Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

The theme tune says it all really, the boys are back in town. Nolte and Murphy are back together as cop and convict wading through a plot as lazy as it gets. Walter Hill directs once again and it's only his action scenes that stop this from being an outright stinker. Every thing about it comes off as a cheap cash in lacking originality, with scenes even reproduced from the first film here. A strong supporting cast of character actors file in to make some easy money, with the likes of Brion James, Ed O'Ross, Brent Jennings and Kevin Tighe at least proving to be reassuring presences.Murphy and Nolte jostle, fight each other and swear a lot, which would be OK were it not already done so much better in the first film. All things considered, it's a no brainer really to suggest you watch the first film instead. 5/10

Seven years on, a wearied Nolte, hair cropped and the lively sidekick, Murphy re team in this bigger action spectacle. While the original was more restrained, and did take a while to get to where it's going, this however surprisingly much more entertaining, as if the start is anything to go back. Apparently Nolte and Murphy, are in an avenging fire, as Gain's brother wants retribution, and we know Nolte, never losing his character, isn't gonna go down easy. Nolte enlist Murphy's help to catch this angry son of a bitch, and of course he's reluctant as first until Nolte tries blackmailing tactics on him. Murphy who is almost is free as a bird takes up with Nolte after assassination attempts are made on him. Now the angry and avenging return fire and this is where the fun of the movie lies. Even if not liking the original, which was more solid, atmospheric and hard edged, and of better quality, here's one you'll like more with racey punchy action, with an end, very much similar to the original, plus a shock turn involving one of Nolte's very own from the original, which I liked.

Another 48 Hrs is a terrific,entertaining,funny and Action-packed sequel that is filled with great direction,wonderful performances from Eddie Murphy,Nick Nolte and a fine cast,thrilling Action,good laughs and a great score. And while Another 48 Hrs is not as good as the original,the film is still a solid sequel.Set seven years after the original,Another 48 Hrs finds Jack Cates(Nick Nolte)trying to track down and nail a drug lord named The Iceman,a drug dealer who has been operating in San Francisco. With nowhere to turn,Jack needs help once again from Reggie Hammond(Eddie Murphy)who's been in prison for five years and is about to get out. The only problem is that The Iceman wants Reggie dead. Now,Jack and Reggie have Another 48 Hrs to bring down The Iceman and with Jack and Reggie the boys are back in town with more laughs and thrills.Released in 1990,Another 48 Hrs is an entertaining sequel that not only came out 8 years after the excellent,landmark Action-Comedy classic 48 Hrs but also came out after the Box Office success of the first two Lethal Weapon films. While Another 48 Hrs was a Box Office success,the film received a mixed reaction from film critics who felt Another 48 Hrs was too much like the original and while this film isn't very creative or truly groundbreaking like the first film it's still a fun and thrilling movie that entertains you for 95 minutes. Another 48 Hrs is a good Action-Comedy that pretty much taking what worked in the first movie and bringing it to this film mixing thrilling,intense Action with hilarious Comedy that is non-stop from beginning to end. The Comedy and Humor in Another 48 Hrs. is funny and will make you laugh out loud because the Humor is very much in line with the first film showing how Jack and Reggie deal with each other while looking for The Iceman and getting into various situations that are funny with Eddie Murphy being the funny guy and Nick Nolte being the straight one. Although the Comedy in Another 48 Hrs is funny,the Humor sometimes lacks the edge and politically incorrect tone the first one had. If there is one thing that is different and bigger from the first 48 Hrs it's the Action scenes. The Action scenes in Another 48 Hrs are not only amazing but are bigger and louder than they were in the first film because director Walter Hill(who was given a much bigger budget with this film)goes completely insane with the Action with each Action scene being more explosive than the last. Hill's Action scenes always feature people flying in the air or going through broken glass and while there is people flying in the air,there is more broken glass shattered in Another 48 Hrs than in any other Walter Hill film whether it's with windows or glass doors. There is enough Action,gunfights,explosions and thrills in Another 48 to satisfy any Action film and Walter Fill fan. The main characters Jack Cates and Reggie Hammond show in this film that despite not seeing each other for seven neither one of them has changed since the last time they saw each other with the two still throwing funny jabs and insults at one another almost like they were never apart. Throughout the film we also see Jack and Reggie try to repair their friendship which has been strained(the two haven't seen each other in seven years)but as the film goes on and the two work together their partnership and friendship grows despite the funny lines the two throw at each other and the chemistry is still there. The ending of Another 48 Hrs is great and filled with Action,excitement and laughs and a twist you wont see coming at all. There is also a wonderful bit at the end that is a funny homage to the ending in the original film that will make you laugh. A great ending.The cast is terrific. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte are excellent once again as Reggie Hammond and Jack Cates,with Murphy and Nolte displaying great laughs and chemistry. Brion James is great as Kehoe,Cates' fellow cop and friend. Kevin Tighe is wonderful as Blake Wilson,an Internal Affairs cop that is on Jack's back. Ed O'Ross does a fine job as Frank Cruise,another San Francisco Cop. David Anthony Marshall(Willie Hickok),Andrew Divoff(Richard 'Cherry Ganz)and Ted Markland(Malcolm Price)are outstanding as the three murderous bikers. Bernie Casey is fantastic as Kirkland Smith,a fellow convict that Reggie owes a debt to. Brent Jennings is sensational as Burroughs,a man that works for The Iceman. Tisha Campbell(Amy Smith),Page Leong(Angel Lee)and Cathy Hasse(Girl Bartender)give good performances as well.The direction by Walter Hill is wonderful,with Hill always moving the camera and keeping the film moving at a tight pace and Hill also does a great job with the Action scenes. Incredible direction,Hill.The score by James Horner is great,intense and matches the tone of the film. Fantastic score,Horner. There is also the return of the classic song The Boys Are Back In Town by The Bus Boys and another version of the song by Jesse Johnson.In final word,if you love Action-Comedies,Walter Hill,Eddie Murphy or Nick Nolte,I highly suggest you see Another 48 Hrs.,a terrific,Action-packed and funny Action-Comedy that will keep you entertained. Highly Recommended. 9.5/10.

