BEVERLY HILLS COP II: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Paramount, 1987) Paramount Home Video

I have never understood the rank negativity to dog director, Tony Scott's Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). While not in the same league as its predecessor, this one - R-rated and darker in tone, is nevertheless a hell of a good roller coaster ride, peppered in inimitable and hilarious comedy vignettes, ideally suited to its star's strengths. By the Spring of 1984, comedian, Eddie Murphy was very much poised to explode on the scene as a Hollywood heavy-hitter. His legendary 4-year tenure as part of the ensemble in Lorne Michael’s wildly popular television skit franchise, Saturday Night Live, had just come to an end. And in the interim Murphy, signed to Paramount Studios, appeared to great effect in 48 Hrs. (1982), and Trading Places (1983). A valiant successor to Richard Pryor, whose particular brand of bathroom humor Murphy idolized and emulated early on in his own career, albeit, with his own inimitable originality that seemed to suggest he had invented such schtick from scratch, Murphy’s career was about to be catapulted into the stratosphere with his next big screen project: Martin Brest's Beverly Hills Cop (1984). No one could have anticipated the runaway success of Beverly Hills Cop, both critically and financially, a high-water mark of the 1980’s with the lion’s share of praise heaped upon Eddie Murphy for his ‘ghetto charm.’ Indeed, even British novelist, Christopher Hitchens considered the picture ‘flawless’. In its first 5 days, Beverly Hills Cop grossed $15,214,805, attaining the #1 box office spot for a whopping 13 weeks, and returning to the top slot one week later, tying Tootsie (1982) for the most weeks at the top. By the end of its U.S. theatrical run, the picture had grossed a staggering $234,760,478 – the biggest and brightest money maker of the year and the third highest-grossing R-rated movie ever made – falling just behind The Godfather (1972) and The Exorcist (1973). Eager to capitalize on the picture’s success, Paramount proposed a television franchise based on the movie – an offer Eddie Murphy balked at outright. He did, however, agree to a sequel.  Thus, the studio began assembling the necessary assets to launch big screen follow-up. Producers Simpson and Bruckheimer returned to the fray, contracting Tony Scott to direct. Scott was numero uno hot stuff on the Paramount backlot, thanks to Top Gun (1986). Alas, the production was not without its creative differences and behind-the-scenes calamities. For starters, plans to shoot a bigger, glossier production in London and Paris were scrapped when Eddie Murphy absolutely refused to work outside of the continental United States, pointing out that the franchise’s title alone suggested a return to the moneyed playgrounds of Beverly Hills. Hence, the screenplay by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren took its cue from story ideas from Murphy and Robert D. Wachs.

The graver concern involved Don Simpson, whose recreational drug use and wanton lifestyle was gradually eroding his abilities to contribute to the production in meaningful ways.  Since the early eighties, Simpson’s cocaine habit had been common knowledge in Hollywood. Colleagues, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to get Simpson into rehab but to no avail. It would not be until 1995, the year before his death, that Simpson would take their offer seriously. Alas, he chose the unorthodox ‘recovery’ program instituted by Dr. Stephen Ammerman whose own theory about using alternative drugs – including morphine – to combat withdrawal failed, even to save him. Ammerman was found dead in Simpson’s pool house from an overdose of cocaine, Valium, venlafaxine and morphine. That same year, Bruckheimer, tired of making excuses for his producing partner, terminated their alliance shortly before work on The Rock (1996) began. Ultimately, the picture would outlive Simpson, who died on Jan. 19th, 1996. His death, initially attributed to ‘natural causes’ was later revealed in an autopsy, as heart failure brought on by a deadly combination of 21 different drugs, including antidepressants, stimulants, sedatives, and tranquilizers.

Beverly Hills Cop II reunites virtually all of the original principle cast for another outing in these familiar stomping grounds of sunny California. Axel’s return is predicated on his determination to unearth the crime syndicate who tried to gun down Police Captain Andrew Bogomil, presently investigating the ‘Alphabet Crimes’ with Detective Billy Rosewood and Sergeant John Taggart. The picture opens with the ballsy broad-daylight robbery of Adrianna’s, a posh jewelry store in which unsuspecting patrons are terrorized by a statuesque blonde, Karla Fry (Brigitte Nielsen) and her goon squad; the nasty affair, orchestrated by Charles Caine Dean Stockwell), working for Maxwell Dent (Jürgen Prochnow). After the attempt on Bogomil’s life, Axel returns to Beverly Hills to do a little of his own undercover work, prompted by a phone call from the Captain’s daughter, Jan (Alice Adair).  Alas, the balance of power within the precinct has shifted; run by an incompetent and verbally abusive Chief, Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield) who is too busy kissing Mayor Ted Egan's (Robert Ridgley) backside to get to the bottom of the Alphabet Crimes. Enraged after Rosewood calls the FBI to help solve the case, Lutz holds Bogomil responsible and suspends him. Lutz also reduces Taggart and Rosewood to traffic duty. Newly arrived, Axel engages Taggart and Rosewood to assist him in solving the crime at hand.

