Superman IV: The Quest For Peace Review (Revisited) "Um no pain, no gain??!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, its time for another post and this will be a revisit again but with a slight difference, rather than covering a good quality film (or game!) I'll be taking a look at a film that has been much maligned over the years.  So, the film in question is Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which was Christopher Reeve's swansong in the role but it ended on a critical and commerical low point for him.  

However, given that the film is almost 40 years old, I have to ask: is it as bad as they say it is????  Well let's dawn the red cape and find out...

And yep for what its worth there will be as usual some...

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!   

STORY

Right OK so a bit about the plot which begins with Superman (Christopher Reeve) saving a Russian astronaut (or cosmonaut if you like) who falls deep into space as well as the cosmonauts ship which was drifting off course.  Superman then returns to Smallville and as Clerk Kent visits his adopted parents farm, who have now both passed away.  Clark while in the farm's barn finds his green Kryptonite crystal which he hid in the capsule that brought him to Earth.  Clark is then visited by a mall developer who wants to buy out the farm but he refuses to sell and he makes his way back to Metropolis.  On returning to the Daily planet newspaper offices, Clark learns that the paper has gone bankrupt and has now been taken over by a tabloid tycoon, David Warfield (Sam Wanamaker) who fires the current editor, Perry White (Jackie Cooper) and replaces him with his daughter Lacy (Mariel Hemingway).

Not long after there is news that the United States and the Soviet Union may engage in nuclear war leaving Clark in turmoil over how much Superman should intervene and he receives a letter from a concerned schoolboy, which prompts Superman to travel to the fortress of solitude to discuss it with the spirit of his Kryptonian elders.  However they suggest Superman leave the people of Earth to resolve the situation themselves or travel that he travel to and settle on another world where war is not an issue.  

Clark then invites his fellow reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) around to his apartment where he takes her outside and walks off the roof with her, changing into Superman he takes her for a flight and afterward asks what he should do and Lois says he should do what feels right.  Then in order to maintain his secret identity from Lois, Superman kisses her to erase her memory of their meeting.  Afterward Superman then attends the United Nations and gives a speech where he announces he will rid the world of all nuclear weapons.  This leads to various nations firing their nuclear weapons into space where Superman grabs them and places them in a giant net and then hurls them into the sun.

In the meantime, criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) breaks out of prison with the help of his nephew Lenny (John Cryer) and he returns to Metropolis where Luthor breaks into a museum exhibit containing a strand of Superman's hair, which he steals.  Luthor then uses the hair to create a genetic matrix which he discreetly attaches to a test nuclear missile which is launched into space and is intercepted by Superman who throws it into the sun.  However the result of the explosion causes the birth of nuclear man (Mark Pillow) a superhuman who flies back to Earth under the control of Luthor, he arrives at Luthor's hideout.  

Luthor however also reveals that Nuclear man is powered by solar polar and when he is in the shade he will be disabled.  Luthor then lures Superman into meeting his creation where Superman engages in a fierce fight with the supervillain which includes them fighting at the great wall of China and later in New York where Nuclear man throws the Statue of Liberty toward the ground, which is saved by Superman.  However Nuclear man then scratches Superman with his radioactive claws which weakens him and falls ill with radiation sickness as Nuclear man kicks Superman away, the superhero loses his cape.

Lois later turns up at Clark's apartment where she finds him not well from the effects of the radiation and having salvaged Superman's cape, she gives it to Clark.  Clark then manages to use the kyrptonite crystal to revive himself and he soon returns as Superman where he confronts Nuclear man, who has a crush on Lacy and threatens mayhem if he is not introduced to her and this leads into their final confrontation.....

THOUGHTS

There is not any doubt that Superman IV: The quest for peace is easily the weakest of all the original Superman films as it is poorly put together and it clearly lacks the budget the previous films had it as its special effects look very cheap and its story is mediocre at best.  The film also suffered from the fact that the producers from the first three films, Alexander and Ilya Salkind felt the series had ran its course, which left the rights being sold to Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of the company, Cannon films and apparently during shooting they had run out of money with the film itself having a meagre budget of $17 million.  

Regardless of that though despite its faults the film itself is still strangely enjoyable even if it is pretty mediocre it still has some entertaining moments (such as Superman fight scenes with Nuclear man and Clark's ducking and diving between being Superman and being interviewed as Supe for Lois and being on a date with Lacy as Clark).
 
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES 

Which brings me onto the performances which are not bad but a bit of a mixed bag.

Starting with Christopher Reeve who does very well again in his role as Superman/Clark Kent but because the material he has been given is so poor it hampers his performance rather than help it.  

Still there are some good moments in Reeve's performance such as the scene where Lois shows Clark at the Daily planet, the paper headline of Superman allegedly saying to the concerned school boy, Jeremy, "Superman says drop dead kid!".  And in the scene it leaves Clark in a worried state as he walks off over to the windows to contemplate his next move.  Then there are some laughable but enjoyable moments all the same such as the one where Superman saves a Metropolis subway train from being derailed after the driver takes ill.  And afterward Superman says to the subway crowds "I would like our civilians to know that our subway system is still the most safe and reliable form of transportation".

Then there is the scene where Superman addresses the United nations and he says to the audience "So I have decided, effective immediately, that I am going to rid the world of all nuclear weapons" leaving the audience cheering.  Reeve also occassionally has the odd fun moment as Clark as well such as the scene at the gym where Clark does a workout with Lacy who fancies Clark.  And in the scene Clark meets an annoying gym worker who teases him and at the end of the scene Clark easily lifts and accidentally throws some heavy weights at the worker and Clark says "Ummm, no pain no gain???".  

Another amusing but silly scene comes when Superman takes a flight with Lois after revealing his identity to her and he says to her "Sometimes I don't know what I'm supposed to do" and Lois tells him "You'll do the right thing, you always have" and they kiss afterward which erases Lois's memory of their meeting.

Then there are the laughable scenes where Superman fights with Nuclear man and the funniest moment comes (SPOILER FOR WHAT ITS WORTH!!) when Superman moves the moon over the sun to neutralise Nuclear man's powers and he rescues Lacy and takes her back to Earth and later takes Nuclear man and deposists him in an nuclear power plant.  And last of all there is Superman's last scene where (SPOILER AGAIN!!!) he addresses the people of Earth and says " And there will be peace. There will be peace when the people of the world, want it so badly, that their governments will have no choice but to give it to them".  Great speech, Supe!!

Gene Hackman next gives a rather average performance by his high standards but again it boils down to his character of Lex Luthor being given virtually nothing to work with and he doesn't even have much in the way of memorable dialogue either.  

Hackman however still has some amusing moments such as the scene Luthor breaks into the museum exhibit of Supeman's hair holding a 1000lb weight and he does with great ease and just uses a hedge clipper to cut it!  Then there is the scene where Luthor insults his nephew by speaking of Nuclear man's weakness of relying on solar energy to function "He gets his energy from the sun. Without it, he's like you at night - useless!".  And lastly there is the scene where Luthor introduces Superman to Nuclear man and he drinks a toast to him "To a nice a guy, who is about to finish last!".

Margot Kidder also is given a pretty rough deal here in terms of role as she (like everyone else really!) isn't given much to work with here and as such she delivers a pretty unnatural feeling performance as Lois Lane.  However Margot still has the odd nice moment such as the scene where Lois takes a flight with Superman and afterward Superman says to her how sometimes he doesn't know what to do and Lois reassures "You'll figure it out, you always do".  And then there is the scene where Superman addresses the United nations and Lacy who is with her says "I wonder what he'll say" and Lois says (rather cheesily!) "Something wonderful!".

Jon Cryer however is a weak link in the cast as he is for the most part quite annoying in his role as Lenny Luthor, Lex's nephew who breaks Lex out of jail.  Cryer doesn't really have any good scenes as such although he does get the odd cheesily amusing line such as the scene where Lex having stolen Superman's hair "You know what I can do with a single strand of Superman's hair?" and Lenny replies "You can make a toupee that flies!".  Yeah pretty crappy but still vaguely amusing.  Mariel Hemingway actually on the other hand does do fairly well in her role as Lacy, who fancies Clark Kent and later is very briefly taken hostage by Nuclear man who takes a fancy to her but she also doesn't have much in the way of salvagable dialogue.

As for the Superman regulars, Mark McClure is largely sidelined as Jimmy Olsen, the Daily planet photographer and given nothing to work with here at all which is a shame given that McClure has always been a solid performer in the series.  The same also goes for Jackie Cooper who is for the most part replaced in the film by Sam Wanamaker who himself fails to make any kind of decent impression here in the film.  And its a pity in a way that they bothered to include the character of David Warfield and not just keep Perry White as the editor of the DP.

Its also kind of worth noting that the film actually even features an early performance from Jim Broadbent as a goon who briefly works for Luthor and there is also even a performance William Hootkins (who was also in Star Wars and Batman, bit of a comedown then here!).  However neither as these performances makes much of an impression not that they were able to. 

And last of all there is Mark Pillow as Nuclear man and well... what can you say about him????  It has to be said that Pillow is easily the weakest actor in the film and his villain is entirely forgettable and somewhat useless (but more on that soon!).  And Pillow's actual voice (as far as I know) isn't even used as Gene Hackman does the voice for Pillow so that makes you wonder was Pillow such as naff actor he needed a great one to voice him???  Whatever the case might have been it doesn't change that Pillow fails to make any kind of impact with his performance (such as it is).

And what is actually quite ironic is that the deleted scenes from the film actually include an alternate version of Nuclear man (played pricelessly by Clive Mantle) in which N-man is just a basic imbecile who is grown at Luthor's place and is created with a pot pan over his genitals!  And later we see Nuclear man go to a nightclub and afterward confront Superman in a back alley.  And these scenes themselves are nothing short of hilarious and they may even have been an improvement on Pillow's nuclear man for all we know!  It might have made the film even less serious to take than it already wasn't but it would have made for a good laugh!

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the film's director, Sidney J. Furie.... well, well, well poor guy, that is all I can say!  Furie, who actually once directed solid, credible films such as The Ipcress File has been reduced here to this as he has morely mis-directed the film than directed it!  Furie however might not be entirely at fault as he had to deal with such obstacles as budget restrictions and also the film's producers, Golan and Golbus who actually had even refused to let Furie shoot the United Nations scene in New York and instead he had to film it in a car park in Milton Keynes!  So Furie's efforts most likely were nullified by his producers and ultimaltey and rather unfortunately he was forced to direct the film with one hand tied behind his back, which is a pity because with a bigger budget and better producers who knows???

As for the music well the score was written by Alexander Courage, who of course still utilised John William's themes which remain one of the better things about the film although Courage's own contributions are nothing special however they aren't horribly offensive either to the film.  So for the most part Courage doesn't do any big disservice to the franchise and his score remains one of the film's more modestly respectable aspects.

FLAWS

As for flaws.....can Superman IV possibly have any????  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  Yeahhh!  Yes it can.  So this might be quite a big section.

OK well yep it has its flaws and for starters one of the main flaws of the film comes down to the fact that it simply does not have a good story and the story itself is not cohesive and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense either!  The film also as I previously said has an unnatural and unrealistic feeling to it that even the previous Superman films sort of had (well the first one did anyway!) but here the series has become an awful parody of itself and you can no longer really take it or any the characters seriously.  The film is also riddled with plot holes but I will get to some of them in a bit.

Another big problem with the film also comes from its fairly modest budget (17 million dollars, which is more than I thought!) and the film's less than convincing special effects (supervised by John Evans) as they keep using some obvious and awful looking green screen for Superman's flying scenes (and even Nuclear man's for that matter).  And in the first three films you really could believe a man could fly but here you just can't as the effects are so cheap looking and obvious!  And another perfect example of the naffness of the effects comes in the scene where Superman rebuilds the great wall of China with his X-ray vision after Nuclear destroys part of it but from the comic books Superman had no such power at all!

