Van says the film needs a Black David Lindhagen. Idris Elba and Taye Diggs are deemed too handsome, Ice-T rejected, and Keenen Ivory Wayans and Giancarlo Esposito proposed.
Esposito is disputed as too sinister; Underwood, Haysbert and Chris Rock are considered, with age and scene-dominance objections. Bacon’s ordinary likability is defended. — Bill Simmons
Paramount wanted a TV series, which Eddie turned down. — Bill Simmons
The film’s license plate is reportedly a recurring placeholder plate, like 555 phone numbers, seen in L.A. Story, Go, Pay It Forward, Traffic, Drive, and Two and a Half Men. — Bill Simmons
Axel’s gun-club alias Richard James is linked to Rick James. — Bill Simmons
Taggart swears at Rambo while firing a rocket launcher and Rosewood has a Cobra poster, while Tony Scott reportedly had an affair with Stallone’s wife. — Bill Simmons
Axel never keeps money, handing $20 to Billy, $50 to Chris Rock’s valet, and $200 to the mayor’s charity dinner. — Bill Simmons
Taggart and Rosewood are named first, with a wish that Beverly Hills Cop movies had kept coming every two years, seven in all, to add more of them. — Bill Simmons
Brigitte Nielsen is raised next, and this is judged the best part she ever had, better than her earlier Schwarzenegger film and definitely better than Cobra. — Bill Simmons
An opening song thematically drawn from the movie is praised as something no longer done. — Chris Ryan
Shakedown was reportedly meant for Glenn Frey until his voice gave out, so Bob Seger sang it; Harold Faltermeyer’s score is compared to 48 Hours, Escape from New York, Miami Vice, and Fletch. — Bill Simmons
Shakedown is called Bob Seger’s only number-one hit, a late peak after Springsteen pulled ahead of him around 1981. — Bill Simmons
George Michael’s I Want Your Sex is called an amazing ‘80s song used perfectly. — Bill Simmons
A scene at the villains’ apartment revealing their strange relationship is wished for, and the debt-driven alphabet scheme is called too cute by half. — Bill Simmons
Simpson and Bruckheimer have aged best; Simpson reportedly had Paramount pull writer Larry Ferguson off The Presidio to work on this film. — Bill Simmons
A deleted gun-club scene where Axel, Rosewood, and Taggart sneak past lasers should have been kept. — Bill Simmons
It was reportedly the first movie filmed at the Playboy Mansion after Hugh Hefner had long refused. — Bill Simmons
The Alphabet Crimes concept could be a Fincher-style limited Netflix series with one letter per episode; the crimes ran through the jewelry store, Bogomil, City Deposit, and the racetrack, and should have reached J. — Bill Simmons
Paul Reiser appears to be reading a Playboy’s Sisters magazine in several scenes, possibly a payoff for mansion access. — Chris Ryan
The short scene of Bogomil being gunned down after Brigitte Nielsen’s car cuts him off opens the category, including the wig removal and Mercedes convertible getaway. — Chris Ryan
Axel commandeering the Andersons’ house under construction is nominated, with the foreman’s exasperated no-right-angles reaction and the flow into Johnny Wishbone as highlights.
The gun club scene is praised for the Monique and Unique bit and Nielsen’s introduction, though shooting the screen with a real gun seems odd and the villain lineup feels overcrowded, including Dean Stockwell’s character.
The 385 North strip-club bit presenting a man as former President Gerald Ford remains funny, helped by the outfit and the crowd’s applause.
