Reviews & Ratings for
The Taking of Beverly Hills More at IMDbPro »

15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
What a Great Movie!, 12 August 2003

Author: actionpro

I had originally seen the preview for this movie within another nameless early 90s stinker, back in the day. I hadn't given this movie another thought until I was at a truck stop in Morrilton, Arkansas, and saw it sitting there, collecting dust next to a bunch of other stinkers (like Tremors 3). I immediately remembered the preview: a bunch of cars blowing up, lots of shooting, plenty of "tag lines;" you know, the usual action movie cliches. Realizing that I'd never see this movie again, I bought it. During the drive home, I kept building it up to my girlfriend as being the stupidest looking movie on earth, based on the preview that I had seen over a decade ago. Once we got home, we popped it in the VCR, prepared to laugh ourselves silly. Not so. It is one of the most underrated movies of all time. It is fantastic!!! Great (if not a little cheap looking) action sequences!! Great plot! Decent acting! Superb plot twists and turns! Unformulaic ending! I was quite surprised. I think the previews made it look far worse than it actually is. The scene where the hero is blowing stuff up to "Epic" by Faith No More almost causes goosebumps. The catch is: You MUST be a fan of the genre. If you are, this movie will NOT let you down. I promise! See it! It's available somewhere out there from MGM. 7/10

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
very much like die-hard, but in the streets of BH, 6 December 2001

Author: joe (toyotaboy@iwic.net) from chicago, IL

Ok, is this movie cheesy? well, yeah. But it's one of those films I rented when it first came out and I kind of enjoyed it (come on, the cop is the same guy who played max headroom). It has it's cheesy moments, not to mention parts that aren't believable (would the whole town really be ok with just staying up playing cards in some hotel lobby?), not to mention how they somehow had such an accurate tracking system they knew down to the penny how much loot they stole? Nothing ground breaking here, but still a good film.

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
how can you hate this film?...., 27 November 2011

Author: FlashCallahan from Leicester, United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A chemical spill has caused the occupants of Beverly Hills to be forcibly evacuated.

A retiring football player left behind, finds that the toxic gas emulating from the spill is a bogus front for a heist set up by fired police officers out to plunder the city of all its valuables.

Finding himself siding with a corrupt cop who was once apart of the plan until he discovered the city's mayor had just been blown away, by one of the chief crooks in charge.

Now both on the run with no help in sight...both must do whatever they can to stop these murderous looters....

Yes the film is crazy stupid, yes Ken Wahl is a really unconvincing hero, but he has 1991s best mullet and runs in a straight line when being chased by a SWAT vehicle.

There are so many unintentional funny moments in this film, that it begs for repeat viewings. All the houses in Beverly Hills according to this film, are made of cardboard.

Robert Davi likes to sing when he is trying to scare the woman from Arachnophobia, but it doesn't matter, shes just spent the last few hours with Boomer drinking whisky.

Matt frewers hair gets increasingly insane as he film progresses, and suddenly looks like it's been treated during the final fight.

The soundtrack appears to have taken the years best tracks, and just put them on at random times.

And the best thing about this film? That there is a hit-man in Beverly Hills who looks like Wahl for no reason at all.

This Beverly Hills is the smallest place on earth, because once it's evacuated, it appears that there is only a bus full of people who live there, and the only shop there is a place called Freds.

But it's fun, there are explosions aplenty, silly one-liners and probably the best villain death in any Die Hard ripoff movie.

If you see the movie, watch it with a huge pinch of salt and know that it's tongue is firmly in its cheek.

Good cheesy fun.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
"It's DIE HARD in Beverly Hills!", 11 March 2011

Author: udar55 from Williamsburg, VA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm sure that line was said a billion times by producers during meetings for this over-the-top action flick. Football team owner Robert Masterson (Robert Davi) concocts the elaborate scam of faking a toxic spill in the titular location and having his team of crooked ex-cops looting Rodeo drive once it is abandoned. What he didn't count on is his star quarterback Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) getting in the way. Boomer teams with Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer), a conspiring cop who develops a conscience when folks start getting killed, and tries to stop the bad guys and save love interest Laura (Harley Jane Kozak). This won't win any awards for originality, but it is definitely action packed. Director Sidney J. Furie loves to blow some stuff up, even putting his leads in some precarious looking shots as nearly everything explodes. I imagine this would have worked better with a bigger name cast as the really has all the hallmarks of a big studio action picture. I could also imagine this would have been a perfect vehicle for Brian Bosworth post-STONE COLD. Frewer provides the comic relief and Wahl, popular on WISE GUY at the time, is passable in the lead. He never headlined another picture. Unfortunately, this never got a chance for a big audience as it was one of many causalities in Orion's collapse. Columbia eventually released it in 500 theaters in the fall of 1991. This still hasn't been released on DVD, which is a shame as it could use a widescreen presentation.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Not Bad!, 6 December 2004

Author: Anthony Bannon (bannonanthony) from Annalong, N. Ireland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I gave this film a chance, and I wasn't disappointed. Some people have described Ken Wahl as wooden but here he is very good as hero Boomer. Matt Frewer, Robert Davi and Lee Ving are great in their roles too.