Then there is Nuclear himself who remains one of the dumbest and most boring of supervillains who makes no impression whatsoever on the film or on the franchise.  And as a villain he doesn't make much sense either because as soon as he is born he is ready to disobey his creator in Lex Luthor and later on he develops a crush on Lacy but its not even remotely obvious that is at first the case as he just appears to look at her picture in the paper and that's it!  And before we know it Nuclear man is intent on creating mass destruction if he doesn't get introduced to Lacy by Superman!  So at the end of it all Nuclear man isn't after world domination, nope instead he is after a date!  Although it has to be said that Lacy might not survive Nuclear man if he goes nuclear (sorry!).

And another gaping plot hole comes from Superman's decision to rid the planet of all nuclear weapons.  Yeah OK great plan and a great gesture to humankind.....but are we supposed to believe that while the superpowers (no pun intended!) of the USA and the Soviet Union are supposed to be on the brink of nuclear war against each other, are they suddenly and willingly going to give up their nuclear weapons without a hint of protest??!!  It just seems a tad stupid to think that these governments will instantly give up their nuclear deterrents just because Superman says so!  But in the film they do just that and before we know we see Superman hurl all the nuclear weapons of the world into the sun!

And despite Superman's best efforts even he at the end of the film decides that he was only partly successful in banishing the nuclear weapons but again this is never really clearly explained as to why he wasn't fully successful he just announces in his speech the people of the world will have peace when they wanted bad enough!  So in effect his campaign to rid the planet of all nuclear weapons ultimately fails and its a pretty half-assed subplot anyway since after the two scenes of Superman throwing nuclear weapons into the sun that's the last we hear of it!

I also have to say the amount of nuclear weapons we see captured in a large net are a pretty modest amount and surely there were WAY more nukes on Earth than the ones that Supe captured and catapulted into the sun! So, yeah, I don't quite buy that was supposed to be ALL the nuclear weapons in the world!

It also has to be said that the characters of David Warfield and Lucy Warfield are for the most part are pointless as well to the film as all they do (or David does) is try and bring down the Daily planet by printing any old rubbish thinking that this will increase the paper's circulation when it probably will have the opposite effect!  Lucy perhaps isn't quite as pointless however as she does at least serve as a romantic subplot for Clark and then she quickly becomes the object of Nuclear man's affections (well for about five minutes anyway!) but you get the feeling the film certainly didn't need these characters.  The same also goes for Lenny Luthor, Lex's nephew who breaks him out of jail but his character is just an annoying knob and offers nothing interesting to the film. 

Then we get to yet another ridiculous flaw in the film which is the scene where Nuclear man kidnaps Lacy and flies her to the moon to finish off his battle with Superman, yet somehow Lacy IS ABLE TO BREATH IN OUTER SPACE!!!  Yep that's right, the director and writers of this film decided to defy any kind of logic and any common sense regarding basic scientific principles and have this woman be able to breath freely without a spacesuit or any other apparutus that could aid this!  Well it does again show just how well put together and thought out the story is!  Ahem!!  However to be fair to the movie in actuality it is possible for a human being to breathe in the hard vaccum of space unprotected but albeit only for a very short amount of time.        

And last of all it has to be said that on more than one occassion that Clark Kent is spotted without his glasses on in the film, which basically means his identity will be blown to anyone who eyeballs him!  This is especially noticeable in the scene where Lacy at the gym takes off Clark's glasses briefly and he quickly insists he put them back on but at that moment its a bit surprising that Lacy suddenly doesn't say "Wow you look alot like Superman!".

And lastly of all further to this point then there is of course the daft scene where Clark takes a walk off his apartment building roof along with Lois and he changes into Superman and catches her and he is still wearing his glasses and Lois quickly takes them and sticks them over the built-in belt on her dress!  And given all the flying they do its amazing that these glasses never fall off Lois's dress into the nether leaving Clark boned without his glasses!  But nope she manages to hold onto them and gives them back to Superman safe and sound (or he takes them after he uses his convenient memory erasing kiss on her!).

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a below average film for the most part, its poorly written and directed, the acting is pretty mediocre and the special effects are simply crap and the film is devoid of any interesting supporting characters or anything resembling a proper plot.  Yet miraculously somehow it manages to be oddly enjoyable and Reeve just about does what he can to make his performance likeable enough and at least he does provide the film with its a very few weighty and dramatic moments.

And just maybe the film could have been something better if it had a bigger budget and better backing from its producers (or indeed better producers!) not to mention a better script and story.  And if you are in the right mood Superman IV is even possibly a film you might enjoy and could file under the "its so bad its good" category.  But ultimately it is considered the worst film of the franchise with good reason as it is a pretty naff movie overall.  

So, I will rate Superman IV:

5.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I'll be back with another review soon. 

Until then its bye for now! 

Beverly Hills Cop Review (Revisited Part 2) "Way to go, you're some kind of cop, you know that?!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, as its now April, I've been busy with other stuff but figured I would finally do another post and this will be yet another revisit (sorry again!) of a previous review, which will be on the comedy action film, Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy.

So, with this film now 42 years old, let's take a look and see how it fairs...

And the usual warning is coming... 

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!

STORY

So the film begins with the main character, Axel Foley (Murphy) who is a cocky but talented detective with the Detroit police force.  Foley goes undercover on a sting operation involving a cigarette smuggling operation, which turns sour when a couple of cops unwittingly come across Foley trying to deal with the smugglers.  This then leads the smugglers to run off, with one of them driving the truck away (with Axel in the back hanging on for dear or cheap life!) and the driver causes alot of damage in the city, who ditches the truck then runs off.  

Foley back at the station faces his boss, Inspector Todd (Gil Hill) who is angered by his operation which was unauthorised and he warns Axel if he disregards police procedure again he will be fired.  Axel later returns back to his apartment where he finds his best friend Michael Tandino (James Russo) is there who was previously serving time, but after his release went to Beverly Hills where he worked as a security guard, a job he got through a mutual friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher).  

After they go out to a local bar and head back to Axel's apartment, Axel is knocked out by two men who then question Tandino, who had stolen some bearer bonds from the factory where he worked, then is killed by one of the men, Zack (Jonathan Banks). Afterwards Axel insists on getting involved in the case but Todd refuses to let him due to his close ties with Tandino.  Axel then decides he wants to go on vacation, which he uses as an excuse to go to Beverly Hills and try and solve the crime himself.  

In Beverly Hills, Axel meets up with Jenny who tells him she hired Tandino to work for Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff) a wealthy local art dealer.  Axel then goes to meet Maitland at his office, by barging in, he tries to question him but then Maitland has his bodyguards throw him out and they launch Axel through entrance windows.  Axel is then arrested by two police officers for a charge of disturbing the peace and taken to the police station where he meets Sergeant Taggart (John Ashton), Detective Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and their senior officer Lieutenant Bogomil (Ronny Cox).  

Bogomil asks what Axel is doing in Beverly Hills and also that he has spoken with Inspector Todd who said if he finds out he has been investigating the Tandino murder, he will be brought up on charges and fired, but Axel simply insists he is on vacation.  Bogomil then has Taggart and Rosewood follow Axel's movements, however Axel manages to evade them using different methods.  Axel then sneaks into one of Maitland's warehouses where he snoops around and finds information that reveals most of Maitland's crates were not passed through customs. 

After this Axel joins with Taggart and Rosewood and reluctantly persuades to come along to a strip bar where Axel spots two men whom he foils from committing a robbery.  Axel is taken back to the police station where he tries to big up Taggart and Rosewood, who reclutantly tell Bogomil that Axel deserves credit for the arrest, but Bogomil then decides to take them both off the case and put two of his other staff on tagging Axel's movements.  

The next day Axel manages to evade Bogomil's backup cops, and he meets with Maitland at a country club where he confronts him and attacks Maitland's bodyguard, Zack, only to be arrested again.  Back at the police station Bogomil insists why Axel keeps bothering Maitland and Axel tells him about Tandino and how he thinks Maitland had him killed and what he has learned so far.  Bogomil while sympathetic is then ordered by his police chief Hubbard (Steven Elliott) to escort Axel off the building and ensure that he leaves Beverly Hills.  

On leaving however Axel persuades Rosewood to take him to one of Maitland's warehouses so he can expose the evidence of Maitland's smuggling, but when he get's Maitland's men are waiting for him, and from here Axel needs to find a way to get even for his friend's murder...

THOUGHTS

Beverly Hills Cop was a big commercial hit on its release and its easy to see why as it is still a very enjoyable action comedy, and it was also one of the early buddy buddy cop films.  And its a perfect vehicle for Eddie Murphy's comedic skills as the cocky Axel Foley where he uses his improvisation in pretending to be someone in order to get what needs, and he is undoubtedly the film's star as he get's plenty of comic highlights. 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!) 

So, as for the performances, they are pretty good overall here.

Starting with Eddie Murphy, who is perfect in his role as Axel Foley, the young detective from Detroit, who investigates the murder of his friend out in Beverly Hills. Murphy himself actually was a replacement for Sylvester Stallone, who was originally going to be cast in the role as Axel but he dropped out two weeks into production and Murphy was cast instead.   

And Muprhy's notable scenes include the one where Axel attempts to check into an expensive hotel but he is told they are fully booked and he pretends he is a journalist writing a story on Michael Jackson for Rolling Stone magazine.  And he angrily says to the desk clerk "Don't you think I know what is going on here, miss? I'm small reporter who is in town to do an exclusive interview with Michael Jackson for Rolling Stone Magazine, which is going to get picked up all over the world. But I was going to call the story Michael Jackson can sit on top of the world, as long as he doesn't sit in the Beverly Palms Hotel because there are no niggers allowed in there!". The manager then comes along and puts Axel at ease by telling him there has been a last minute cancelation and he gives him a room key and Axel says "Thank you, if Michael calls tell him I'm here".

Then there is the scene where Axel is throwing out of Maitland's office and quite literally through a window. So, in the scene, Maitland orders his men to escort Axel to the door and they pick him up and Axel angrily shouts "GET THE FUCK OFF ME, MAN!!! GET OFF ME!!". So, as they go down in the elevator, they throw him through the window and almost immediately a police car turns up and the officers tell him to get up. Axel says "Did you see this shit?! I can describe ALL of them!". One of the police officers tells him to put his hands on the car bonnet, so Axel does and they find his gun and one of the cops tells him "Sir, you are under arrest, you have the right to remain silent!" and Axel asks "So, what's the charge?" and the cop says "Possession of a weapon and disturbing the peace". Axel then shouts "Disturbing the peace?! I got thrown out of a window! What's the charge for getting thrown out of a moving car, huh?!! Jailwalking?!! This is bullshit!!".

Then we have the scene where Axel in a cell at the Beverly hills police department, is beckoned by one of the officers to leave the cell. So, Axel says to him "Its about time, I thought you guys forgot about me. I never been in a cell with a phone it. Can I stay? As I ordered some pizza!" but the cop beckons him again and Axel get's up and leaves with him and he says to himself "Somebody'll eat it".

Another good scene is when Axel sniffs around Maitland's warehouse and pretends to be a customs officer to get information. So, Axel spots a security guard as he looks around and says to him "How you doin?! You got a match?" and the guard says "There's no smoking here" and Axel says "Its Ok. I'm going to smoke it outside" and the guard gives him a match. Axel then asks "Are you security here?" and the guard says "Yeah" and Axel asks "Do you have a supervisor?" and the guard asks "What's the problem?" and Axel suddenly flashes his badge and angrily says "You're the fuckin problem, go get your supervisor now! NOW!!" and the guard nervously says "OK" and walks off.

