Beverly Hills Cop

Axel Foley is a plainclothes Detroit police detective whose latest unauthorized sting operation goes sour when two uniformed officers intervene, resulting in a high-speed chase through the city that causes widespread damage. Axel's superior, Inspector Douglas Todd, reprimands Axel and informs him that, despite his potential to be a great detective, Axel's continued reckless behavior will cost him his job should another instance occur. Todd then sends Axel home. Axel arrives at his apartment to find it has been broken into by his childhood friend, Michael "Mikey" Tandino. Mikey had done prison time for a car theft the pair had committed in their youth, but has since landed a job as a security guard in Beverly Hills thanks to mutual friend Jenny Summers. Mikey reveals he has some German bearer bonds but does not explain how he obtained them. Returning to the apartment after going to a bar, Axel and Mikey are taken by surprise by two men, Zack and Casey, who knock Axel unconscious, confront Mikey about the bonds, and murder him. Due to Axel's close friendship with Mikey, and another detective already assigned to Mikey's murder, Inspector Todd forbids Axel from assisting with the case. Axel requests to go on vacation, which Todd allows. However, Todd warns Axel should he attempt to become involved in the Tandino case, he will be fired. Under the guise of vacation, Axel travels to Beverly Hills to investigate Mikey's murder. Jenny tells Axel about Mikey's ties to Victor Maitland, owner of the art gallery that employs her. Axel goes in disguise to Maitland's office to question him about Mikey, but is ejected by Maitland's bodyguards and arrested. Axel meets Beverly Hills Police Department Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil, as well as Detective Billy Rosewood and Sergeant John Taggart. Bogomil tells Axel that he has spoken with Inspector Todd and reminds Axel about Todd's warnings about investigating the Tandino murder. Bogomil then assigns Billy and Taggart to follow Axel, who humiliates them with various pratfalls, including one that disables their car's exhaust with a banana. Billy and Taggart's initial dislike of Axel changes to mutual respect when they cooperatively foil a robbery at a strip club. Axel infiltrates one of Maitland's warehouses, where he finds evidence of drug smuggling and is arrested after a scuffle with Zack at Maitland's country club. Beverly Hills Police Chief Hubbard, who has learned of Axel's private investigation, orders him escorted out of town. Axel convinces Billy to take him and Jenny to the warehouse, where he expects another shipment to arrive. Axel and Jenny break in and discover several bags of cocaine but are discovered by Maitland, Zack, and Casey. Maitland takes Jenny and orders Axel killed before admitting to Mikey's murder. Billy rescues Axel after a brief gunfight during which he kills Casey. To rescue Jenny, Taggart tracks Axel and Billy to Maitland's estate where they kill four of Maitland's men, including Zack. Axel kills Maitland with Bogomil's help. Bogomil fabricates an explanation for their unauthorized actions to Chief Hubbard. Realizing Inspector Todd might fire him upon his return to Detroit, Axel asks Bogomil to smooth matters over with Todd, remarking that if he gets fired in Detroit, then he might stay in Beverly Hills as a private investigator. Bogomil agrees to talk to Inspector Todd. Taggart and Billy pay Axel's hotel bill for him and they agree to a farewell drink together. ==Cast==

Development and writing featured prominently in the Beverly Hills Cop films as the police headquarters. In 1977, Paramount Pictures executive Don Simpson came up with a film idea about a police officer from East Los Angeles who transferred to Beverly Hills. Screenwriter Danilo Bach was called in to write the screenplay. Bach pitched his idea to Simpson and Paramount in 1981 under the name Beverly Drive, about a cop from Pittsburgh named Elly Axel. David Cronenberg was also offered to direct the film but also turned it down. Sylvester Stallone was originally considered for the part of Foley. Stallone gave the script a dramatic rewrite, removing all the story's humor and turning the film back into a standard action film. Stallone had renamed the lead character to Axel Cobretti, with the character of Michael Tandino being his brother and Jenny Summers playing his love interest. Stallone ultimately dropped out two weeks before filming was to start, ostensibly to concentrate on Rhinestone (1984), his next picture. Don Simpson would later tell friends a story—impossible to corroborate—about how he finally got Stallone off the project and got the project back on track: He and Stallone had a mutual interest in "youth treatments" and Simpson knew of a Swiss doctor who was experimenting with injections of a sheep hormone that increased tumescence. Simpson managed to get Stallone's name "put at the top of the list", Simpson boasted to a friend, for an appointment with the very exclusive doctor. Stallone flew to Switzerland, and Simpson promptly continued working on Beverly Hills Cop without him. Besides Stallone and Rourke, other actors who were considered for the role of Axel Foley included Richard Pryor, Al Pacino, and James Caan. Harrison Ford was offered the role of Axel Foley but turned it down. The final shooting draft of the script, which was extensively revised with Murphy's input, was not completed until the day production began. Filming The film was budgeted at $14 million, including $4 million for Murphy, and was completed for around $13 million. Production began in May 1984 and continued into the summer, taking place mostly in and around Los Angeles. The opening sequence was filmed over several days in Michigan, in Detroit and nearby Wayne. Many scenes set in Beverly Hills were shot in Pasadena, as the city of Beverly Hills prohibited filming after 10:30 p.m. ==Music==

