Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Leofwine_draca TERROR IN BEVERLY HILLS is a Z-grade action flick from 1989 whose unbelievable storyline sees the president's daughter kidnapped by Arab terrorists and held hostage in Beverly Hills. Gruff-talking cop Cameron Mitchell isn't up to the task of rescuing her, so he calls in special forces man Frank Stallone to do the job. If you've ever wondered why Frank never had his brother Sly's success, you'll see that his wooden acting as evinced here was good enough reason. The quality of this movie is on the level of a typical independent flick, with poor-quality acting across the board and a generally sloppy feel. You'll be hard pressed to get any enjoyment from it at all, even if it does star cult favourite William Smith as the US president, of all people.

Ethan Straffin I might just have to opt for the latter. As we all know, there have been many terrible action movies over the years, but this one takes the awfulness to an extreme that I simply can't believe is unintentional. It's one of those flicks that would have been completely pointless for the cast of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" to parody, because it parodies itself far more deliciously than they ever could.If I were to pinpoint the exact moment I realized this, it must have been when, after product-placing cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi in pretty much every shot where they would make any sense (and a few where they wouldn't), the director chose to begin a scene by literally panning out from the Pepsi can. In retrospect, it really shouldn't have taken me that long."Terror in Beverly Hills" is a revelation of glorious badness. At its best/worst, it's at least as funny as anything Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker have done except for "Airplane!" and "Top Secret," and I've got to hand it to Myhers for his resourcefulness: he took an, erm, modest budget and the full knowledge that some people might take this thing seriously and judge him harshly, and he said "okay, fine" and just went with it.At the same time, the initial kidnapping scene contains many dead bystanders, and the last half-hour rather abruptly jettisons the humor value in favor of the usual sexual violence against women and machine-gun violence against men. The early-nineties score, by turns "Beverly Hills Cop light" and apparently geared toward a genuine suggestion of menace, further complicates things.An enigma wrapped in a mystery? Nah, I'm almost certainly overthinking it. Maybe the jarring tone shifts are simply due to the fact that the guy knew he was making a bad movie and woke up every day with a different attitude toward that fact.

udar55 Often the symbol of decadence, Beverly Hills took a cinematic beating in the early 90s through films like THE TAKING OF BEVERLY HILLS (1991) and this cheap Frank Stallone action flick. Actually, calling it "cheap" is an insult to cheap films. This film is on the level of Al Adamson cheap. We're talking one long shot of a white limo driving down the road while characters voice over as much exposition dialogue that the shot will allow cheap. So cheap that a bomb consists of nothing more than a lump of clay with a digital watch face pressed in it. And yes, so cheap that William Smith's trademark gravely voice is dubbed. You get the point. Yet at the same time, they managed to shoot on location in Israel for the opening.Top billed Stallone stars as Hack Stone (yes, Hack Stone), but only appears in roughly 10 minutes of the first hour of the film. A majority of the time spent concentrating on Abdul (Vassoughi) and his Palestinian terrorist group as they hide out in an old bean factory. TERROR tries hard to elicit the thrills of DIE HARD but on a stretched budget of $10. When Stallone finally shows up for work in the last half hour, he enters the abandoned factory with only a rope and an M-16. I guess anything else would be unnecessary. And he manages to take out the entire terrorist unit without even using the rope! The film's sole highlight is the completely foul mouthed, over the top performance by Cameron Mitchell. As Police Capt. Stills, Mitchell seems to be making it up as he goes along, to great effect. While holding a press conference, an airplane flies overhead and Mitchell stops what he is saying to mutter, "Goddamn airplane!" Later he yells at a plain clothes cop, "Who the f#*k told you to wear that outfit?" When the cop replies, "You did," Mitchell barks out, "Well you know I have no f#*king sense of style!" Then again, maybe it was scripted that way. The screenplay by director Myhers (who co-scripted the Don Knotts/Tim Conway vehicles THE PRIZE FIGHTER and THE PRIVATE EYES) is laughable. "Come on man, don't be an a#*hole," utters Stallone when he finally confronts Abdul.

Frank St. Allone Every year, the Academy Awards manage to overlook a deserving thespian or too. The hardest working man in show business has never received the accolades he deserves. Of course, I am speaking of Frank Stallone. And not only is this movie his greatest achievement, it is the without a doubt the greatest film of all time. Frank Stallone takes the role of Hack Stone to new heights, displaying a range of emotions not seen until The Rock broke through the cinema wall.Mr Stallone plays a former Special Forces soldier trying to cope in a complex world not of his choosing. Through a series of catastrophes of world importance, he is thrust in the middle of a battle between good and evil. In order to leverage the release of Middle Eastern terrorists, a band of insurgents capture the President's daughter while shopping in Beverly Hills. Well, terror indeed raises it's ugly head, not only in Beverly Hills, but in a particular industrial park somewhere in the outskirts of LA.The President faces the largest crisis of his administration. Does he submit to the terrorists demands to release their comrades (being held by Isreal, not the US, but that isn't important right now)? Or does he stare down the terrorists by refusing to negotiate, thereby sacrificing his daughter? He goes with plan C, neither of the above. Plan C? Deploy Hack Stone to infiltrate the terrorists lair and rescue the Presidents daughter.Frank Stallone does not play the part, he is the part! I was totally convinced that he has had special forces training. You can tell by the fact that he only takes one magazine of ammunition with him, carries no protective armor, no communications gear, and has no coordination whatsoever with the law enforcement people outside, that this man has studied hostage situations. By landing his helicopter directly in front of the building of the terrorists, and not taking any cover or concealment, he manages to throw them off balance. Not only that, but by carrying length of blue rope for no particular reason, Hack manages to play head games with the bad guys. When they see that spool of blue rope, they are so intrigued, that can not logically process what to do. Will he tie us up with the rope? Will he swing down from the ceiling on the rope? Maybe he will lasso some stray cattle. By doing absolutely nothing with the rope, those rascally terrorists are terrified, waiting for the moment when the other shoe drops, and he unravels that rope. The anticipation of the rope is enough to keep anyone on pins and needles.The supporting cast also deserves some recognition, from police official (Capt. Stills) just days away from retiring, to news reporter with the nasal voice (Tony Motta). I only wish that Capt Stills would have taken the last few days off, because I believe that it is not fair for a man who has faithfully served the citizens of Beverly Hills to lose his pension because of what some terrorists have done. Maybe the Police Union could help him. I digress.And lets not forget those special effects. I was really convinced that they blew up that car as a diversion. And when those Secret Service agents were killed, let me tell you, I had nightmares for days because it was so realistic. George Lucas can learn a few things from these special effects guys. The chase scene rivaled anything from Bullit or French Connection. They way they kept driving around the same building, no wonder they were able to escape. Perhaps if the Beverly Hills Police Department was able to afford a car a little more reliable than an early 1970's Dodge, then they could have rescued the President's daughter. But then, we wouldn't have a movie then, would we? Overall, a great movie. A realistic plot, slam bang effects, and the greatest and most handsome man ever to grace the screen.