Then there is the next scene where Axel has the warehouse supervisor's men checks their files for information relating to Maitland's manifests. So, in the scene one of the staff asks Axel "You got a warrant for this?" and Axel irritated says to him "You know you have a very big mouth, sir. Is that your porsche outside? I bet that's yours porsche outside! How would you like the IRS to come down here and take your car and crawl up your fuckin ass with microscope?! I seen them do it and it ain't a pretty sight!". 

Another one of Murphy's highlights is the "supercop" scene where he tries to tell Bogomil how great Taggart and Rosewood are and how they foiled the robbery at the strip bar and he says "I don't know what you teach these fellows, as its like a sixth sense, and all that's missing from them are capes!". Taggart how tells the truth to Bogomil and says that Axel deserves the credit for the arrest and Bogomil says to Axel "Detective Foley, I respect your assistance but in future if you want to practice law enforcement, I suggest you do it in Detroit". Axel then nods and says "I understand, sir and I'm sorry. But I want you to know the supercop story was working, and you guys just messed it up" and Bogomil can't help but smile at this. Axel then says as he leaves "I'm trying to figure you guys out but I haven't yet, you fuck up a perfectly good lie and its alright!".  And if you watch this scene you can clearly see John Ashton as Taggart, trying not to laugh.  

Also the moment where he walks into Maitland's country club and he pretends to be gay infront of the maitre'd, essentially mimicing Serge from Maitland's gallery. So, Axel in a camp voice says to the maitre'd "I have to talk to Victor, its very important" and the maitre'd says "Well, why do you tell me the message and I'll give to him". So, Axel in his camp voices "Well, yeah I guess I can do that. Tell Victor that Ramone, the man Victor saw, tell he had a herpes simplex 10, and he said he better go and check with his physician before things start falling off on the man!".The maitre'd suddenly looks embarrassed and says "Perhaps you better tell him that" and Axel says "You know I think that would be best!" and the maitre'd says "So, do I" and Axel walks off.

Then there is the scene where Axel goes into Maitland's warehouse with Jenny and opens one of the crates to find bags of cocaine hidden under coffee grounds. So, in the scene Axel opens the crate and says to Jenny "This is one that hasn't passed through customs yet" and we see the coffee grounds and Jenny puts her hand in and takes some and sniffs it and says "Coffee?!" and Axel says "Yeah, coffee ontop" and pulls out a bag of cocaine and quickly tastes a little and says "This ain't sugar. Go get Rosewood" but then they are surrounded by Maitland's men at gunpoint and one of them says to Axel "Welcome to the party!". And as Maitland arrives, Axel warns him as Jenny is taken captive "If something happens to her..." and Maitland says "I'm all ears" and Axel seriously says "I'll kill you" and Maitland smiles and says "Really? That would be a neat trick!".

And last of all is the final scene of the film, where Axel meets with Taggart and Rosewood outside the hotel he was staying at and Axel offers them to go for a drink. So, in the scene Axel says to them "I was figuring I would have drink before leaving the city" and Taggart smiles and says "Yeah, we kind of figured you would" and Rosewood says "Oh, I don't think so, Axel, we're still on duty" and Taggart suprisingly says "Oh, well one drink isn't going to kill us, Billy" and Axel delighted says "Listen to Taggart, Rosewood! One drink is not gonna kill us!". Axel then says to them "Hey, if you get lost just follow my lead OK?" and Axel says "I know the perfect place, you'll love it! Trust me!" and he gives a furtive wink and it freezes. 

The supporting cast are also excellent, especially the John Ashton and Judge Reinhold as Taggart and Rosewood and they make for a very amusing comic double act as the two bumbling cops. Both actors would reprise their roles in the sequel Beverly Hills Cop 2 and Axel F (the latest Netflix entry) but sadly Ashton passed away from cancer in 2024, not long after the release of Axel F. 

And Ashton's first scene is worth a mention as Taggart and Rosewood question Axel at the station, so Taggart asks Axel "Why didn't you identify yourself as a policeman when we first arrested you?" and Axel says "Because I was minding my own business. Where the fuck do you guys get off at arresting someone for being thrown out of a window?". Taggart then says "We havesix witnesses say, you went in tore up the place and jumped out the window!" and Axel asks "And you guys believe that? What the fuck are you? Cops or doormen?!". Taggart then angrily says "We're more likely to believe an important local business, then some foul mouth jerk from out of town!" and Axel says "Foul mouth?? Fuck you man!".  Taggart now angry stands up and warns Axel "You watch your mouth!" and Axel then warily stands up and says "Look do you want to square off with me with some bullshit and start some static?" and Axel pushes him and Taggart says "Don't push me!" and Axel pushes him back and says "Fuck you man!" and Taggart punches him in the stomach. Then Bogomill calls Taggart into his office and Taggart soon returns to Axel and awkwardly says "Sir, I apologise for striking you, I have no excuse". 

Then there is the scene where Taggart and Rosewood tail Axel but do it not so subtly as he is onto them and Axel distracts them by sending down a supper from the hotel to their car. So, the waiter from the hotel with the dish says to them "Compliments of Axel Foley" and Rosewood surprised asks "Foley?! How did he know we were here?" and Taggart says "Becuase I let you drive!".

One of their funniest scenes is where Rosewood and Taggart stakeout waiting for Axel in their car and Rosewood reads aloud from a newspaper article and says "Wow! It says here by the time the average man is 50, he will have five pounds of undigested meat in his bowels" and Taggart angrily says "Why are you telling me this?  What makes you think I have any interest in that at all?" and Rosewood replies "Well you eat alot of red meat!". This is then followed by the scene where Rosewood says to Taggart "You know I've noticed you've been drinking a lot of coffee lately. Well, I think that's why you have a hard time relaxing" and Taggart shakes his head.  

Then there is the scene where Rosewood drives Axel to the city limits but Axel tries to persuade him to go to Maitland's warehouse to nail their illegal shipment. So, in the scene Rosewood asks Axel "Why didn't you tell Bogomil about this shipment?" and Axel says "Bogomil does everything by the book, I'm starting to think everyone in this town is a goddamn robot! This thing is very personal to me". Rosewood then shakes his head and says "All I had to do was drive you out of town, now Im gonna screw that up too!" and he sighs and says "Oh boy!" and Axel says "Billy, I love you! I just fallen in love with you!".

Also later on during the climactic fight scene at Maitland's house, Rosewood holds up his badge to Maitland's guards and shouts "Police you're all under arrest!!" and they open fire at him and Taggart admonishes him and says "You do that again, I'll shoot you myself!".  This is then followed by the funny moment Rosewood and Taggart at Maitland's house hide behind some plants from the gunfire and Rosewood says this reminds him of the climax of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Taggart looks at him wearliy saying "Billy, I'm gonna make you pay for this!".

Then this is followed by the scene where the Beverly hills police surround the area and point their guns at the remaining henchmen of Maitland. So, Billy takes his moment and holds up his badge and shouts out "Police you are all under arrest!! Put down your weapons infront of you and take two steps back and put your hands up!!!" and the henchman comply. Taggart then looks on impressed and says to Rosewood "Very good" and Rosewood pleased with himself says "Great!".

Steven Berkoff is also very good as Victor Maitland, the film's main antagonist (or bad guy) and he plays Maitland with a smarmy and transparent deviousness and its clear from the get go that he is dirty.  

Berkoff has a few scenes worth mentioning starting with his first one where Axel barges into Maitland's office. So, Maitland sees Axel and asks "Who let you in here?" and Axel says "I let myself in. I cam here to ask you some questions about Michael Tandino" and Matiland and his bodyguard, Zack look tense for a moment. So, Maitland hangs up his call and asks "And what may I ask is your interest in Mr Tandino?" and Axel says "He was a friend of mine, he visited me in Detroit and a few hours later somebody killed him" and Maitland shocked says "Oh my God! That's terrible!" and Axel says "Its fucked up". So, Maitland asks "And what is it you want to know?" and Axel asks "He worked for you , didn't he?" and Maitland "Yes he did. This is terrible news". Axel then asks "Exactly why did Mikey do for you here?" and Maitland asks "I'm sorry, I don't know your name" and Axel says "My name is Foley" and Maitland says "Well, Mr Foley, I don't mean to sound rude but I think this is something for the police in Detroit to take care of" and he hits a buzzer on his desk and some mean suddenly enter. Maitland then says to his men "Could you escort Mr Foley to the door?" and they grab Axel off his feet and drag him out as Axel shouts "GET THE FUCK OFF ME! GET OFF!". 

Then there is the scene when Axel confronts him at Maitland's country club and Axel says to him "Hi, Victor, I'm back". Zack then get's up and warns him "Why don't you get the hell out of here, cuz!" and Axel says "Keep the fuck away from me, man!" and Victor tries to hit him and Axel throws him over a buffet table. Axel then says to Victor "That's very good, Victor. Can he sit down and roll over and all that shit too?". Maitland then asks "What do you want?" and Axel says "I want to talk to you, last time I didn't get a chance to talk to you" Maitland angrily says "I have nothing to say to you" and Axel says That's cool, I'll do all the talking". 

Axel then sits next to Maitland and says "This is a real nice club, Victor, real nice" and Maitland says "That's good, I must make you a member". Axel then says "Look, Victor, I know you're into some crooked shit and I have a pretty good you had Mikey killed but when I find out for sure, I'm gonna fuck you up real bad". So, Matiland calmly threatens Axel "Now listen to me my tough little friend. I don't know from under which stone you crawled or where you get these ridiculous ideas about me, but it seems painfully obvious to me you don't have the slightest fucking idea who you are dealing with!  Now here's my advice to you, go back to your little rock in Detroit before you get sqaushed, OK?". The police then come in and handcuff Axel again and Axel says "Gotta go now, Vic" as he is cuffed and he looks at Maitland and says "Catch you later, Vic!" and Maitland says "I can't wait!".

And last of all is the scene where Axel and Jenny are captured by Maitland's men at his warehouse and Maitland looks at Jenny and says to her "Jeanette, I can't tell you how disappointed I am to see you here" and Jenny tries to explain "Victor..." and he shouts "SHUT UP!! I don't want to hear it". Jenny then nervously asks of Axel "What are you going to do with him?" and Maitland threatens her "I think you should be more worried about what we're going to do with you". Then after she is taken away, Axel warns Maitland "If something happens to her..." and Maitland sarcastically says "I'm all ears" and Axel says to him "I'll kill you" and Maitland smiles "Really? That would be a neat trick". So, as Zack punches Axel in the stomach and slaps his face, Maitland bids farewell "Goodbye, Mr Foley, have a nice day!".   

Elsa Eilbacher does a fine job in her role as Jenny, Axel's friend, who works for Maitland at his gallery and helps him try and find out if Maitland was involved. 

So, Elsa has a few scenes worth mentioning such as the one where Jenny bails Axel out of the police department. So, as they walk to Jenny's car, Axel says to her "It just so happens Mike had some  German bearer bonds on him when he was killed, when I mentioned his name in Maitland's office, that's what he does to try throw me out". Jenny however then says "Axel, you barge into his office like a hoodlum, I mean if I didn't know, I would have thrown you out!". So, they stop at Jenny's car and Axel surprised asks "Is this your car?!" and Jenny sarcastically says "No, in Beverly hills we just take whichever car is closest!".

Then there is the following scene where Jenny drives Axel back to his hotel and she smiles and says "I remember you used to drive that crappy blue Chevy Nova. What are you driving now?" and Axel tells her "The same blue crappy Chevy Nova" and she laughs. Axel then laughs and asks her "Do you think its too late for me to study art?" and Jenny says "Yeah, I do". Jenny then asks Axel "Axel, you don't think Maitland had something to with Mikey getting killed?" and Axel says "No, no, I was just poking around". Jenny then says "Axel, Victor Mailtand is one of the most successful art dealers in the last 10 years" and Axel says sarcastically "I'm impressed" as he looks in the rear view mirror and Jenny asks "What are you looking back there for?" and Axel says "The cops are following us" and Jenny surprised asks "What? Where?" and Axel says "In the back on the right, a biege Ford".  

