Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

John Landis

Writers (WGA):

Danilo Bach (character) and
Daniel Petrie Jr. (character) ...

Release Date:

25 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

It's on!

Plot:

Axel Foley, while investigating a car theft ring, comes across something much bigger than that: the same men who shot his boss are running a counterfeit money ring out of a theme park in Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Theme Park | Counterfeit | Money | Revenge | Beverly Hills California

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Det. Axel Foley
Jon Tenney	...	Levine
Joey Travolta	...	Giolito
Eugene Collier	...	Leppert
Jimmy Ortega	...	Rondell
Ousaun Elam	...	Pederson
Ray Lykins	...	Nixon
Tim Gilbert	...	McKee
Rick Avery	...	Cline
Gilbert R. Hill	...	Insp. Douglas Todd (as Gil Hill)
Dick Purtan	...	Detroit Disc Jockey
Fred Asparagus	...	Bobby
Louis Lombardi	...	Snake
Lindsey Ginter	...	Holloway
Timothy Carhart	...	Ellis De Wald

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby SR | Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1)

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (re-rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) (original rating) | France:U | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | Canada:14+ (Ontario - 2006) | Canada:14A | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | USA:R (certificate #32824) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills Police Department - 464 N Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The Alien Attack ride that Janice (Theresa Randle) demonstrates to Axel when he first comes to Wonderworld is actually the Earthquake section of the Studio Tour at Universal Studios in Hollywood. The alien robots are similar to the Cylons from "Battlestar Galactica" (1978).

Goofs:

Continuity: The hand that the dead guy in the popcorn holds his gun with.

Quotes:

Todd: Axel, you on a coffee break? Go get that son of a bitch.

Movie Connections:

Follows Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Soundtrack:

Stella By Starlight

Murphy sells his soul but I hope he kept the receipt

As incredible as it seems, the only one of the "Beverly Hills Cop" trilogy I'd seen before the other night was the second one which I've seen more times than I'd care to admit. The original has completely passed me by but if it's as bad as this one then I think I'll give it a miss. If ever a film typified the Eighties and the flash-bang appeal of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer then, for me anyway, "Beverly Hills Cop 2" is it but this tired addition to the series has none of the charm or style of the early films. Only Eddie Murphy and Judge "Will Work For Food" Reinhold were daft enough to sell their souls for the sake of this disappointing drudgery.

Murphy returns as Detroit maverick Axel Foley, who is on the trail on the man who gunned his boss down. After a raid on a chop shop ends in the death of Inspector Todd (Gil Hill), a distraught Foley chases the perps to Beverly Hills following his only lead to the distinctly Disney-ish Wonder World theme park. Teaming up once again with his old buddy Rosewood (Reinhold) and his new partner (Hector Elizondo), they track down a group of security guards at the park led by the popular Ellis De Wald (Timothy Carhart). De Wald secretly leads a complex money printing scheme within the park and Foley, still seeking revenge for Tood's death, defies the wishes of the FBI and goes after him in his own, unique way.

Depending on how much you like Eddie Murphy's wide-mouthed shouting and screaming, there isn't a great deal to like about "Beverly Hills Cop 3". Murphy feels out-of-sorts while Reinhold still has the wide-eyed look of someone who is surprised that they're acting in a film at all. The comedy, when it comes, is forced and weak - the bizarre reappearance of the hideously annoying Serge (Bronson Pinchot) signals the sheer desperation of the writers. The plot is so weak that it's difficult to imagine how they sustained it for as long as they did. Remember how Foley tackled heavily armed and highly professional bank robbers in the second film? Here, he faces disgruntled security guards at a theme park. The life and joy of the earlier films is replaced with a lethargic laziness in all areas - acting, story, action, even the predictable romance with the park attendant (Theresa Randle) feels tacked on at the last minute. Throw in some pointless cameos - the most noticeable and enjoyable by George Lucas - and the whole thing feels as fake and tasteless as plastic fruit.

Murphy has displayed an erratic choice of movies throughout his career but this is one of the worst. All it does is make you wish you were watching the earlier films or maybe something like "Bad Boys". Whereas "Bad Boys" is the true successor to the earlier "Beverly Hills Cop" films due to its heavily stylish look and comedic approach to the cop genre, this is tired and rehashed filler. Even the classic synthesiser theme music has been mangled, which shouldn't be surprising but it is disappointing. It feels as if it wants to be a restart for the series but it proves to be the death-knell. It badly misses the attention of producers Simpson & Bruckheimer and even Murphy looks like he's not that bothered. Basically, don't even think about watching this unless you wish to watch the whole series in one sitting. But quite frankly, why would you?