48 Hrs Blu Ray Review (Paramount)

48 Hrs. is a 1982 buddy cop film co-written and directed by Walter Hill (Another 48 Hrs, Crossroads, Southern Comfort, Streets of Fire, The Warriors, Trespass, and Last Man Standing). It was written by Roger Spottiswoode (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Terror Train, The Best of Times, and Tomorrow Never Dies) and Larry Gross (Streets of Fire, Another 48 Hrs, True Crime, and Rear Window). It was produced by Joel Silver  (Weird Science, House on Haunted Hill, Hudson Hawk, Beverly Hills Cop III, Another 48 Hrs, Lethal Weapon franchise, Die Hard franchise, The Matrix franchise, Predator franchise, Commando, Road House, and Tales from the Crypt). It was originally developed for Clint Eastwood. It’s credited as one of the first buddy cop films made and it definitely was the first successful one. It was followed up by a sequel called Another 48 Hrs in 1990. The budget was $12 million and it grossed $78.9 million at the box office worldwide!!!!

While convicted career criminal Albert Ganz (played by: James Remar from Dexter, Black Lightning, Django Unchained, The Warriors, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) is working as part of a road gang in California, a tall Native American man named Billy Bear (played by: Sonny Landham from Predator, Lock Up, The Warriors, and Action Jackson) causes a distraction and helps him escape. They kill their associate Henry Wong (played by: John Hauk from Cobra and The Exterminator) and question Luther (played by: David Patrick Kelly from The Warriors, Twin Peaks, The Crow, John Wick 1/2, and Commando) about their payoff from a previous job. Inspector Jack Cates (played by: Nick Nolte from Another 48 Hrs, Angel Has Fallen, Blue Chips, Mulholland Falls, and Cape Fear) of the San Francisco Police Department’s criminal investigation bureau joins two of his friends but ends up a disaster and they are killed.

His co-worker Ben Kehoe (played by: Brion James from Tango and Cash, Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Another 48 Hrs, and The Horror Show/House III) tells the surviving Cates about Ganz’s former partner Reggie Hammond (played by: Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop franchise, The Golden Child, I-Spy, Another 48 Hrs, Trading Places, and Coming to America). Jack Cates gets him out of jail and forces him to help with the investigation on his former associates. These two have all kinds of issues working together but desperation brings them together. Albert Ganz and Billy Bear try to get to the stolen money before Reggie Hammond can get back to it after being released. Luther has his own plans for it also. The former crew races to get their cash before the other ones can. Reggie is trying his best to outsmart his dangerous crew and Jack Cates. Can he pull it off in 48 hours? or Will his time run out????

48 Hrs. is the one that started the buddy cop craze and sub-genre in the 80’s! It did great at the box office and the studios were quick to copy it after it’s release. Director Walter Hill had his signature style, visuals, and trademarks on his productions back in the day. You didn’t even have to see the credits to know that you were watching an Walter Hill action flick. Producer Joel Silver had his own style also. He was pumping out action film after action film non stop during the 80’s and 90’s. 48 Hrs. had a great blend of action and comedy, it really wasn’t done that much before this was made. The script is so much fun here and it’s loaded with all kinds of classic lines that are still repeated to this day. Nick Nolte was a legit movie star at the time and this is my personal favorite role that he’s ever done. It’s one of his greatest performances. He’s trying to get payback for his fallen friends and he’s willing to do anything to achieve his goal including teaming up with a criminal. Eddie Murphy was still new at the time and mainly known for television. They took a risk by casting him here but it paid off big because this is the feature that he proved he was a star. Nolte provided the action and Murphy provided the laughs, it was a brilliant combination. These two had amazing chemistry in 48 Hrs. James Remar and Sonny Landham were high quality bad guys here. 48 Hrs had an impressive supporting cast that included David Patrick Kelly, Brion James, Annette O’Toole (IT), Frank McRae (Shaft in Africa), Jonathan Banks (Beverly Hills Cop), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), and Peter Jason (In the Mouth of Madness). The soundtrack and score is top notch, I still think about this movie every time I hear a certain song. This is one of my favorite comedies and it’s one of the best in the 80’s. The replay value is very strong, it gets better each time. This is a must own for fans of buddy cop films, action comedies, Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, and Walter Hill. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Paramount Pictures! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer blows away the previous 2011 blu ray with this brand new 4k remaster. There’s a huge difference when you compare both high definition home video releases, this Paramount Presents version looks much sharper and more detailed in every aspect. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 2.0, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0, and Music:Dolby Digital 2.0 on the disc. It has the same English track as the older release which was really good but it adds the music track to this one that wasn’t previously available. All of the dialogue is very clean, non stop action is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It also has English, English SDH, French, German, and Japanese subtitles.

Let’s discuss the special features from Paramount Pictures! Like mentioned above in the audio section, “Isolated Score track” is brand new and it’s included on this release. “Filmmaker Focus: Director Walter Hill on 48 Hrs.” is a brand new exclusive interview with the director about this 80’s buddy cop feature. He chats about the original script and concept before he got involved. He talks about Clint Eastwood and Richard Pryor being the first choices for this project but neither of them worked out for it. He mentions giving Eddie Murphy a shot on this despite hesitation from the studio. He goes over the cast and tells some great stories about them. He says Paramount kept trying to push more comedy in this and they were worried that he wouldn’t include much of it here. Hew brings up the chemistry, a few main scenes, music, and cinematography. He says everyone says so many films ripped this one off when the buddy cop sub-genre blew up but the main difference with this original one was that these two main characters actually didn’t like each other at all during this. It has the “Theatrical Trailer”. “Space Kid – Original 1966 Animated Short” is a little over 5 minutes and it hasn’t been on any of the older home video releases. It’s the same cartoon that makes a cameo in 48 Hrs but it’s the full extended version of it. It also includes a really cool slipcover that folds out to the original poster & a clear case with additional photos. I really dig the unique packaging for this blu ray. This is from the Paramount Presents line. It actually has a digital code also. Another 48 Hrs was released on blu ray the same day as this one. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!