Soundtrack The soundtrack was released on MCA Records and won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (1986). It featured three top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the instrumental title tune, "Axel F", composed and performed by Harold Faltermeyer, the Glenn Frey song "The Heat Is On", and "Neutron Dance," performed by the Pointer Sisters. The soundtrack also had two Patti LaBelle hits, "New Attitude", which reached the top twenty on the US, and the Grammy Award-winning "Stir It Up". ==Reception==

Box office Beverly Hills Cop grossed $234.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $81.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $316.4 million. The film was released in the United States on December 5, 1984, in 1,532 theaters. It debuted in first place at the US box office, making $15.2 million in its first five days of release. It expanded on December 21 into 2,006 theatres. The film became the highest-grossing film of 1984 in the US. Adjusted for inflation, it is the 13th highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. For nearly two decades, Beverly Hills Cop held the record for having the highest domestic gross for an R-rated film until 2003, when it was taken by The Matrix Reloaded. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 67 million tickets in the US. In retrospective reviews, Beverly Hills Cop has been appraised by newer critics for its blend of action and comedy, and they have noted its enduring popularity. Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 58 critics. The website's critics consensus reads, "The buddy cop movie continues its evolution unabated with this Eddie Murphy vehicle that is fast, furious, and funny." Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote "Beverly Hills Cop finds Eddie Murphy doing what he does best: playing the shrewdest, hippest, fastest-talking underdog in a rich man's world. Eddie Murphy knows exactly what he's doing, and he wins at every turn." Richard Schickel of Time magazine wrote that "Eddie Murphy exuded the kind of cheeky, cocky charm that has been missing from the screen since Cagney was a pup, snarling his way out of the ghetto." Axel Foley became Murphy's signature role and was ranked 78 on Empire magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". In 2008, Entertainment Weekly magazine ranked Beverly Hills Cop as the third best comedy film since 1983. According to Christopher Hitchens, British novelist and poet Kingsley Amis considered the film "a flawless masterpiece". John Simon of National Review called Beverly Hills Cop "a truly contemptible film". Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert seemed to agree, giving the film "Two Thumbs Down" for "wasting a good pretext and cast on an idiotic plotline." In 2003, the film was included on The New York Times list of "The 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made". Beverly Hills Cop is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Home media The film shipped a record 1.3 million videos in the United States on its initial release. Accolades • This film is 22 on Bravo's list of the "100 Funniest Movies of All Time". American Film Institute lists • AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – 63 ==Sequels==

The film spawned a film series with three sequels, Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024), all starring Murphy. Judge Reinhold reprised his role for the sequels. John Ashton returned for the second and fourth film, but not third. The second film met with mixed reviews but was a box office success, while the third film was unsuccessful, both critically and commercially. In 2013, a television series was reported to be in the works for CBS. The pilot was written by Shawn Ryan and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Brandon T. Jackson was cast as Axel Foley's son. The series was not picked up, but Ryan reported that it tested well enough for Paramount to put a fourth film into production. On November 14, 2019, Deadline Hollywood announced that Paramount Pictures made a one-time license deal with an option for a sequel to Netflix to create the fourth film. In April 2022, Mark Molloy was announced as the film's director, while Will Beall penned the script. The fourth film, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, was released on Netflix on July 3, 2024. ==References==