Bronson Pinchott also makes a noteworthy debut as the camp art gallery employee, Serge, whom Axel shares a scene with when he asks him how much a vase went for in the gallery and on telling him the price "100,000 dollars to a collector" and Axel yells Gget the fuck out of here!" and Serge says "No, I'm serious, I sell it myself!". 

Pinchott's best line is of course when Axel and Rosewood later arrive at the gallery and Axel asks Serge if he will make Rosewood some tea. So, Axel asks Serge "Can make my friend an espersso?" and Serge asks "Do you want it with a little lemon twist" and Rosewood says "Sure if it isn't too much trouble" with Serge replying "No don't be stupid!" and Axel laughs.   

Other performances in the film worthy of note are of course Ronny Cox who is great as Lt Bogomil, who he plays as a decent cop who is very straight down the line and does everything by the book.  

Cox has some good scenes worth of note such as the one where Bogomil says to Axel after Taggart punches Axel, "Detective Foley, do you wish to press charges against this officer for assault?" and Axel asks "This a joke, right? Look where I'm from cops don't file charges against other cops. No, I don't want to do that". Bogomil then asks Axel "What were you doing in Victor Maitland's office?" and Axel says "I'm on vacation, I stopped by his place, looked like a nice place, so I went into the bathroom and next thing I know six guys threw me through the window". 

Bogomil then says to Axel "I just got off the phone with an inspector Todd in Detroit, that name ring a bell?" and Axel awkwardly says "He's my boss". Bogomil then says "He says you are an outstanding young detective, I find that very hard to believe" and Axel says "Its true though". Bogomil then says "He also told me, he nearly had to fire you for insubordination, now I find that very easy to believe". Bogomil then says "I've got a message from Inspector Todd, you want to hear it?" and Axel worried says "I don't think so" and Bogomil says "He says if you are out here investigating the Tandino murder, you needn't bother coming back. He says if you tell us you are investigating this case, you will be brought up on charges and fired! Now one last time, what are you doing?" and Axel shouts "I'm on VACATION!" and Bogomil smiles and says "Vacation! Rosewood could you take Mr Foley over to the courthouse and have him arrange for bail?".

Then there is the scene where Bogomil confronts Axel over why he is perstering Maitland after being arrested at Maitland's private club. So, Bogomil asks "Detective Foley, this is becoming very irritating! Why are you bothering Victor Maitland?". Axel realises he has no choice, tells the truth "I had a friend Michael Tandino, who visited me in Detroit and Maitland had him killed. I can't prove that right now, but when I do, you'll be the first to know" and Bogomil, now sympathetic says "Forget what you can prove, talk to me". Axel then shares what he has learned having spied on Maitland's warehouse and the crates that were being brought in. So, Bogomil then asks "And you witnessed all this?" and Axel says "Everything except the drugs, but I found coffee grounds all over the warehouse" and Taggart asks "You something about this before, what does that mean?" and Bogomil says "Drugs are sometimes packed in coffee grounds, the scent throws off the dogs". 

And lastl there is the scene where Bogomil tells the police chief what happened in the aftermath of the shootout at Matiland's mansion. So, Bogomil makes up a report saying to the chief "And in the course of defending ourselves, we shot several suspects, including Mr Maitland". Chief then asks "You expect me believe that report?" and Bogomil says "That's the report I'm filing, sir" and the chief asks Taggart "Sgt Taggart, can you tell me what really happened?" and after a long pause Taggart says "It happened just the way the Lt said, chief" and everyone smiles. So, the chief says to Bogomil "Well, I guess congratulations are in order, I expect to have that report on my desk tomorrow" and Bogomil says "Yes, sir, first thing".  So, after the chief leaves, Axel smiles and says "You were lying your ass off!" and Alex then asks Bogomil if he could straighten out his mess with Todd in Detroit and Bogomil generously says "I will call him first thing tomorrow" and Axel says "You will?" and Bogomil says "You bet" and Axel says "Thank you so much, sir". 

Gil Hill, who was a real life police detective, does a fine job as Inspector Todd and he is given some great dialogue. Hill also after his retirement from the police service, went on to a political career as a councilman working for Detroit. Hill would later himself die in 2016. 

And Gill has two good scenes, such as the one where Axel and shouts at him after the cigarette bust "You mind telling me where you come off doing some undercover bullshit! You wanna do that, go do it on someone else's precinct!". Axel then says "You wan't to hear my side of the story" and Todd says "What's your fuckin side of the story??!" and Axel pauses and says "Let's hear your side of the story". 

Todd then warns Axel "You know how much this little stunt of yours cost this city" and Axel says "I don't think cost should be the issue, sir, I think the issue should be my blatant disregard for correct procedure". Todd annoyed then says "You damn right, wiseass! The chief just called the deputy chief and deputy just chewed my ass out! You see I don't have any bit of it left, don't you?!". Tood then warns Axel "Look, Axel, you're a good cop and you've got great potential, but I'm tired of taking the heat for your ass. One more time and you're out on the street, do you understand me?" and Axel tries to explain "Look boss..." and Todd says firmly "Do you understand me?!!" and Axel says "Yeah I understand". Axel then says as Todd walks away "Boss, the chief hasn't chewed it all off, you still have a little ass there" and Todd fed up warns Axel "Don't fuck with me, Axel! Not now. Go on, go home". 

Then there is the scene where after Mike is murdered, Todd says to Axel to check himself at the hospital for his head wound after being knocked out. So, Axel asks about the case investigation and says to Todd "Look, I heard Rand is on this case and between the two of us, he doesn't know the time of day. He hasn't left his desk in 12 years" and Todd says "At least he's had 12 years. Just don't do a damn thing, stay out of this!". Axel then angrily says "Look, we're talking about a friend of mine here!" and Todd says "Yes, we are, aren't we? Let's take a closer a look at that friend,  one a hoodlum friend, two a professional hit, three, in a cop's apartment. This whole thing stinks to high heaven!". Axel asks "How do you know it was a professional hit?" and Todd says "Whoever killed you're little friend wasn't worried about your narrow ass. If they were, you'd be inside that meat wagon with him!". Axel then says he has some vacation time and wants to take it and Todd warns him "Stay away from this case, Axel" and Axel says "Look, I've got some vacation time coming to me, I wanna take it, that's all". Todd looks at him and says "Alright, when you're done at the hospital, you're on vacation" and Axel says "Thank you" but Todd warns him "But if you decide to butt into this case, it'll be the longest vacation you'll ever heard of".  

Jonathan Banks is also pretty good at Maitland's main henchman Zack, who kills Axel's friend Tandino.  Banks had a fine line in playing baddies in 80s films at that time, and he does a good job at playing the brutal bad guy.

And I will mention two of Banks's scenes starting with the one where Zack turns up outside Axel's apartment, knocking out Axel, he confronts Tandino over the stolen bonds. So, Zack says to him "Hey, Mikey, where have you been?" and Tandino worried says "What's up, Zack?". So, Zack asks him "What have you got there, Mikey?" and the other henchman searches his pockets and produces the bonds. Tandino then tearfully says "I swear to Christ I was gonna bring the back!" and Zack asks "You got lost?" and Tandino says "No, I figured you'd know I had them, you know?" and Zack slaps him and asks "What am I supposed to do with you, Mikey?". Tandino then says "I'm sorry" and Zack says "Shut up, Mikey" and he puts his arm around him and warns Tandino "I swear if I ever see your face out there again. EVER!" and Tandino says "You won't. I'm sorry!" and Zack says "EVER!" Tandino says "You won't, I'm sorry. I fucked up, I'm sorry". Zack then seemingly takes Tandino's answer but then punches him in the gut and takes out his gun and shoots him.

Then there is the scene where Zack confronts Axel in the warehouse and says to him "Well cuz!" and Axel says "Are you still pissed at me" (as Axel threw him over a buffet table earlier in the film) and he replies "Oh no, no! But I should have taken care of you in Detroit" and he leans into him and says "When I popped your little buddy!". Zack then punches Axel in the stomach twice and slaps his face with contempt as Maitand prepares to leave and says "Goodbye, Mr Foley, have a nice day!".

Last of all is James Russo, who is very good in his role as Michael "Mike" Tandino, Axel's best friend who is killed not long after they reunite in Detroit.

So, as Russo only has a few scenes, I will mention his first one where Axel finds his apartment door wide open and he slowly walks in with his gun ready, so he shouts at he points it in the kitchen only to find Mike helping himself to food out of Axel's fridge. So, Axel laughs as he sees him and goes and gives him a warm hug.

So, in the scene Axel says "How are you doin??! You done breaking into people's houses?" and Mike says "What do you expect with that door?! Why don't you buy a real fuckin lock for that door, huh?!". So, Axel says "Man, look at you! When did you get out?" and Mike says "I got out six months ago" and Axel surprised asks "You got out six months ago and only coming to see me NOW?" and Mike says "Yeah, I got early for good behaviour and figured I'd go to California and get some sun". Mike then takes a package out and puts it on Axel's table and Axel asks "What is it?" and Mike says "10,000 deutschmark" and Axel asks "Deutschmark?" and Mike says "They're bearer bonds, their bonds". Axel then says "I don't even wanna know, man! Its good to see you!" and they hug again and Mike says "I missed you, man! I missed you!".

So, in the next scene Mike and Axel go to a local bar and play pool as Mike tells Axel what he was doing out in California. So, Axel asks "What were you doing out in California?" and Mike says "I was working" and Axel asks "Where?" and Mike says "Beverly Hills" and Axel laughs and says "What were you doing out there?" and Mike says "I was a security guard" and Axel laughs again and says "Who the fuck is gonna hire you as a security guard?" and Mike says "Jenny Summers" which prompt surprise from Axel "Jenny Summers! Shit, I haven't heard from Jenny in years, how is she doing?" and Mike tells him "She's doing great, she's working as a manager out an art gallery, the Hollis Benton art gallery, you ever hear of it?" and Axel sarcastically says "Oh, yeah I buy all my art there!".

Then after this, they go to the bar and by now they are half cut, so Mike grins and says to Axel "I gotta great idea, let's steal a car!" and Axel laughs and says "You kidding?! I'm a fuckin police officer, I can't steal cars no more!". So, Mike reminisces when Axel stole a car and they laugh and Axel asks "Hey, why didn't you tell them I was with you when you got caught?" and Mike says "You dunno?" and Axel says "No" and Mike says "You dunno?" and Axel again says "No" and Mike sincerely say "Cos, I love you, man" and he downs his drink and says "One more!". 

DIRECTOR 

Moving onto the direction, the director Martin Brest does a good job here in keeping the comedy and action moving along nicely at a good pace and the film never really lags as its quite taut time wise in just over 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Brest interestingly enough was previously hired to direct the film WarGames (but he was fired after nearly two weeks due to a personal dispute on the production) and the sets used for the Beverly Hills police department were actually the sets designed for the NORAD base in WarGames and you can see how similar they look.  

Getting onto the film's music score by German composer, Harold Faltermeyer it remains one of the most memorable synthesized scores from the 80s and Axel's theme is instantly recgonisible and overall its a pretty good one. The score itself has plenty of light hearted and atmospheric passages that compliment the comedy and action of the film. The score also features the memorable title track "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey, which is instantly recognisble.    

FLAWS

As for the flaws... yes Beverly Hills Cop isn't perfect. 

So, for starters, you could argue at times Axel's character while he is likeable, he does become a bit grating and childish, especially when he takes the mickey out of Bogomil's black police officer for how he says "We're not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe".  You just think at that point that you wish Axel would grow up a bit, but perhaps it also highlights his youthful naivety.  

