15. Beverly Hills Cops (1984)

Code-name: Red Meat

(the quote in question will come later on, no worries)

Director: Martin Brest (other credits includes Al Pacino's Oscar winning "Scent of a Woman" and the ill-fated Bennifer flick "Gigli")

Composer: Harold Faltermeyer

Type: cop film, dramedy, 80's classic

Cast:
Detective Axel Foley- Eddie Murphy
Inspector Todd- Gilbert R. Hill
Detective Billy Rosewood- Judge Reinhold
Sgt. Taggart- John Ashton
Victor Maitland- Steven Berkoff
Lt. Bogomil- Ronny Cox
Jeffrey- Paul Reiser
Jenny Summers-Lisa Eilbacher
Serge- Bronson Pinchot

Notable Win and Nominations:
Grammy- Best Album of Original TV/Movie score
nomination- OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay (Daniel Petrie Jr and Danilo Bach)
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Picture (comedy/musical)
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Actor in comedy/musical- Eddie Murphy

Write-up:

First ImpressionAgain, I don't know just how this movie came to my attention. I just remember picking it up at Blockbuster, interested in seeing a good comedy.
Eddie Murphy was always good for a few laughs and he did not disappoint. If I had to guess, this was after "Mulan" and one of the "Doctor Dolittle" movies... so the early 2000's for sure.
The only other thing that stood out to me was Billy Rosewood. The dude was just hilarious to me... still is, actually.

PlotEddie Murphy plays Axel Foley, a brash talented young detective in Detroit. After the opening credits, we catch up with him as he pulls off a drug bust... he succeeds, but in the process, a lot of public property was damaged. One of many things going array in his career.
The latest thing: one of Axel's friends is murdered outside his apartment after they had a night of drinking and gallivanting and his superior, Inspector Todd, forbids him from going near the case.

So what does Axel do? :-P he interprets the orders as "I don't want you doing this case in Detroit"... so he goes out to Beverly Hills to investigate on what little his friend Mikey told him about the latest job he got hooked up with. He sees their old friend Jenny Summers, asking about the guy who hired Mickey, and he winds up marching to his office. Only to get arrested by the authorities after he makes somewhat of a scene.

The Beverly Hills police decide to keep an eye on him to make sure he stays away from this case. While they fail at THAT, Axel cracks the case open and winds up getting help from the first team sent to "watch" him: the duo of Rosewood & Taggart.

If loving this movie wasn't enough incentive, hearing that those two guys would be back in the sequel did it for me. Whether the sequel is better, I'm not sure. I haven't seen either in a while, but both have great points worth a revisit.

Casting

Obviously the biggest part of this movie's success was Eddie Murphy. Not just because he made Axel Foley one cool cat, but he could improvise like nobody's business. In a way, I guess you could say he was an uncredited writer on this movie because they sometimes used his ideas when they were stuck on how to proceed on a given scene.
The most notable bit of improvisation: the "super cops" scene where Axel tells this story about how Rosewood/Taggart apprehended two thugs at a strip club. Eddie Murphy had this regiment of not doing any drugs, including coffee, while working on this movie. But after working long hours on this, he relented and started drinking coffee. The state he's in during the "super cops"  scene is the result of his first caffeine buzz on set.

It's hard for me to believe that Sylvester Stallone was originally cast for the lead and people like Scott Caan, Richard Pryor, Al Pacino and Mickey Rouke were also considered... for me, that just wouldn't work. It might not have been Eddie Murphy's first role, but it was certainly a "break-out" role for his career.
Part of the reason I wanted to see "Trading Places" and later on, "48 hours," which to me was a gross disappointment. The character he played there was no Axel Foley :P he didn't even get his own theme music (more on that later).

As for everyone else, I think I watched the 3rd Beethoven movie because Judge Reinhold was in it, but I have no memory of it, so it probably wasn't all that great. I think his first role was "Fast Times at Ridgemont HIgh," which again, I have no memory of, but I'm willing to go in for a rewatch because it IS a classic.
Maybe I was just expecting another brat pack-type 80's music, which it really wasn't.

