48 HRS

Rating:
Summary: Murphy's vehicle to fame
Review: "48Hrs" is Eddie Murphy's first movie, but do not expect anything like "Dr. Doolittle". If you don't remember, in the 80s Murphy was a foul mouthed comedian. His first movies were mostly 80s action movies, with a lot of gratuitus sex and violence. "48 Hrs" is about a killer and theif Gantz who escapes from prison and gets back to San Francisco to reclaim his money from his last job. Cop Nick Nolte springs Gantz's last partner, Hammond (Eddie Murphy) to find the money and catch Gantz. Nolte is always in a bad mood, he is just as foul mouthed and rascist as Murphy. But there banter is funny in a 'man's man' kind of way. This movie is very violent, but not too gory. Murphy is certainly the life of this party, but it is a Walter Hill movie, so the action is the name of this game.

Rating:
Summary: Murphy's vehicle to fame
Review: "48Hrs" is Eddie Murphy's first movie, but do not expect anything like "Dr. Doolittle". If you don't remember, in the 80s Murphy was a foul mouthed comedian. His first movies were mostly 80s action movies, with a lot of gratuitus sex and violence. "48 Hrs" is about a killer and theif Gantz who escapes from prison and gets back to San Francisco to reclaim his money from his last job. Cop Nick Nolte springs Gantz's last partner, Hammond (Eddie Murphy) to find the money and catch Gantz. Nolte is always in a bad mood, he is just as foul mouthed and rascist as Murphy. But there banter is funny in a 'man's man' kind of way. This movie is very violent, but not too gory. Murphy is certainly the life of this party, but it is a Walter Hill movie, so the action is the name of this game.

Rating:
Summary: 20+ years and it hasn't aged a day
Review: Ah, 48 Hrs. Simply put, one of the greatest movies ever made. I've probably seen this movie about 10 times in the past decade, and it never grows tiresome. While it's loosely classifiable as a "buddy movie," this is no stupid Chris Farley-David Spade-type vehicle. With career-defining performances from both Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, this is one of the few movies that have managed to successfully bring together the action and comedy genres. The dialogue is smart, the action is frequent, and the plot moves at a breakneck pace. In other words, it's American filmmaking at its finest. What more could you want?

Even more than most cop movies, 48 Hrs. succeeds at capturing the tense, harrowing atmosphere that comes with urban street life. Even on the nice new widescreen DVD I just got, there's a rather dark and gloomy feel to this movie that's only somewhat offset by Murphy's considerable comedic abilities. The movie starts with a bunch of officers of the law being murdered, and it doesn't get much nicer from there. 48 Hrs. revels in the seemier side of the city, a world populated by hookers, drug dealers, and assorted other lowlifes. Foreshadowing the emergence of brutally realistic cop dramas like The Shield, even the cops are somewhat unsavory figures.

48 Hrs. is a quintessential guy movie, combining tons of azz-kicking action with the kind of gritty realism at which director Walter Hill excels. Hill doesn't pull too many punches here, as there are people being cut down by gunfire every few minutes, explicit sexual references, some gratuitous nudity, and frequent profanity highlighted by numerous uses of the "N word." In one especially hilarious scene, a police captain directs the latter epithet at Murphy's character, which wouldn't be all that notable if the captain weren't black himself. In general, 48 Hrs. provides the kind of politically incorrect look at race relations that's increasingly hard to find these days, as Nolte's gruff cop Jack and Murphy's slick convict Reggie become symbolic (at least initially) of the often dim views of each other that blacks and whites hold. There are stereotypes both black and white to be found here, but hey, it's the '80's.

When it's not busy examining the state of race relations in America circa 1982, 48 Hrs. offers the kind of memorable scenes that are all too rare in the often by-the-numbers cop-movie genre. Reggie's handling of a redneck bar replete with Confederate flags and a topless dancer in a cowboy hat is justifiably legendary, and there's also a bruising back-alley brawl between Jack and Reggie, a gunfight staged between a moving car and a city bus, and the tense concluding standoff in yet another abandoned alley. There's no frenetic cutting or abundance of CGI effects to be found, but in their place is something more valuable: good direction.

In the end, you'd be hard-pressed to think of a cop movie made since this one that compares to it (well, except for L.A. Confidential, but that's a given). Hill, Murphy, and Nolte were all obviously at their peaks here, and the result is a movie that succeeds at everything it tries. I heard there was also a sequel to this movie made, called 48 More Hrs. or something like that, although I've also heard from some corners that no such thing ever happened. At any rate, this movie is the goods. If you've never seen it, you can officially consider yourself sad.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Owning on DVD
Review: At less than $15, this movie should be flying off the shelves. Both Nolte and Murphy are great. Their characters are are perfectly scripted to each actor's abilities and personality. Murphy plays a loudmouth penny ante punk. Nolte plays a grumpy, rascist tough guy. They, of course, learn to respect and like each other as they chase down the bad guys. The story isn't bad either. The soundtrack is good and 48 Hrs is set all over San Francisco. If your a fan of either or of comedy action or movies set in SF, you can't go wrong. My favorite Eddie Murphy movie.

Rating:
Summary: Cop and Robber catch bigger robber
Review: Confortable formulaic action flick with some silly, laughable racist overtones, but Nolte/Murphy fans will enjoy the action and constant slapstick. Nothing great but worth a few laughs.