The film naturally as it is an 80s flick also looks quite dated to its period and the fashions are blatantly outrageous, and most of all the cheesy 80s music tracks are pretty duff and cringeworthy to listen to, particularly the track used in the strip bar called, Vanity 6's "Nasty girl" and "Stir it up" by Patty LeBelle.  

I also found it remarkable how quick the cops were to show up when Axel is thrown out the entrance window to Maitland's offices. I mean these cops are there in almost a split second after Axel lies stunned sitting on the ground having been just throw through the window. Not only that, Axel isn't cut or bruised in any way shape or form here, so maybe the windows were made of sugar glass! I suppose in Hollywood films they will of course use breakaway glass, which will reduce the risk of cuts or bruises. 

There are also some daft moments in the film such as Axel going to the bonded warehouse and flashing his badge to the supervisor without of course the guy actually being able to see it. So, naturally the supervisor and the staff have to comply with him although they could have actually asked to see it to try and call his bluff but for the sake of convention they never do it.

I also thought it was a bit silly how in the scene where Axel offers a hotel robe to Taggart, who says to keep it as a soveneir, Axel says "I already have three of them in my bag". However when you say Axel's bag, its way too small to actually fit more than one of those robes in his bag never mind three of them! So, yeah this scene always struck me as being a bit stupid and making no real sense.  

However, in retrospect having watched that scene again, Axel's bag does look bigger than I thought and he does travel light in the film with few changes in clothes, so I guess its somewhat believable. Still, its funny how Taggart doesn't bother with the notion of Axel effectively stealing three of these shower robes from the hotel (either that or the tab covered it!).  

Last of all is the state of Axel's car, it really is a crappy Blue Chevy Nova as Jenny describes at one point but when you see it, its also a dirty mess and it begs the question, has Axel NEVER washed this car? I mean, its just a muddy mess and you think he would at least get it washed at least once since he got it, but nope, it looks really shitty. So, yeah, I guess it highlights Axel's laziness when it comes to these things.  

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up Beverly Hills Cop is still a very enjoyable watch after 40 years, despite its 80's fashions, it has aged relatively well and its the perfect vehicle for Murphy's comedic skills The performances are also very good with Murphy perfect in his role as the cocky cop Axel Foley and the supporting cast of John Ashton as Taggart, Judge Reinhold as Rosewood and Ronny Cox as Bogomil all excellent. The score by Harold Faltermeyer is also very memorable and sticks with you well after the film is over. There are some minor flaws with the story here and there but that aside, this is still an excellent action comedy film that is still worth watching 40 years later.

So, I will rate Beverly Hills Cop:

9 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post hopefully soon!

Until then bye for now! 

Resident Evil Requiem Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, now we are into the month of March (or are marching into it (sorry!) its time for yet another post and this is a new one, which will be on a video game I've just recently completed, which is Resident Evil Requiem, the latest in the famous survival horror series.

So, as the Resi series celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, let's see how the latest entry in the series fairs...

And there will be the usual warning...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, I won't go into the plot too much but I will give a small part of it, which begins with a young FBI analyst, Grace Ashcroft (voiced by Angela Sant Albano) being sent to investigate a crime scene of a place where Racoon city survivors were found dead from a variant of the T-Virus. The scene in question however is where Grace's mum was murdered 8 years ago, an abandoned place called the Wrenwood hotel.

Grace on investigating inside soon discovers many photos of herself over a bed and has a flashback to the night her mother, Alyssa was killed. Grace on further exploring, soon finds the cop who let her in earlier to the hotel, who has been infected with the T-Virus and soon becomes a zombie and attacks Grace but she manages to subdue him and flee. However, on going upstairs, she enters a room and finds a strange hooded figure, who turns out to be Victor Gideon (voiced by Antony Byrne) a former Umbrella scientist, who renders Grace unconscious and leaves the hotel with her. On leaving the hotel however, Gideon fires several darts at passers-by on the streets, turning them all into zombies. At the same time, DSO agent, Leon Kennedy (voiced by Nick Apostolidos) shows up at the scene but is too late to stop Gideon and he fights off several zombies attacks as her pursues them both. 

Leon soon tracks Grace to a care center with the help of fellow DSO agent, Sherry Birkin (voiced by Eden Riegel) where Grace is being held captive, strapped to a stretcher and wired up to an IV drip. Grace comes around and manages to escape by breaking the glass container for the drip and cutting her bonds with it but she soon also encounters a large monster, nicknamed the girl, who she is forced to play hide and seek with as she tries to escape.

After, Grace manages to evade the girl, she soon encounters Leon, who gives her his magnum gun, nicknamed Requiem and she tries to find a way out of the center. On the way, Grace also encounters a blind girl, Emily, who is locked in a cell, who she also frees and tries to take with her and from here Grace must find a way to uncover the truth of what is going on and to stop Gideon...

THOUGHTS

As the latest entry in the series, Requiem is a very solid and entertaining Resi game that successfully amalgamates two previous games in the series, Resi 7, which had a more stealthy, horror survival feel to it and Resi 4, which is more action orientated, with Grace taking on the RE7 approach and Leon RE4. So, without trying to give away spoilers here, most of the first half or so plays out with the stealth horror theme and the second primarily more action based and its a good mix overall of the two styles, as clearly Capcom was trying to find a way to please both types of fans. One thing for sure however is that this game is easily the MOST gory of all the Resi games thus far with plenty of blood and gore on display, so if you are a fan of that, you're bound to love this. 

GAMEPLAY 

As for the gameplay, I will as usual split this section into subcategories below.

MOVEMENT AND PERSPECTIVE

So, starting with movement and perspective, this game actually offers the player a choice to play in both first or third perspective as Grace, in order to try and stay true to the horror style of RE7 and even RE Village, so its up to the player to decide, whereas Leon's is just purely in third person. I personally played Grace as first person as intended for my first playthrough, which was a pretty intense experience at times but overall not too bad. 

STEALTH SURVIVAL

Moving onto the stealth aspect of the game, Grace will often use stealth to try and navigate her way around certain monsters, particularly the bigger ones and she also has limited resources available to her and access to only handguns compared to Leon. Another thing Grace can do however is distract enemies by throwing bottles at them to look the other way, so she can evade them. Grace can also use a cigarette lighter in the earlier stages of the game before using a flashlight a bit later on. 

COMBAT

As for the combat, starting with Grace, even though stealth can be essential she can also use her weapons to take down enemies and later can also craft weapons such as acid bottles and molotov cocktails, which definitely come in handy. Grace also has a weaker melee attack, where she can e.g. push zombies on the ground but this can be useful in certain sections to escape from them. Grace can also use a crafted item called a hemolytic injector that allows her to perform a stealth attack on zombies and destroy them and this can also be used on fallen zombies to prevent them from coming back to life in a similar manner to the crimson zombies in the Nintendo Gamecube RE1 remake. 

Moving onto Leon, his combat is naturally more involved as he can perform a number of brutal takedown moves against zombies using a hatchet, which he can also sharpen to prevent it from blunting. Leon also has a larger arsenal at his disposal as he can use handguns, shotguns and his own Requiem magnum, assault rifles and sniper rifles. Leon can also gain skill points later for killing enemies, which will allow to buy new weapons and or upgrade his existing ones. Leon similar to Grace can perform melee attacks but can also perform parries against enemies and can also pick up their weapons and throw them at others. What's for sure however is there is plenty of gore on display here with Leon shooting, smashing and crunching zombies and other monsters left, right and centre! 

CRAFTING ITEMS

Similar to previous Resi games, crafting is also a key aspect here, as both Leon and Grace can craft certain items. Starting with Grace however, her crafting abilities are more varied as she can use a blood analyzer to collect infected blood and use it to create healing items, ammo as well as acid bottles or molotov cocktails. Grace can also craft injector items that will boost her HP and enhance the damage of her weapons. As for Leon, he can primarily only craft healing items and ammo, similar to the previous Resi games. 

WEAPON UPGRADES & SKILL POINTS

Without giving spoilers away, there is another key aspect to the gameplay, which is for Leon only and that is a skill points system, which will allow him to gain points for killing zombies or other enemies, which had transferred into a small bracelet. Leon can then go back to a save point open the item chest and use the points to gain access to new weapons or upgrade existing weapons as well as sharpen and enhance his hatchet. 

GRAPHICS

Moving onto the graphics, well can be said about this game's visuals? In short, it looks absolutely stunning thanks again to Capcom's terrific RE game engine, which just gets better and better. So, its no surprise to report here than RE Requiem's visuals are amazing and the details of the environments are rich and detailed, from the building exteriors to the landscapes to dank indoors of the hotel and care center, not to mention the gruesome detail of the violence. 

But the character models are also where the game shines, as they are terrific and not quite but almost lifelike with Grace looking great and Leon, looking somewhat more mature and middle aged and they both have lifelike hair thanks to the game's hair strand tech. Additionally its also funny to see Sherry look so grown up and mature here also but she did also appear as a young adult in RE6. The supporting characters also look great in their own ways with the main antagonist, Victor Gideon looking suitably hideous with his grey and scarred skin and Zeno, who looks a lot like Wesker (who I honestly thought it was at first!). The zombies and other monsters are very well displayed here too, especially the girl and giant slob and a few later monsters too.

So, overall, Requiem is a real treat for the eyes on the PS5 standard version I played but the PS5 Pro and PC versions are reportedly even better as they support tracing. All in all though, this undoubtedly one of the best looking games of the year. 

VOICE ACTING

Moving onto the voice acting, the cast all do a pretty good job overall, so I will say a quick bit about them but not too much.

Starting with Angela Sant Albando, who is very good in her role as the young FBI agent, Grace, who investigates the deaths of Raccoon city survivors but is soon caught in whole lot of trouble and fighting off zombies and other monsters. Angela does a pretty good job at conveying Grace's outright fear and terror at her situation before slowly becoming more brave and heroic as the game progresses. One thing I would say about her performance is that Grace stutters a bit too much throughout the game and keeps saying "I...I...I...I don't know!" when asked something, which does get a bit grating. That aside though, she does a pretty good job overall here.

Nick Apostolides returns again here as the voice of Leon Kennedy and he does another great job at conveying Leon's cool nature but also retaining Leon's sarcastic quips, which adds a welcome element of humour to the proceedings as well as showing Leon is still a badass in his old age. In fact, I will quote one or two of his lines, such as the one where Gideon captures Leon and has him tied to a chair and Leon asks Gideon "I have one question though, when did you last brush your teeth?!". Another quip worth a mention is when Sherry is on the radio with Leon and Sherry says to him "Don't do anything stupid" and Leon says "Me?! Never!". 

Antony Byrne is also very good as the main villain, Victor Gideon, who's unnatural experiments result in creating another T-Virus outbreak but also in kidnapping Grace, he also plans to find the answer to something more sinister. Byrne plays Gideon with a soft and creepy voice, which fits his character very well as a calculating psychopath, who lays a path of destruction behind him.

Craig Burnatowski also is pretty good in his role as the mysterious character, Zino, who I honestly thought at first was supposed to be Albert Wesker, who has enhanced abilities kind of similar to Wesker's mutated abilities in RE5. Burnatowski himself did actually play Wesker briefly at the end of the RE4 remake, so that's certainly why I might have got these two characters mixed up.

Eden Riegel is also good in her role as Sherry Birkin, who was originally a child in the Resi series, coming into the game on RE2 but would later reappear in RE6 as a young adult but by now, Sherry is now in her late 30's and also a DSO agent, who works remotely in and office setting, helping Leon. Eden also voiced Sherry in RE6 too, so her voice will sound quite familiar if you've played both games. 

Last of all is Jane Perry, who is also very good in her role as Alyssa Ashcroft, Grace's mother, who is killed by a mysterious figure as she was trying to protect Grace from Umbrella. Perry herself might actually be better known as the voice of Rogue in Cyberpunk 2077, which I wasn't initially aware at first until I looked her up.