Bronson Pinchot, who plays one of the art gallery employees Serge was in some TGIF sitcom... maybe it was "Step by Step," but again, it wasn't memorable to me. He's a good looking guy and this small role was memorable.

Steven Berkoff played Victor Maitland, a gentleman with quiet confidence and dastardliness, almost in the style of Alan Rickman in "Die Hard."
I didn't think of him much more than just another good movie villain. Then I saw him in "Under the Cherry Moon," a movie Prince starred in and directed in 1986. He and Jerome Benton (Morris Day's partner-in-crime in "Purple Rain") played gigalos that got rich by sleeping with wealthy divorced women. Then Christopher Tracy (Prince's character) falls in love with Mary Sharon (Kristen Scott Thomas's first role), initially after going after her for her $50M trust fund. She falls in love with him too, her daddy (Berkoff) gets angry (he wants her to marry another guy so their families can combine their fortunes) and *SPOILER ALERT* has him killed.

Sure, it's not the best written or directed movie, but killing him off was just senseless to me. But unlike "Less than Zero," I have yet to rewrite a more satisfying ending.
So yeah, I have a small vendetta against Steven Berkoff because of that movie (despite the fact he didn't pull the trigger himself... but then again James Spader only supplied Julian with the drugs that killed him at the end of "Less than Zero" and I have yet to get over that).... the fact "Beverly Hills Cop" came out before "Under the Cherry Moon" doesn't make me feel better about this... Steven Berkoff getting killed at the end of this movie only to come back to life as another character who kills Prince playing a role other than himself.

...all the more reason for me to prep myself with spoilers before seeing the next Avengers movie. If Ultron kills Tony Stark, there's no way I'm getting over that.

Anyway... back to business...


Music
I'll get the "small fries" out the way first.
A lot of great music in this movie, first of all.

The biggest stand-outs are the use of The Pointer Sisters and Patti LaBelle tracks. They feel like part of this movie's identity especially since they're used during the scenes with Axel Foley is in Beverly Hills.
As a little side-note, it was kinda cool on the part of the crew to show a lot of extras and scenery from Detroit and Beverly Hills, giving us a scene of the place Axel Foley is from and the dramatic difference between that and Beverly Hills. I guess you could say it's a "fish out of water" story, but Axel adapts better than anyone else I'd seen in that motif. He certainly stands out with how he looks and dresses, but gets along just fine.

One bit of music I want to draw attention to is at the strip club. The first couple times I watched this movie, I felt like it gave the strip club its own unique vibe and considering how the lyrics kept using the word "nasty" in a provocative way, it was perfect.
Years later, I found out that Prince wrote it for his girl group, Vanity 6. Once I watched the behind-the-scenes on the DVD to see if they mentioned him (I know Eddie Murphy's a big fan because he was at the red carpet for the premiere of "Purple Rain"), but they only said one of the strippers on set recommended it.

Of course, the most notable piece of music is the score. I'd mentioned Harold Faltermeyer briefly in my "Top Gun" review, but this is where he really shines. Watching the movie again just a few hours ago, I was marveling at the genius of how the music was used. Axel Foley has his own unique theme movie that's actually called "Axel F."
Critics of the 80's can nitpick all they want how cheesy it is to have this score carousing in the background, it pulls everything together. Throughout this, I took notice how it was used to paint the tone of the picture. How it explodes right off the bat and then quiets down to build the tension. Notably in one of the earlier scenes where Axel sees his apartment had been broken into, only to find it was his friend.
Then there are times where there's no music at all and it comes back to let us know that "the plot" has resumed.

And for the record, I had pieced together the main part and a few other pieces of "Axel F" on keyboard. It's just a matter of finding the right setting to get the same sound. Haven't found it yet, but then again, I only have a Yamaha.

