Beverly Hills Cop: 3 Movie Collection is the latest multi-movie release from Paramount. Coming on the heels of the Eddie Murphy revival, this is a fun way to introduce young fans to the legendary Axel Foley. Hell, these are the movies that made me want to have a Detroit Lions jacket at the age of 8. But, what is so cool about these movies?
Beverly Hills Cop has one of the greatest openings in an action comedy ever. Seriously, it’s legit funny and it’s a straight up vehicular chase and takedown. The impacts of that truck smacking into other cars and debris is better than most action shots. But, Murphy commits to both aspects of the material. Honestly, I wish the rest of the film kept up with it.
Looking at the film, as we see the initial team come together and see Murphy flex harder than ever…it makes the fact that this was supposed to be a Stallone vehicle even weirder. Yeah, an unused draft of the Beverly Hills Cop script ended becoming Cobra. Research that one for yourselves.
Future Gigli director Martin Brest still feels like an odd fit for the material. However, he did the best that he could by getting out of Murphy’s way. From the slightly dated stereotype of Serge to Judge Reinhold looking more like a 4H member than a LAPD detective, the movie succeeds in spite of itself. I just wish they did something with the transfer. It’s virtually identical to the last Blu-ray release.
Beverly Hills Cop 2 is the film I never expected to see develop a cult following. But, such is the cult of Tony Scott fans. The Alphabet Crimes are the driving point of the film now. A slew of foreign actors play sleek 80s villains that are knocking over their businesses for the insurance money before they flee the country. Things are going great until the new LAPD Chief wrecks everything.
What follows is a slew of 80s comedy talent appearing in cameos. Plus, you get a strong supporting role for Dean Stockwell. For the music fans out there, you will get to hear Bob Seger’s Oscar nominated Shakedown in glorious lossless audio. That’s a first for America. I don’t remember if the European disc had lossless audio.
Beverly Hills Cop 3 should have been amazing. John Landis finally directing Eddie Murphy in his signature franchise? What could go wrong? Well, a lackluster riff on Disney and a plot that feels like franchise DLC did nobody any favors. But, it was fun to see all of this Landis patented director cameos.
Hell, this film even had Alan Young in a strong supporting role. After the first movie hit theaters, Paramount had plans on developing a Beverly Hills Cop hour long show to debut on CBS in the Fall of 1985. Eddie Murphy refused, since he wanted to keep the series in theaters. Honestly, this is the first time where I could see the TV series or a set of TV movies working. Nothing here feels like it belonged in cinemas. That feels weird when talking about a Landis directed/De Souza written movie.
The Blu-ray set comes with new bonus features for the 35th Anniversary. You get deleted scenes, featurettes and all of the special features from the first Blu-ray release. Want to check out that killer A/V Quality? Well, feast your eyes on the screenshots and gallery below. I’d recommend a purchase to fans.
