Beverly Hills Cop

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Beverly Hills Cop
Directed by Martin Brest
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Don Simpson
Written by Danilo Bach
Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Vincent Patrick
Starring Eddie Murphy
Judge Reinhold
John Ashton
Steven Berkoff
Lisa Eilbacher
Ronny Cox
Editing by Billy Weber
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) December 5, 1984
Running time 105 min
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget US$15,000,000
Gross revenue $316,360,478 (worldwide)
Followed by Beverly Hills Cop II
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Beverly Hills Cop (1984) is an Academy Award nominated American action comedy film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy. The film is the first in the Beverly Hills Cop series. The film shot Murphy to international stardom, won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture (1985) and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical (1985). It earned an estimated US$ 234 million at the box office, narrowly making it the second biggest hit of 1984 (next to Ghostbusters). It was ranked 22 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". For 19 years, Beverly Hills Cop stood as producer Jerry Bruckheimer's highest-grossing film until August 12, 2003, when it was pushed to the Number Two spot by Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Tagline: "The Heat Is On!"

Contents

[edit] Plot

Reckless but talented Detroit policeman Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) conducts an unauthorized sting operation, using a truck full of cigarettes (seized by the police as evidence in another case) to attempt to bust two hustlers. The 'deal' is interrupted by two patrolmen, resulting in one criminal fleeing on foot and the other escaping in the truck, with Axel trapped in the back. After an extensive chase, causing widespread damage, the truck crashes and the other man runs off, leaving Axel empty-handed. At the police station, he is severely reprimanded by his boss, Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill), who informs Axel that if he conducts any further unapproved operations, he will be fired and brought up on charges.

Axel goes home to find his ex-con best friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) in his apartment, fresh from a job he got in Beverly Hills working for their mutual childhood friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher). Mikey shows off some German bearer bonds he "borrowed" from his employers, which momentarily concerns Axel, but he is more interested in catching up with his old friend. After a night of drinking, Axel and Mikey return home and are accosted outside Axel's apartment by a burly man Mikey recognizes as Zack (Jonathan Banks). Zack knocks Axel unconscious before he sees anything. He then confronts Mikey about the bearer bonds, then shoots him twice in the head. After the police respond, Axel asks Inspector Todd to be let in on the case, but Todd flatly refuses. Deciding to secretly root around from a different angle, Axel asks for and is granted two weeks' vacation time.

Axel then drives his "crappy blue Chevy Nova" all the way to Beverly Hills, and, masquerading as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, manages to check into a suite at the high-end Beverly Palm Hotel. He then meets up with his old friend Jenny, who tells Axel that she (and Mikey) work for art dealer Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff). Axel finagles his way into Maitland's office, where Zack is shown to be the art dealer's right-hand man. Axel presses Maitland for answers about Mikey, but Maitland has his bodyguards throw Axel out - literally – through a glass window on the main floor.

Outside, Axel is confronted by the Beverly Hills police over a report of disturbing the peace. Finding his gun, they arrest him for possessing a concealed weapon, as he cannot afford to identify himself as a police officer. At the station, he is questioned by Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold). Taggart takes issue with Axel's irreverence and punches him in the stomach. Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) steps in to reprimand Taggart and presses Axel further, adding that he has spoken to Inspector Todd back in Detroit, who hints that Axel will be fired if he finds out that Axel is investigating Mikey's death.

Jenny bails Axel out, and takes him back to the hotel, tailed all the while by Taggart and Rosewood, who have been assigned to watch him. As the detectives watch and wait across the street from the hotel in an unmarked car, Axel places a late supper order with room service to be delivered to them. He then coaxes a waiter (Damon Wayans, in his film debut) to give him some bananas from a party tray, which he stuffs into the unmarked car's tailpipe while Rosewood and Taggart are distracted by the room service waiter. When Jenny and Axel leave the hotel, Taggart and Rosewood try to pursue, but their vehicle stalls, thanks to the bananas in the tailpipe.

Axel and Jenny sneak into one of Maitland's warehouses, where they observe two of his men removing bearer bonds from a crate. Axel also discovers some coffee grounds around some of the crates. Axel then has Jenny follow the two men to a loading dock, where he sneaks in alone, noticing that the crate that formerly contained bearer bonds is placed among other crates waiting to be processed. When he crosses paths with a security guard, Axel passes himself off as a Customs inspector, demanding to see the records for all the crates in the warehouse.