Other Comments

Another thing I found fascinating, though somewhat disturbing: in the original script, Billy Rosewood dies in a massive chase/explosion scene. It was something Sylvester Stallone wrote but was later deemed too expensive a scene to shoot. Ultimately what saved Billy (Judge Reinhold): his chemistry with Taggart (John Ashton).
The two of them play off each other like an old married couple.

The "red meat" line; funny enough that was a scene improvised at the audition that got both of these guys their designated roles, and made it into the movie.
The set-up: Rosewood and Taggart are waiting in front of the Beverly Hills Palm Hotel for Axel to return (he was checking out a warehouse, following a lead about Mikey's murder). While killing time, we see a couple scenes of them where Billy makes a comment and we laugh at Taggart's reaction.
My favorite:
Billy (reading a magazine): Wow. You know, it says here that by the time the average American is fifty, he's got five pounds of undigested red meat in his bowels.
Taggart: Why are you telling me this? What makes you think I have any interest in that at all?
Billy: Well, you eat a lot of red meat.

GREAT chemistry between these two. Billy's the happy-go-lucky yet responsible young guy and Taggart is the stoic, by the rules, professional.

Lots of random scenes in general where things seemed so outlandish but they worked for the comedic aspects.
One priceless bit of pop culture from this movie: the banana in the tail pipe scene. Never mind that, I was bugging about the fact Axel had room service serve the cops in their stake-out unmarked car. That just blew my mind that he got away with that.
Pretty much, Axel can talk his way into anything, but getting out often proves to be the tricky part of the deal.

I also love how he starts to grow on the other cops. One of the big payoffs of the "super cops" dialogue: after Taggart blows up Axel's story with the truth, Axel explains how his story was working and they messed up; we get a smile from their boss, Lieutenant Bogomil.

A lesson that Taggart made sure NOT to forget at the end of the movie after this big shoot-out scene.
Speaking of which, Billy has some great comedic moments in these final moments. Firstly when he barely gets to run the Miranda rights past the gunmen at Victor Maitland's estate and then he tells Taggart how their predicament is reminding him of the end of "Butch Cassidy"... one of two reasons I wound up watching that movie ;)

As for the sequels: I'd seen both of them. I have next to no memory of the third, only that Billy returns but not Taggart and Serge gets a little extra scene time.
As for the 2nd one, it's like with the "Karate Kid," it stands up to the original really well, but I wouldn't necessary say it surpasses it. What I found hilarious about it: they reveal how Billy is a bit of a gun enthusiast with Axel and Taggart worrying that he might have issues with the amount of firepower he possesses.

"Billy, we gotta talk" is the running gag throughout the 2nd half of the movie.

76. Top Gun (1986)

Code-name: Loggins theme

Director: Tony Scott (may he rest in peace)
Type: Action, Comedy, Drama

Cast:
Pete Mitchell/"Maverick"- Tom Cruise
"Goose"- Anthony Edwards
Charlie- Kelly McGillis
"Ice-Man"- Val Kilmer
"Viper"-Tom Skerritt
"Jester"-Michael Ironside
"Merlin"- Tim Robbins
"Stinger"- James Tolkan

[Personal Notations]

When it comes to my favorite movies that came out during my year, this is probably at the top of that particular list... with the exception of one other, I believe, in my top 10, if not the top 20.

We go way back... I first saw this when I was at least ten...
and it all started with the soundtrack.

It was either in 1995 or 1996 when I got into Power Rangers. Loved the show and the martial arts that came with it. On that basis alone, I wanted to take karate. When I told my dad, he said that if this was something I wanted to commit to, it had to be for more than that. 
It had to be about what I wanted for myself, to make myself better.
Something to that effect...

Anyway, long story short, I got my black belt in Tang Soo Do in 1998. 
About a year later, I had to "retire" because I needed surgery to take care of the scoliosis I had no idea I had until that particular summer...
I use quotes for "retire" because I had had enough around that point. It didn't excite me nearly as much as it used to.

