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| 'The boys are back in town', the tagline asserts on this deliciously 1980s-styled poster for Walter Hill's Another 48 Hrs. |
Biker hoodlums want to kill Reggie Hammond, as he is finally released from jail. Meanwhile, officer Jack Cates has been hunting criminal mastermind 'The Iceman' for 3 years.
Another 48 Hrs. is written by John Fasano (The Visit (1999)), Jeb Stuart (Die Hard (1988)) and Larry Gross (Chinese Box (1997)), with co-writer/co-star Eddie Murphy (Harlem nights (1989)) contributing story elements, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Walter Hill (Hard Times (1975)).
Murphy has become a superstar in the inevitable sequel to Hill's successful milestone in buddy action-comedy, 48 Hrs. (1982), which the film is tailored to cater to.
It doesn't in itself elevate the film, which falls into the familiar sequel curse in that it brings nothing new to the table, which makes it unoriginal and thereby less outstanding than the first one.
Still in Another 48 Hrs. favor: It is nevertheless an entertaining film, and it has Brion James (Time Runner (1993)) and Ed O'Ross (Six Feet Under (2001-2005)) as effective super bad guys.
Related posts:
Walter Hill: Alien 3 (1992) or, The Monsters Go to Jail! (co-writer)
48 Hrs. (1982) or, Reluctant Partners
The Getaway (1972) - McQueen/Peckinpah hit the bank with unrefined thriller (writer)
Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 153.5 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.07 times its cost)
[Another 48 Hrs. was released 8 June (North America) and runs 95 minutes. Hill was apprehensive about making a sequel but has stated: " A lot of folks will say I'm just doing it for the money. What I want to know is, why do they think I made the first one?" Murphy's salary ballooned from 200k $ for the first film to 12 mil. $ and a gross percentage for the sequel, whereas co-star Nick Nolte's (Blue Chips (1994)) 1-2 mil. $ (different reports) original salary only went up to 3 mil. $ for Another 48 Hrs.. Shooting took place from January - April 1980 in California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 145 minute work print was edited down to 120 minutes, but a week before release, the studio cut it down with 25 minutes, creating plot holes and continuity problems and removing any mention of a 48 hour deadline from the finished movie. The film opened #1 to a 19.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 3 weeks (#2-#4-#5), grossing 80.8 mil. $ (52.6 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Hill returned with Tales from the Crypt (1989-91) and theatrically with Trespass (1992). Murphy returned in Michael Jackson: Remember the Time (1992, music video) and theatrically in Boomerang (1992); Nolte in Cape Fear (1991). Another 48 Hrs. is rotten at 21 % with a 4.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Another 48 Hrs.?
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