Beverly Hills Cop III (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
The Beverly Hills Cop series has always varied in quality. The first film is an unquantifiable 80’s classic that was a huge hit in its era, making Eddie Murphy a superstar. The sequel carried 80’s excess and although it did very well, was critically savaged. By the time Cop III rolled around, not even Eddie Murphy was interested. The film didn’t perform well and critically was murdered upon release. There are a very limited few that can say they enjoy the third film all that much, but as most collectors do, we must complete the set. And here we have Cop III arriving on 4K UHD Blu-ray in time for its 30th anniversary. Of course, this one has memories attached to it for me, and so I have a soft spot for the film. Read all about it below and click the cover art for a paid Amazon link to get your own copy, should you feel so compelled!
Film 
Eddie Murphy returns to the iconic role of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop III. Investigating the murder of his beloved police chief, Axel attempts to take down a crime ring that leads him back to Beverly Hills and the Wonderworld amusement park. Aided by his pal Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Foley infiltrates the park and uncovers the dirty dealings one mishap at a time.
I wrote that little piece all by myself! Cop III really is that simple of a story. Eddie Murphy was at this point in his career in the midst of a troublesome time. Besides Boomerang, a fantasic romantic comedy from 1992, Murphy’s career was kind of in the dumps at this point. Harlem Nights, Another 48 Hrs., and The Distinguished Gentleman all failed to bring butts to movie theater seats. Murphy’s comedic charm almost seemed dim. Many fans were surprised to see a new Beverly Hills Cop film coming to theaters in 1994. It was helmed by John Landis, who Murphy famously derided during their time making the classic Coming To America and reports of this film being a disaster even before it could hit a theater made this one DOA in ’94.
It’s no secret that Beverly Hills Cop III is weak. Landis’ direction is run of the mill, not suited for action sequences and overall feels generic, even when scenes could have been spectacular. Eddie Murphy seems like he’s game for a lot of it, but his humor is still pretty subtle for the most part. Reinhold is very limited in his role also, with Hector Elizondo being a mostly adequate replacement for John Ashton’s Taggert, who didn’t even want to be on board for this ride. We get Theresa Russell as a legitimate love interest for Foley, but even she feels underutilized. Round this cast out with a cameo from Bronson Pinchot (Serge is fabulous, and there’s nothing bad about his appearance here…), and a villain in Timothy Carhart, then a character actor who often played douchebag types, who doesn’t elevate much from that in his role as a main villain.
Did I mention the signature John Landis cameos? There’s a ton — Robert B. Sherman (Disney songwriter who wrote the Wonderworld theme, that will definitely get stuck in your head…), directors Arthur Hiller (Silver Streak), Barbet Shroeder (Single White Female), John Singleton (Boyz N’ The Hood), George Lucas (you know who he is…), Peter Medak (The Changeling), Al Green (Splendid here Jeri Curl and all!) and Ray Harryhausen (A special effects pioneer). These cameos are distracting and add nothing to the finished film, unless of course you’re a movie buff. The score is by Nile Rodgers who tries to modernize the Harold Faltermeyer scores and theme. It’s very 90’s, but not that great. The soundtrack fares a little better with the help of songs produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Finally, of note, this is the one Cop movie (upcoming one included…) that did not involve Jerry Bruckheimer (and his late producing partner Don Simpson), and their presence is missed here too, as is their emphasis on top notch production value.
I write all this, and it seems to be yet another heap on the pile of negative reviews, but I can’t lie. I know the film isn’t all that good, and yet I love it. This was a new release rental at Blockbuster for my family. We all loved it. We love those little gag moments – Foley cabbage patching to the Wonderworld theme when he’s trying to avoid a chase, or Foley getting kicked in the nuts by a rude little kid while he’s disguised as an animated elephant, or of course his time with our friend Serge. Those are still laugh worth moments for me. I even remember when we got our own copy of the video tape how we danced to the Terence Trent D’arby song that plays over the credits. These few moments and some others contribute to my loving this terrible movie. I can own my film proclivities and this one is a definite guilty pleasure. Here’s hoping the newest installment untarnishes Axel Foley’s legacy a bit though.
Video
NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the 4K Blu-ray
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 2160p
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Layers: BD-100
Clarity/Detail: Beverly Hills Cop III may not be beloved by many, but Paramount has released a stunner of a disc for the film. Clarity is sharp and exquisite with natural grain going through the whole thing. No tinkering, no smoothing, just a mediocre film looking incredible.
Depth: Wonderworld is a feast for the eyes, with Santa Clara, CA’s Great America (then Paramount’s Great America) utilized for most of the theme park scenes and foregrounds and backgrounds look fantastic. Depth of field is treated with care adding to an image that does not go soft.
Black Levels: No crush here, collectors! Perfect!
Color Reproduction: I can’t imagine anyone coming to this movie looking for it, but the colors here look great! From clothing to park rides to dingy motel interiors, everything looks lifelike and excellent.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are almost TOO good here. In a scene that requires Eddie to cry, he is literally tearing up as makeup runs down his face. Not the intent, to be sure, but that’s just how good this movie looks in 4K!
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, German, French and Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish
Dynamics: Ported from the 2020 remastered Blu-ray is a still great sounding DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. Some sound effects never sounded good, like the machine guns here, which to my ears are the worst foley for guns since the old days of Hollywood movie making. Music and that Alien Attack scene sound the best here, giving the mix a nice overall balance to work with even in quieter moments.
Height: N/A
Low-Frequency Extension: Bass comes into the mix with soundtrack cues, explosions and ride sounds. The train that passes over the Paramount logo hits particularly deep.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surround use is for music, theme park crowds, awards ceremony attendees and ambience.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue sounds like a newer vintage than 30 years old!
Extras
Special features do not accompany this 4K edition of Beverly Hills Cop III, which for me is annoying. I bought the trilogy box set forever ago on DVD and each movie had its own making of documentary that was about 30 minutes long. Even this one… The fact that those couldn’t be included here or on Cop II will always annoy me. Those were interesting little footnotes for the movies and they’re just gone now…
Summary
With all that I said above you’re either running for the hills if you haven’t seen the film. You could be contemplating a purchase because of how great the movie looks or sounds on this 4K UHD Blu-ray. You could also be nodding in agreement with me over my fond memories of this notorious stinker. Regardless, I leave you this – I won’t say buy it because I love it, but if you do, this is well worth the $20 or so that Paramount is offering the disc for. The missing special features are annoying, as this and Cop II both had cool making of docs on their DVDs, but, the movie is here, looking amazing, so buy if you will, just not blindly.
