48 Hrs. (1982)

A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Roger Spottiswoode, Walter Hill

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O'Toole

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Jack Cates
Eddie Murphy	...	Reggie Hammond
Annette O'Toole	...	Elaine
Frank McRae	...	Haden
James Remar	...	Ganz
David Patrick Kelly	...	Luther
Sonny Landham	...	Billy Bear
Brion James	...	Kehoe
Kerry Sherman	...	Rosalie
Jonathan Banks	...	Algren
James Keane	...	Vanzant
Tara King	...	Frizzy
Greta Blackburn	...	Lisa
Margot Rose	...	Casey
Denise Crosby	...	Sally

Storyline

Oddball cop and tough guy, Jack Cates is the only survivor of a cop shooting and in hunting down the murderer collects Reggie Hammond from jail for 48 hours. Hammond is oddly motivated to help. The killer is searching for his stash of cash. Cates and Hammond who have the Black-white, cop-crook thing to work out make surprisingly good partners as they navigate through the city looking for their suspect.

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Plot Keywords:

cop | partner | revenge | bar fight | action violence | 

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Taglines:

When a tough cop has a cool convict as a partner and 48 hrs to catch a killer, a lot of funny things can happen in . . . 48 HRS. [Australia Theatrical]

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Eddie Murphy, he was almost fired for not being funny. He said he was not made aware of this until after the movie had wrapped.

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Goofs

When Jack Cates and Reggie Hammond follow the bus, where the money and the hostage are supposed to be exchanged, a shootout occurs. The kidnappers shoot eleven times out of a six shooter without reloading.

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Quotes

Jack: I want to left alone on this one. Algren was killed with my gun.
Haden: Jack, there's an official department policy about cop killers. Now, cop killers represent a special priority when any man crazy enough to kill a cop is a greater threat to unarmed civilians. In other words, We can't seem like we're in the revenge business. Now, we all know the truth is a little different.
Jack: Yeah?
Haden: Anything's bothering you besides losing your gun?
Jack: Yeah, it bothers me when cops get killed. I don't like that.
Haden: Then, you can ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The Swedish version was cut by 3 1/2 min by the censors. The shootout at the hotel (and some violence to some women) was shortened by almost 2 min, the beating of Luther was omitted by 24 sec, the fist fight between Cates and Hammond was missing 57 sec of violence. The gundown of Ganz was also removed.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special (2015)

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Soundtracks

TORCHY'S BOOGIE
By Ira Newborn

User Reviews

A seriously edgy and explosive thriller.

A seriously edgy and explosive thriller about an untidy yet tenacious San Francisco cop, Jack Cates (Nick Nolte), who must take Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), an ultra-cocky convict with him and search around the city for a brutish cop-killer, Ganz (James Remar)and his nearly out-spoken Indian accomplice, Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) and take them down in less than forty-eight hours. What made me enjoy the movie is the trust and respect that the Murphy and Nolte characters begin to show, even there are moments where they want to pound each other's head in. In addition to Nolte and Murphy (who's in his film debut), Remar is pretty good here despite having a limited amount of screen time. The photography of the city by Ric Waite is well, excellent and the skillful direction by Walter Hill can't go unnoticed. "48 Hrs." may not look as well-crafted as "The French Connection", but Hill sure knows how to make something memorable out of nothing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 December 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forty Eight Hours

Filming Locations:

Pacific Mutual Carriage House, 544-570 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,369,868, 12 December 1982

Gross USA:

$78,868,508

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$78,868,508

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lawrence Gordon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1