9021-0 fudge

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Rating: R

Runtime: 105 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 526 million (approximately)

Characters: Axel Foley, Detective Billy Rosewood, Sergeant John Taggart, Jenny Summers, Victor Maitland, Mikey Tandino, Serge, Chief Hubbard, Inspector Todd, Lieutenant Bogomil, Banana Man

Cool Stuff: Crappy Blue Chevy Nova

Cool Music: “Axel F”

Cool Quote: Axel Foley’s laugh

I think this movie is the leader (so far) from my list for having the most uses of the f-word. Well done Eddie Murphy! I never realized this movie was so financially successful. It is one of the top-grossing R-rated films of all time and trails only Titanic for weeks #1 at the box office. And it’s all because of Axel Foley. I can’t imagine anyone else playing the part. Eddie Murphy was perfect. He is surrounded by a solid cast of characters: Rosewood and Taggart are a funny duo, Jenny Summers is a reliable old friend, and Victor Maitland is an evil dude. Throw in an unintentionally funny Serge and a guy known only as the Banana Man and you have yourself 105 minutes of non-stop laughter.

This movie (like many of the other films on my list) has a cool car ... though a crappy blue Chevy Nova isn’t anything to brag about. The soundtrack to the film is pretty sweet, with the best song being the instrumental “Axel F”. I am pretty sure everyone was playing this on their synthesizer growing up. There were several funny lines in the movie, but for me none really stood out ... so I am going to say that Axel Foley’s laugh was the coolest quote. I am guessing everyone was trying to imitate the “Heh, heh, heh”, but the great thing about it, and the movie itself is that only one person was born to be Axel Foley: Eddie Murphy.

This movie is full of action and laughs from start to finish. So if you like your movies with car crashes at the beginning, a shootout at the end, and a “Get the fuck outta here!” and a banana in the tailpipe prank sprinkled in the middle, then you probably enjoyed every minute of it.

Side note: We are halfway through my list of 80s movies! Not officially (15 movies watched/reviewed, 17 to go), but the movies from 1980-1984 are finished and the movies from 1985-1989 remain. This is Salty’s blog so Salty makes the rules.

Next movie to review: The Breakfast Club

I’ll be back ... in seven years

The Terminator (1984)

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 86 million (approximately)

Characters: The Terminator, Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese, Lieutenant Ed Traxler, Sergeant Hal Vukovich, Dr. Peter Silberman, Ginger Ventura, Matt Buchanan

Cool Stuff: The Terminator

Cool Music: If you like Yamaha keyboard sounding music then all of it is cool

Cool Quote: “Come with me if you want to live.”

This is easily the most violent movie on my list so far. First, naked Terminator rips a punk’s heart out, there are lots of guns and lots of car/motorcycle/truck chases, future battles with sweet lasers, an uncomfortable love scene that doesn’t look fun for anyone involved, and a naked Kyle Reese steals a homeless man’s pants. Sarah Connor is the best female character I have reviewed in a while. She is smart, tough, and hot. Kyle Reese is also smart, tough, and hot. But I think the Terminator steals the show. He is a total bad ass and is almost unstoppable.

The music and the special effects are pretty bad ... but that is actually what makes them pretty awesome. In contrast to the Star Wars movies, this sci-fi movie is low budget and a little bit behind the times with technology. But things will get better for director James Cameron. And by better I mean he will direct two movies that had huge budgets, but secretly sucked.

I am almost positive that my choice for cool quote will require me to defend myself ... so here goes. “I’ll be back” is the one that gets all the glory. Personally I think the line is kind of awkward for the scene and doesn’t really work. Sure it becomes Arnold’s go-to line for future films, but it might be a little overplayed at this point. “Come with me if you want to live” is my pick. It works great for the scene ... and if I had seen this movie when I was younger I would have totally tried using it as a pick-up line at a party or at a bar. And like all of my other attempts, it probably would not have worked.

So for years I have been quoting the Terminator arcade game and it turns out, like in many other instances, I was wrong. But I don’t care. I will continue to give Linda Hamilton my sound advice: Sarah Connor ... LOOK OUT!

Next movie to review: Beverly Hills Cop