Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

Jack Cates once again enlists the aid of ex-con Reggie Hammond--this time, to take down The Iceman, a ruthless drug lord operating in the San Francisco bay area.

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Roger Spottiswoode (characters), Walter Hill (characters)

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Reggie Hammond
Nick Nolte	...	Jack Cates
Brion James	...	Ben Kehoe
Kevin Tighe	...	Blake Wilson
Ed O'Ross	...	Frank Cruise
David Anthony Marshall	...	Willie Hickok
Andrew Divoff	...	Richard 'Cherry' Ganz
Bernie Casey	...	Kirkland Smith
Brent Jennings	...	Tyrone Burroughs
Ted Markland	...	Malcolm Price
Tisha Campbell-Martin	...	Amy Smith (as Tisha Campbell)
Felice Orlandi	...	Warden
Edward Walsh	...	Detective Joe Stevens
Page Leong	...	Angel Lee
Cathy Haase	...	Girl Bartender

Storyline

For the past four years, San Francisco cop Jack Cates has been after an unidentified drug kingpin who calls himself the "Ice Man". At the Hunter's Point Raceway, Jack confronts Tyrone Burroughs and Arthur Brock. Jack kills Brock in self defense, but Burroughs escapes, and Jack is in danger of going to prison because Brock's gun can't be found. Jack finds a picture that proves that the Ice Man has put a price on the head of Reggie Hammond, who is scheduled to be released from prison on the next day. Jack tries to convince Reggie to help him clear his name and find the Ice Man, but Reggie says he won't help unless Jack gives Reggie the $500,000 that Jack has been holding on to for Reggie. Jack refuses to give Reggie the money unless Reggie helps him. After the bus that is transporting Reggie away from the prison is forced to crash by two bikers and Jack gets shot by the same two bikers, Jack forces Reggie to help him by having the hospital release Reggie into his custody. Reggie ...

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Plot Keywords:

bloody violence | cold blooded killer | female nudity | buddy movie | buddy | 

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Taglines:

Here they go again. Only faster. And tougher.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

8 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Und wieder 48 Stunden

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$80,818,974

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$153,518,974

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eddie Murphy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because of the violent shoot-out in the hotel lobby sequence in the first 48 Hrs. (1982) film, according to the book "Walter Hill: Last Man Standing" (2004) by Patrick McGilligan, director Walter Hill was told he would never work for Paramount again. Hill did though, as he directed this sequel for Paramount.

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Goofs

There are various instances of firearms shooting far more bullets than they carry in real life in the film. The most noticeable is during the nightclub shootout where first Willie Hickok then Reggie fire a combined 14 bullets from the same 6 shot revolver without reloading.

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Quotes

Jack: I don't want to get in a bar fight. People are always getting in bar fights. It's such a damn cliche. You hear about it all the time and you see it in the motion pictures, people are getting hit in the head with beer bottles, and furniture, and...
[breaks a bottle over a man's head]

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Alternate Versions

Original workprint of Another 48 Hrs. was 145 minutes long. Movie was cut down to 120 minutes by director Walter Hill or Paramount studio for original planned theatrical summer release, but week before it was to be released Paramount cut additional 25 minutes out of the movie making the final theatrical version only about 93 minutes long. In total, about 50 minutes were deleted from original cut of the movie causing many plot holes and continuity mistakes.

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Connections

Featured in Big Guns, Bigger Heroes: The 1980's and the Rise of the Action Film (2012)

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Soundtracks

ROXANNE
Written by Sting

User Reviews

Shows its age due to time but Another 48 Hrs. is still an entertaining and action packed yarn that will quench any buddy thirst you might have.

Another 48 Hrs. feels like a missed opportunity; it feels as if the makers have recognised the potential of the idea and have done half a job. This is because it never really elevates itself above the material it actually is. At a time when the Lethal Weapon films had proved there was a demand for white cop with black sidekick buddy combination type films, Another 48 Hrs. is perhaps a cash in sequel to a film that was never anything special any way. Where as it sounds like I'm being negative, the film was enjoyable for what it was and that said; I would have a hard time in deciding which one I liked more.

A scene from this film which typically sums up the genre the film is working under highlights not only the genres inability to ever be anything above a certain level but also the problem films face when they age. The film is a crime film; a buddy combination of two people getting involved in shoot outs and general criminal activity whilst battling each others egos. In 1994 when Pulp Fiction came out, films like Another 48 Hrs. were history and a particular scene is defining evidence: shortly after a prison bus has rolled over a few times, two hells angels are going to kill someone on board. But what happens is instead of riding up to the overturned bus and finishing the job, they park their bikes a few hundred yards away, get off very slowly and walk up to the bus with the intent to kill. Now, there is absolutely no reason for them to do this apart from add suspense to the scene and perhaps have two bikers walk in tandem; in slow motion amongst the heat wave in a 'cool' fashion. This is the point; films such as these rely on what would look good cinematically rather than stick to what their characters would do.

I know it's wrong to compare a film to another film made after it but this highlights not only the bad way in which Another 48 Hrs. has aged but further cements what a great film Pulp Fiction really is; the buddy combination in that film of Jules and Vincent who are by no coincidence black and white but Tarantino plays with realism in the film and the scene in which someone is accidentally shot in the back of the car is so much more clear in the sense it is two fingers up to scenes like the one just mentioned in Another 48 Hrs. The film starts off with Reggie (Murphy) still in prison and shows up its other half of the buddy combination as a bit of an idiot. Another 48 Hrs. suffers from its cliché that its best cop on the force, Jack (Nolte), is actually a loose cannon whom needs to be removed even though the job is actually perfect for him; an idea toyed with in the third Die Hard film but with John McLane. Jack seems certain that an antagonist known as The Iceman is at large but is demeaned and shown up as perhaps a bit of a schizophrenic; one officer labelling this Iceman as an imaginary friend/enemy who Jack has been pretending to chase.

Unfortunately, the initial incident in the film happens a little early by way of a shooting at a race track. What I couldn't understand is that with all those people watching the race, nobody saw the bad guy shoot at Jack and consequently; the police have their eye on him. Reggie on the other hand is out of jail and he miraculously survives an attack on a bus (mentioned earlier) as it rolls over several times; something that would have killed him. But the film suffers from it lack of logic that can be applied to certain situations: The bus rolls over; the bikers aren't professional enough; the back up arrives a too quickly and are unable to spot the bikers fleeing; the bikers in other scenes get their guns out in full public view too many times but nobody ever seems to mind and generally, there is an acute sense of frustration during these times. But the film backs itself up with a scene in a nightclub during which it makes a pastiche out of its predecessor by putting Jack in a punch up only for Reggie to save him by acting out his cop/no nonsense routine by threatening to shoot first and the ask questions later. Along with this, Jack even makes reference to 'typical bar punch ups that you get in the movies' where he states someone always hits else someone over the head with a chair or a glass bottle. Jack then does exactly that with a bottle and the chair soon follows.

But to me, this is Another 48 Hrs. recognising that is knows what it is; that it knows the formula its using and is having fun playing around with the clichés; even if scenes such as the bus rolling and the bikers not doing what they should do by finishing the job. The film is by no means great or groundbreaking but I was never bored or put off by what I was seeing; it may have lacked realism and been since pushed down a peg in the crime genre hierarchy by bigger and better films but it remains entertaining to a degree with gunshots powerful enough to propel people through windows and cops smart enough to wear bullet proof vests whilst off duty. Another 48 Hrs. is by no means a big winner but it is by no means a massive loser, even if it may indeed look like that in another twenty years.