Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.

Director:

Martin Brest

Writers:

Daniel Petrie Jr. (screenplay), Danilo Bach (story)

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Axel Foley
Judge Reinhold	...	Det. Billy Rosewood
John Ashton	...	Sgt. Taggart
Lisa Eilbacher	...	Jenny Summers
Ronny Cox	...	Lt. Bogomil
Steven Berkoff	...	Victor Maitland
James Russo	...	Mikey Tandino
Jonathan Banks	...	Zack
Stephen Elliott	...	Chief Hubbard
Gilbert R. Hill	...	Inspector Todd
Art Kimbro	...	Det. Foster
Joel Bailey	...	Det. McCabe
Bronson Pinchot	...	Serge
Paul Reiser	...	Jeffrey
Michael Champion	...	Casey

Storyline

Detroit cop Axel Foley is delighted when he receives a surprise visit from his best friend Mikey Tandino, who lives in California. Not long after Mikey arrives in Detroit, Mikey is killed, right in front of Axel, by a man named Zack. Axel follows Zack to Beverly Hills, California, where Beverly Hills police department Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil assigns Detective Billy Rosewood and Rosewood's partner, Sergeant John Taggart, to keep an eye on Axel. Axel visits his friend Jenny Summers, who works in an art gallery. With Jenny's help, Axel discovers that Zack works for Jenny's boss, Victor Maitland, the man who owns the art gallery. Maitland is a drug kingpin who is using the gallery as a front, and Maitland had Zack kill Mikey after Maitland accused Mikey of stealing some of Maitland's bonds. With the help of Jenny, Billy, and Taggart, Axel does what he can to make sure Maitland and Zack won't kill any more people.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | drugs | police shootout | drug dealer | police brutality | 

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Taglines:

In Detroit a cop learns to take the heat. In L.A. he learns to keep his cool. [Theatrical Australia]

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beverly Drive

Filming Locations:

2720 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$234,760,500 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Eddie Murphy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bronson Pinchot plays Serge, a prissy gallery employee from an unnamed European country. He would later go on to play Balki on Perfect Strangers (1986), a similar character, and use a variation of his "Serge" character's signature line, "Don't be stupid" line. Every time he was asked something he would reply "Of course I do, don't be ridiculous."

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Goofs

When Foley leaves Matlin's house to follow him and stops at the light, he loses the cops tailing him by waiting for the light to turn red before going through the intersection. A camera shot from the cross street showing Foley driving through barely missing cars shows that road with a red light also - it should be green.

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Quotes

Axel Foley: Billy, you know, you don't have to be embarrassed if your dick gets hard. Your dick is supposed to get hard. See? That's the whole object of this. Taggart's dick is hard, but he won't let you know 'cause he's the boss. Boss' dick got to stay limp, right? See, I ain't on duty so my dick can be hard.

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Crazy Credits

Scott Murphy's character of Det. Owensby is misspelled as Det. Owenby in the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Space Chimps (2008)

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Soundtracks

Gratitude
Written by Danny Elfman
Performed by Danny Elfman

User Reviews

The best cop movie ever made!

In the past thirty years, there have been more movies made in the cop genre than any other genre. Out of all of the cop movies made, BEVERLY HILLS COP still stands out as the best very best one. Twenty years after it was released into theaters in December of 1984, the movie remains to be one of the most popular and highest grossing action comedies of all time, making $234 million in the U.S. and $316 million worldwide.

When his friend Mikey Tandino is murdered, Detroit police officer Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) travels to Beverly Hills to investigate and find Mikey's killer. Lots of gunfire, laughs, and memorable quotes ensue. Highlights include Bronson Pinchot's cameo, the banana scene, and Eddie Murphy's "supercop" speech. ****