MUSIC 

Moving onto the music, the score was composed by not one but four composers, Nao Sato, Masahiro Ohki, Shigeyuki Kameda and Joseph Holiday and overall its a pretty solid one, which does its job at conveying the terror of the situation very well. The contrasting styles are evident between Grace and Leon's sequences for the stealth and the overt action scenes. So, while its not a great score per se, its still very befitting for the tone of the game. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain some spoiler references!)  

As for flaws...yeah OK, Resi Requiem isn't quite perfect.

For starters, I think there are some sections of the game, which can be a bit tedious and these are mostly in Grace's gameplay. The first one, I will mention is Grace trying to evade the girl monster in the care center, which will result in Grace being the girl's dinner if she is caught. However, this section despite the suspense of it, can become tedious, as you constantly have to duck out of sight and try and sneak through before the girl suddenly smashes through a door and spots you again. Plus the whole objective is to get a fuse to open the gate to escape, so once you get the fuse, you have to do the whole hide and seek BS once again! So, yeah this section is a bit of a chore.

There is also another flashback sequence later on, which is also a bit tedious involving a young girl, who is surrounded by some similar evil girls, who she tries to escape from but I won't say more than that on it. However, this section again feels a bit tedious, plus its also not that obvious at one point how you progress through it.  

I also found Grace's character to be OK for the most part but also a bit annoying with her constant stuttering in fear as already mentioned as she keeps saying "I..I..I..I don't know!" or variants of this but she does eventually calm down toward the end a bit. Its also a bit bizarre that her superior would send her to investigate such as a scene given her job is an FBI analyst and not a field agent, so given the horrors she is about to face, to say she's inexperienced would be an understatement!   

There is also a bizarre contrast in the size of Grace and Leon's inventory, as she gets a typical hip pouch upgrade whereas Leon gets a massive suitcase that can carry loads of items and weapons instead. But again this highlights the difference in the style of gameplay for both characters I guess however the differences are a bit startling with Grace's puny hip pouches vs Leon's TARDIS like suitcase!

Another big issue I had with the game was to do with just how exactly did Leon and Sherry contract the T-Virus in the first place? I mean this as far as I am aware was NEVER explained in the game at all (but I could be wrong and might have missed it but kind of doubt!). Also, as I was playing the game, I was waiting to hear the explanation from Leon or Sherry but you never really get one, you do see Sherry take medication to suppress the symptoms at one point but that's about it. But to get to the end of the game NO real explanation whatsoever, I have to say was a bit mystifying.   

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Resident Evil Requiem is a very enjoyable and solid entry in the Resi franchise that successfully marries two different gameplay styles of stealth and action well together as it copies the style of RE4 and RE7. The game also has fantastic visuals as the environments and character models are stunning and the RE engine remains impressive as ever and the voice acting is also very good with the actors for Grace and Leon doing a fine job as well as the supporting actors for Gideon, Zino and Sherry. 

There are some issues with the gameplay and the story but they aren't enough to really spoil things here and if you liked the previous Resi games, you will be bound to like this as it caters well enough for both fans of action and stealth alike.

So, with that I will rate Requiem:

8.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post sometime soon.

Until then, its bye for now!  

 

Speed Review "Yeah?!! We'll I'm taller!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, since we are close to March already, I figured I'd get another post done before the end of this month, which will be on the action film, Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Dennis Hopper.  So, this will be a new review, which surprisingly I don't appear to have reviewed this film before, so why not do it now I guess. 

So, with that said let's take a look at how this film fairs 32 years on from its initial release.

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD

STORY

So, the film begins with a city office elevator being armed with explosives by a crazy bomber named Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) which traps 13 people inside.  So, in response, the LAPD send a SWAT team to deal with the situation and among them are officers Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) and Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels). As Jack and Harry attempt to save passengers by attaching a cable from the arm of a crane on the building rooftops to the hook on the elevator, Payne detonates the elevator as he hears them above. However, despite the detonation of the elevator, the crane arm just about holds long enough for Jack and Harry to rescue the passengers before it crashes down to the ground floor.  Jack however is convinced that the bomber is in the building somewhere, so on searching the elevators, they soon find Payne, who holds Harry hostage but Jack manages to distract Payne by shooting Harry in the leg, Payne then runs out and seemingly blows himself up.  

Some time later, Jack and Harry receive medals for their bravery on TV and we see that Payne survived as he watches the ceremony on TV. The following day, Jack at a cafe bids a bus driver he knows farewell on leaving only for the bus to explode into flames, however a payphone nearby rings and Jack answers it to hear Payne's voice. Payne tells Jack that he has rigged another bus with a bomb and it will arm once it reaches 50mph but if it slows down below 50, it will blow up and that he has until 11am to get him 3.7 million dollars otherwise the bus will then explode. Payne also tells Jack if he tries to unboard any passengers during this time, he will also detonate the bus and on telling him the bus number and location, Jack instantly drives to find it. 

So, on finding the bus, Jack eventually boards it and tries to tell the passengers of the situation, however one of the passengers, a felon, produces a gun and points it at Jack, who tries to diffuse things (no pun intended!) but another passenger, Ortiz (Carlos Carrasco) tries to disarm the felon and they end up accidentally shooting the driver, Sam (Hawthorne James). After Jack disarms and cuffs the felon, one of the passengers, Annie (Sandra Bullock) takes over the wheel and Jack explains the situation. 

So, from here, Jack and Annie must try and prevent the bus from slowing down under 50 on the frantic, busy freeways of Los Angeles, while Harry back at the office, helps in trying to discover Payne's identity...

THOUGHTS

Well, as far as sleeper hits go, Speed definitely is one of the best up there and its also got a quite a unique plot for an action film with a bus that will explode at under a certain speed with LAPD officer, Jack Traven trying to do all he can to prevent it from happening. The film's script, which was written by Graham Yost, was inspired by 1980's thriller, Runaway Train with Yost's father, who was a TV host, believing the out of control train had a bomb on it (which it didn't). Yost then later adapted the idea into a script and placed the setting on a bus instead. 

The film's premise also allows for some really suspensful moments also such as Jack and Harry rescuing the falling elevator passengers and of course later on the bus having to jump a 50 feet gap in a newly constructed freeway. But its also the film's characters that make the film work so well, with Jack being a tenacious, spirited young cop, who does all he can to stop the crazy bomber, Payne and Annie, the feisty passenger, who steps up and drives the bus and of course Payne, the bomber, who holds the bus passengers hostage to get his ransom. 

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and some strong language!)

As for the performances, the cast are all on good form here.

Starting with Keanu Reeves, who is pretty good in his role as Jack Traven, the young LAPD cop, who tries to stop Payne from detonating the bomb on the bus by keeping it over 50 mph. 

Keanu has quite a few notable scenes, starting with the one where Jack and Harry arrive at the scene of the armed elevator inside the shafts. So, Harry asks Jack about a hostage scenario involving a terrorist holding a woman at gunpoint at an airport and what would he do, so Jack after a pause says "Shoot the hostage, taker her out of the equation, go for the good wound and he can't get to the plane with her" and Harry says "You're deeply nuts, you know that?!". Jack then takes a look at the armed explosives on the elevator and says "Harry, this is all wrong, he's gonna blow it anyway" and Harry asks "How do you know?" and Jack says "Dunno, gut feeling" and Harry says "Well right now Mac (their Captain) outranks your guy, so we sit". Jack then says "Maybe there's something we can do about those hostages". So, they go up on the rooftops of the building and see the arm of a crane and Jack says "No, we just taken them out of the equation". 

Then there is the scene where Jack and Harry confront Payne in the elevator after they find him and as Payne holds Harry hostage with his detonator, Jack keeps his gun trained on him. So, Payne says to Jack "Well this day has been very disappointing I have to say!" and Jack says "Why? Cos, you didn't get to kill everyone?" and Payne says "There will come a time, boy, when you wish you'd never met met!" and Jack says "Mister, I'm already there!". So, as things get more heated Harry suggests "Shoot the hostage!" to Jack, who shoots Harry in the leg, who goes down in pain and Payne looks surprised and Jack trains his gun on Payne and shouts "FREEZE! GIVE IT UP! YOU'RE OUT OF OPTIONS!!" but Payne just laughs and goes out the door and there is big explosion outside, which sends Jack flying back.

Another good scene is when Jack is on the bus, he looks underneath the floor panel to check for the explosives while he talks to Harry on the phone, So, Jack looking under says to Harry (who one of the passengers, Doug, relays what he is saying) "OK! We've got a wad, pretty big!" and Doug says "We've got a pretty big wad". Jack then says "Brass fittings! I think I can reach the circuit wire!" and Harry says "Oh no, no, no! That's a decoy! Classic!" and Doug says to Jack "That's a classic decoy, what else?". So, Jack looks down further and sees a big set of C4 with a gold wrist watch attached to it and Jack says "Fuck me!" and Doug after a pause says "Oh darn!".  Jack get's back up and takes the phone off Harry and says "Harry, there's enough C4 on this bus to put a whole in the world!".

Then there is the scene where Annie asks Jack what Payne is after, so she says to Jack "What is the deal with this guy? Did we bomb his country or something?" and Jack says "No, he just wants money". Annie then says "Really? Its not a very good way to make money" and Jack says "Its a game, if he get's the money he wins, if the bus blows up, he wins". and Annie asks "What if you win?" and Jack says "Then tomorrow we'll play another one" and Annie smiles and says "But I'm not available to drive tomorrow. Busy".

Then there is the scene where Jack tries to go underneath the bus to diffuse the bomb and he has no success as he can't bypass the explosives as it will fire, so as he tries to get out, debris from the tyres knocks of trailer he lies on off its axis and he ends up puncting the fuel tank to cling on. So, as Ortiz on the bus opens the floor panel with his tools, he pulls Jack up from beneath and Doug asks him "Did you have any luck with the bomb?" and Jack says "Yeah, it didn't go off" and Ortiz says "You're not too bright man, but you've got some big hairy cojones!" and Jack says "That is VERY gross, Ortiz!". 

And then we have the scene where (SPOILER!!) after Harry is killed on discovering Payne's home is wired with explosives, Payne calls Jack to gloat. So, on taking the call, Jack says "Harry, give me good news, man!" and Payne says "Oh, I'm sorry, Jack he didn't make it!" and Jack after a beat furiously says "You FUCK!!". So, Payne teasingly says to Jack "I thought it was a bit hammy to build a bomb out of my retirement gift, but I thought having a sign saying "Howard Payne" would be pushing it" and Jack then boiling says "I'm gonna rip out your fucking spine, I swear to God!". 

So, after Payne tells Jack to drops the money for him in Pershing square and gloats at 11am "Its going to be a very pretty day!" Jack hangs up and furiously smashes his cell phone and shouts out in rage. However, after he calms down, he suddenly notices something on Annie's top, which says "Wildcats Arizona". So, Jack says to Annie "Arizona Wildcats, pretty good football team" and Annie not getting it says "Guess so" and Jack says quietly "He can see you" and he looks around for a camera and he spots it on the roof above the windscreen.  Jack then shakes his head in realisation and says "He called you a wildcat before but I didn't pick up on it. Bastard's got a camera right in your face, he can see the whole bus. He's been playing me from minute one". So, Annie asks "Can hear me too?" and Jack says "Doesn't look like it, he's just watching you". 

Then there is the scene where Jack goes after Payne to the subway after Payne takes Annie hostage and straps her up with a bomb jacket. So, Jack as he sees the shape of someone, he shouts "FREEZE!!! Pop quiz, asshole! You have a hair trigger on the back of your head, what do you do?! Turn around! TURN AROUND!!!" and the figure turns around to reveal Annie wearing the bomb jacket and Jacks look on in horror and says "Oh no!". So, Payne then appears with the trigger and he says how a bomb that doesn't explode is like a cheap gold watch and Jack angrily says "You're crazy! You're fucking crazy!" and Payne says "No, poor people are crazy, Jack. I'M an eccentric!". 