Branscombe Richmond is also great as Benitez, a would-be intellectual bad guy who drives around in a police tank. Though to be fair, it is a bit unbelievable that the entire action of the film is meant to be taking place in just over an hour. But, that said TAKING OF BEVERLY HILLS is quite an enjoyable film.

I've been interested in seeing Ken Wahl's films ever since I saw this TV movie he made in the 80s called THE GLADIATOR. I've seen a couple more of his films since seeing TOBH and the only one he really sounded a sour note in was James Glickenhaus' THE SOLDIER, although to be fair, even one good performance couldn't save that film. But TOBH is really enjoyable with plenty of action. It's a bit of a strange coincidence that Boomer happens to know how to make Molotov cocktails, as one review I read somewhere pointed out, but the character is very likable and resourceful. The final showdown between Boomer and Benitez is very well-handled and the film has a great sense of humour as well. I hope it gets released on DVD sometime. It deserves a DVD release.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Haven't I seen this before?, 19 August 2001

Author: Brian Ellis from Chantilly, VA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Believe it or not, but I thought this movie had the makings of a guilty pleasure in the beginning. Rather humorous prelude and interesting credits with a big surprise: Lee Ving (here billed as Lee Ving James), the always entertaining Fear frontman. Then, disaster. Even seeing Ving as a cop couldn't help this. In case the filmmakers are reading this, some tips to make this better (Spoiler alert). Replace Jan Hammer as composer. Eliminate ALL slow motion shots. Drastically reduce the stuff going on outside Beverly Hills. And forget the hitman sideline, unneeded. If that had happened, I would be saying "not a bad little movie" as it was, another brain dead action picture that should be put away and forgotten.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
A poor Die Hard remake, 12 September 2000
Author: anthony_palumbi (anthony_palumbi@hotmail.com) from Philly

I remember when I walked into the video store when this movie first came out and how excited I was to see it. I had been such a great fan of Die Hard and I have always been a fan of the one good guy against a billion bad guy type of movies. Well, I am sorry to day that this movie is bad. The plot is extremely unrealistic. The special effects are elementary and the acting is very, very, very bad. But it is still fun to watch one guy go up against an army. If you are a real fan of the genre then I would suggest renting this. If you are a so-so fan or less. Find sometihng worth while.

2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Utterly Boring, 28 June 2005
Author: (dj_bassett) from Philadelphia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

That's the biggest surprise here, how dull the movie really is. Wahl is not a bad actor, although his character is unappealing. The "Max Headroom" sidekick guy is not a bad actor, though his character is unappealing. Actually, nobody in the cast does a bad job per se -- though all of their characters are unappealing. The problem is that a really good idea -- robbing an entire town -- becomes reduced to a lot of boring car chases and tanks running into houses and the like. Robert Davi probably comes off best as the surprise "bad guy" (betcha didn't see that one coming, huh?), although you can see him sweating to ham it up a bit, make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

1 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Just Terrible, 6 December 2001

Author: andrew_parcel from Chicago

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Three things make this movie worth watching; great mullets, Harley Jane Kozak, and lots of explosions. I was actually enthralled by every aspect of this awful production. One would think it was filmed in the early 80's by the cheesy dialogue and generic special effects. Never pay money to watch this! If it is on cable it is worth checking out for a few chuckles.

3 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
good for only cable, 16 March 2003

Author: act3scene1 from australia

there's not much more to say about this movie that hasn't been said by the other reviewers. I will however add some ideas. This movie came out in the early post-Die Hard era, and it is basically the same formula, but different scene, society, and stars. But that last word is the problem. In every action movie I've seen, they've had at least an identifiable star: Bruce Willis of course, Arnie, Sly, etc etc; it seems an action film can only work if the movie has a big star we can identify with.

Here is the spectacular failure of the Taking of Beverley Hills. Who is Ken Wahl? Sorry I have no idea who he is, and it is because of this that I believe the movie falls down -- at least in a repeat viewing a decade after the movie was made. The character Wahl plays -- Boomer -- is a cocky, superstar quarter-back; a millionaire and a babe magnet. This is what we are supposed to believe. But we can't, and why not? Because we the audience realise that Ken Wahl is a no-name, and his strutting around like God's gift is more unrealistic than the rest of the film -- and yes I'm including that bizarre masterplan of taking control of the city. In short you need a HUGE star to play a guy with a massive ego, like Boomer. Wahl can't do it, and the fact that he is a no-name today, makes the whole thing very comical. It was like they got some guy that lives down the street from me, groomed his eyelashes and his hair, put him in front of a camera and told him to act really suave. Doesn't work!

Perhaps we can forgive the producers of the movie for the Ken Wahl mistake. They thought that this movie would launch him into eternal super-stardom......... actually that idea is funnier than the movie itself. hehe!

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