Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Hard-nosed cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) finds himself being forced to ask convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) for his help in tracking down two violent cop killers. Cates has Hammond on loan to him for 48 hours so it's very much a race against time to track down these murderous punks....48 Hours was the film that kick started Eddie Murphy's acting career and made him one of the most bankable stars of the 1980's. Watching his performance in this film it's very easy to see why; Murphy just had so much energy and was just so much fun to watch that often I could find myself forgiving some of the weaker areas in many of his films. I still liked Murphy in this film and thought he was fun to watch but...I didn't think that much of the story to be honest; it's a rather weak and unfocused affair; the baddies are in the film at the start and then disappear for an hour and then they only show up towards the end to wrap the film up. In the early stages this is OK because it allows for Murphy and Nolte to trade insults and kick off with each other. Like I say this is fun at first, but in mismatched buddy films the characters hatred for one another should form part of the story rather than engulfing the film and sadly the latter aspect is what occurs here. The story has no real depth, the baddies have no development and sadly that means that we're left with nearly 90 minutes of Murphy and Nolte trading insults - like I say it's fun at first, but wears thin.The directing here is also a bit hit-and-miss as well; the film wasn't as action packed as I was expecting and coupled with the rather weak and undeveloped story this was never as good as it could have been. The true selling point here lies with Nolte and Murphy who were both very good and played off one another very well.48 Hours isn't a terrible film by any means and the chemistry between Murphy and Nolte was pretty good. Unfortunately, the director put too much focus on them and not enough focus on anything else. This results in a film that is fun for a while, but does get a little repetitive and tiresome from time to time.

Eddie Murphy during his prime. Nick Nolte before alcohol took its course with him. The film is about a no nonsense officer who teams up with a career criminal for 48 hours in order to catch a cop killer using that said officer's own gun. This film is basically the Odd Couple with guns and excellently choreographed gunplay action. No really, the action is great. And the film is funny without trying to be funny, which is a mistake made by the sequel which I'm going to watch and review next. I don't know much about Eddie Murphy's career but I'm sure this was the film that helped him become a household name. This movie as it all. Action, comedy, great story and character development.

Besides being a nostalgic walk through the San Francisco of my childhood, 48 Hours apprised me of something else--it was incredibly racist. I'm not talking about the subtle innuendo type racism; but the brash, in-your-face, N-word using, unabashed racism. Now, I know that it was done all in the name of comedy but I was shocked. I saw this movie so many years ago, and really, I'm sure I never saw the whole film because no way my parents would have allowed it. I think the little bit I did see was by popping in the VHS when they weren't home and I know now that I understood very little of it.This movie absolutely wouldn't fly today. The closest thing I've seen to it is Rush Hour, and even as much as Chris Tucker pushed the envelope with the subtle digs at Jackie Chan's Chinese heritage, you definitely saw that a line was drawn. In 48 Hours, no line was set--which is maybe why it was such a hit.Eddie Murphy was funny, though not nearly as funny as in other movies. Nick Nolte was all too good as the raspy voiced, surly cop. And Oh how can I forget the loud Black police captain played by Frank McRae. Did 48 Hours start that trend? 48 Hours is a classic but not nearly what I remember now looking through the lenses of an adult.

I remember seeing this when it first came out, and I thought it was a stupid plot-Cop needs help from convict to catch a cop killer- Cop drives prisoner around looking for bad guys--- well to this day in the real world,that has not happened-- if it did in the past - the prisoner was most likely restrained with hand cuffs,and guarded by 10 other cops-- Hollywood and reality just don't mix- the other things is how easy it was for Nick Nolte to get him out of prison, and how when he went into the jail cell un-escorted. everything from a county lock-up to a state prison don't allow cops to just go in there. very stupid movie