When Axel returns to the hotel, he spots Taggart and Rosewood still sitting in the unmarked car, waiting for him. Axel sneaks into the car, startling both men, who are irritable because they lost two days pay over his antics. Axel offers a truce of sorts, by letting them escort him to "someplace classy." "Someplace classy" turns out to be a stripper bar. While there, Axel notices two men entering the club wearing trench coats. Immediately suspicious because it is June (too hot for coats) he deduces that the men intend to rob the place. Axel's suspicions prove true, and the men produce shotguns from under their coats. Axel and Taggart successfully disarm the would-be robbers, leading to a new sense of respect between them. Later, Axel lies to Bogomil that Taggart and Rosewood had tailed him to the strip club and that they deserve all the credit for the collar, but Taggart and Rosewood admit to Bogomil that they had accepted Axel's invitation to the establishment and that Axel had initiated the takedown. Though thankful that Axel had prevented the robbery, Bogomil is fed up with Rosewood and Taggart's seeming incompetence and assigns two other detectives, Foster (Art Kimbro) and McCabe (Joel Bailey) to tail Axel. Axel gently reprimands Taggart and Rosewood before he leaves, pointing out the lie he told about their actions was working.

The next day, Foster and McCabe catch up to Axel, who is loitering outside Maitland's gated mansion. When Maitland's car emerges from the compound, Axel jumps into his Nova and follows, with the detectives on his tail. Axel artfully loses Foster and McCabe and follows Maitland to a high class country club. He cons the maitre d' into letting him into the banquet hall, where he directly accuses Maitland of killing Mikey. Zach grabs Axel, who counter-throws him into the buffet, which brings the police to the venue. Axel is arrested again.

At the police station, Bogomil demands answers, which Axel finally gives; Maitland is smuggling bearer bonds into the country and he had Mikey killed because he stole some of the bonds. Axel also accuses Maitland of trafficking drugs, thanks to the coffee grounds that Axel found in the warehouse; Bogomil acknowledges that drug traffickers sometimes pack cocaine in piles of coffee grounds to throw off drug-sniffing dogs. Bogomil finally sympathizes with Axel, and is intrigued by the theories he presents, but admits that he cannot arrest Maitland on pure speculation. To make matters worse, Police Chief Hubbard (Stephen Elliott) has ordered Axel to leave Beverly Hills, having heard of his numerous indiscretions throughout the city. Bogomil, under orders from Hubbard, tells Rosewood to escort Axel to the city limits.

Axel mentions to Rosewood that Maitland has another shipment due, which he decided not to tell Bogomil once he realized Bogomil couldn't or wouldn't help. Rosewood takes him to see Jenny at the art gallery, where Axel asks for her warehouse key, but she insists on coming along. Rosewood waits in the unmarked car, not being able to go in until Axel and Jenny establish the presence of evidence, otherwise it would be an illegal search. Sneaking into the warehouse, Axel opens a crate that turns out to contain large bags of cocaine hidden inside coffee grounds. Suddenly, Zach and his men appear and take Axel and Jenny at gunpoint. Outside, Rosewood watches helplessly as Maitland and more of his men enter the warehouse. Axel and Maitland exchange words, and Zach admits to Axel that he killed Mikey. Maitland and Zach then leave with Jenny as their hostage, leaving Axel to the mercy of their men. Rosewood finally decides to enter the warehouse and helps Axel to escape. On their way to Maitland's mansion, Rosewood contacts Taggart, telling him about the drugs in the warehouse and to not tell Bogomil about anything. Taggart tells Foster and McCabe to check out the warehouse, then rushes to meet up with Axel and Rosewood.

Axel, Rosewood and a reluctant Taggart sneak in to the mansion's grounds, but are soon pinned down by gunfire from Maitland's men. Back at the station, Bogomil is puzzled by the absence of the four detectives, then hears about a call of shots fired. When he discovers that the address where the shots were fired is Maitland's, Bogomil calls for all cars to descend on Maitland's mansion.

