“Beverly Hills Cop” follows the one-and-only Axel Foley, a street-smart cop from Detroit. Tracking down his best friend’s killer in Beverly Hills, Axel smashes through the local barriers in a hilarious, high-speed pursuit of justice.
Before “Beverly Hills Cop” made Eddie Murphy a bona fide movie star, he appeared in three films in which he played second fiddle to an A-list actor: Nick Nolte in “48 Hrs.” (1982), Dan Aykroyd in “Trading Places” (1983), and Dudley Moore in “Best Defense” (1984). While “Beverly Hills Cop” was written with Sylvester Stallone in mind, he even signed on to appear in the movie, at the last minute, negotiations fell through and the producers and director Martin Brest went with their original choice, newcomer Eddie Murphy, and the rest, as they say, is history. It’s hard to imagine anybody else in the film now but Murphy’s iconic laugh and quick-witted wisecracks elevated his career into the stratosphere where he remained for many years.
In “Beverly Hills Cop,” Murphy plays Detroit detective Axel Foley. When an old friend, Mikey Tandino (James Russo), visits him after getting out of prison, the two men go out for drinks but when they arrive back at Foley’s apartment later that evening, Foley is knocked unconscious and Mikey is shot dead. When Foley insists on being a part of the case, his superior officer, Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill), denies his request because of his close ties with Mikey. Foley then asks for some vacation time he is due and Todd agrees. Foley makes his way out to Beverly Hills to follow up on a lead Mikey gave to him, a man named Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff) he worked for doing security at his warehouse. Foley discovers that Mikey stole some bearer bonds from Maitland and although he has no evidence, he tries to shake Maitland down at his place of business but is thrown out a window and is then arrested.
Later, he is introduced to Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Sgt. Taggart (John Ashton), and Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox) of the Los Angeles Police Department. Things get off to a rocky start between Foley and the three men who claim they do everything by the book in Beverly Hills but as Foley’s instincts continue to get the better of him, it becomes more and more obvious that something shady is going on with Maitland and all four men end up at his mansion embroiled in a shoot-out to the death.
Of the three Beverly Hills Cop movies to date (there is a fourth in the works), the first is still the best. Director Martin Brest doesn’t infuse the movie every five minutes with unnecessary action scenes just because he can, something the ’80s were renowned for, instead, he allows us to get to know Axel and the rest of the terrific supporting cast first, and when the action does arrive, it is done so not just for the sake of spectacle but to also help the narrative move along. The comradery between Murphy, Reinhold, Ashton, and Cox is undeniable and this proved just as indisputable in “Beverly Hills Cop II.” By the time we got to part 3 though, Ashton and Cox chose not to reprise their roles, and the movie suffered as a result.
The 4K Combo includes the following previously released special features:
• Commentary by director Martin Brest
• Beverly Hills Cop—The Phenomenon Begins (SD)
• A Glimpse Inside the Casting Process (SD)
• The Music of Beverly Hills Cop (SD)
• Deleted scenes (HD)
• Behind-the-scenes featurettes incorporating vintage 1984 interviews (HD)
• An isolated audio track of the original score by Harold Faltermeyer
• “BHC Mixtape ‘84”, which allows viewers to go directly to the scenes featuring
the hit songs “The Heat Is On,” “Neutron Dance,” “New Attitude,” “Stir It Up,”
“Do You Really,” and “Nasty Girl.”
• Location Map
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Available in a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo with Digital copy December 1st
