Beverly Hills Cop II

Summary

“There’s not supposed to be any right angles in this building!”

Beverly Hills Cop was made for $13 million and grossed $316 million. It was the highest grossing film of 1984 and at the time it was the highest grossing comedy ever made. This guaranteed that a sequel would be made to cash in on the success of the first film. Luckily, Beverly Hills Cop II is one of the rare sequels that is, for the most part, an equally enjoyable film to the first. I had watched Beverly Hills Cop on UHD the prior night with the hope of watching the sequel in UHD. Watching the films back to back was a good exercise, because I was able to see the differences in the films both good and bad. I was excited to revisit the sequel.

As the film begins, a tall blonde woman (Brigitte Nielsen) in a white coat arrives with an entourage at a jewelry store in Beverly Hills. She robs the jewelry store at gunpoint with her crew dressed in ski masks. They have every action timed out to avoid being brought in by the police. On their way out the door, they leave behind a letter that is addressed to “A.” In Detroit, cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is working undercover to take down a credit card counterfeiting operation. This allows him to wear fancy suits and drive a Ferrari, much to the chagrin of his superior, Inspector Todd. His friend, Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) reaches out to Axel to let him know that their fishing trip will need to be postponed because of the Alphabet Crime case. Andrew seems to have some solid leads in the case, but he doesn’t discuss them over the phone with Axel. There is a new chief named Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield) that has been clearing house at the station since taking over. When Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) calls an FBI agent to help crack the Alphabet code, the Chief suspends Bogomil for the overreach performed by his men. He puts Rosewood and Taggart (John Ashton) on traffic duty. Andrew takes some documents to his car and heads out from the office. On his way home, he tries to help a lady with a broken down car. She hands him a letter that says “B” and then Andrew is shot twice by a passing car. He is left for dead. When Axel hears the news he wraps up part of his investigation. He finds a way to make his supervisor beleive that he has gone deep undercover in Detroit. He gives the keys to the Ferrari to Jeff (Paul Reiser) to cover for him, and he flies to Beverly Hills to help his friends locate the Alphabet Killer.

Beverly Hills Cop II is a solid sequel. There are some trade offs that are made between the two films. I believe that the script of the first film is a little bit tighter, and the dialogue is funnier than in the second picture. I believe that the cinematography and direction of Beverly Hills Cop II is superior to the original. The direction by Tony Scott is excellent with wonderful cinematography by Jeffrey L. Kimball.  The colors are much bolder than in the prior film. The film lives in a perpetual sunset shade that I absolutely love. Tony Scott had directed Top Gun one year earlier, and Beverly Hills Cop II further cemented his status as one of the most visually driven directors of the Eighties. I wish that Tony Scott was still around to direct action films, but he sadly committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 68. I am happy that his work has found so much praise in the years since his death. Both films feature a great cast, but I believe the second film has a better cast than the first due to the casting of Jurgen Prochnow, Dean Stockwell, and an extremely memorable performance by Brigitte Nielsen.

The film brings back the same great ensemble of supporting players as the first film with only a couple exceptions. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton both return. Reinhold’s Billy has the biggest personality change from the prior film and really cuts loose in the sequel. Ronny Cox returns as Lieutenant Bogomil. Many of the memorable bitplayers also return including Paul Reiser as Axel’s colleague Jeff, Bronson Pinchot as Serge, and Gilbert R. Hill returns as Inspector Todd. One aspect that sticks out when watching the sequel directly after the first film is that the character of Axel is played more loudly by Eddie Murphy than in the first film. Murphy was a hot commodity that knew full well that he was about to make millions off of the success of this sequel. I think it comes across in the performance. The performance may be just a little too cocksure for my liking compared to the first film’s performance, but it is still a lot of fun. I don’t want that to come off as if I didn’t enjoy Murphy’s performance in the sequel, I just thought his performance in the first film showed more range and a little more restraint.

At the end of the day, which picture is a better film? Ultimately, the fact that this is even up for debate means that Beverly Hills Cop II is a rarity – a successful sequel.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, Beverly Hills Cop II looks fantastic in its UHD presentation. Fine detail is excellent with well resolved grain. The colors pop off the screen thanks to the work of director Tony Scott and cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball. The HDR brings out the very best of the film’s colorful palette. This is one of the better looking pictures from that time period. It looks great. This is an improvement over prior releases of the film for certain, and the HDR is a big enough selling point to recommend purchasing the 4K UHD release of this film.

Audio

Paramount has presented the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that was featured on the prior remastered Blu-ray release in 2020. This track is a good sounding track which has more surround activity and immersion than the prior film. While an Atmos track would be a great addition, I was fairly impressed with the current presentation. The film’s dialogue comes through very clearly, and the action and music stand out better than on the first picture. Fans will be pleased.

Supplements:

There are no supplements

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 0/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Beverly Hills Cop II is a sequel that I believe in many ways to be just as enjoyable as the first film. While I like Eddie Murphy’s performance and some of the dialogue in the first film better than in the second, the second film’s direction and cinematography stand out above the first. Tony Scott’s visual style is extremely appealing. Buoyed by fun performances by Jurgen Prochnow, Dean Stockwell, and Brigitte Nielsen, the second film is memorable on its own account. Paramount’s UHD release has a beautifully realized video transfer with one of the best uses yet of HDR, and the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is of high quality. Fans of the picture should not hesitate to experience the film on UHD.