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Eddie Murphy made his big screen debut opposite Nick Nolte in this action-comedy from director Walter Hill (The Warriors, Streets of Fire). Nolte plays a haggard cop who begrudgingly seeks the help of Murphy’s character, a thief serving the last few months of his jail time. Together they try to track down a couple of killers (Sonny Landham and Dexter‘s James Remar), and gosh darn it if the cop and the convict don’t start to become friends.

The buddy cop formula is as hackneyed as they come today, but try to keep in mind 48 Hrs. was one of the progenitors of the sub-genre, coming out a full five years before Richard Donner and Shane Black unleashed the Lethal Weapon series on the world. There’s an easy-going attitude to Nolte’s and Murphy’s performances — both are understated compared to the grandstanding for which both would later become known. Hill’s directorial style is straightforward but sure-handed, and composer James Horner adds a layer of interest with his percussive, jazz-infused score.

With Annette O’Toole, David Patrick Kelly, Brion James, Frank McRae, Jonathan Banks, and Denise Crosby.