At the mansion, the police temporarily gain the upper hand, shooting down several gunmen. Axel tells Rosewood and Taggart to cover him as he enters the mansion. Inside, Zack has his weapon drawn and is hunting Axel. The lethal cat-and-mouse game ends with Axel shooting Zack dead. Savoring his victory for a moment, Axel takes a large caliber bullet in his arm, courtesy of Maitland. Bogomil and a fleet of police officers arrive at the compound and arrest Maitland's surveillance and security teams. Inside the mansion, Axel confronts Maitland, who is holding his gun to Jenny's head. Neither man moves, until Bogomil appears behind Axel with his gun pointed at Maitland. Jenny takes advantage of the moment to escape from Maitland, and Axel and Bogomil empty their guns into Maitland, killing him.

When the smoke clears, Hubbard shows up, demanding answers. Bogomil makes up a story, insisting that he himself had led the investigation into Maitland's activities, thanks to Jenny and Axel's tips, and that Axel was merely an observer at the scene. Skeptical, Hubbard asks Taggart to confirm the story, which he does, having learned his lesson from the strip club incident. Finally, Hubbard decides to accept Bogomil's version of the events. Axel begs Bogomil to talk to Todd in Detroit, saying that if he lost his job in Detroit, he would move to Beverly Hills permanently and work as a private detective. Bogomil promises to clear everything up.

Axel prepares to check out of the Beverly Palm when Rosewood and Taggart arrive. They tell him that Bogomil insisted that they personally escort him to the city limits. When Axel's tab is produced, Taggart informs the desk clerk that the Beverly Hills Police Department will pick it up. Axel is moved by the gesture and "gives" each detective a hotel bathrobe (also paid for by the police department). Once outside, Axel offers to share a drink with his new friends; Taggart, who originally touted doing things "by the book," decides that one drink "won't kill us" and he and Rosewood follow Axel, who says that they will be going to "the perfect place; you guys'll love it. Trust me."

[edit] Cast

Sylvester Stallone was originally intended to play Axel Foley. After his departure due to differences in scope (he wanted more action than the producers would budget for) the role was re-written for Murphy. Stallone went on to use his version of the film as the basis for his movie Cobra. According to Eddie Murphy on Inside the Actor's Studio, Stallone also envisioned a "harder edged" screenplay. The character of Jenny Summers was originally a Stallone love interest, but was rendered only an "old friend" to Murphy's Foley. Mikey was originally supposed to be Stallone's brother.

On the DVD featurette, Producer Jerry Bruckheimer claimed that the part of Axel Foley was first offered to Mickey Rourke, who signed a holding contract to do the film. When revisions and other preparations took longer than expected, Rourke left the project to do another film. It was then offered to Stallone.

Axel Foley's boss (Gilbert R. Hill) was a real-life detective in the Detroit Police Department, who later became a Detroit City Council member and mayoral candidate, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick in 2001.

The scene in which Axel, Rosewood, and Taggart give an explanation to Bogomil about the strip club arrest was improvised according to a making-of featurette. When filming the "Beverly Hills Police Station" sequences, Eddie Murphy was feeling groggy from the stuffy environment and was described "to be so pure, that he didn't drink coffee." Eventually, Murphy relented by taking small sips of coffee just to stay awake for filming inside the building. As a result of the first sips of coffee, Eddie's performance in the scene skyrocketed and he ad-libbed the part about Rosewood and Taggart being super-cops without having the capes.

