Believe it or not. This movie was the highest grossing film of 1984. It beat out Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Gremlins and The Karate Kid. That's how insane Eddie Murphy's star power was at that moment.
This made him a star. Trading Places and 48HRS before this were not enough to make him a household name. Moviegoers just reacted to what a great film this was at the time.
Always have to give a shout-out Gilbert Roland Hill (November 5, 1931 - February 29, 2016) was an American politician, police officer, and actor, who was the President of the Detroit City Council. He gained recognition for his role as Inspector Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. He was the runner-up in the 2001 Detroit mayoral election, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick.
18:50 Fun fact - The whole Supercop story was totally ad-libbed by Eddie Murphy so you can see Rosewood and Taggert trying their best not to laugh, Taggert especially. 😂
The song is called "Axel F" as in Axel Foley the main characters name. Its the theme song for the franchise, as there are 3 movies. It was re-popularized due to crazy frog in early 2000's.
The building they take Eddie Murphy to, when they arrest him, is the LA county building. It mostly houses offices. I'm not sure if the police work out of that building but at one time they did. That is accurate.
The most ICONIC 80's movie of all! (even just for the soundtrack alone!!!) Thanks for reacting to this all-time favorite! BTW, the " love 'ya man" line at the time would be merely a term of admiration. In general 'pop culture' then, any reference to being gay wouldn't be common enough to even rise to possibility for any PG cinema audience. It just didn't exist in the movies!
This movie is absolutely fantastic, a classic for a reason. And, yes: the music was composed for this movie by Harold Faltermeyer, and the song is called Axel F. Also, Maitland's main henchman is Mike Ehrmantrout from Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul.
Ehrmantrout’s also in 48 Hrs. (for a few minutes at least) with Nick Nolte. It’s Eddie Murphy’s first movie which George & Simone should also watch. That one’s more drama than comedy but I think they would enjoy it.
Yo, it's so interesting seeing their confusion.......I also noticed the disconnect w/ National Lampoon's Vacation that they recently did. We are the last TRUE generation. LOL
Yeah, it's basically Shane Black / Martin Brest. You can see it a bit it Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as well which was a bit of a throw-back to the 80s movies.
It’s funny, because I snuck in a theater with a couple friends and saw this when I was 10 when it came out and the tone didn’t confuse us at all. And again, we were around 10-11.
Bronson Pinchot was the actor playing the flamboyant art gallery employee. He also appeared in _True Romance_ (1993), an *incredibly* great movie written (but not directed) by Quentin Tarantino, and was the costar of a highly popular 80s sitcom called "Perfect Strangers". Very talented character actor with great comedic delivery. The hotel employee who gave Eddie Murphy the bananas was none other than Damon Wayans, in his film debut.
Yeah, it was incredibly popular and was a number one hit. Which is interesting considering it's just an instrumental. It was also covered a number of times, most notably by the Crazy Frog which again made it hugely popular.
"that went so dark so fast!" - that was the best thing about movies in the 80s! The contrast between light and dark. Think of all those horror movies that switched effortlessly between funny and gore/torture/death. Just like real life. You laugh one moment, the next you're hit by a truck.
Also, this was originally conceived to be a straight action movie, I believe they had Stallone in mind. When they went with Murphy, they kept the main story, but added in comedy, which is one reason the tone shifts.
It's an action movie where the characters happen to have a sense of humor. There's only a little situational comedy, Rosewood and Taggert climbing the wall , for example. Something many writers don't seem to understand. Back in the 80s and more so now.
@@ravenwind1062 I get that... so many times - and this is in sitcoms as well - the put in a joke for the audience, not the character making a joke to another character. I think there is a real difference there.
FUN FACT: When Foley is telling Bogomil how Rosewood and Taggart are "Supercops", Judge Reinhold and John Ashton almost broke into laughter. Ashton held his hand to his face -- you can tell he's laughing -- while Reinhold pulled on his pubes through his pocket to keep from laughing.
One of the funniest action comedy movies ever made! Originally, Sylvester Stallone was going to be Star in the movie, and even did rewrites to the script to make it more darker, violent and action packed. When Paramount executives read the script, it was rejected and Stallone turned his unproduced version of Beverly Hills Cop into the 1986 action thriller COBRA.
Once in a while I like to hear what films other actors were considered to play... However, Axel Foley is one of the roles I can't imagine someone else playing; let alone Stallone LOL
@@CheepchipsableCobra is terrible but I love it. It is the quintessential "cop breaking the rules" film, and the cop-rule-breaking is taken to ridiculous, almost comedic extremes.
