The Taking of Beverly Hills

I saw this movie as a kid and thought how much fun it was. Now as an adult, it's dumb...really dumb...but fun. I'm actually astonished this didn't become a cult, like say..."Revenge Of The Living Dead." I think it still has time.

Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) is a star quarterback for a fictitious L.A. team (since L.A. doesn't have a pro football team...why not?). He gets snookered into a benefit for the homeless at a swank Beverly Hills party. Amongst the party-goers is football team's owner and Boomer's boss, Robert Masterson (Robert Davi). Which the minute you see Davi's smarmy face...it's no surprise he'll be up to smarm. Anyway, that's all you need to know going in. Rich and poor. Have and have nots. And that's when the have-nots want the haves. A bizarre conspiracy to take over a business veiled in a heist (sound familiar...I 'aint ruining anything).

They also turn it into a buddy cop movie. Which, oddly enough, is narrated by Matt Frewer...yes, Max Headroom Frewer. His voice over to introduce Beverly Hills is anemic, to be kind, and silly. And odd, since the point of view is from Boomer...I think. But these two go off to try to thwart this crime, even though they are battling an army that is essentially the L.A.P.D.

As dumb action movies of this generation goes, if you've exhausted all your options, THIS movie is a perfect compendium to something like "Action Jackson." It holds zero logic but has a pretty sweet soundtrack. Faith No More's "Epic" or Janet Jackson's "Black Cat" to name a few hits (how did they get these songs is beyond me).

Wahl is fun, but the dialogue is corny (as it should be) and there are some solid moments of male bonding. Overall, on a slow night or if your copy of "Road House" is worn out, check this out.

I had originally seen the preview for this movie within another nameless early 90s stinker, back in the day. I hadn't given this movie another thought until I was at a truck stop in Morrilton, Arkansas, and saw it sitting there, collecting dust next to a bunch of other stinkers (like Tremors 3). I immediately remembered the preview: a bunch of cars blowing up, lots of shooting, plenty of "tag lines;" you know, the usual action movie cliches. Realizing that I'd never see this movie again, I bought it. During the drive home, I kept building it up to my girlfriend as being the stupidest looking movie on earth, based on the preview that I had seen over a decade ago. Once we got home, we popped it in the VCR, prepared to laugh ourselves silly. Not so. It is one of the most underrated movies of all time. It is fantastic!!! Great (if not a little cheap looking) action sequences!! Great plot! Decent acting! Superb plot twists and turns! Unformulaic ending! I was quite surprised. I think the previews made it look far worse than it actually is. The scene where the hero is blowing stuff up to "Epic" by Faith No More almost causes goosebumps. The catch is: You MUST be a fan of the genre. If you are, this movie will NOT let you down. I promise! See it! It's available somewhere out there from MGM. 7/10

In Beverly Hills, a chemical spill by an out-of-control truck causes a mass evacuation of the entire area. However unbeknownst to the citizens of Beverly Hills, the chemical spill is a smokescreen to allow a group of heavily organized ex-cops lead by former cop turned private security head Varney (Lee Ving) to plunder everything of value from the city. Football player "Boomer" Hayes (Ken Wahl) through chance is left behind and with a target placed on him as a witness he gets help from a collaborating cop, Officer Kelvin (Matt Frewer), who suffers a crisis of conscience and the two pair up to foil the heist.

The Taking of Beverly Hills is a 1991 action film by Sidney J. Furie. A big budget blockbuster developed towards the end of Orion Pictures' life, the film was an attempt by Ken Wahl to transition to film after the conclusion of his TV series Wiseguy with Wahl becoming an executive producer and even bringing along several crew from his series. With Orion's bankruptcy the film wound up in limbo and after being acquired as a fire sale acquisition by Nelson Entertainment and Columbia Pictures, it was given a token release making just under $1 million against an estimated $25 million budget. Critics barely acknowledged the film's existence upon release with what little reception noted praising the effects and action while calling the script and performances silly. The Taking of Beverly Hills is absolute ridiculousness and depending on what you're looking for this might be the answer.

Much like Die Hard, The Taking of Beverly Hills tries to employ an unlikely hero in that Ken Wahl isn't a traditional action hero but a football player who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. You can see a kind of logic on display in how much like Bruce Willis had been in an acclaimed TV series prior to Die Hard, there was most likely a similar line of thinking that with Ken Wahl's involvement with the hit series Wiseguy that maybe there was a formula in place for success. Unlike Die Hard however The Taking of Beverly Hills doesn't really have the strong characters or tight plotting and is considerably more over the top with "Boomer" Hayes being about as over the top as his nickname suggests and his pairing with Matt Frewer's Kelvin is more likely to elicit laughs than thrills or tension. There's also a thankless love interest role by Harley Jane Kozak as Laura Sage who doesn't really serve much purpose storywise and Robert Davi after an unimpressive turn as a Bond villain in License to Kill shows himself to be a discount take on Han Gruber. While story and character aren't exactly this movie's greatest strengths, the movie does at least deliver on scope and action setpieces. With Wahl playing a character who's not used to using guns the movie has to find other ways of letting him fight against the bad guys and we get some fun action beats like use of tackling dummies, Molotov cocktails made from decanters, and a car chase involving a Rolls-Royce. The production built a duplicate of Rodeo Drive in Mexico City and you better believe they find every imaginable way and then some to demolish Beverly Hills.

This movie is entertaining but it's also incredibly stupid. This is an example of a B-movie given an A-level budget and it makes an ideal pairing with something like Tango & Cash due to its commitment to present over the top ridiculousness with a straight face. If you're looking for carnage and destruction delivered in a way that doesn't overstay its welcome and allows you to laugh at (not with) it, look no further.

Ok, is this movie cheesy? well, yeah. But it's one of those films I rented when it first came out and I kind of enjoyed it (come on, the cop is the same guy who played max headroom). It has it's cheesy moments, not to mention parts that aren't believable (would the whole town really be ok with just staying up playing cards in some hotel lobby?), not to mention how they somehow had such an accurate tracking system they knew down to the penny how much loot they stole? Nothing ground breaking here, but still a good film.

I remember when I walked into the video store when this movie first came out and how excited I was to see it. I had been such a great fan of Die Hard and I have always been a fan of the one good guy against a billion bad guy type of movies. Well, I am sorry to day that this movie is bad. The plot is extremely unrealistic. The special effects are elementary and the acting is very, very, very bad. But it is still fun to watch one guy go up against an army. If you are a real fan of the genre then I would suggest renting this. If you are a so-so fan or less. Find sometihng worth while.