Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Highly likeable crime comedy. 

Eddie Murphy stars as the endlessly cool, magnetic Axel Foley, a Detroit cop investigating his friend’s shooting. His enquiries take him to a Beverly Hills art dealer who turns out to be dealing in other things too. Steven Berkoff is genuinely menacing as the villain, which is a surprise because he was so awful as General Orlov in Octopussy.

There are a lot of laughs, but it still works as a thriller. Murphy’s presence is so powerful that he’s just a pleasure to watch, and the film has wisely been constructed around his huge, warm personality. It’s worth seeing just to hear his laugh.

The theme tune, “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer, keeps popping up and is a welcome inclusion.

Octopussy (1983)

“That’ll keep you in curry for a few weeks, won't it?” James Bond tells an Indian man, after handing him some money. This creaking Roger Moore film shows Bond badly in need of a re-think. As well as the usual racism and sexism, it’s largely played as a comic caper. Bond impersonates Tarzan at one point and dresses up as a circus clown for the dramatic bomb-defusing climax. Not only that, but in the countdown to detonation he wastes vital minutes applying the face paint. But even the “serious” parts are ludicrous. Bond drives a horse box with a fake “back end of a horse” that springs up to allow a small jet plane to unfold. He gets involved in an egg-related scam, with too much attention given to rare Faberge antiques. He travels across water in a fake plastic crocodile. He flies with Q into a hilltop palace using a Union Jack hot-air balloon. He dresses up in an ape costume. And so on.

On the plus side, Maude Adams is strong in the title role even if it’s unclear how much of a villain she really is. On the down side, Louis Jourdan is merely passable as an exiled Afghan prince and Steven Berkoff is utterly appalling as the cartoonish Soviet general Orlov.

You might hope this was it for Roger Moore as Bond, but he survived for one further film (A View to a Kill) – despite looking a little too old and weary for the role.