If you love high octane B Movies, then this one's for you. It's a relentlessly paced onslaught of huge explosions and action that never let's up. It's also highly absurd and totally ridiculous, which is what makes it so great! You really have to suspend all disbelief and just check your brain at the door because common sense was not a factor when writing the scrip. It's dumb, but also so much fun. It wears it's early 90's vibe on it's sleeve (mullets!), and easily one of the most enjoyable Die Hard knockoff's out there, not to mention on a visual level, it looks fantastic. Yea it may be unintentionally hilarious because of how absurd it is, or how totally ridiculous scenario's are what drive the film forward, but again, it rules because stuff get's blown up on a minute to minute basis and it's kind of hilarious, awesome, and ridiculous all at the same time. I had such a blast with this, and I hope you will too. Just check your brain at the door. www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.blogspot.com

"The Taking of Beverly Hills" combines elements of the James Bond caper "Goldfinger" and the Bruce Willis cop epic "Die Hard." "Ipcress File" director Sidney J. Furie not only helmed this exciting, larger-than-life actioneer, but he also came up with the audacious story. A sleazy millionaire hatches an outlandish scheme to sabotage a wealthy insurance company owner because the former hates the latter with such contempt. The affluent villain concocts a plan to systematically loot Beverly Hills by staging a phony toxic waste spill prompting the evacuation of all the wealthy residents while keeping the Beverly Hills police locked up in their own facility. The ambitious idea flounders because one of the cops changes his mind about the crime and teams up with a playboy NFL quarterback and they derail the millionaire's strategy. However, fighting these high-tech thieves is no picnic, especially when one of them, Benitez (Branscombe Richmond of "Renegade"),pursues them with a passion in a SWAT Team tank, hurling shells at them when it isn't smashing through walls, fences, and homes. Indeed, mullet-headed Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl of "The Soldier") is the fleet-footed quarterback who shoots himself up with cortisone because he suffers from a bad leg. Boomer gets unexpected help from a turncoat Beverly Hills Cop, Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer of "Orphan Black"), who saves our signal caller from getting riddled by bullets from bogus police in his Beverly Hills home. Together, these two misfits undermine rich man Robert Masterson (Robert Davi of "License to Kill") and blow his grand plan to screw over Mitchell Sage (William Prince of "The Gauntlet") who detests everything about Masterson except his money. At the same time, leading lady Harley Jane Kozak plays Sage's daughter Laura who doesn't hold Masterson in the same contempt that her dad does. Masterson has romantic aspirations for Laura, but Masterson's star quarterback Boomer cuts into his plans. Just as Boomer and Laura are about to soak into a hot tub with bubble bath, Masterson's goons orchestrate their phony toxic spill and isolate the city. The villains set themselves a time table and rigidly adhere to it and have over $700 million in loot when Boomer and Kelvin pull the rug out from under them. Sidney J. Furie doesn't squander a second in this fast-moving crime thriller punctuated with fireball explosions. Wahl shuns guns and relies on his throwing arm and his football strategy to avoid getting sacked on the field. He has a device that helps him deal with a football field blitz. The film sets up the heist with an opening expository scene about Beverly Hills and how it is a self-governed enclave to itself in the middle of Los Angeles. Indeed, Furie and his scribes establish the credibility of the scheme from the get go. Lots of fun. The dialogue is crammed with neat lines.

I saw this movie as a kid and thought how much fun it was. Now as an adult, it's dumb...really dumb...but fun. I'm actually astonished this didn't become a cult, like say..."Revenge Of The Living Dead." I think it still has time.Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) is a star quarterback for a fictitious L.A. team (since L.A. doesn't have a pro football team...why not?). He gets snookered into a benefit for the homeless at a swank Beverly Hills party. Amongst the party-goers is football team's owner and Boomer's boss, Robert Masterson (Robert Davi). Which the minute you see Davi's smarmy face...it's no surprise he'll be up to smarm. Anyway, that's all you need to know going in. Rich and poor. Have and have nots. And that's when the have-nots want the haves. A bizarre conspiracy to take over a business veiled in a heist (sound familiar...I 'aint ruining anything).They also turn it into a buddy cop movie. Which, oddly enough, is narrated by Matt Frewer...yes, Max Headroom Frewer. His voice over to introduce Beverly Hills is anemic, to be kind, and silly. And odd, since the point of view is from Boomer...I think. But these two go off to try to thwart this crime, even though they are battling an army that is essentially the L.A.P.D.As dumb action movies of this generation goes, if you've exhausted all your options, THIS movie is a perfect compendium to something like "Action Jackson." It holds zero logic but has a pretty sweet soundtrack. Faith No More's "Epic" or Janet Jackson's "Black Cat" to name a few hits (how did they get these songs is beyond me).Wahl is fun, but the dialogue is corny (as it should be) and there are some solid moments of male bonding. Overall, on a slow night or if your copy of "Road House" is worn out, check this out.

I gave this film a chance, and I wasn't disappointed. Some people have described Ken Wahl as wooden but here he is very good as hero Boomer. Matt Frewer, Robert Davi and Lee Ving are great in their roles too.Branscombe Richmond is also great as Benitez, a would-be intellectual bad guy who drives around in a police tank. Though to be fair, it is a bit unbelievable that the entire action of the film is meant to be taking place in just over an hour. But, that said TAKING OF BEVERLY HILLS is quite an enjoyable film. I've been interested in seeing Ken Wahl's films ever since I saw this TV movie he made in the 80s called THE GLADIATOR. I've seen a couple more of his films since seeing TOBH and the only one he really sounded a sour note in was James Glickenhaus' THE SOLDIER, although to be fair, even one good performance couldn't save that film. But TOBH is really enjoyable with plenty of action. It's a bit of a strange coincidence that Boomer happens to know how to make Molotov cocktails, as one review I read somewhere pointed out, but the character is very likable and resourceful. The final showdown between Boomer and Benitez is very well-handled and the film has a great sense of humour as well. I hope it gets released on DVD sometime. It deserves a DVD release.