48 Hrs. 4K 1982

If Lethal Weapon has been called the father of all buddy-movies, 48 Hours is the grandfather of the genre. Appearing five years before Richard Donner's, Walter Hill's film set the ground rules of the game.

Two heroes. One is white. The other is black. One is a cop who, to put it mildly, is disliked by his fellow officers. The other is a felon doing time. They have nothing in common, but Jack Cates (Nick Noltey) has to work with Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) to solve the murder of two cops that Jack witnessed. Cates hopes to get Reggie's help, but the problem is that they hate each other and punch each other in the face every chance they get.

"48 Hours" was Eddie Murphy's debut on the big screen, and along with several films from the same eighties is his best work. At that time he was still not in the garbage, and he was great at entertaining the audience, not shy in terms of expression. The duo of Murphy and Nolte - this is the main reason why you can watch the movie almost thirty years later: they live their characters, you believe in them and want to see them on the screen, as much as possible. It's also worth noting the brilliant dialogues that help the main characters be memorable to the audience.

"48 Hours" is also a Walter Hill film and action from the eighties. Hill couldn't help but bring notes of the Western into the picture, making the opening scene an omen to his favorite genre. The eighties entourage is mostly reminded by the bad guys, who, as always, are partly caricatures of themselves: big, pumped up, with huge guns, smashing everything in their way and unkillable until the final credits. James Rimar and Sonny Landham don't let the psychotic nature of their characters be questioned.

In a genre where they don't live long, "48 Hours" still looks good. The only factor that spoils their former brilliance is a factor beyond their control: Hill's picture has been copied and cloned so many times that the original gets a little lost against the backdrop of numerous imitations and copies.