But this time around they are not welcomed!. Don't know what happened. Same director, same leading stars,almost the same premises and what a misfire! What a shame. I was really looking forward to seeing this sequel because of the classic "48 HRS"(1982) before it. But what a disappointment. This one doe not even have a Nolte vs Eddie rematch fight! :(It's like it was trying to hard to replicate the success of the 1st one.(Big mistake) Even having the same music and actors and the most unbelievable , the same lines!!? Being repeated here again just made them lose all their power per say:(Call for help now!) (Roxanne!..) Nolte calling Eddie convict etc...had this been more of homage then maybe it would have worked differently.In this one Eddie Murphy is now the star and Nick Nolte his co-star. They still have that chemistry but somehow it just isn't the same or funny like it was in the original. Brion James returns as 'Ben Kehoe' from the original,but now in a bigger role as in the most unbelievable ridiculous "I can't believe I gotta swallow this one"way. He turns out to be now the main bad guy(the 'Ice Man')this in turn explains in some crazy way that it was Kehoe's money that 'Reggie Hammond'(Murphy) stole in the 1st movie!!?? What the hell??!! That was the best they could come up with as a story? gimme a break! Why did he wait till the sequel to get Eddie killed??! Doesn't make sense! Another actor from the original is "supposedly" here also(I didn't see him at all) and that is the great Frank McRae as 'Capt. Haden',he is listed here on IMDb in this film as uncredited but I still not see him for nothing. Annette O'Toole, who played 'Jack Cates's girl 'Elaine' in the original,(wisely) sat this one out as they explain that she and Jack are now divorced and she went back home somewhere.Of the "new blood" we have the great Kevin Tighe doing what he does best, playing a slimy , sleazy type of role. Here he is 'Blake Wilson' the Internal Affairs guy out to get Nolte. good turn for him. He even gets punched out big time by Nolte! Next we have the great(and one of my favorites) Ed O'Ross in a thankless role as a crooked cop who is in cahoots with the Ice Man. He had a much better role earlier in Walter Hill's "Red Heat(1988) as Viktor 'Rosta' Rostavili. Here, he was just wasted.The main villain here is played by none-other than the great Andrew Divoff. He plays 'Cherry Ganz' the brother of Albert Ganz from the original that was played by the great James Remar. Divoff did a believable(even with the fake wig and stuff) job, even sounded a lot like Remar's Ganz but then again they are suppose to be 'brothers' so that totally worked for me.i was surprised to see the great Bernie Casey.Don't get me wrong, he did a great turn as 'Kirkland Smith' the man inside prison with Murphy that Eddie 'owes' a favor big-time. His role was brief but good. His daughter in this film is played by Tisha Cambell(Gina from 'Martin' fame) that was nice but she came out to close to the end and once again I feel she was wasted in her brief thankless role. it would have been interesting to have had her come out earlier and see if she and Murphy would have had some chemistry. Oh well, we will never know.It looks like director Walter Hill uses many of the actors he has worked with in his prior films. Like for instance Brent Jennings who was in Hill's "Red Heat(1988) as 'Abdul Elijah'. here he has the role of 'Tyrone Burroughs' the so-called 'Ice-Man's right-hand man.It was a OK role but I feel he was wasted also. Another actor used was the late Edward Walsh, who sadly this was his final film. he had a brief role also as a fellow detective of Nolte and was just not used properly like he was in Hill's debut "Hard Times"(1975) as the sleazy, double-crossing 'Pettibon'. This film was not a good final swansong for him.The late character actor of countless "B" Movies Hoke Howell had a brief bit here as an ill-fated bartender. Stuntman/actor Allan Graf did both jobs in this one also in his brief bit as the ill-fated bus driver.Also performing stunts only was the beautiful and talented Patricia Tallman.Two very surprising bits that were so brief you better not blink type were from two very distinguished Asian actors: George 'kee' Cheung and Dana Lee. I barely saw George's scene but missed Dana's completely. What made these very talented actors at this juncture of their long career's take these throwaway bit roles is a mystery to me. Maybe they were Walter Hill's friends and did it for a lark or they were just happy to be working and getting paid no matter what the role required. Complete mystery. Ironically, these two gentlemen had previously worked together 5 years earlier in "Rambo:First Blood part 2"(1985) in way better roles being the bad guys/villains to Stallone's Rambo.And last but certainly not least, is the blink and you'll miss it scene of the great Kitten Natividad shown briefly as a nude stripper in a movie playing in the background as the action/climax just tears up the screen she is on. I guess you gotta take what you can in Hollywood and I'm thinking that's just what these actors all did! :)P.S. That's none-other than Jesse Johnson (formerly of The Time) playing at the club the '48 HRS' signature song, "The Boys Are Back In Town"