Martin Brest also directed Midnight Run, which is an AMAZING film. With Robert Deniro and Charles Grodin. Martin Brest is excellent with mixing immense amounts of humor and then flipping the switch and having extremely serious, sometimes dark moments.
Just want to add a big +1 vote to this. Unlike several better-known 80s buddy movies, ‘Midnight Run’ has kind of slipped through the cracks and been forgotten, but it’s genuinely terrific and absolutely worth checking out. In the 80s Robert De Niro was definitely not known for comedy, so ‘Midnight Run’ was a huge surprise. And the supporting cast is absolutely stacked.
Martin Brest is such an underrated director from this era. I'd recommend Midnight Run and Scent of a Woman as great examples of a director who can tow the line between comedy and drama perfectly
Axel's boss wasn't an actor at all - he was actually an active Detroit Police Detective who didn't retire until 1989. He only acted in three movies, this and it's two sequels.
@@douglascarter2078 A former hitman turned informant made accusations but only after he had died. Lots of gossip but he was never formally charged with anything.
Him laughing at the leather outfits was not a reference to himself. It was a reference to Michael Jackson who wore a similar outfit in his video for Thriller.
Serge's actor(Bronson Pinchot) does not have that accent. He is from New York. His most famous role is from a 1980's TV series (Perfect Strangers) where he also has a silly foreign accent.
You have to check out "48Hrs"(1982). Eddies first movie and considered one of the best buddy cop movies. I will never forget seeing 48Hrs in the theatre. Because it was really cool to see the birth of a movie star.
I agree, that would be a great movie to watch a reaction. I just hope that the reactors of this channel and others understand the racism in the dialogue of 48 Hours. The character eventually apologizes about the language and why he said all of it later in the move. But it's late in the movie, so I would hope the reactors understand that it's about the characters within the story line and context. A lot of reactors don't seem to get that. I would guess patrons probably tell reactors about during conversations, so I guess that's maybe why we haven't seen reactors do 48 Hours. I could be wrong, IDK. I'm actually impressed how well reactors handled Blazing Saddles, and how George here, handled Trading Places. I think it's possible many of them could get forewarned and relax and go with it as just watching characters in a movie.
@@dustinjones8887 48Hrs is one of the best action comedies of all time. Walter Hill one of the great action filmmakers of all time. His movie are badass! It set a standard that would lead to Lethal Weapon & Die Hard. As an audience back in 82 we understood that Nick Nolte's character was an asshole cop shitting on a convict to catch the guy who killed a cop. We also understood that an asshole can be a good person. Look at Dirty Harry. I feel we understood things better and faster back then. That's why there are so many great 70s & 80s movies.
@@reesebn38 - Of course! I agree. My concern is the uptight new generation with reactors. Many don't get that movies are about the characters, not the writers or audience. 48 Hours would be a freaking awesome choice for Cinebinge and others.
I think what might be throwing you off with the pacing is that it's one of the few 'Action' movies that isn't TOO actiony/explosiony and the comedy is pretty realistic everyday jokes, not too over the top, it's one of the realistic action comedies.
Yes! That's what i've always loved about this, it's unexpectedly grounded and realistic for an action comedy and the comedy itself is spontaneous too. Can't think of another movie where it's done this way.
Back then movies were not pigeon-holed as much as today, and that’s a good thing about them. Simone wondering “is this serious or a comedy?” before watching illustrates the point. It’s actually unthinkable to them that it could be both.
There's also very little fat on the movie. His buddy gets popped, his boss warns him off the case, boom, he's in Beverly Hills. No dark night of the soul with him vowing revenge in a dark room or getting peeled off a bar stool. The Jeannette character is great as well. She's not only hot, she has no tolerance for bullshit from anyone. and she doesn't need to be rescued at the end; she throws the first elbow. Just a few of the many reasons why it's a cut above most fish-out-of-water stories from that time.
I would trade in all of Chappelle’s specials to get one more Eddie Murphy special. Crazy to think how young he was when he made two of the greatest specials of all time.
Yes. That song is originally from this movie. Eddie's character is Axel Foley. The song title is "Axel F". It's by Harold Faltermeyer, who also did the score for Fletch.