The fish-tank fingerprint visit to Rosewood’s apartment, with its Cobra poster, could have lasted twenty minutes. — Bill Simmons
The City Deposit armored-truck robbery is Tony Scott flexing, ending with a cement truck and Chris Rock as a valet; the whole Playboy Mansion sequence is called one of the most ‘80s scenes of the ‘80s. — Bill Simmons
The racetrack robbery is chosen for Tony Scott’s cross-cutting with running horses and Brigitte turning on her partner. — Chris Ryan
The Detroit scenes with the returning cigarette salesman and Paul Reiser’s strung-out Ferrari payphone calls are also named. — Chris Ryan
The final choice splits by genre: City Deposit through the Playboy Mansion for action, and the Andersons house scene for comedy, which the other host matches with the gun-club bag bit as an alternative. — Bill Simmons
Wesley Snipes: yes, because the movie's success opened doors; he had bigger moments but not greater ones, and it is his signature performance. — Bill Simmons
Allen Payne is left unsettled: he worked a long time after, including Jason's Lyric and The Perfect Storm, but this was his biggest deal. — Van Lathan
Human bullet shields: yes, over Heat and The Dead Zone as the more recognizable example. — Van Lathan
New Jack swing is offered as an Apex Mountain. — Logan Murdock
In hindsight the moment is called the height of the genre, since it got so big it made a movie title and Hollywood. — Logan Murdock
Guy: no; their big cameo cannot be their apex, and pressing the point draws teasing.
Chris Rock's movie career: yes; it is the best he has been in a movie and his most recognizable role, with Head of State jokingly floated as an Obama precursor.
Box haircuts: Fresh Prince might be up there, but the movie plus the 1991 playoffs may be the peak for high tops; a flat top was kept until 1994.
Mario Van Peebles: 100% his apex; nothing hinted he would make a $50 million movie; later came Posse and Panther and a role in Ali, and his father Melvin Van Peebles was the architect of blaxploitation.
Bill Nunn: no, it has to be Radio Rahim; Judd Nelson: no, with discussion deferred.
Color Me Bad: no, because of their 90210 episode and a number-one record.
Zoot suits are left unresolved, perhaps some 1940s film. — Logan Murdock
Ice T said the sequel was botched by his Cop Killer trouble and by Snipes getting $7 million for Demolition Man. — Bill Simmons
In the sequel idea Nino survived the shooting, which is doubted, though one participant says he would have been there opening weekend. — Bill Simmons
Simon Phoenix from Demolition Man is called one of the great movie villains. — Logan Murdock
The name Nino Brown came from Nino Gabriel, a storefront on Third Avenue where Harlem gangsters bought shoes, per Barry Michael Cooper. — Logan Murdock
According to Chris Rock on Inside the Actor's Studio in 1994, dealers put crack and cocaine in his pockets for three years afterward, joking they thought it was a documentary. — Bill Simmons
The film premiered at Sundance in January in only the festival's second year, after Sex Lise and Videotape (transcribed form). — Bill Simmons
According to Cooper, they intentionally used a comic-book look, making Nino's mansion like Dracula's lair to suggest he was sucking the blood out of the neighborhood. — Bill Simmons
A question whether Snipes played a vampire in Blade sparks a mock rebuke about asking "King nerd Van Lathan".
The best what-if was already mentioned: Martin Lawrence was cast as Pookie and had the job; one view says he would have been better than Chris Rock. — Bill Simmons
A garbled passage concerns someone turning down Ice T's part; Michael Wright is named and would have killed the part, reuniting later for Sugar Hill. — Bill Simmons
Vibica A. Fox (transcribed form) auditioned for Selina and Keisha but did a 90210 episode that year instead; she would have been great as Keisha, as Set It Off showed.
The Vanessa Williams married to Rick Fox would have been a great girlfriend for Nino. — Logan Murdock
Allen Payne was a replacement: Orange Juice Jones was cast as G Money, filmed scenes and was fired, per research; his "Walking in the Rain" is called very 80s. — Van Lathan
Tupac could be both aggressive and vulnerable, as Birdie in Above the Rim; it would have been interesting, though Allen Payne was perfect. — Van Lathan
A case that Tupac should have been cast, rewritten as the best friend's younger brother, and would have been better. — Bill Simmons
