Bullet Points: The Taking of Beverly Hills

Some movies are victims of circumstance. 1991’s The Taking of Beverly Hills is such a movie.

In fact, it was actually supposed to be 1989’s The Taking of Beverly Hills, capitalizing on the unbelievable success that Die Hard had the year prior. But behind the scenes drama and post production headaches had the film in movie limbo for nearly two years.

Then in May of 1991 when it was finally ready to be released to the world, the film’s distributor, Orion Pictures, was bleeding money and The Taking of Beverly Hills once again became the victim of circumstance.

Later that year, Columbia Pictures acquired the film and gave it a half ass limited release on October 11, 1991. Not surprisingly the movie was not a money maker at the box office and more people probably saw it on home video than saw it at the theater.

• Late to the Party: The movie starts off at a charity function for the homeless where we are introduced to the key players of the movie. At the center of it all is Robert Masterson (Robert Davi, Wild Thing) Davi is a well-to-do businessman, who counts a professional football team and a luxury hotel among the things he owns. But he wants more… he has a literal hard on for Laura Sage (Harley Jane Kozak) and figurative hard on for the insurance company that Laura’s father is the CEO of. Working security detail for the event is Masterson’s right hand man and former Beverly Hills cop Varney (Lee Ving, Streets of Fire) and sad sack and current Beverly Hills cop, Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer, Max Headroom). Late to this shindig, is the star quarterback of Masterson’s unnamed Los Angeles based football team, Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl, Race for the Yankee Zephyr). Boomer and Masterson butt heads as soon as Boomer arrives and when Boomer sees his boss strike out with Laura, he can’t help but swoop in and turn on the Boomer charm. Boomer agrees to coach football for underprivileged kids every Saturday for a year, if he can have 8 hours to get to know Laura… she agrees and Boomer and Laura go out for a night on the town capped off by going back to Boomer’s place.

• Spill the Beans: Later that night something is afoot in Beverly Hills. There is a tanker truck barreling through the streets of Beverly Hills at an alarming speed so it is no surprise when the vehicle flips and the contents, reported to be very deadly, spill onto to the usually pristine streets of Beverly Hills. While it is made to look like an accident, this chemical spill is no accident. The spill is just one part of a multi-phase plan to pillage and plunder Beverly Hills. Leading the operation on the ground is Varney, who along with a bunch of other former cops that were fed up with “protecting and serving” the rich and elite in a community they could never even dream of living in. These rogues disguise themselves as cops and EPA workers, knowing full well it will be at least an hour before the National Guard shows up. Varney’s crew evacuate the area, loading everyone up in school buses and taking them to Masterson’s luxury hotel in nearby Century City including Laura… Laura found herself over at Boomer’s house after their night out, but before Boomer can have a chemical spill of his own. Laura decides they need some more champagne. On her way to the fridge Laura hears the commotion outside and goes to check it out… it is that point she is swept up with all the other evacuees, leaving Boomer all alone.

• Escape from Beverly Hills: When the bad guys realize that Boomer was not evacuated with the rest of the inhabitants of Beverly Hills, Varney orders Boomer’s demise. But Boomer is not about to go down without a fight, using his athleticism and ability to think on his feet to his advantage… this forces Varney to escalate the situation to Benitez (Branscombe Richmond, Renegade), who makes it his mission to eliminate Boomer and Boomer’s reluctant partner on the run, Ed Kelvin. Kelvin sided with Boomer when he realized the guys he was working with are taking things too far (like shooting the mayor of Beverly Hills too far). So now Kelvin finds himself running for his life through the streets of Beverly Hills while Benitez chases them down with everything from a tank to a flame thrower. The Benitez scenes is where The Taking of Beverly Hills jams in the most action, the most fun and the most property damage.

It makes total sense that if you have Robert Davi in your movie, he’s going to turn out to be the mastermind behind this diabolical plan, but honestly I think the sub plot with Davi’s Masterson wanting to get on the board of directors of the insurance company by hook or by crook over complicated things, especially when he was already rich! The disgruntled cops angle was sufficient motivation for our villains to rob from the rich and powerful in my estimation.

Ken Wahl and Matt Frewer made for a good team, with Frewer providing some comic relief along the way and Ken Wahl earning his stripes as an underrated action star and a guy I am really surprised was not tapped to do more action films in the 90’s.

Long time Bulletproof Action readers would be surprised if I didn’t throw it to the Bonus Bullet Points right about now…

• Familiar Faces: Two of Boomer’s team mates shown at the charity event were played by some familiar faces… one was Peter Koch (aka Swede from Heartbreak Ridge) and the other was Bob Golic, who Bulletproof Action reviewer Matt Spector will always remember for his time with the Cleveland Browns and the short film Masters of the Gridiron and who Bulletproof Action reviewer Chris DePetrillo will always remember from Saved by the Bell: The College Years.
• Directed By: Sidney J. Furie (Iron Eagle) was reportedly fired before the film was actually finished.
• Unexpected Appearance: During their desperate attempt to get the hell out of Beverly Hills, Boomer and Kelvin come across some shuriken. Instant bonus points in my book.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Ken Wahl in an over sized bubble bath, then The Taking of Beverly Hills is the movie for you.
• Hail Mary: One of my favorite scenes in the film incorporates the fact that Boomer Hayes is a quarterback.
• Epic Soundtrack: The Taking of Beverly Hills has a real B movie feel to it, but it has a major motion picture level soundtrack. “Feels Good” by Tony! Toni! Toné!, “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye, “Unbelievable” by EMF, “Black Cat” by Janet Jackson, “For The Love Of Money” by The O’Jays and “Epic” by Faith No More are featured.