Rating:
Summary: Forced Partnership
Review: Eddie Murphy followed others from SNL as me emerged from Mr Rogers sketches and began his movie career. It was 1982 and people wanted to laugh as the US economy was struggling back from its worst period since the great depression. Eddie Murphy teamed with Nick Nolte, who got his fame as the bad boy brother from "Rich Man Poor man" and EM and NN were tremendous together. This movie created a lot of "buzz" where I worked and of course we got a 48 Hours II. Nick was the big star payroll wise, but in his first movie, EM shows the promise, which I believe he has fulfilled in becoming one of our greatest movie actors. For sheer talent is there anyone better than Eddie Murphy?

I give this only 4 stars because of the language and violence which makes it not family friendly. So put the little ones to bed, sit back and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Forced Partnership
Review: Eddie Murphy followed others from SNL as me emerged from Mr Rogers sketches and began his movie career. It was 1982 and people wanted to laugh as the US economy was struggling back from its worst period since the great depression. Eddie Murphy teamed with Nick Nolte, who got his fame as the bad boy brother from "Rich Man Poor man" and EM and NN were tremendous together. This movie created a lot of "buzz" where I worked and of course we got a 48 Hours II. Nick was the big star payroll wise, but in his first movie, EM shows the promise, which I believe he has fulfilled in becoming one of our greatest movie actors. For sheer talent is there anyone better than Eddie Murphy?

I give this only 4 stars because of the language and violence which makes it not family friendly. So put the little ones to bed, sit back and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Fun cop buddy flick
Review: Eddie Murphy made his debut in this Walter Hill film, and he is really the star here, even though Nick Nolte gets top billing. Nolte does a fine job, but his part is not as showy, and one's eyes are not drawn to him as much as Murphy, at his best in the country-western bar scene.

You probably know the story, but I'll summarize it here by saying that this is simply a buddy movie with an antagonistic twist. Murphy is the con, in for three years with six months left. Nolte is the cop on a search for James Remar, who stole a lot of money with Murphy long ago.

The story is set up as a mystery, with the pair questioning several possible connections, but the story doesn't really matter. The main attraction is the relationship between Murphy and Nolte and the slow growth towards friendship.

One complaint is that since this was filmed in 1982, they had a different idea of gritty police drama than today. The police department's atmosphere is incredibly tame compared to shows like NYPD Blue. Nolte does his best, chain-smoking and nipping from a flask (I read once you could tell an '80's movie by how much they smoked), but he still doesn't come across as jaded as any scene with Andy Sipowicz.

It's still fun and good entertainment, especially if you are looking for a film with an American Indian character that dresses like a '50's relic.

Rating:
Summary: BEFORE ''BEVERLY HILLS COP'', THERE WAS ''48 HRS.''
Review: EDDIE MURPHY REALLY MADE AN ASTONISHING DEBUT IN THIS 1982 ACTION/COMEDY. A COP [NICK NOLTE] SEARCHES FOR TWO RECENT JAIL ESCAPEES, BUT HE SOON REALIZES IN ORDER TO GET THESE KILLERS AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE, HE HAS TO HAVE THE HELP OF A CONVICT [EDDIE MURPHY] WHO USED TO WORK WITH THESE ESCAPEES. THIS FOUL MOUTHED ACTION/COMEDY IS NOTHING SHORT OF A CLASSIC. THIS IS THE MOVIE THAT MADE EDDIE MURPHY A WORLD FAMOUS MOVIE STAR. ONE SCENE TO REALLY BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR; WHEN EDDIE MURPHY TERRORIZES A REDNECK/COUNTRY BAR. YOU'LL LOVE THAT SCENE, I PROMISE. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE. IF YOU ALREADY HAVEN'T, I SUGGEST YOU DO. FOLLOWED 8 YEARS LATER BY ANOTHER 48 HRS.

Rating:
Summary: A Hard-Hitting and Still Original Buddy Flick.
Review: Even Now, Decades after it's Theatrical Release, "48 Hours" is Almost (see below) as Fresh as Ever. Like "Reservoir Dogs", "48 Hours" had Many Imitators, but None of them reached the Intensity, the Realism or the Laugh Level of this True Original.

Eddie Murphy plays it Quite Dramatically (but, of course, he's Still Hilarious) as Reggie Hammond, a Convict with a 2-day Leave pass thanks to Detective Jack Cates (Nick Nolte, playing the role that led him to Gravel-voiced Greatness), who needs Reggie to help him track down two Chain-gang Escapees who used to be part of Reggie's Crew. It's a Simple story, and a Tired Formula. Two Men, one White, one Black, from Opposite sides of the law, forced by Circumstance to Team Up. From "Bullet proof" to "Fled", from "Hard Rain" to "The Negotiator", many films have been down this road, but Rarely have they done it so Originally, so Comically, so Violently or so Realistically. "48 Hours" doesn't Shy Away from the Race issue either, which is a Brave thing. In the End though, I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 as it does have a few Slow points and it is Starting to look a little Dated the more I watch it. Nolte's Outfits look like the stuff Bogart used to wear.

Walter Hill's Directing style was still in the Growing phase, but it is that Unassured-ness that brought out the Best in him, he has since Lost the Originality on display here. Eddie Murphy's debut was a Street-smart one, he looks the part, he walks the walk, talks the talk and he proves himself a Natural-Born Talent. It is His film and Nolte seems Quite Happy to be the Co-star. Like I said above, "48 Hours" is Starting to look a little Dated with Every Passing year, but it's Surprising that it's held up This long. It Still holds the title of "Best Buddy Movie" in many people's eyes, it may not in Mine, but it Is up there.