zardoz-13 "The Taking of Beverly Hills" combines elements of the James Bond caper "Goldfinger" and the Bruce Willis cop epic "Die Hard." "Ipcress File" director Sidney J. Furie not only helmed this exciting, larger-than-life actioneer, but he also came up with the audacious story. A sleazy millionaire hatches an outlandish scheme to sabotage a wealthy insurance company owner because the former hates the latter with such contempt. The affluent villain concocts a plan to systematically loot Beverly Hills by staging a phony toxic waste spill prompting the evacuation of all the wealthy residents while keeping the Beverly Hills police locked up in their own facility. The ambitious idea flounders because one of the cops changes his mind about the crime and teams up with a playboy NFL quarterback and they derail the millionaire's strategy. However, fighting these high-tech thieves is no picnic, especially when one of them, Benitez (Branscombe Richmond of "Renegade"),pursues them with a passion in a SWAT Team tank, hurling shells at them when it isn't smashing through walls, fences, and homes. Indeed, mullet-headed Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl of "The Soldier") is the fleet-footed quarterback who shoots himself up with cortisone because he suffers from a bad leg. Boomer gets unexpected help from a turncoat Beverly Hills Cop, Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer of "Orphan Black"), who saves our signal caller from getting riddled by bullets from bogus police in his Beverly Hills home. Together, these two misfits undermine rich man Robert Masterson (Robert Davi of "License to Kill") and blow his grand plan to screw over Mitchell Sage (William Prince of "The Gauntlet") who detests everything about Masterson except his money. At the same time, leading lady Harley Jane Kozak plays Sage's daughter Laura who doesn't hold Masterson in the same contempt that her dad does. Masterson has romantic aspirations for Laura, but Masterson's star quarterback Boomer cuts into his plans. Just as Boomer and Laura are about to soak into a hot tub with bubble bath, Masterson's goons orchestrate their phony toxic spill and isolate the city. The villains set themselves a time table and rigidly adhere to it and have over $700 million in loot when Boomer and Kelvin pull the rug out from under them. Sidney J. Furie doesn't squander a second in this fast-moving crime thriller punctuated with fireball explosions. Wahl shuns guns and relies on his throwing arm and his football strategy to avoid getting sacked on the field. He has a device that helps him deal with a football field blitz. The film sets up the heist with an opening expository scene about Beverly Hills and how it is a self-governed enclave to itself in the middle of Los Angeles. Indeed, Furie and his scribes establish the credibility of the scheme from the get go. Lots of fun. The dialogue is crammed with neat lines.

udar55 I'm sure that line was said a billion times by producers during meetings for this over-the-top action flick. Football team owner Robert Masterson (Robert Davi) concocts the elaborate scam of faking a toxic spill in the titular location and having his team of crooked ex-cops looting Rodeo drive once it is abandoned. What he didn't count on is his star quarterback Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) getting in the way. Boomer teams with Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer), a conspiring cop who develops a conscience when folks start getting killed, and tries to stop the bad guys and save love interest Laura (Harley Jane Kozak). This won't win any awards for originality, but it is definitely action packed. Director Sidney J. Furie loves to blow some stuff up, even putting his leads in some precarious looking shots as nearly everything explodes. I imagine this would have worked better with a bigger name cast as the really has all the hallmarks of a big studio action picture. I could also imagine this would have been a perfect vehicle for Brian Bosworth post-STONE COLD. Frewer provides the comic relief and Wahl, popular on WISE GUY at the time, is passable in the lead. He never headlined another picture. Unfortunately, this never got a chance for a big audience as it was one of many causalities in Orion's collapse. Columbia eventually released it in 500 theaters in the fall of 1991. This still hasn't been released on DVD, which is a shame as it could use a widescreen presentation.

andrew_parcel This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Three things make this movie worth watching; great mullets, Harley Jane Kozak, and lots of explosions. I was actually enthralled by every aspect of this awful production. One would think it was filmed in the early 80's by the cheesy dialogue and generic special effects. Never pay money to watch this! If it is on cable it is worth checking out for a few chuckles.

toyotaboy 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.