Scott LeBrun Ken Wahl plays "Boomer" Hayes, a football star who must become the unlikely hero when the owner of his team, "Bat" Masterson (veteran screen villain Robert Davi), masterminds a false toxic spill in order to get Beverly Hills residents evacuated from their homes. Thus, the empty homes will be ripe for looting by Mastersons' many minions (consisting largely of disgruntled ex-cops). "Boomer" teams up with Kelvin (Matt Frewer), a uniformed BH Cop, who was in on the scheme but took a powder when things got violent. All night long they must dodge attempts on their lives while heading for a showdown with the ambitious criminal."The Taking of Beverly Hills" is an amusing credit for veteran Canadian-born filmmaker Sidney J. Furie ("The Ipcress File", "The Entity", "Iron Eagle"). It's WAY over the top in terms of destruction; get a load of all the damage that henchman Benitez (Branscombe Richmond) does while trying to dispose of our heroes. It takes stupidity, implausibility, and chaos to glorious levels, and will likely have its viewers grinning and shaking their heads in equal measure. Fortunately, this is one movie that knows damn well how ridiculous it is, and makes up for in pace and energy level what it lacks in brains.It begins appropriately enough, with Frewer doing voice-over for a credits sequence that is both a kind of love letter to, and critical assessment of, BH. It benefits the most from Davis' smooth performance as a bad guy who REALLY wants to be accepted by the elite of BH, including the fat-cat father (William Prince) of the sexy lady (Harley Jane Kozak) whom Davi covets. In another character detail, he also happens to be asthmatic.The supporting cast includes such familiar faces as punk rock star Lee Ving, Lyman Ward (Mr. Bueller in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), Tarantino favourite Michael Bowen, Wahls' "Wanderers" co-star Tony Ganios, Ken Swofford ('Fame'), Michael Alldredge ("The Incredible Melting Man"), and George Wyner ("Spaceballs") as the BH mayor. Pamela Anderson has an uncredited bit as a cheerleader.Richmond makes such a nuisance of himself in his efforts to eliminate Wahl and Frewer that it's an utter shame that his comeuppance isn't a lot more glorious.Ultimately, it's all a little too silly for its own good, but it's definitely not boring.Six out of 10.

udar55 I'm sure that line was said a billion times by producers during meetings for this over-the-top action flick. Football team owner Robert Masterson (Robert Davi) concocts the elaborate scam of faking a toxic spill in the titular location and having his team of crooked ex-cops looting Rodeo drive once it is abandoned. What he didn't count on is his star quarterback Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) getting in the way. Boomer teams with Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer), a conspiring cop who develops a conscience when folks start getting killed, and tries to stop the bad guys and save love interest Laura (Harley Jane Kozak). This won't win any awards for originality, but it is definitely action packed. Director Sidney J. Furie loves to blow some stuff up, even putting his leads in some precarious looking shots as nearly everything explodes. I imagine this would have worked better with a bigger name cast as the really has all the hallmarks of a big studio action picture. I could also imagine this would have been a perfect vehicle for Brian Bosworth post-STONE COLD. Frewer provides the comic relief and Wahl, popular on WISE GUY at the time, is passable in the lead. He never headlined another picture. Unfortunately, this never got a chance for a big audience as it was one of many causalities in Orion's collapse. Columbia eventually released it in 500 theaters in the fall of 1991. This still hasn't been released on DVD, which is a shame as it could use a widescreen presentation.

dj_bassett That's the biggest surprise here, how dull the movie really is. Wahl is not a bad actor, although his character is unappealing. The "Max Headroom" sidekick guy is not a bad actor, though his character is unappealing. Actually, nobody in the cast does a bad job per se -- though all of their characters are unappealing. The problem is that a really good idea -- robbing an entire town -- becomes reduced to a lot of boring car chases and tanks running into houses and the like. Robert Davi probably comes off best as the surprise "bad guy" (betcha didn't see that one coming, huh?), although you can see him sweating to ham it up a bit, make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Brian Ellis Believe it or not, but I thought this movie had the makings of a guilty pleasure in the beginning. Rather humorous prelude and interesting credits with a big surprise: Lee Ving (here billed as Lee Ving James), the always entertaining Fear frontman. Then, disaster. Even seeing Ving as a cop couldn't help this. In case the filmmakers are reading this, some tips to make this better (Spoiler alert). Replace Jan Hammer as composer. Eliminate ALL slow motion shots. Drastically reduce the stuff going on outside Beverly Hills. And forget the hitman sideline, unneeded. If that had happened, I would be saying "not a bad little movie" as it was, another brain dead action picture that should be put away and forgotten.