I know everyone watches movies when they do and weren't alive when a lot of them came out, but I am glad I saw a movie like this when it was new. It was quite the pop phenomenon in one of the best years of the decade, at the right point in Eddie Murphy's career, as MTV was newly established in the mainstream and playing just the kind of music that was in the soundtrack. "Miami Vice" was on TV, so we kind of saw this kind of flashy cocaine dealers-with-Uzis thing weekly. At the time, Beverly Hills was seen as the symbol of excessive wealth, before everyone started acting like movie stars and only the truly rich bought the brand names shown in the boutiques. It is exaggerated here but then, it was always shown exaggerated in movies, shows, and cartoons. In the commentary track of the DVD, the director or someone said that the people in the "candid shots" in the opening credits were asked for their permission. One man was actually describing the cigarette truck chase scene. "This music, it's so strange for a car chase. It's so upbeat." The audience was having fun, sir. We were watching Eddie Murphy, whom we knew from "Saturday Night Live" and "Trading Places" and "48 Hours," flopping around in a wild and well-choreographed, highly destructive chase.
I think you may feel that the tone and pacing is different cos a high proportion of the movie was improv by Eddie murphy. These movies showcased his genius
I always liked Lisa Eilbacher (the female lead) in this movie. It's weird for a 80s action flick to have a male and female just be platonic friends who are helping to solve the murder of their mutual friend. She's smart and not sexualized (even though she's gorgeous) and always wants to help without being shrill and obnoxious. She even gets herself out of the hold at the end of the movie so the cops can shoot the main baddie. I think one of the reasons people like this movie is because people really just kind of act like people, even though it's very funny and exaggerated.
The thing that sold the friendship was that first meeting. When he said she was getting old and her response was a chuckling F-U. I was like, that's how actual friends talk to each other.
This movie was pretty influential in Hollywood as it made it possible to have action comedy films starring comedians, and "regular looking people". Without this film's success, I doubt we'd have gotten films like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon.. sure they might have been made, but not with that amount of humor. Even Stallone... who tried to take the humor out of this very film eventually embraced action comedies. For a similar film, I'd suggest Fletch.
+1 for Fletch. it's based on a series of books and was recently rebooted starring John Hamm. See the original with Chevy Chase first. I think he was more true to the character.
I live in metro Detroit and this film was a big deal when the opening was shot here. Yes they used locals in the sequence including Gill Hill, an active Detroit cop that played his boss. I saw it in the theater with all of the members of my hockey team and a team from Kitchener Ontario that we were hosting for a weekend tournament.
@@reservoirdude92 That's great!! The bus doing the skid turnaround took place on Michigan Avenue a few miles east of the old Tiger Stadium. The chase of the truck full of cigarettes happened just south oh there. Kind of close to where the new Gordie Howe Bridge is coming through. The Mumford High school shirt Axel wore is a real high school and was used because the movie's producer was an alumni.
This movie came out when i was 5. It's almost 40 years old. Even though I love it, I still cannot believe how much money it made. Look up Cop's box office numbers and the competition it was up against. It's crazy.
@@kgjung2310Still got choice just means we don't have to trudge to the local ciniplex . As they say each to ones own. In the UK you can go watch a film without people talking ,But jeez I've heard US audiences watching a block buster screaming and whooping ! 😠 " like shut the #### up " so what ever your into ,But I'd rather watch on my 65" with Receiver and speakers banging out Atmos in the comfort of my own house. Think Dunkirk was last time I went and because of the time line some people couldn't get it so it was " what's going on ? , Whys it back with him " yap yap. As they say what ever floats your boat. 🤔?!?
Beverly Hills Cop was so phenomenal at the box office that became number 1 for 13 weeks consecutively. 14 in total. And was the biggest success for a black actor as a lead character for 11 years until Will Smith shut alien butts in Independence Day and Men in Black back in 1996/1997. Also people remembered Ronny Cox more as the corporate villain in RoboCop and Total Recall but his usual character type is the good person as Lt. Bogomil in BHC, Taps and Deliverance
I genuinely love this channel and you guys, but as a Gen Xer, it’s interesting how much of the culture from the 1980s didn’t filter down through the younger generations. The joke about the jackets was that they were Michael Jackson jackets being worn by white dudes right after he just name dropped MJ to get a hotel room. Also, that hotel room in today’s dollars would be 600 a night.
This was an action/ drama that Eddie Murphy improved all over. That’s why it’s like that. It worked surprisingly well It’s also the precursor to every wisecracking cop movie that came along later. Seriously. It’s such a trope now but this movie originated all that.
To answer George's question about needing permission to film people for those opening shots. In the US there is no expectation of privacy in public spaces so you don't need peoples permission to film or photograph them.