But one time during every class session, we would set up a relay where we did a number of various exercises up and down the floor. Everything from rolling into a kick to punching targets being held by junior instructors or doing push-ups.
My instructor always played the "Top Gun" soundtrack, so we did punches, kicks and so on to "Danger Zone" and "Mighty Wings", sometimes we'd go a little beyond that.

Eventually, I got my own copy for my birthday. And truthfully, I had not listened to it in AGES.

[A nod to Kenny Loggins and Harold Faltermeyer]

Both of whom are responsible for the awesome soundtrack...
Other artists included Miami Sound Machine, Cheap Trick and the infamous Berlin hit "Take my breathe away."

Interesting bit of trivia I just found:
"Danger Zone" was originally considered for Toto and REO Speedwagon, but I guess someone figured Kenny Loggins was the king of 80's soundtracks.
"Caddyshack" and "Footloose" come to mind.

And supposedly a lot of artists were either tapped to record for the movie or be part of the soundtrack, a lot of whom turned it down because they didn't agree with something the film stood for. 
Such a polarizing time, the 80's, what with the Cold War looming and such.

Of course, 80's fans know that Harold Faltermeyer is awesome for his various contributions to musical scores... this is a taste of what's to come further down this list.

[The Cast]

Amazingly a lot of people were considered for the role of Maverick... a larger number turned it down including "Outsiders" castmates Swayze and Emilio Estavez... a lot of strange, nerdy choices like Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack as well.
Also considered were "outer" members of the Brat Pack including Rob Lowe, Eric Stoltz, and Charlie Sheen... even Robert Downey... I'm not sure how seriously they considered him for this role with him fresh off the set of "Weird Science"... for the dramatic parts of the movie, I'm sure he would have been excellent, but in the wide scope of things, I just don't see it.
John Travolta was also considered, but supposedly they decided against it because they didn't have a check big enough to cash in response to his massive price tag.

When I think of Maverick, I think of someone that's a bit of a rouge, reckless in everything they do, but Tom Cruise fits the part to a T because he just had the right look for that character.
The first movie I saw him in and I'd always kinda had a soft spot for his work since then.

Except for "Rain Man," I'm not as impressed with the rest of his work in the 80's.
Just one of those actors who got better with age.
I just prefer to reflect on him through his work rather than what he does with his personal life (Scientology and otherwise).

Anthony Edwards is one of my mom's favorite actors. She loved Goose.
Now that's the dude all of those nerdy actors should have been considered for, the name is just goofy enough to fit their descriptions.
He's a great character, though, with a lot of range. He knows when to keep it serious, to reel Maverick in when he needs to be, and the two of them together make a good comedy team. Not the greatest... but good enough for constant entertainment during the lighter moments.

We have Val Kilmer in his first big role. 
It'd be a couple years before I appreciated his actor, although I hadn't seen much of him.
Ice-Man is very similiar to Maverick with their cockyness and their hot physiques, but, as his call sign implies, his flying style is clean, cut and smooth. He's not a huge risk-taker. 

Shawshank fans will recognize Tim Robbins, although you see very little of his face. Most of the time, he's up in the air wearing his designated flight helmet.

Kelly McGillis, as Maverick's flight instructor, and Tom Skerritt as the top commander of the Top Gun flight school, I can't help but identify with their given roles.
But I hadn't seen much them since this movie either.
A lot of people were kinda shocked when she came out of the closet a while back, especially after she did those steamy scenes with Tom Cruise. 
You just never know sometimes, but it really makes no difference. What matters is that people give their best to their roles.

[Plot points]

ample spoilers from here on out

Our story begins with a typical mission.

Maverick and Goose are in the air with ace flyer Cougar and Merlin, taking care of a couple bogeys.
In one bit of hilarity, Maverick inverts his plane to look down on one of his foes, Goose takes a picture with a Polarid and the dude, rolling his eyes, leaves the airspace. 
But because this bogey had given Cougar a lot of trouble, he has a panic attack so bad that Maverick, defying his orders to return to base,  coachs him back to the aircraft carrier. With his wife and new baby in mind, Cougar decides that the best thing for him is to quit, having lost the edge he needs to be a part of this.

