The Dominator reviews

Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE

Cat.no: PLFEC 35001

Cert: 15

Running time: 99 minutes

Sides: 2 (CLV)

Year: 1987

Pressing: UK, 1996

Chapters: 13 (Side 1: 1-7, Side 2: 8-13)

Sound: Dolby Surround

Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super-35)

Price: £19.99

Extras : None

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Director:

Tony Scott (Crimson Tide, True Romance, The Fan)

Producers:

Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Crimson Tide, The Rock, Top Gun)

Screenplay:

Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren

Music:

Harold Faltermeyer

Cast:

Axel Foley : Eddie Murphy (Trading Places, 48 Hrs, The Nutty Professor)
Det. Billy Rosewood : Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 3, Gremlins, Vice Versa)
Sgt. Taggart : John Ashton (Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run)
Maxwell Dent : Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Dune, Judge Dredd)
Lt. Bogomil : Ronny Cox (Beverly Hills Cop, Robocop, Total Recall)
Karla Fry : Brigitte Nielsen (Red Sonja, Cobra, Chained Heat 2)
Harold Lutz : Allen Garfield (The Cotton Club, Destiny Turns On The Radio)
Chip Cain : Dean Stockwell <"Quantum Leap", Blue Velvet, Dune)
Jeffrey : Paul Reiser (Beverly Hills Cop, Bye Bye Love, "Mad About You")
Inspector Todd : Gilbert R. Hill (Beverly Hills Cop)
Himself : Hugh Hefner

The second instalment in the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy kicks off with a bang, quite literally, as Brigitte Nielsen rides into town one early morning, with a gang for an armed assault on a jewellery store. Not quite Breakfast at Tiffany's you understand, particularly when she leaves her calling card behind, an envelope marked "A", and shortly after, these become known as "The Alphabet Crimes".

Tensions are running high at the police station, and Lt. Bogomil, Rosewood and Taggart's superior, isn't the Chief's favourite right now, but things take a turn for the worst for him when he becomes the next target for Brigitte and co.

When Bogomil's life is hanging by a thread, Rosewood calls Axel Foley, who comes over to help out. Will Axel, Rosewood and Taggart be able to stop the bad guys (and girl) over the 99 minutes that the film runs for? Why am I even asking that question...

As in the first film, a lot of the comedy is derived from the relationship between Eddie Murphy and the other two leads, and this sequel doesn't disappoint.

Picture and sound quality are excellent, and any action film that Tony Scott, brother of Ridley, directs is violent, uncompromising and loud! To me Tony Scott is one of my favourite action directors with credits covering Top Gun, Crimson Tide, True Romance and the recent Robert De Niro film, The Fan.

His other works include The Hunger (featuring David Bowie in one of his acting roles, along with Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve in a dodgy, lesbo, gore-filled scene), Revenge starring Kevin Costner, the 1991 Bruce Willis action pic, The Last Boy Scout, and the Tom Cruise racing film, Days of Thunder.

Beverly Hills Cop 2, like Top Gun, was shot in the Super-35 format, so for the fullscreen video version, the matte can be opened up so the scenes don't look so cramped. All other Tony Scott films are shot in Panavision, so a fullscreen release isn't worth the tape its recorded on. Crinson Tide's tension-filled scenes are lost when you can't see half of what's going on, and the action scenes in The Last Boy Scout and True Romance are destroyed. In the case of the latter, you could say that the 20-man shootout at the end becomes a 10-man shootout. :)

Hence, it's full marks to Pioneer for finding such a crisp master, and I shall certainly look forward to the February 1997 release of "Days of Thunder".

Chaptering is sparse, like the first film, with 13 in all, and unfortunately there are no extras, but for £19.99 you can't argue with this release. If you like comedy, or action, there's no excuse for you not to rush out and increase your Tony Scott collection.

The heat is most definitely on again! Buy it today!

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1996.