The Taking of Beverly Hills

This movie is the embodiment of the late 80s/early 90s - it has all the glamour of the high-class setting, introduces us initially to a somewhat dull male protagonist who gradually shows what he is made of. Robert Davi delivers a fine role worth every second. If you are looking for old-school entertainment, this is the movie! 8/10.

I remember when I walked into the video store when this movie first came out and how excited I was to see it. I had been such a great fan of Die Hard and I have always been a fan of the one good guy against a billion bad guy type of movies. Well, I am sorry to day that this movie is bad. The plot is extremely unrealistic. The special effects are elementary and the acting is very, very, very bad. But it is still fun to watch one guy go up against an army. If you are a real fan of the genre then I would suggest renting this. If you are a so-so fan or less. Find sometihng worth while.

Not a bad film, a fairly unlikely plot (though it's not alone here!) and what I'd call watchable. However I don't think it does Ken Wahl justice as he's a good, natural actor which this part doesn't give him the scope to display. I was surprised to see Ken with a pretty unflattering hairstyle (and brown haired too!) and hear his less than deep voice in this. Would hardly have recognised him in fact. Sadly a good actor can't save a mediocre script and nothing-special direction.

Definitely underrated and needs a second chance. A true hidden gem worth watching, if you haven't already. Robert shines in this one as well as the other actors.

Believe it or not, but I thought this movie had the makings of a guilty pleasure in the beginning. Rather humorous prelude and interesting credits with a big surprise: Lee Ving (here billed as Lee Ving James), the always entertaining Fear frontman. Then, disaster. Even seeing Ving as a cop couldn't help this. In case the filmmakers are reading this, some tips to make this better (Spoiler alert). Replace Jan Hammer as composer. Eliminate ALL slow motion shots. Drastically reduce the stuff going on outside Beverly Hills. And forget the hitman sideline, unneeded. If that had happened, I would be saying "not a bad little movie" as it was, another brain dead action picture that should be put away and forgotten.

A gang of criminals cause a fake chemical spill in Beverley Hills and after the residents are evacuated loot their homes and businesses. A football player Boomer Hayes and a tainted cop Ed Kelvin unite together to foil the nefarious scheme. It starts well building up the characters and the situations then it proceeds to be rather silly. There is lots of noisy action to keep one watching but that's about it. The heroes are bland and the robbers equally so except of course for Robert Davi as Robert Masterson who steals all his scenes with his villainous charm. Jan Hammer's music score kept being interrupted by inappropriate pop music. I hope he didn't mind

That's the biggest surprise here, how dull the movie really is. Wahl is not a bad actor, although his character is unappealing. The "Max Headroom" sidekick guy is not a bad actor, though his character is unappealing. Actually, nobody in the cast does a bad job per se -- though all of their characters are unappealing. The problem is that a really good idea -- robbing an entire town -- becomes reduced to a lot of boring car chases and tanks running into houses and the like. Robert Davi probably comes off best as the surprise "bad guy" (betcha didn't see that one coming, huh?), although you can see him sweating to ham it up a bit, make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

If you love high octane B Movies, then this one's for you. It's a relentlessly paced onslaught of huge explosions and action that never let's up. It's also highly absurd and totally ridiculous, which is what makes it so great! You really have to suspend all disbelief and just check your brain at the door because common sense was not a factor when writing the scrip. It's dumb, but also so much fun. It wears it's early 90's vibe on it's sleeve (mullets!), and easily one of the most enjoyable Die Hard knockoff's out there, not to mention on a visual level, it looks fantastic. Yea it may be unintentionally hilarious because of how absurd it is, or how totally ridiculous scenario's are what drive the film forward, but again, it rules because stuff get's blown up on a minute to minute basis and it's kind of hilarious, awesome, and ridiculous all at the same time. I had such a blast with this, and I hope you will too. Just check your brain at the door. www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.blogspot.com

Ok, is this movie cheesy? well, yeah. But it's one of those films I rented when it first came out and I kind of enjoyed it (come on, the cop is the same guy who played max headroom). It has it's cheesy moments, not to mention parts that aren't believable (would the whole town really be ok with just staying up playing cards in some hotel lobby?), not to mention how they somehow had such an accurate tracking system they knew down to the penny how much loot they stole? Nothing ground breaking here, but still a good film.