Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

What’s it about?

Street-smart Detroit cop Axel Foley is thrown out of his comfort zone after his childhood friend is murdered and he heads to Beverly Hills to catch his killer.

The facts

• Directed by Martin Brest (Meet Joe Black, Scent of a Woman)
• English language
• Starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton and Paul Reiser
• Runtime: 105 minutes

Why did it get this rating?

This film was originally classified in 1984 by the Chief Censor of Films. At that time it was classified as RP16 with the descriptive note ‘contains offensive language’. Under the modern classification system that came into effect with the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act (1993) this film was subsequently cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body to M violence and offensive language.

This rating may not reflect the current approach to classifying this type of content and so we recommend taking note of the content breakdown below.

Violence

Axel is an undercover police officer, and the film features numerous scenes where characters draw guns without firing. When shots are fired, the scenes are loud and extended, but typically avoid showing entry wounds or blood. For example, a man is shot twice in the head with no visible wound or blood, and another is shot multiple times, with bullet wounds and blood splatter shown before he falls down the stairs. Casual violence is also depicted, such as a man being thrown through a glass window and later punched repeatedly without visible injuries.

As a product of its time, the film's portrayal of violence reflects the cinematic norms of that era, somewhat dampening the impact of these scenes today.

Offensive language

Offensive language is used frequently throughout the film, the most common words used are “f**k” “s**t” and “a*s”. There are instances of crude phrases such as “crawl up your a*s” and “your d**k is hard”.

Nudity

One scene in the film is set in a strip club and there are a number of shots showing women dancing topless. The dancing is not the focus of the scene and the women are shown mainly in the background.

Further information

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