Beverly Hills Cop

One line review: Beverly Hills Cop is a mix of comedic pranks and buddy cop action, and it’s average in both.

Movie Title: Beverly Hills Cop

Actors: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, Steven Berkoff, James Russo, Jonathan Banks, Stephen Elliott, Gilbert R. Hill, Art Kimbro, Joel Bailey, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Reiser

Director: Martin Brest

Year: 1984

Genre: Action / Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 82% – Classic ’80s Murphy vehicle; fun but foulmouthed.

My rating: ***

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): So apparently Dr. Dolittle made Action/Comedy movies before making a ton of family crap, and it didn’t impress me too much. A lot of this movie depends on your enjoying watching Eddie Murphy laugh at his own jokes and enjoying the same electronic music over and over again. The comedy was hit and miss, and I quickly got annoyed with Eddie Murphy, while the action was just slapped on at the end. This is at best an average movie, and I don’t see why it ended up being so memorable. Maybe other people appreciate Eddie Murphy’s antics more than I do.

Rambo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One line review: An entertaining action series that seems to hit all the cliches, but somehow doesn’t abuse them.

Movie Title: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III

Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott, Chris Mulkey, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, George Cheung, Andy Wood, William Ghent, Voyo Goric, Dana Lee, Baoan Coleman, Steve Williams, Kurtwood Smith, Spiros Focás, Sasson Gabai, Doudi Shoua, Randy Raney, Marcus Gilbert, Alon Aboutboul, Mahmoud Assadollahi

Director: Ted Kotcheff, George P. Cosmatos, Peter MacDonald

Year: 1982, 1985, 1988

Genre: Action / Adventure

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 86% – The film that introduced John Rambo is a gripping survival adventure with an emotional ending that’s downright moving. Jerry Goldsmith contributes an excellent musical score.

29% – Far from credible, but a terrific, cheer-out-loud action film nevertheless. Immediately and deservedly made Stallone’s John Rambo a great individualistic screen hero to rival Eastwood’s Dirty Harry.

36% – Always at ground zero in the chaos is Rambo — gloriously, inhumanly impervious to fear and danger — whose character is inhabited by Stallone with messianic intensity.

My rating: **

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): What a strange jump from movie to movie for a trilogy. Despite the fact that the critics rate Rambo so high and it’s sequels so low, I found myself liking all of the movies about equally, although always for different reasons. However, overall I’m not terribly impressed by the series. First Blood starts with an impressive plot, but I don’t enjoy the nearly silent Rambo who ends up giving a dramatic yet completely impossible to understand final speech at the end. Rambo II and III have some decent action, but are ultimately forgettable. There’s some decent action, but not much else.