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- Neil Middlemiss
48 hrs.
Studio: Paramount Studios
Year: 1982
US Rating: Rated R
Film Length: 96 Mins
Video: 1080P High Definition 16X9 - 1.85:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French Mono, Spanish Mono
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Review Date: February 21, 2011
Reggie: This ain't no god damn way to start a partnership.
Jack: Now, get this! We ain't partners. We ain't brothers. And we ain't friends. I'm puttin' you down and keepin' you down until Ganz is locked up or dead. And if Ganz gets away, you're gonna be sorry YOU ever MET me!
Reggie: I'm already sorry.
Introduction
Before Riggs and Murtough, before Carter and Lee, before Lowery and Burnett, and before Tango and Cash, there was Cates and Hammond. Buddy movies have been a staple of cinema for decades, but Walter Hills gritty and violent action film 48 Hrs., filled with acerbic banter between two mismatched men who must work together to bring down the bad guys – and try not to kill each other in the process – gave rise to an entire subgenre in the 1980s.
48 Hrs.is the blueprint against which a number of successful 80s and 90s action films were assembled using. Later films may have come to theaters with more spit and polish, but there is something refreshing in the grit and grim of the action, language, and brute force on display.
The Film: 3.5 out of 5
Eddie Murphy stars as convict Reggie Hammond, and Nick Nolte as Jack Cates, the police detective who secures his short-term so that they can track down Ganz (James Remar), a violent escaped criminal and former member of Hammond’s robbery crew. Hammond hid the loot from the turn that landed him in jail, and he and Cates have just 48 hours to track down the money, Ganz, Ganz’s trigger-happy partner Billy Bear (Sonny Landham), and the girl they’ve kidnapped as collateral to get their hands on the cash. Hammond’s wise-cracking ways quickly grate the nerves of Cates, a curmudgeonly, bad-habited veteran detective with questionable diversity standards and a very short fuse. From this mix arises an action film that unfolds at break-neck speed.
Director Walter Hill’s distinct style for action is stamped all over the shoot-outs and car chases. His lively appreciation for the city in which his film is set, in this case San Francisco, and his penchant for the seedier underbelly of urban sprawl, is in full swing. His characters inhabit a pulverant world, graveled with common vices, chauvinism, and authority figures quick to anger.
Nick Nolte’s gruff and cavalier portrayal of Det. Cates is a template from which the unhinged, aggressive characters in subsequent films of the subgenre would morph. Though the subgenre would evolve to the more traditional two-character orbit of the rule-following, sensible foil to the comedic and unpredictable partner, 48 Hrs. is the original spark that gave rise to many seeking to model its success. Consider the rule following Det. Murtough portrayed by Danny Glover partnered with the unhinged (and suicidal) Det. Riggs in the Lethal Weapon films, or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Russian police Capt. Denko partnered with the slovenly and undisciplined Det. Art Ridzik played by James Belushi in Hill’s own 1998 Red Heat. These are the results of screenwriters and studios inspired in part by what 48 Hrs. sparked. It should be noted that James Belushi would later transmogrify the subgenre when partnered with a German shepherd in 1989’s K-9. A 48 Hrs. and co-writer Roger Spottiswoode would tackle a similar man-dog buddy cop film that same year with Turner & Hooch.
Nick Nolte’s cantankerous Detective and Eddie Murphy’s convict are a classic misfit pairing, though Murphy’s character is somewhat understated during the first and some of the second act, though he leaps into top-form during the red-neck bar sequence where his mockery and disdain of ‘backward white-folk’ plays like a reward for his more modest quips to that point (which he rides all the way to the film’s close). It’s easy to see how his Reggie Hammond character became so popular – and Murphy with it – helping launch a successful run of wise-cracking characters, including perhaps his most famous Det. Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop films.
James Horner’s score is a surprise. In the same year he was hired to score the second installment of the Star Trek feature films, and before his meteoric rise in Hollywood as a prolific and renowned composer, he composed a beat-rich, steel-drum infused soundtrack for this action film. It’s a rambunctious score of ambiguous ethnic influence, rich in low-end brass, woodwinds, and a cacophony of now staple instruments for which Horner would later be known.
48 Hrs.is bloody, bawdy, and brilliantly unpolished entertainment. In many ways it was a test run for Hill’s Red Heat several years later, complete with seedy motel shoot-outs and the bus barreling down the city streets (though in Red Heat it was bus vs. bus).
The Video: 3.5 out of 5
Paramount’s Blu-ray of 48 Hrs. brings to an end the wait for this film with a proper domestic anamorphic release (aside from the double feature release). The 1080p transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec) generously affords the film an increase in detail over the former DVD release from a number of years ago, but that sadly does not mean the image is a winner. The muted look of the colors washed out and unsatisfying, and dust and detritus are not uncommon with some scenes suffering from noticeable softness, though it isn’t a total loss. The dust and debris provide that grain is intact and sharp scenes aren’t hard to find, though so much more could have been achieved with more care and attention. Owners of the DVD will find reason to upgrade, but you should not expect a crisp transfer of the kind we have seen with other 70s, early 80s films (such as Dirty Harry and its sequels).
The Sound: 4 out of 5
The English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio is both punchy and rowdy. The sounds of San Francisco and the rustle and bustle of the police headquarters (and the excellent unbroken single-shot sequence following Cates near the film’s opening) come alive and are active in the surrounds. James Horner’s score is a real pleasure. It dominates in many scenes – though does not overpower, it simply provides a grungy, jazz infused rhythmic cadence to the action, almost playing counterpoint, such as the sequence where Cates is pursuing Ganz in the subway. The cat-and-mouse chase boils and simmers; Cates stalks the windows looking to see which subway car Ganz, Billy Bear, and their hostage have holed up. Most films today would ease back on the underscore to just tense violin, but 48 Hrs. plays this sequence at full-boar, with the percussion and brass indulgences at full pace. It’s terrific.
As a side note, Intrada Records recently released Horner’s score for 48 Hrs. in a limited 5000 edition run (which is sitting in my car’s CD player as I write this). Get ‘em while you can.
The Extras: 1 out of 5
Theatrical Trailer(3:00): This is the only extra, so enjoy it.
Final Thoughts
Written by director Hill, Larry Gross (Streets of Fire), Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard), and Roger Spottiswoode (The 6th Day)48 Hrs. is raw 80’s violence and excessiveness. Insensitive racial remarks, nudity, and strong language occasion the film frequently. Its refreshingly lacking in political correctness, something 80’s action films seemed to best equipped to handle, and is likely already on your wish list if films like Commando, Die Hard, Red Heat, and Lethal Weapon can be found in your movie library. It’s a great ride that shows its age now, but director Walter Hill doesn’t hold back, and neither do Nick Nolte or Eddie Murphy in their now classic roles.
Overall 3.5 out of 5
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
