did
more films because I've always enjoyed her performances and this film is no
exception.  Steven Berkoff plays a wonderful villain as does Jonathan Banks
as his right hand henchman.  Even real life homicide Captain Gil Hill from
the Detroit Police Department gives a decent performance, though he was
apparently quite awful when he auditioned.

Speaking of awful, what is with the transfer here?  While I'm always pleased
to see a Widescreen version of a film, this one looks grainy and way too dark
at time.  For a Special Collector's Edition, I would have thought they'd have
done some more work on the film itself.  I understand that it's 18 years old,
but come on.  The audio sounds great, though, but the picture really bothered
me.

As for extras, this is pretty loaded.  There's a brand new retrospective
titled "Exclusive Cast and Crew Interviews" that runs 29 minutes and is
exactly what it purports to be.  There's some wonderful behind-the-scenes
information given here that follows the script from its beginnings to its
being green lighted, to casting, recasting and actual production.  The cast
and crew talk about each and their experiences on the film quite fondly and
it's not just for the sake of patting each other on the back.  They really
did click as a team and a family.  All of them have some great stories to
tell about Murphy too.  Next up is a 9 minute short titled "Casting Beverly
Hills Cop" that features additional interviews with some of the cast members
as each talks about how their roles developed as well as an interview with
the casting director discussing all the work she did.  It's not a bad piece
at all.

There's also an 8 minute segment titled "Music of Beverly Hills Cop" that
provides some insight into the scoring of the film.  It's actually rather
informative and vintage 80s material, so it was right up my alley.  The
special edition rounds out its features with a theatrical trailer, photo
gallery, location map and a commentary by Director Martin Brest.  Brest
realizes that there's some dead air in between his comments and states that
he's actually mesmerized watching the film.  I get the idea he hasn't seen it
in a while.  When he does relate information, Brest does a very good job,
especially with anecdotes, budget difficulties and other assorted odds and
ends.  I did wonder, though, why he got fired from the movie "War Games." If
he's not going to tell us, he shouldn't have brought it up.

"Beverly Hills Cop" is a wonderfully funny, fresh and exciting movie.   
There's rarely a dull moment and it's one of Eddie Murphy's more memorable
outings.  I just wish the picture quality was better, especially since
Paramount only packed this disc in the set with a number of extras.  Still,
I'm glad they released it and can be content with that for the moment.  And
if anybody happens to know why Brest got fired from the "War Games," please drop me a line.                                                               

Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com >>Previous Page