48 HRS

Story

Before the action-oriented "buddy movie" formula settled into place in the 1980s and 1990s with the Lethal Weapon films, Walter Hill's 48 HRS. presented a much more irreverent and politically incorrect version of the genre. Eddie Murphy made an auspicious film debut alongside veteran Nick Nolte's consummate performance as a worn cop. Murphy plays a convict on a two-day furlough from prison to help capture his former partner (James Remar). The intense animosity between his character and Nolte's impatient detective is rude and violent--albeit in a comic way--and the film's racist and sexist banter is so ubiquitous that some viewers might be turned off. (This early, raw Murphy is not the Murphy of The Nutty Professor.) Then again, sometimes deliberate overkill is funny in itself, which is certainly closer to Hill's intention. There are a couple of scenes for the ages in this film, especially Murphy's single-handed shutdown of the action in a redneck bar. --Tom Keogh

DVD Features

• Color
• Subtitled
• Widescreen

Theatrical International release dates:
Europe: Mar 4, 83

Movie Details

Cast:

Brion James
David Patrick Kelly
Eddie Murphy
Nick Nolte
James Remar
Annette O'Toole
Denise Crosby

MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 96
DVD Aspect Ratios: 1.85

International rating:

Europe: 18

DVD International release dates:
North America: Jan 26, 99
Europe: Sep 4, 00

VHS International release dates:
Europe: Jun 4, 01