Last of all is the scene Payne tries to open his bag of money, which is then ruined by a dye pack inside it, which sprays over his face and Payne yells at Jack, who is on the roof of the train and shoots at him above and he charges after Jack. So, as Payne goes on the roof of the train and fights Jack, he says to him "I;m smarter than you!" and Jack pushes Payne's head up just before a signal light hits and decapitates Payne, who's body falls off the train roof and Jack gasps and says "Yeah?! Well I'm taller!". So, after this, Jack heads down into the train and rushes up to Annie to diffuse the bomb and she asks "What happened to Payne" and Jack tells her "He lost his head". 

Dennis Hopper next up is excellent in his role as the crazy bomber, Howard Payne, who rigs a bus with explosives in an order to extort money for himself from the city. 

Hopper also has pletny of good scenes worth note, such as the one where Payne detonates the elevator he has rigged at the start and he says "Don't fuck with Daddy!" and he hits the detonator and the lift falls. So, after the passangers are saved, Jack and Harry finally locate Payne's lift, which sees Payne use a shotgun to shoot down Harry and he forces Jack to jump down as he makes the elevator go up. So, as Jack drops down into the elevator, Payne holds his shotgun at aim and says "I don't suppose anyone will give me 3 million just for you!" and he pulls the trigger and it clicks and Jack takes the from him as Payne holds Harry, carrying his detonator. 

So, Payne says to Jack "Pop quiz, hotshot! Terrorist has a hostage and enough C4 to destroy a building, what do you do?" and Jack says "There's gonna be 50 cops waiting for you in the basement" and Payne says "Oh, standard flanking deployment, we'll get off on the 3rd floor, at least that's what they'll think!" and he presses a button, giving a fake reading. So, as they arrive instead in the undergound parking area, Payne says "Well, this day has been pretty disappointing I have to say" and Jack says "Why? Cos, you didn't get to kill everyone?!" and Payne says "There will come a time, boy, where you wish you never met me!" and Jack says "Mister, I'm already there!". Payne then asks Harry "You ready to die, friend?" and Harry says "Fuck you!" and Payne says "Oh! In 200 years, we've come "I regret I have one life to give for my country to fuck you?!". Harry then dares Payne "Drop the stick!" and Payne almost admiringly says "Oh, we've got all the balls in the world here, man!!" Harry then says to Jack "Shoot the hostage" and Payne says "Say goodbye, Harry!" and Jack shoots him in the thigh much to Payne's surprise before he runs out laughing and we see a big explosion.

Then there is the scene where Payne destroys a bus to get Jack's attention the day after he get's his medal on TV. So, as a nearby payphone rings, Jack answers it and we see Payne on a cell phone in his car and he asks Jack "What do you think, Jack? If you pick up all the bus driver's teeth, you think they will give you another medal?". Jack angrily says "When I found you..." and Payne says "Oh, pop quiz, hotshot! There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus get's to 50 miles per hour, the bomb is armed. If the bomb drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?!" and Jack says "I'd wanna know which bus it was". Payne then says "Very good, now there are rules, Jack. NO ONE get's off the bus! If you try to take any passengers off the bus, I will detonate it. I want my money by 11am". Jack then says "We can't pull that kind of money in time" and Payne tells him "FOCUS Jack! Your concern is the bus. And try and call, the radio is down". 

Another good scene is when Jack asks Payne to get off the bus for a moment to speak to his Captain and he tells Payne "I need to speak with these people, they think you are bullshit!" and Payne resentfully says "They don't think that!". Jack then says "I just want to get off for just a minute" and Payne "OK, but I want you back REAL fast! Oh, and Jack nothing tricky now! You know I'm ontop of you. DO NOT attempt to grow a brain!" and he hangs up.

Then there is the scene where after Harry is killed by a bomb trap set in Payne's own home, after they tracked his home location (but find he's not there) Payne calls Jack to tell him the news. So, in the scene,, Jack answers the call "Harry, tell me good news, man!" and Payne says "Oh, I'm sorry, Jack, but he didn't make it" and Jack after a beat furiously says "You FUCK!!". Payne then teases Jack and says "It was the watch that lead him to me, wasn't it? I thought it was a bit hammy building a bomb out of my retirement gift but I thought a sign saying "Howard Payne" was pushing it". Payne then tells Jack to drop his money off at Pershing square and he says "Its getting on to 11 am, Jack and I think its going to be a very pretty day!" and he laughs and hangs up.

Another notable scene is where Payne has Annie wired up with a bomb jacket in the subway and Payne says "Be prepared! This is the boy scout marching song!" and Payne looks at Jack with his gun trained on him and Payne says "What are you doing, Jack? I don't think you can shoot her". Payne then goes on about his bomb "A bomb is made to explode. That's its meaning. Its purpose. Your life is empty because you spend it trying to stop the bomb from becoming. And for who? For what? You know what a bomb is, Jack, that doesn't explode? It's a cheap gold watch, buddy!". Jack, disgusted says "You're crazy! You're fucking crazy!" and Payne says "Poor people are crazy, Jack! I'm an eccentric".

Last of all is the scene where on the subway train, Payne hears Jack moving on the roof and he says "Hey, Jack, is that you?! He's so persistant, he always get's his man! I wouldn't be able to interest in a bribe, would I? I've got plenty to go around!". However, as Payne opens his bag of money, the dye pack explodes inside and a purple goes over his face and shocked he says "My money!" and he angrily grabs his machine gun and shoots at it at the roof yelling "YOU BASTARD! HOW DOES THAT FEEL?! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, YOU BASTARD?!!". So, when he runs out of ammo, he grabs his detonator and runs for the roof "I'm coming for you, JACK!! AGHHHHHHH!!!!".

So, in the next scene, Payne climbs onto the roof and grabs Jack and hits him in the face with his detonator and he says "I'm the guy with a plan, you know why? Cos, I'm smarter than you! I'm SMARTER!". However, as Jack pushes Payne's head up, Payne suddenly sees a signal light, which ends up decapitating him and his body falls off the roof and Jack gasps for breath and says "Yeah? Well, I'm taller!". 

Sandra Bullock is also really good in her role as Annie, the spirited passenger, who drives the bus armed with explosives, although her voice does get a little bit grating when she shouts at times.

As for Sandra's notable scenes, for starters there is the one where Annie takes over driving the bus and she asks Jack "So, you're a cop right?" and Jack says "That's right" and Annie says "Well, I should probably tell you that I'm taking the bus because I had my driver's license revoked" and Jack asks "For what?" and Annie says "Speeding".

Then there is the scene where Annie asks Jack about Payne "So, what is this guy's deal? Did we bomb his country, or something?" and Jack says "No, he just wants money" and Annie says "Funny, that's not a very good way to make money". Jack then tells Annie "A while back, I stopped him when he wired an elevator with some passengers and he's a little pissed at me". Annie then asks "So, what has this got to do with us?" and Jack says "Its a game, he get's the money, he wins, if he blows up the bus, he wins" and Annie asks "What if you win?" and Jack says "Then tomorrow we play another one" and Annie says "But I'm not available to drive tomorrow. Busy".

Another scene is when one of the passengers, Helen, is killed as she trires to step off the bus and Annie tearfully says to Jack "When that bomb off, I thought I was dead and..." and Jack says "...and you were glad you were still alive" and she says "Yeah". Jack tells her then "She was a nice and she didn't deserve to get killed but if she got off that bus, it would have killed us all. He's the asshole, Annie, remember that, he's the one that put us here" and Annie says "Big asshole!".

Then there is the funny scene where after Jack steps off the bus for a few minutes and they wait for him tio come back, Ortiz goes up to Annie and says to her "I'm telling you honey, he's jerking off somewhere". So, Annie tells Ortiz "He didn't have to get on the bus, in the first place, Ortiz" and she looks at him and says "Hey, get your ass behind the yellow line!" and Ortiz steps back from the drawn yellow line.

And then there is the scene (SPOILER!!) where after Jack successfully get's all the passengers off the bus safely and he and Annie escape the bus using the floor compartment to slide out underneath the bus, they lie together as Annie tries to recover herself. So, Jack comforts Annie and says "Annie, its OK, its over" and Annie after a moment says "You aren't gonna get all mushy on me, are you?" and Jack smiles and says "Maybe". Annie then tells Jack "I hope not, cause you know, relationships under intense circumstances, they never last" and Jack says "Yeah?" and Annie says "Yeah, I've done extensive study on this". 

Last of all is the final scene (SPOILER!) where Jack and Annie sruvive the out of control subway train and they lie together afterward. So, Annie touched says "You didn't leave me" and Jack smiles "I didn't have anywhere to be just then!" and they kiss and Jack tells her "I have to warn you, I've heard relationships based on intense experiences never work" and Annie says "OK. We'll have to base it on sex then" and Jack smiles and says "Whatever you say, ma'am" and they kiss again as a large crowd gathers outside the subway train, which is now landed on the street.

Jeff Daniels next, is great in his role as Harry, Jack's fellow LAPD team member and bomb expert, who helps him try and defeat Payne. 

So, Jeff has plenty of scenes worth mentioning including the one where after Jack and Harry manage to rescue the passengers from the bomb elevator, sit down in relief. So, as they sit there, Jack asks about Payne "Is your watch slow?" and Harry says "No, he jumped the gun, we still had 3 minutes left" and Jack asks "Why? He's losing his 3 million" and Harry says "I don't know, maybe he couldn't hold his wad long enough. Its a common problem among middle age men, so I'm told". Jack then has a thought and get's up and says "He's here" but Harry says "He could have blown that thing from Pacoima!" and Jack says "No, he's here, he knew we were up to something". So, Harry after a beat says "Alight, he'd wanna be but he'd have to say mobile. The elevators?" and Jack says "Passenger cars were stopped, they checked out" and Harry asks "What about the freight elevators?" and Jack points and then go off to check.

Then there is the scene where Jack and Harry get their medals on TV and while they await them, Harry quietly stands next to Jack says to him quietly "I can't they are giving you a medal for shooting me, you little prick!" and Jack says "Harry, you TOLD me to". So, then we see Jack and Harry go up and get their medals, with Harry carrying a cane, as he walks with a limp.

Another scene is when Jack and Harry celebrate with their team at a bar after the medal ceremony and Harry warns Jack about his future recklesness. So, Harry tells Jack "When are you gonna listen? Because I am not always gonna be there to back you up?" and Jack says "Hey come on, Harry, we got him" and Harry says "Guts will get you so far and then they'll get you killed. Luck always runs out" and he get's up unsteadily and says to Jack and their Captain, Mac "I'm gonna go home and have some sex" and Jack says "Harry, you're gonna go home and puke!" and Harry says "Yeah, well that will be fun too!".

Then there is the scene where Harry mulls over, what is going with Payne's methods of using explosives and he says "What is he saying? A watch is a shitty timer. Why use it?" and one of his team, Robin suggests "Lots of people have watches, Harry".  Harry then thinks out loud "This guy has no MO. Bombers fall in love with one kind of bomb and they're very monogamous. This guy uses C4, dynamite, a different trigger every time, now he throws in this watch". Robin then says "He's an encyclopedia, knows every kind of bomb" and Harry deflated says "Yeah, and everything we do to dismantle them". Harry then has a thought and says "Robin, I wanna look at the files" and Robin says "We did the mugshots already" and Harry says "No, I wanna look at cops". 