Posing as an undercover FBI agent, Axel soon makes the connection between the robberies and Dent. Indeed, the ammunition fired at the robberies was custom-crafted by Cain, who manages the Beverly Hills gun club, owned by Dent. Axel has Jan use her connections as an insurance agent to find out about Dent's financial dealings. As it turns out, Dent is robbing his own businesses for the insurance claims, using these ill-gotten gains to finance illegal transactions with arms dealer, Nikos Thomopolis (Paul Guilfoyle). Meanwhile, having foiled a robbery at the bank depot, Axel bamboozles Dent's accountant, Sidney Bernstein (Gilbert Gottfried) into letting him use his computer, discovering Dent and Karla are planning to leave the country. Axel also learns from Jan, all of Dent’s businesses except his race track have had their insurance coverage canceled. Hurrying to the track, Axel solves the latest ‘alphabet riddle’ sent to the police, but is convinced it is a deliberate plant, designed to implicate Cain as the mastermind to throw them off Dent's trail. Having effectively set up Cain to take the fall, Dent now orders Cain to accompany Karla and her thug muscle on the robbery of the track. At the scene of the crime, Karla murders Cain, planting the gun of a dead security guard, thus making it look as though Cain was killed by the guard in self-defense.

Eager to put a period to the investigation, Lutz announces publicly that Cain was behind the Alphabet Crimes. However, Axel notices that the red mud at the track’s stables is identical to similar remnants discovered on Bogomil’s jogging shoes inside his closet at home. Realizing Bogomil was on to Dent, Axel, Taggart and Rosewood arrive at Dent's oil fields where Dent is making his final arms deal with Thomopolis. Engaging Dent and his men in a shootout, Alex makes chase, but is momentarily defeated by Dent, who escapes into the blackened warehouse. In his attempted getaway, Dent drives through a fragile wall, shot through the windshield by Axel, who is superficially struck by the car, which then careens down a steep embankment and bursts into flames.  Karla suddenly appears, gun drawn. She is foiled in her murder of Axel by Taggart, who discharges his pistol, shooting Karla dead instead. As the remnants of Thomopolis’ crew flee, police surround the area – thus, foiling their escape. Accompanied by Mayor Egan, Lutz severely censures Axel, and then publicly humiliates and fires Rosewood and Taggart for their insubordination. Having had quite enough of their superior officer, Taggart and Rosewood stand up to Lutz and reveal Dent as the real Alphabet Bandit. At last convinced of Lutz’s incompetence, Egan fires Lutz on the spot, hiring the newly recovered Bogomil as the new Chief of Police. Egan telephones Inspector Todd to congratulate him on his ‘loan out’ of Axel to help in their investigation. Unknowing of anything that has transpired, Todd chews out Axel over the phone.

While not quite the titanic hit of its predecessor, Beverly Hills Cop II was the most widely anticipated movie of 1987 and debuted at No. 1 at the box office, with an impressive $33 million on its opening weekend – the record-holder until that time. It’s final tally, $153,665,036, marked it as the second biggest world-wide hit of the year, behind Fatal Attraction. Critical reception, however, was mixed. While many cited the picture as being ‘as good as’ if not, in fact ‘better’ than the original, more than a handful of reviewers felt Part II an unimaginative ‘reboot’ of the first movie with no genuine contributions to recommend it. And these assessments were hardly complimented by Eddie Murphy’s outspoken ennui regarding the picture. “Beverly Hills Cop II was probably the most successful mediocre picture in history… it was a half-assed movie…basically a rehash of Cop I, but it wasn't as spontaneous and funny.” With all due respect to the naysayers, the sequel is more than serviceable and, in spots, cleverly engaging. Murphy’s return as the tart-talking Axel Foley is slightly watered down by the movie’s overall tone, darker and more involved in the crime-solving aspects. In hindsight, the first movie’s murder investigation is little more than window-dressing on which Eddie Murphy was allowed to do what Eddie Murphy does best – ad-lib some riotous skits that may not advance the plot, per say, but play as hilarious odes to his comedic genius. 

Paramount gives us a 4K Blu-ray of Beverly Hills Cop II, looking pretty darn spiffy. Color saturation and density could not be better, evoking the rich, often humidity-drenched cinematography of Jeffrey L. Kimball. Contrast is excellent. Blacks are deep and enveloping with zero crush. Grain is heavy but looks very indigenous to its source. Fine details pop as they ought. Absolutely nothing to complain about here. Outstanding and lifelike textures abound. The varying urban landscape gains natural intensity. Dolby Vision advances this color spectrum. So, lots of late 80’s gaudy fashion in eye-popping brilliant hues and authentic skin tones – Brigitte Nielsen’s steely peaches and cream complexion contrasted with Jürgen Prochnow’s 8-miles of bad road ruddy facial features and Murphy’s deep cocoa-skin. It all looks rather spectacular. The DTS 5.1 audio rocks the house with exceptional clarity. It appears to be identical to the original Blu-ray track. This isn’t a bad thing. Dialogue is pristine. SFX are immersive and generate a real sonic boom experience. Alas, Paramount has not seen fit, either to include ANY extra features, or even a Blu-ray copy of the movie for those yet to have ‘officially’ upgraded to 4K. So, you’re buying this one strictly for 4K. That said, Beverly Hills Cop II in 4K is a distinct upgrade from the already very solid Blu-ray release from 2020. Very highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

Beverly Hills Cop II - 4

VIDEO/AUDIO

Overall 5+

EXTRAS

0