Everyone knows that Eddie Murphy hasn’t helmed a good piece of cinema since Boomerang circa 1992. (Sorry Murphy: Dreamgirls and the Shrek movies don’t count.) That’s why the recent announcement that the Beverly Hills Cop franchise is being madeover by Brett Ratner with a darker edge, has got us excited. The movie will be a sequel to original 1984 film, discarding the story lines of the less successful second and third flicks. In that same spirit, we’ve selected five classic Murphy moments to commemorate Det. Axel Foley‘s hopeful return to the lurid.
1. The Redneck Bar from 48 Hours: Making fun of rednecks has never been done with such nerve and style. Plus Nick Nolte and Murphy basically invented the buddy cop film. No one has done it as well since (yes that means you too Lethal Weapon).
2. First Black President sketch from Delirious: The right wing hate rhetoric that is spewing about Obama makes us think Murphy wasn’t too far off with his ducking and weaving black President.
3. Still from Delirious, but in this clip he goes after Michael Jackson and his feminine “sensitivity.” Murphy was making fun of MJ before it was fashionable to do so.
4. Eddie Murphy Raw on Marriage: Raw should probably be on here in its entirety. Any random five minutes from this routine is classic. Doubly so when the topic is about marriage. Glad he took his own advice.
5. “Party All The Time”: Simply the greatest music video ever made. Rick James lends production skills which instantly makes it classic.