And last of all is the scene where Harry tries to guide Jack through disarming the bomb, as he lies underneath the moving bus on a platform attached to winch line. So, in the scene, Harry tells Jack the process and says "I want you to expose one of the wires but DON'T cut it" and Jack does so and says "Bullseye!". Harry then says "OK, so I want you to connect that wire to the battery" and Jack does so but it beeps and he says "I can't bypass it, it will fire!" and Harry says "Shit! Its a collapsable circuit". However, at that point, one, one of his team, Robin, comes with a profile of Payne and she says "Howard Payne, Atlanta PD bomb squad, he retired to Sun Valley in 1989 when a small charge left him fingers numbering nine!". So, Harry triumphantly shouts "THAT'S OUR SCUMBAG!" and he says to Jack "Jack, we've found him, we're gonna go after the source" and Jack warns him "Watch your back!". 

Joe Morton next up is also excellent in his role as Captain "Mac" MacMahon, who is the head of Jack's team and helps him out during the bus crisis and he does a great job at showing Mac's authority over his team.  

So, I will mention only a few of Morton's scenes, such as the one where Mac celebrates Jack and Harry's success in rescuing the passengers from the armed elevator at the start of the film. 

So, in the scene, Mac proposes a toast to Jack and Harry and he says to Harry "To, Harry, hears your bravery, quick thinking and grace under pressure and his selfless act" and then says to Jack "And to Jack, for shooting Harry! Something we've all wanted to do for a LONG time!" and Harry pushes Mac and says "Hey!".  Mac then says "No, to you guys for doing your job and not getting dead. Mozeltov!" and they clink glasses.

Then there is the scene where Mac is told there is a gap in the freeway, which the bus is driving on, much to Mac's annoyance. So, one of Mac's team says to him "Sir, we've got a serious problem. The freeway isn't finished!" and Mac looks at the map and says "But its on the map as finished, its on the goddamn map!" and the cop says "I guess they fell behind!" and Mac infuriated shouts "Fuck! You're fired! EVERYBODY'S FUCKIN FIRED!!". So, Mac asks "How big is the gap" and the cop says "50 feet! At least!". 

Last of all is the scene where Mac approaches Jack and Annie after they the bus has exploded and Jack introduces Mac to her "Mac, this is Annie, Annie meet Captain MacMahon". So, Mac says to Jack "Well, maybe I'll be a nice guy and let you have the rest of the day off". So, after this, Annie get's her wounds treated from being scraped by the moving platform after fleeing the bus and Jack is with Mac, so one of the cops says to Mac "Sir, that's the bomber, he wants to know when he's gonna get his money" and Mac angrily says "I'll tell him what he can do with his goddamn money!". So, as Mac takes the phone, Jack stops him and says of the bus "He doesn't know it blew up" and Mac says after a beat "5 minutes".

Alan Ruck next is also pretty good and amusing in his role as the somewhat dorky passenger, Doug Stevens, who get's on everybody's nerves with overly chatty personality. 

So, I will mention a few quick scenes, such as the one where Annie arrives on the bus and sits in the row infront of Doug's. So, he decides to try and chat with her and says "First time in LA" and Annie smiles and says "Oh, no, I live here" and Doug says "No, mine. That's funny, no you heard me wrong. I'm sight seeing". Annie then says "Oh really?" and Doug says "Yeah. I hate the word tourist but its not like I can hide it" and Annie rolls her eyes and says "Not really". Doug continues to try and make conversation and says "You know it took me three hours to get here from the airport? I got so lost! LA such a big place, God I sound like such a yokel. There I said it". Annie by now has heard enough and takes some of her chewing gum and spreads it and says "Look, I've got gum on my seat! Gum" and she get's up and moves to another seat.

Another scene is the one where Jack asks Doug to take his phone and tell Harry what Jack sees underneath the bus, as Jack checks for explosives. So, Jack looks under and says "OK, we've got a wad! Pretty big!" and Doug says to Harry "Its a pretty big wad" and Jack says "Brass fittings, I think I can reach the circuit wire" and Jack says "No, no, no! Don't do that, its decoy, classic!". Doug then says to Jack "That's a classic decoy, what else?" and Jack takes a further look below and finds a lot of C4 attached with a gold watch leaving Jack shocked and saying "Fuck me!" and Doug after a pause says "Oh darn!". 

Then we have the moment where Annie is forced to make a difficult tight turn invoving everyone having to go over to the right side of the bus to avoid it tipping over. So, after the bus successfully makes the turn, everyone celebrates with relief except a few like Helen, who panics "Oh my God, we could have died! I can't think!" so Doug as tactful as ever tries to reassure her by saying "Its OK, if you want to, you can go ahead and vomit". Jeeez, this guy is a clown. :-P  

Then there is the scene where after the passenger, Helen is killed, the bus atmosphere becomes alot more grim and tense. So, Doug sits quietly and with a grim look says "I can't be here, I can't...this is the wrong bus. I can't die here" and Ortiz in front of him, says "Hey shut up, man! I got a wife!". So, as another passenger joins in and says "Hey, so if you have a wife and I don't, does that I'm expendable?!" and Ortiz says "He just get's on my nerves" and Doug says "Hey, I think I've got a right to feel upset!" and they argue more until Jack interrupts them. 

Last of all is the scene where the bus is at the airport, and Jack is about to step off and one of the passengers asks if the police will help them and Doug offers a not so sutble reply. So, the passenger asks "Are they going to help us?" and Doug says "Sure they are, they're the police. Hey, your taxes are paying their salaries, if we die, they have to take a pay cut. I mean you know..." as the bus passengers just look at him. 

Last of all is Carlos Carrasco as Ortiz, one of the passengers, who is somewhat hotheaded but does his best to help out when he can during the crisis.

So, I will mention a couple of his scenes, such as the one where just after the passenger Helen is killed on the bus, leaving them all devastated and shaken. So, as Doug says "I can't die here", Ortiz snaps and says to him "Hey man, shut up! I've got a wife!" and one of the other passengers pitches in "So, if you've got a wife and I don't, does that make me expendable?!". Ortiz then says "What are you talking about? The guy is just talking crazy, he's just getting on my nerves".  Doug then says "Oh, yeah? Well I think have a right to be upset after all we've been through..." and Ortiz snaps back "What are you staring at everybody for?! Why don't you just let us all die in peace, that's what is going to happen!". 

Then there is the scene where Jack is going to step off the bus to talk Mac about dealing with Payne much to the surprise of the passengers. So, Jack tells the bus "Just sit tight, I'm gonna get for a minute" and one of the passengers, Mrs Kamino asks "Do you think that's a good idea?" and Doug asks "Are you just gonna leave us here?" and Ortiz says to himself "I would!". 

And last of all is the scene where Jack is under the bus and after failing to disarm the bomb, he struggles to cling onto the platform and puncutres the fuel tank in an effort to cling on underneath. So, Ortiz uses his tools (as he's presumably a construction worker of sorts) to open the floor compartment to pull him up and he looks under and says "I see him! He's alright!!". So, Ortiz reaches for Jack and says "Its OK! I got you!" and he pulls Jack up with a struggle and Ortiz says to him "You're not too bright, man, but you've got some big round hairy cojones!". So, as Jack get's up on his feet he says "That's very gross, Ortiz!" and Ortiz laughs and says "Hey! Can't even pay the guy a compliment!".  

DIRECTOR

So, finally moving onto the director, Jan de Bont, who before this was primarily a cinemaphotographer who worked on films such as Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October and Basic Instinct, and here he does a great job with cranking up the film's suspense. Jan de Bont also confidently handles the film's action sequences such as trying to rescue the elevator passengers to Harry and Jack confronting Payne and to the trials and triabulations of the bus passengers. De Bont himself agreed to direct the film after it was turned by John McTiernan, the director of Die Hard and despite never having directed before this, the results are really solid from De Bont. De Bont would go onto direct the sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, which starred Sandra Bullock but was unfortunately a critical and commercial failure by contrast.

MUSIC 

As for the music score, it was by American composer, Mark Mancina and overall its a pretty good one that fits the tone of the film perfectly but does have a somewhat dated feel to it as it is very 90s sounding. The score's theme is also pretty memorable and it also has a very memorable and actually often used music cue in the scene where Jack and Annie escape the bus. De Bot had chosen Mancina to do the score as he had scored several action films previously and Mancina would go on to score films such as Bad Boys, Twister and Training Day.

FLAWS

As for flaws...yes Speed has a few worth mentioning.

For, starters, it has to be said one of the flaws most worthy of pointing out is to do with the bus making that gap jump over 50 feet, which is frankly ridiculous to suggest it would make it without actually missing the gap or even slowing down below 50 mph. In reality the bus simply would have nosedived and crashed below rather than sailed over the gap, also even if it did make it, the impact would most likely reduce the bus way below 50, leaving the bus to blow up. However, this is just one we need to chalk up to Hollywood licensing with reality! 

Another issue is to do with the notion of Payne being able to see Annie's top, which has the Arizona Wildcats logo on it, as his camera feed is pretty poor and low resolution, not to mention in black and white. Plus, the camera view is pretty wide, so it wouldn't have the telephoto reach to even zoom in and see her top that close either, so yeah its a pretty silly plot moment that doesn't make much sense. 

Then we have the scene where Harry and his team enter Payne's home address, only to find it deserted and he triggers a trip wire, blowing up the house and killing Harry and his team. Now, I have to say that Harry is a bit daft here, as he still had a few seconds to at least try and run out of there before he got killed in the blast but instead he just stands there like a dumbass rather than give himself any chance of survival by trying to run the hell out of there! In fact, the Youtube channel, Cinemasins took a sin of here because of Harry's reaction, as standing there bravely and accepting his fate, when I would have ADDED a sin for Harry not deciding to try and run the hell out of there first!! 

Then there is the moment where Payne says to drop off his money at a drop point in Pershing square (which is a small public park in Downtown L.A.) which is waste disposal bin, however beneath is a hole in the ground. Now, presumably, Payne was the one who drilled the hole himself but how did he do that without being seen or anyone noticing him do it? Either that, or he went there after midnight but even then, L.A. subways tend to run until 2am, so the notion of Payne getting away with this is pretty unlikely.

And then there is the scene where the bus explodes and I just wondered, doesn't Payne have anything to tell him that his bomb went off? On looking this up, Payne should or could have had something like a remote detonator feedback light, indicating when the bomb had exploded but instead Payne purely relies on the news feeds on the incident instead rather than anything like that. Or just maybe even for a man, who claims to be that smart, just didn't think far ahead here! 

Then we have the scene where Payne shoots the subway train driver and he damages the instruments of the train in the process, however in reality, the train itself would have stopped once the driver had been killed as a safety precaution. Also, its pretty silly of Payne to even shoot this up in the first place with no real way of stopping the train in the context of the film regardless.

And last of all is the scene where Payne attacks Jack up on the roof of the subway train as he hits him in the face several times with his detonator. Now, what if he somehow triggered the detonator in doing this? Again it highlights how demented Payne is here and naturally if he triggers the detonator then they're all dead. However, I guess given his plan had gone tits up at this point, Payne no longer cared and wanted to take out his anger on Jack regardless of him blowing themselves up or not!   

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Speed after 32 years, still remains a highly entertaining and suspenseful action film, which has some great action setpieces and its concept of a bomb on a bus, while not revolutionary, does add a neat twist to it with the bomb going off at a certain speed. The performances are also pretty solid overall, with Keanu Reeves in good form in the lead role, as well as a career establishing role from Sandra Bullock, who is also very good in addition to Dennis Hooper, who is excellent as the villain, Howard Payne. Jan De Bont also does a very good job in his directorial debut after being a cinematographer for many years prior to this. 

And yes there are a few plot holes here and there but they aren't enough to really detract from the enjoyment of the film and even over 30 years on, Speed is still worth a revisit.

So, I will rate Speed:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for this post and I might not do one before the end of the month but I will be back soon with another.

Unti then its bye for now!