[edit] Supporting cast

  • Beverly Hills Police Chief Hubbard
    Stephen Elliott
  • Beverly Hills Police Detective Foster
    Art Kimbro
  • Beverly Hills Police Detective McCabe
    Joel Bailey
  • Casey
    Michael Champion
  • Cigarette Buyer in Detroit Alley
    Frank Pesce
  • Cigarette Truck Driver
    Gene Borkan
  • Beverly Palms Hotel Manager
    Michael Gregory
  • Beverly Palms Hotel Clerk
    Alice Cadogan
  • Donny
    Philip Levien
  • Maitland's Receptionist
    Karen Mayo-Chandler
  • Beverly Hills Cop #1
    Gerald Berns
  • Beverly Hills Cop #2
    William Wallace
  • Beverly Palms Hotel Room Service Waiter
    Israel Juarbe
  • Beverly Palms Hotel Bellhop
    Randy Vasquez
  • Fruit Plate Vendor at Beverly Palms Hotel (aka Banana Man)
    Damon Wayans
  • Warehouse Crate Opener #1
    Charles Adamson
  • Warehouse Crate Opener #2
    Chip Heller
  • Bonded Warehouse Night Supervisor
    Rick Overton
  • Bonded Warehouse Security Guard
    Rex Ryon
  • Bonded Warehouse Clerk #1
    Mike Pniewski
  • Bonded Warehouse Clerk #2
    Douglas Warhit
  • Strip Club Holdup Man #1 (aka Philip)
    Paul Drake
  • Strip Club Holdup Man #2
    Tom Everett
  • Strip Club Waitress
    Sally Kishbaugh
  • Harrow Club Valet
    Barry Shade
  • Harrow Club Maitre'D
    Jack Heller
  • Harrow Club Arresting Officer
    Michael Harrington
  • Beverly Hills Police Dispatcher
    David Wells
  • Beverly Hills Police Detective Owensby
    Scott Murphy
  • Detroit Cop #1
    Dennis Madden
  • Detroit Cop #2
    John Achorn
  • Detroit Cop #3
    John Pettis
  • Detroit Station Cop #1
    Nicholas Shields
  • Detroit Station Cop #2
    Carl Weintraub
  • Detroit Station Cop #3
    Anthony De Fonte
  • Barmaid
    Darwyn Carson
  • Pool Player in Detroit Bar
    Mark E. Corry
  • Maitland Bodyguard
    Thomas J. Hageboeck
  • Beverly Palms Hotel Checkout Clerk
    Martin Brest (uncredited)

[edit] Chapters

  • 1. The Heat Is On [:41]
  • 2. Mikey [1:55]
  • 3. Beverly Hills Cops [2:09]
  • 4. Bananas [1:16]
  • 5. Inspector Foley [2:08]
  • 6. Super Cops [2:48]
  • 7. Picnic [1:05]
  • 8. Suprises [1:16]
  • 9. Serious Trouble [1:04]
  • 10. The Perfect Place [4:38]
  • 11. End Credits [:28]

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special (1986). The instrumental-only title tune "Axel F" is very recognizable and has since been covered by numerous artists. The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti.

Selected items from the soundtrack:

Though not officially in the soundtrack, "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6 is heard in the strip club. Since the film's release in 1984, there has never been an official release of the soundtrack score which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer. The only part of the soundtrack score that has been commercially released is "Axel F", featured on the soundtrack release.

However, 2 tracks of score were released on B sides to the vinyl singles of Axel F:

  • "Discovery" - This piece of score is heard in the scene where the drugs are discovered by Axel Foley in the warehouse.
  • "Shootout" - This piece of score is heard in the scene where Billy Rosewood waits outside the warehouse and then decides to go in.

There are also 12" extended versions of the Axel F theme which were released on the vinyl singles in the 1980s.

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1985 Billboard 200 1
Preceded by
Around the World in a Day by Prince and the Revolution		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 22 - July 5, 1985		 Succeeded by
Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears

[edit] Sequels

A fourth Beverly Hills Cop film is currently in development. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer had stated his intention to resurrect the franchise, but eventually gave up his option to produce the film. Several scripts have reportedly been produced, the latest a fusion of several of the previous versions, but no greenlight has been given. Murphy is reportedly happy with the current outline, which is an attempt to recapture "the feel of the original".[1] Beverly Hills Cop 4 has been officially announced for a Summer 2010 release with Brett Ratner in talks to direct.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Audio sample

Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F excerpt

An excerpt from the Axel F title-tune
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] Video games

  • Blast Entertainment released a Beverly Hills Cop game[2] for the PlayStation 2.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Clint Morris (2007-05-02). Beverly Hills Cop 4 finally underway?. Moviehole.net. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  2. ^ The Movie Game Database

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Martin Brest

Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972) • Hot Tomorrows (1977) • Going in Style (1979) • Beverly Hills Cop (1984) • Midnight Run (1988) • Scent of a Woman (1992) • Meet Joe Black (1998) • Gigli (2003)
v • d • e
Beverly Hills Cop series
Films
Notable contributers
Characters
Music
v • d • e
American films of the 1980s
1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989