Beverly Hills Cop 4K review

Nov 27, 2020- Permalink

Action-comedy Beverly Hills Cop marked Eddie Murphy’s first solo lead role, after the SNL star appeared in 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte and Trading Places with fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd. He played Axel Foley, a streetwise Detroit detective who finds himself out of his jurisdiction and out of his element as he works to solve a case with some uptight detectives from Beverly Hills (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold).

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded native 4K transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, just slightly off from the theatrical release’s 1.85:1 ratio. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original source, it has a natural film grain. The image is quite sharp with only occasional softness and contains an impressive amount of detail. Facial features, textiles and environmental surfaces all look great here. The high dynamic range pleasingly presents the colour palette from bright California skies to lush foliage. Black levels are deep and evening scenes look quite good.

On the audio side, your ears have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, German and French Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks and a score-only Dolby Digital 5.1 track if you really want to listen to the instrumental piece “Axel F” over and over again. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and German. This is the same audio mix that’s been kicking about for a few years. The track is very front heavy, but the surrounds are woken from their slumber once in a while. Your subwoofer might as well make plans with friends, because low-frequencies aren’t really called upon. Dialogue is clear and crisp, which is essential given the importance of Murphy’s improvised scenes as he fast-talks his way into places he shouldn’t be in.

The combo set comes with the 4K disc, a Blu-ray copy, and a digital code. Special features on the 4K disc include an audio commentary, some behind-the-scenes pieces, a mixtape feature that lets you skip to the songs in the soundtrack and a trailer. The Blu-ray disc includes those elements plus some additional featurettes and the isolated score track.

While the audio presentation is nothing to write home about, the Beverly Hills Cop 4K is the best this film has ever looked. For fans of action-comedies, Eddie Murphy, or pop culture milestones, this set is highly recommended.