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Perhaps one of the finest cop-buddy movies is the Lawrence Gordon
and Joel Silver produced action-comedy 48 HRS. In 48 HRS., Nick
Nolte plays rough and tough cop Jack Cates. Jack is on the trail
of an escaped convict and his partner. During the chase, the convicts
kill two of Jack's fellow police officers. The chase becomes more
than routine for Jack, it becomes personal. One of the downed officers
was killed with Jack's gun. Unfortunately, Jack will not be able
to solve the case by himself. He prefers to remain without a partner,
but the only man that will perhaps help him is a convict by the
name of Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy). Jack gets Reggie out on a
48 hour pass and they must track down the cop-killers in that amount
of time or Jack loses his job and Reggie goes back to prison.
Reggie has his own reasons for wanting to find the cop-killers.
One of them wants money that Reggie had taken off a drug dealer.
This is Reggie's money and he knows that if he and Jack do not find
the killers, he will not have his money. Early on in the partnership,
Nolte and Murphy's characters do not get along. Jack has nothing
but contempt for Reggie and loves nothing more than to slander him.
Reggie, on the other hand, is driven by his desire to get his money,
get laid, and perhaps have Jack give him a gun so that he will have
some protection against the killers.
Through the course of the film, Reggie and Jack increasingly show
that they detest each other. None-the-less, they begin to realize
that they are each other's only hope at obtaining their individual
goals. This realization eventually brings them to a feeling of trust
and a trace of friendship. This changing of attitudes helps make
48 HRS. the entertaining film that it is and is the driving force
behind the film's comedy. There are a few good moments of action,
but this interaction between Reggie and Jack is what gives 48 HRS.
its draw and makes it one of the classic films of its genre and
has raised several clones over the years, including last years Jackie
Chan and Chris Tucker comedy, Rush Hour.
There are a few noteworthy scenes in the film. Paramount goes as
far as pointing one of them out in the text on the rear of the packaging.
This mentioned scene is where Reggie Hammond enters a redneck bar.
During this bar scene, Reggie takes total control with only Jack's
badge and some fast-talking. The scene may not be the incredible
scene that Paramount makes it out to be, however, it is a very funny
scene and worth watching. Another very memorable scene that is worth
checking out in the film is a scene where Jack and Reggie take on
the cop killers in a road chase. What makes this chase worthwhile
is the fact that the bad guys are in a bus and the good guys in
a beat up Cadillac. These are only two of the scenes that make 48
HRS. an entertaining piece of work and worth seeing.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
In general, Paramount has done a very good job of bringing 48 HRS.
to DVD. The picture quality is great. Detail level is solid, though
a few scenes do appear fuzzy and possess a hint of grain. Colors
are not the sharpest colors that can be seen, but they are bright
and well saturated. Chapter 10 and 11, where Reggie is enjoying
himself at Vromans bar is very representative of the good transfer
that Paramount has provided. The neon lights and signs look incredible.
Street lights and such glow and are very bright. The previously
mentioned scenes that appear fuzzy are probably carried over from
the original negative. These scenes are not terribly bad and a few
steps above some notoriously bad transfers of the past. No digital
artifacts could be found, however, there are a few moments when
repeating patterns show shimmering. To sum the video quality up,
this is by far the best you will ever see 48 HRS. Had it been anamorphic,
things really would have been wonderful.
Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
48 HRS. delivers a new 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack. There
are a few times when this soundtrack sounds good but most times
it comes up short. On some occasion, the rear surrounds are utilized
well. For the most part, however, all action takes part in the three
main channels (Left, Center, Right). Chapter 12, the bus chase,
there could be so much going on audibly. The end of that chapter
involves some shouting and yelling. The dialogue in this scene is
not very sharp and louder parts of the shouting match sound somewhat
distorted. "The Boys Are Back In Town" is a very popular song from
the soundtrack. Once again, the 5.1 does not bring the dynamic sound
that would have made this song sound phenomenal. Some credit does
have to be given for remastering the soundtrack for DVD. However,
it is not a very good mix for an action film that has a good musical
soundtrack.
There are no subtitles and a very poor French soundtrack in Dolby
Digital Mono. English Closed Captions are provided.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
As this review continues, 48 HRS. continues on its downward spiral.
This classic action film delivers almost no supplements. The original
theatrical trailer is included and presented in two channel mono
sound. The quality of the trailer is very good and it is even in
widescreen format. Paramount has done good delivering this trailer,
as the normal is for trailers that make VHS look good.
Parting Thoughts
48 HRS. is a classic Hollywood film that helped bring about the
cop-buddy sub-genre of action-comedies. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte
are wonderful as adversaries who happen to be partners trying to
bring some cop-killers to justice. The video provided on the DVD
is very good, but the sound and lack of supplements bring down the
value of this release. The film does look good and sounds okay.
The big reason to purchase this movie would be for its entertainment
value. This film is one of the finest for both actors and perhaps
the best of its sub-genre. Too bad a little more value for the buck
could not have been provided here.
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