This December will mark the 40-year anniversary of the 1984 comedy classic Beverly Hills Cop. Yes, you read that correctly – it’s been four decades since Axel Foley first hit the big screen, and for the latest installment, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, they’ve managed to bring back nearly every iconic face from the first two films (ignoring the threequel misfire, of course). This means that Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, and Eddie Murphy are back together, and after all of these years, they were collectively struck by the same Beverly Hills Cop throwback.
I had the privilege of speaking with the three of them on behalf of the new film, and when I asked Judge Reinhold and John Ashton what scene made them feel as if they’d officially returned, Reinhold said this:
I think probably for both of us it was the unmarked car with Eddie [Murphy]. Like something good was going to happen whenever the three of us are doing something… it was unspoken but we were all kind of beaming about it.
John Ashton went on to say that they “really felt at home there,” so it was a heavy moment for them all. If you’re a fan of the franchise, this set up is pretty iconic. The original movie sees Judge Reinhold’s Billy and John Ashton’s Sergeant Taggart on a stakeout, tasked with keeping tabs on Axel Foley, the renegade cop visiting Beverly Hills. In classic Foley fashion, he shoves a banana in the tailpipe, thus preventing the two cops from tailing him.
The new film throws back to this pretty aggressively, seeing the two on yet another stakeout to keep tabs on Foley, and yet again, he blows their cover. Fans will be delighted to see the three of them in that car together, and it’s adorable to hear just how important that moment was to the actors as well. You can see the original scene here, in case you need a refresher:
It’s not really the reunion one might think, as it seems the cast has stayed close since 1984. Judge Reinhold even said that he and Eddie Murphy go duck hunting together, though he claimed that the iconic comedian, who even has a duck room in his house, wouldn’t want anyone to know that he partakes in such a silly hobby. They also weren’t the only ones who felt the energy of that moment, as the film’s director, newcomer Mark Molloy, said that he was geeking out shooting the OGs for that stakeout. Franchise newcomer Joseph Gordon-Levitt also had his own epic ridealong moment with Eddie Murphy, stating that singing to old tunes behind the wheel revealed what a music nerd the comedian is.
The amount of fun they had on set clearly transfers to the final product, as critics are stoked on the film, and our own Eric Eisenberg gushed about the “great comedic chemistry” in his official review. Luckily for you, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available right now with a Netflix subscription! Keep it here at CinemaBlend for all of the latest in film and television.
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