A lot of great lines in this movie.

Even when it isn't meant to be funny, I love this next scene where Stinger (who played the principal in "Back to the Future") tears into Maverick and Goose for disobeying orders. But despite all the stuff he says, he confessed to them that they are now #1 (with Cougar's exit) in his division and they're getting his spot at the Top Gun flight school.

Most of the plot is generated from Maverick, somewhat of a polarizing personality with the way he handles things, and how he makes it through the training at this school. 
He's not well-liked by many of his peers, so luckily, he has Goose to back him up.

Then we have the subplot of the romance blossoming between Maverick and Charlie.
He first meets her at a bar where his pick-up-line is to sing "You've lost that loving feeling."
(Why is that not on the soundtrack, people?! I still haven't figured that out yet).

There are literally too many good quotes to name all at once during the first 20 minutes of this movie, but each one is worth coming back to with each viewing. The bar scene is the first time many of them crop up in one place.

Next is the exercise where Maverick and Goose are in a training exercise with Jester. The instrumental for "Mighty Wings" plays in the background. He proves to be a slick adversary and they do beat him... but again, bending the rules ever so slightly, by crossing below the minimum altitude for just a few seconds.
Maverick goes on to celebrate this victory by "buzzing the tower"... speeding by the flight tower, something he has a reputation for doing. 
Only this time, a dude in the tower happens to have hot coffee in hand and in his surprise, promptly spills it all over himself.

Not even two minutes after this incident, he runs out of the office after reporting this incident to "Viper", only to run into this poor intern wearing a sailor outfit (these pilots are part of the Navy, so I guess that explains things a bit) holding a tray of coffee cups.

"Damn it! That's twice! (off screen) I want some butts!"
ah, the coffee guy

"Viper" gives Maverick a stern talking to, explaining that the rules exist for their safety and aren't made to be broken. 

Regarding the relationship with Charlie, she arrives on site as an astrophysicist, a guest from D.C., to lend her expertise.
She and Maverick see each other off-site because a student-teacher relationship would be highly unprofessional. 
Naturally there's a little tension when their personal and professional lives clash.

My memory isn't as great as it could be, but if I remember right, it kinda feels like their relationship disappears for a while and really isn't mentioned until the latter portions of the movie. 

As was the case with "Trading Places," this movie tanks a little bit after the climax of the plot. 
Here, we have the clichéd third act... where the hero is plagued by self-doubt in response to some great awakening or tragedy and he must rise to the occasion or else risk oblivion, whether it's in the figurative or literal sense. 

I forget what I was watching recently, but someone in a show or movie was talking about seeing "Top Gun" for the first time and someone accidentally blabs that Goose dies. 

Maverick and Goose are doing another exercise when, all of the sudden, the plane goes out of control. They eject, but Goose hits the ejected plane canopy (Wikipedia says he broke his neck  and died instantly).
It is ruled that Goose's death was not Maverick's fault, but the fault of the plane itself.

This breaks him so bad that he decides, after one failed mission with his new co-pilot Hollywood, never to fly again.
No matter who tries to console him, it's to no avail.

What does help him come out of it is when he sees Viper at his house, where he tells him about flying with Maverick's father- someone who'd been alluded to a couple times, but we don't hear much about. 
Again, my memory is lacking around this point, so I can't go too into it. But in my defense, it's a great bit of dialogue from Tom Skerritt.

The following scene is Graduation, where "Ice-Man" awarded the trophy for being the "best of the best." Then an emergency situation is at hand and all of the pilots need to go in the air to take care of the enemy. 
Maverick gets back in the saddle and even though "Viper" himself offers to be his co-pilot, he decides to pick "Merlin," who we really haven't seen since the opening parts of the movie.

Long story short, the good guys win.
Maverick tells "Stinger" he plans on becoming a Top Gun instructor (to which he says "God help us"... laughing it off meaningfully.
And he and Charlie are back together, if they were ever apart to begin with... again, they don't go into detail about it.