Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Comedy & Crime
RatedNot Rated
Runtime1 hr 45 mins
ReleasedDecember 5, 1984
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorMartin Brest
StarringEddie Murphy
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Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
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| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Beverly Hills Cop's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Comedy & Crime |
| Rated | Not Rated |
| Released | 12/01/1984 (Los Angeles); 12/05/1984 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Budget | $13M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Beverly Hills Cop's Interests | |
| General | Fancy hotels, made-up excuses, art galleries, banana tailpipes, outtalking security guards. |
| Music | Harold Faltermeyer. 'Axel F' is the synth hook that never left. |
| Movies | 48 Hrs. (1982). Murphy's first cop movie, same quick mouth. |
| Television | Miami Vice. Same decade, same synths, way less smiling. |
| Heroes | Billy Rosewood. The nicest cop in Beverly Hills and Axel's quickest fan. |
| Beverly Hills Cop's Crew | |
| Director | Martin Brest |
| Writers | Daniel Petrie Jr., Danilo Bach (story), Daniel Petrie Jr. (story) |
| Producers | Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer |
| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Music | Harold Faltermeyer |
| Edited By | Billy Weber, Arthur Coburn |
| Production | Paramount Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Eddie Murphy Productions |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Take Eddie Murphy out of Beverly Hills Cop and you’ve got a forgettable TV cop show about smuggling and bearer bonds, plus a villain whose whole personality is a nice suit. Steven Berkoff glares beautifully, but Victor Maitland never says one interesting thing. Nobody remembers the case. Everybody remembers Axel Foley talking his way into rooms he has no business being in: a fancy hotel suite, a members-only club, a rich man’s office. He also makes two buttoned-up local detectives question every choice they’ve ever made. Judge Reinhold’s Rosewood slowly turning into Axel’s biggest fan is the sweetest arc in the film. Bronson Pinchot steals one scene at an art gallery with an accent nobody can place. And that synth theme has never once left the culture. It made $316.4 million worldwide on a reported $13M. A 7.9 because one grin turned a generic cop plot into a classic. $795.99 says you stroll into the next fancy hotel lobby like you own it and lose your nerve at the front desk.
What works: Eddie Murphy’s fast-talking charm turns every scene into a con, and Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are perfect straight men.
What doesn’t: The actual case is a generic smuggling plot, and Victor Maitland is a bland villain with nothing to do but glare.
Who it’s for: Anyone who loves a buddy-cop comedy where the jokes matter far more than the crime.
Spoilers
Axel, Taggart and Rosewood storm Maitland’s mansion together, and Maitland goes down in the final shootout. The chief backs a cover story for all three of them, and Axel leaves town with two unlikely new friends.
Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a Detroit detective who runs unauthorized stings, wrecks half the city and still talks his way out of trouble. Then his childhood friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) turns up with a stash of German bearer bonds, some dangerous men come looking for them, and Axel's boss orders him to stay out of it. So Axel takes a vacation to Beverly Hills, where the trail leads to a smooth art dealer named Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff) and two cops, Taggart (John Ashton) and Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), who are not ready for him. Martin Brest directs. One hundred five minutes, one banana in a tailpipe.
Anyone who can talk their way into a fancy hotel. Bring a Mumford High T-shirt.
| Eddie Murphy | Detective Axel Foley |
| Judge Reinhold | Detective Billy Rosewood |
| John Ashton | Sergeant John Taggart |
| Lisa Eilbacher | Jenny Summers |
| Ronny Cox | Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil |
| Steven Berkoff | Victor Maitland |
| James Russo | Mikey Tandino |
| Jonathan Banks | Zack |
| Stephen Elliott | Chief Hubbard |
| Gilbert R. Hill | Inspector Douglas Todd |
| Bronson Pinchot | Serge |
| Paul Reiser | Detective Jeffrey Friedman |
| Michael Champion | Casey |
| Frank Pesce | cigarette buyer |
| Damon Wayans | banana man |
| Rex Ryon | bonded warehouse security guard |
| Martin Brest | Beverly Palms Hotel checkout clerk |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +400 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $316.4M; Domestic box office $234.8M; Opening weekend $15.2M; Profit / loss (est.) +$138.7M; Rotten Tomatoes 83%; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 83% (58 reviews); Metacritic 66 / 100; IMDb users 7.4 / 10 (235,131 votes); movie.guru score 7.7.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.