117-minute runtime; John Amos's once-major presence; Darryl bragging about St. John's tickets; the name Semmi; John Landis's next films; missing hit soundtrack
At 117 minutes it is too long; about 105 would be ideal, cutting the first 20 minutes to get to New York. — Bill Simmons
John Amos being in the movie was a big deal in 1988 that is hard to explain 33 years later, like other TV dads such as Robert Reed. — Bill Simmons
Darryl being excited and bragging about four tickets to a St. John's game has aged poorly. — Bill Simmons
Arsenio's character is named Semmi, like a Celtic (ASR "shemiochile") blamed for the team being 13-13 as they tape. — Bill Simmons
Soul Glo hurt Eric LaSalle's career until ER; a counterpoint says he made good there, and Shari Headley didn't get enough work afterward.
LaSalle is outrageously handsome even under the curl, unlike Eddie, whose stardom never relied on looks. — Wesley Morris
The bearded O.J. Simpson in Buffalo around 1975 as the most handsome man who ever lived is reaffirmed. — Bill Simmons
John Landis's next films after this: Oscar, Innocent Blood and Beverly Hills Cop 3, which is called terrible.
Beverly Hills Cop 3 was the first movie one participant ever walked out of. — Van Lathan
Eddie doing a third Beverly Hills Cop felt sad; it became almost a Disney film.
Rewatching Cop 3 on cable confirmed it was bad; after it Landis made The Stupids, Blues Brothers 2000 and Susan's Plan. — Bill Simmons
The System's end-credits theme song is called aged worst; others object, calling it a jam played on BET. — Bill Simmons
The song wasn't a hit because it wasn't that good. — Bill Simmons
The soundtrack is a missed opportunity: the only song heard in full is The Greatest Love of All, with no Janet Jackson or Paula Abdul, while other movies had big soundtracks like the Pointer Sisters.
Nile Rodgers did the music and Michael Jackson, his friend, is nowhere on it; "It's a miss."
Lisa Eilbacher as Jenny Summers (disputed); Jenny's red Mercedes convertible; the title; Harold Faltermeyer's score and the soundtrack; the Mumford Phys Ed t-shirt and cropped sweatshirts; Taggart and Rosewood; Murphy's early run of good directors; the rival cop duo
One host is still in love with Jenny Summers, played by Lisa Eilbach (as transcribed); the objection is not to the actress but to Hollywood casting interchangeable blondes with the same Kate Capshaw haircut, and another did not recognize her at all; what one host wants from the token female character in an Eddie Murphy movie is to dress well, laugh at his jokes and look great.
She is not a love interest for either man, though she tried with Eddie, which is saved for later; she is serious about her career and it costs her nothing, and her damselification is believable because she insists on driving to the warehouse; 'great character' is countered with 'definitely not a great character' since nothing motivates her, she works at a coke lord's art gallery, and the Jenny, Tandino and Axel triangle of friendship makes no sense.
Jenny is called a TV actress annihilated by everyone else on screen who did nothing afterward because she cannot hold the screen; a joke pitch imagines a Jenny Summers sequel in Don Simpson's office; she may be the first female gallerist in a movie.
The defense of Jenny Summers is framed as a 15-year-old's crush recalled in the past tense. — Bill Simmons
Jenny Summers' red Mercedes-Benz convertible is a dope car you cannot see anymore and is hard to keep in shape; in Beverly Hills they just take whatever car is closest; the little back seat is the Mikey spot.
The title is great, as if they came up with it before they had a script; Harold Faltemeyer's run through Top Gun and Fletch is admired, the score fit an era of synth musicians like Howard Jones and Wang Chung.
Faltermeyer is credited alongside Hans Zimmer on Top Gun Maverick, presumably because they use his themes; the soundtrack with The Heat Is On, Neutron Dance, Stir It Up and Nasty Girl is strong.
Martin Brest draws 'the less said the better' from one host and a Midnight Run defense from another, who calls it a perfect movie and credits Brest with two of the best comedies of all time, alongside Gigi (as transcribed) and Son of a Woman (as transcribed); it is hard to know how much credit he gets here beyond being smart enough to let Eddie ad-lib, and Midnight Run also does not work without its two stars.
The Mumford Phys Ed t-shirts were really a thing in the mid 80s with no internet to buy them, and the high school was flooded with requests; the Lions jacket in Cop 2 was intentional merchandising; the cropped sweatshirts, like the Josh Brolin Goonies look, are almost as iconic, and the hosts tease one of them about adopting cropped sweats.
The 'not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe' guy is enjoyed for setting it up earlier with the first team insult for Taggart, and the hosts miss the mid-80s cop movie rivalry duo with sarcastic comments; Eilbacher is put back in by a second and declared a law, with 'Eilbacher Mountain' floated.