While not the case for BHC Detroit scenes, in most big production movies, if you see a crowd of people doing ordinary life things, they are usually hired extras ( the BH scenes like the guys in the coats are extras ).
I loved the third! That being said it was the first one I saw, so I didn’t have to worry about comparing them. As a stand alone movie it’s the most fun imo.
A little trivia: the movie received a great deal of praise for the friendship between Axle and Jenny Summers. She's a high-class white woman and Axle is from the wrong side of the tracks. The movie never bothers to explain why they are friends. They're just friends 'cause reasons, and then move on. It was different and refreshing at the time.
@@killersalmon4359That’s exactly what it is. She tells Maitland that she and Axel (and Mikey, we can infer) grew up in the same neighborhood. She also tells Axel that if Maitland hadn’t hired her, she’d be waiting tables. Axel asks her if it’s too late for him to go to school for art, implying that she did just that.
The two of you just need to increase your intake of 80's films. The tone shifts, jaunty music during the action scenes, the general un-PCness of it all was the norm. I'd recommend an entire month of '80's movies. :-) The best of times.
I so want to see them visit the Cannon Group's catalogy. Boy can Golan & Globus go un-pc in the most glorious ways. I'd love to see how they'd react to Death Wish 3 (or even 2) xD !
The title of the song is... Axel F. So yeah, it comes from this movie.) Eddie is comedy gold in this (ofc), but when he is serious he is Academy Award type serious. Such a brilliant and believable performance.
If you want to see Sylvester Stallone Beverly hillls cop script, check out cobra. That is basically what his vision would have been for Beverly Hills cop
Yay! I'm so glad someone is reacting to this gem. The second movie is also worth a watch in my opinion, but the third is definitely just a cash grab at that point.
Whenever people have trouble with movies that combine genres or tones, it’s a good reminder that with many of us, our expectations really inform our enjoyment of something. If we’re expecting something to be one thing, surprising elements can be off-putting when they otherwise wouldn’t be.
We have been trained to expect stories to play out in a certain way, largely due to scripts massaged by test audiences etc. I do recall this being advertised as a comedy, but finding it more of a drama so I was a little disappointed when I first saw it, but it is a great film. Wonder how they would do with Peter Greenaway films, or some of the European films. imagine them watching the 1992 film Léolo, (assuming they haven't seen it).
I can't believe you guys have never seen this. It's SO MUCH FUN! And as an oldie, I remember so well that this was such a huge deal when it came out in the theaters.
In Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, they were essentially strangers. In this, they were lifelong friends. It's not so much a difference in attitude or character as it is a pretty big difference in situation. Sometimes I think George strains too hard to see certain things. Despite your view of the past, it has never been particularly unusual for a man to tell another man he loves him so long as he actually - you know - loves him (especially when drunk).
Just not in a Brokeback Mountain way, 🤣, (not that there is anything wrong with that!) Seriously, I'm pretty sure there there have been quite a few films when guys tell each other they love each other from that era. I think in this film they did it to heighten the drama of the friend being killed to make clear how strong the connection, thus motivation was for Axel the go to BH. Mens affection plays out in different ways, 'cause lets face it words are cheap.
Yes but he was also telling the other cops he just met he loves them, too. Also kind of ironic given that one of the real “problematic” aspects of Eddie’s past stand up comedy was some gay jokes.
Between "Axel F" (Harold Faltermeyer), "The Heat Is On" (Glenn Frey) and "Neutron Dance" (The Pointer Sisters), there was NO escaping this soundtrack in the 80s. You'll REALLY like Rosewood's character development in the sequel. This movie helped propel Bronson Pinchot (Serge) into the spotlight. He's also great in the sequels and gets a bit more screen time.
As far as the pacing Martin Breast has a very unique style that worked well in all his movies (except Gigli) with very well received and acclaimed movies like ‘Scent of a Woman’ and ‘Meet Joe Black’ among others. George, there’s a lot of fun analysis to do in ‘Meet Joe Black’ that you would love, and it would be fun to see if you could pick up on most of it in your first watch through lol
If you want to see what the original Stallone version of this movie looks like, then watch the movie 'Cobra". Stallone took many of his rejected action ideas for BHC and turned it into that movie.
