Beverly Hills Cop
Short description
Axel Foley is a Detroit police detective whose unorthodox methods have worn thin with his superiors, even though they cannot argue with his results. When an old friend from his past is killed, Axel decides to investigate the case himself after he is kept off it. His search leads him to Beverly Hills, where the trail runs through an art gallery owned by the wealthy Victor Maitland. Far from home and unwelcome among the polished local police, Axel has to rely on his nerve and his talent for talking his way into places he does not belong.
The film was directed by Martin Brest and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. It was the first of five features Brest made, followed by Midnight Run, Scent of a Woman, Meet Joe Black and Gigli. Eddie Murphy plays Axel, with Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as two Beverly Hills detectives drawn into his investigation, Lisa Eilbacher as his friend Jenny Summers, Ronny Cox as Lieutenant Bogomil, and Steven Berkoff as Maitland.
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson for Paramount, the film cost about 14 million dollars and earned roughly 316 million worldwide, a return that made it one of the year's biggest commercial successes. Audiences have rated it 7.4 out of 10 on IMDb across some 231,000 votes, and 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB. Critics gave it 7.4 out of 10 from 58 reviews, closely matching the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- A significant portion of the jokes in the dialogue was the result of improvisations by Eddie Murphy, John Ashton, and Judge Reinhold. Hundreds of takes were ruined during filming because members of the crew, the actors, or even the director themselves couldn't contain their laughter.
- Eddie Murphy became very tired during filming at the police station. He was offered coffee, but he refused, as he doesn't take any stimulants at all. Eventually, he gave in and started sipping coffee little by little to stay awake, but the coffee overstimulated him and he began to crack jokes.
- In the scene of Police Chief Hubbard's first appearance on screen, played by Steven Elliott, he enters carrying rolled-up sheets of paper. In reality, this was a revised version of the script that Elliott was given just a couple of minutes earlier.
- The script was a patchwork of numerous screenplays developed over several years. Whenever there was a snag, Eddie Murphy would step in and improvise dialogue or a scene on the spot.
- The actual Beverly Hills City Hall was used as the filming location for the Beverly Hills City Hall. It looked quite dilapidated on the outside, and the plants were already dying, so the film crew added some polish and planted new ones.
- In an attempt to locate Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold’s characters, the Los Angeles Police Department uses a "satellite tracking system." At the time, this was purely fictional. A similar system was later invented, becoming a prototype for the modern GPS system.
- Sylvester Stallone was originally considered for the role of Axel Foley, but he preferred to work on the film 'Cobra' (1986), where he starred alongside his wife, Brigitte Nielsen. She played the main female role in 'Beverly Hills Cop II' (1987).
- The Beverly Hills Police Department did not grant permission to film at headquarters, so director Martin Brest and his crew had to build sets. They constructed them according to Brest’s plans for the thriller “WarGames” (which was released in 1983, but directed not by Brest, but by John Badham) and concepts he never actually used.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