The Thumbnail, lmao & I Don't Really Like Bananas, But This Movie Is One Of My Favorites Growing Up, Cool Reaction As Simone & George, You Both Have A Nice Day
"I always associate those paper bonds with like, 19th Century great train heists....weird for me to see it in a 20th Century context" FYI...a Bearer Bond is a fixed-income security that is owned by the holder. The bondholder is required to submit the coupons to a bank for payment and then redeem the physical certificate when the bond reaches the maturity date. Bearer Bonds are what Hans Gruber steals out of the massive vault in the movie "Die Hard". They are also what get stolen out of the armored vehicle at the beginning of the movie "Heat". Bearer Bonds are virtually extinct in the U.S., but still issued in many countries that are also more popular for tax evasion. The more you know!
This movie was hugely influential in the direction of the movie industry. An R-Rated action comedy movie that could do big box office just didn't exist. Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Bad Boys, and others all took what Beverly Hills Cop did to varying levels of success.
Eddie Murphy’s career just sky rocketed in the early 80s. 48 Hours, Trading Places and this, he was pretty much made. Part 2 takes everything about this one and just goes bigger with it.
I gotta say, George seemed overly obsessed over this not fitting into an expected formula. IMaybe it was a bit of a new formula - an Eddie Murphy movie. Action but with Eddie Murphy so with humor in it. Sometimes you just have to let go and flow with it.
This movie was low budget and nobody believed it was a good idea. Eddie Murphy proved it would work and it was a big hit. Which lead to the franchise and future success. ✌️
This was our bread and butter growing up in the 80s; it was a great decade with great movies and music. Thanks for the memories folks, wonderful reaction video!
I love the way this film is written. Everyone is capable - it isn't Axel the super cop (lol) and everyone else is pathetic or stupid or something. Jenny isn't a total damsel in distress - she's funny, smart and helpful, and in the end she doesn't get killed (especially for stupid plot reasons). Rosewood is kind of awkward and bumbling, but he's a really good shot. Taggert may be a crabby guy, but he listened when Axel noticed criminal behavior and addressed it accordingly, and he ended up helping (even when he didn't want to get into trouble, lol). He backed up Axel in the field and took it seriously. Even the boss above Rosewood and Taggert is smart and knows when to take things seriously (and when to lie to the Chief, lol). And Axel may be a smart ass, but he's also clearly a very capable cop. Even the bad guy Victor could have been a total caricature but you realize he means business when his guys catch Axel and Jenny in the warehouse. The minute she tries to smooth things over, and he shouts at her to shut up... ooh, chills! I remember being really scared of him in that moment, because he was so dry up to that point, and his explosion of anger was startling. (I see Simone jumped like I did, lol) It's just a good film. It's all around funny, Eddie's hilarious, it's smart, yet it's still grounded in something serious (Axel losing his friend) and they don't treat that part as a joke.
One thing i really enjoy about this first film in the series is how grounded it stays. It doesn't go for the comedy the same way like many other action comedies would do. This is why the dark moments in this work so well for me. The way Mike's death is done, it looks real, like would be witnessing an execution at the end of that hallway, it's why it's so shocking . It's for the character of Axel Foley, particularly because it's played by Eddie Murphy is the reason why it's an action comedy, rather than action thriller. Also, the guy who kills Mike; Jonathan Banks is very young here. He's best known from playing the badass Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad and Better call saul! He also appears in Eddie Muprhy's debut; 48 Hrs., which is not as good as this one and is actually ever darker while also having Eddie's comedic shtick to it. Still recommend checking it out and waiting to see your shocked reactions how un-pc it is. You could never get away with a main character like in that movie these days! Martin Brest is a very high quality director and has made such great flicks like "Midnight Run" and "Scent of a woman", both highly recommended!
Johathan Banks also had a small role in Airplane! as one of the air traffic controllers. His most prominent scene was where Lloyd Bridges asks him to "check the radar range" and Banks gets up, opens a microwave oven with a (raw?) turkey inside and says "Its about two more minutes, Chief".
Both his stand up specials were in leather suits. I think the one in this was the same colour as the one he had on in Delirious and I think he was in a purple one for Raw as a little nod to his new buddy at the time Prince
@@carladavis1473 Thank you!!! This was definitely a Michael Jackson joke. Making fun of how everyone tried to look like MJ. I still remember kids wearing those jackets in school with the Ferrari sunglasses. I couldn't afford any of it.. LOL
This is such a fun movie, but it gets so dark in the scene when his friend his killed. But I love this one and the second one, and could watch them over and over. If you two have not already watched it, you should check out 48 hours with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte.
If you liked this movie Beverly Hills Cop 2 is even better. 3 is okay and has a comeback of one person from the first Beverly Hills Cop movie you will like it.
