1 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
48 Hrs.
"One cop. One con. No mercy."
1982 1h 36m EN
👍
6.7
SOLID
🔥
92%
CERTIFIED FRESH
👌
71
METACRITIC
⭐
6.9
IMDB
★6.7TMDB · 1,800🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●71Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 92,461
CrimeActionComedy
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.
“One cop. One con. No mercy.”
Where to watch · US
Cast
Nick Nolte
Jack Cates
Eddie Murphy
Reggie Hammond
Annette O'Toole
Elaine
Frank McRae
Haden
James Remar
Albert Ganz
David Patrick Kelly
Luther
Sonny Landham
Billy Bear
Brion James
Ben Kehoe
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Walter Hill
- Writers
- Steven E. de Souza, Roger Spottiswoode, Larry Gross
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
44 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "48 Hrs. Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Walter Hill, shot by Ric Waite. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Billy Weber shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy and Annette O'Toole carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "One cop. One con. No mercy.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Walter Hill directs. Ric Waite behind the camera. James Horner scores. Billy Weber cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.
- 244 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 3Part of the "48 Hrs. Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 4Directed by Walter Hill, shot by Ric Waite. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor Billy Weber shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy and Annette O'Toole carry the top of the cast.
- 8Marketing tagline: "One cop. One con. No mercy.".
- 9IMDB entry: tt0083511 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 10Classified under 12 themes, including "prison", "san francisco, california", "knife", "partner".
- 11Released under 10 different titles around the world.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Ric Waite
- Original score
- James Horner
- Editing
- Billy Weber
- Production design
- John Vallone
- Costume design
- Marilyn Vance
- Makeup / hair
- Dagmar Loesch
- Sound
- Gregg Landaker
- Stunt coordinator
- Bennie E. Dobbins
- Runtime
- 96 min · 1h 36m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $12,000,000
- Box office
- $78,868,508
- Return
- 657% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
- IMDB
- 48 Hrs. (1982)
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 92% 🍅 Fresh
- Metacritic
- 71/100
- IMDB rating
- 6.9/10 · 92,461 votes
- MPAA
- R
Awards
3 wins & 2 nominations total
Part of
48 Hrs. Collection
'48 Hrs.' and 'Another 48 Hrs.' is a series of two films about Jack Cates, a hard-nosed cop, who reluctantly teams up with Reggie Hammond, a wise-cracking criminal, in order to solve crimes. '48 Hrs.' is often credited as being the first film to pioneer the "buddy cop" genre.
Also by
Walter Hill
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- John Chard★ 8/10
You switch from an armed robber to a pimp, you're all set. A hard as nails cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down an escaped convict cop killer. The mismatched buddy buddy formula exploded onto the screen here in a ball of violence, profanity and pin sharp one liners. It also launched Eddie Murphy into 1980s stardom. Directed by Walter Hill and starring Nick Nolte alongside Murphy as part of an electrifying black and white double act, it's unrelenting in pace and bad attitude. It could have been so different though, with the likes of Stallone, Reynolds, Pryor and Hines attached at various times for lead parts, it now is written in folklore that Murphy got the break and grasped it with both hands (he was actually fired at one point mind!). Thankfully the problems behind the scenes were resolved to give us a classic of its type. A big success for Paramount it paved the way for more choice same formula pictures in the decade, but few were able to be so course and daring with the racial divide explosions. Murphy is outstanding, quick as an A.K. 47 in vocal delivery and with visual comedic ticks in full effect, he plays off of the also excellent gruff rough and tough Nolte superbly. Unsurprisingly the plot trajectory is simple enough, but such is the writing and performances (James Remar, Sonny Landham and David Patrick Kelly in support) it's one hell of a live wire ride from start to finish. In amongst the verbal and action carnage you find plenty of 80s pop culture, with a blunderbuss sound track and a score from James Horner that pings around the Los Angeles locales (he would rework it for Arnie starrer Commando in 1985). This points to a time where now it is perceived as being tactless and a relic, and yet it instils realism as it captures the zeitgeist of the era. So not one for the easily offended then, but for nostalgics and those interested in the expansion of the action comedy formula, then this is a must see that still delivers high octane entertainment. 8/10
- JPV852★ 6/10
Entertaining buddy action-comedy that features a good antagonistic relationship between Nolte and Murphy. The plot isn't the strongest but the action/fight scenes were alright. 3.25/5
- Andre Gonzales★ 6/10
Back to the old school. Love this movie. This is when cop movies started to have some comedy in it.
Production companies
Who made it
Paramount Pictures
US
- LA
Lawrence Gordon Productions
US
Silver Pictures
US
Key crew
- ProducerLawrence Gordon
- EditorBilly Weber
- Production DesignJohn Vallone
- EditorMark Warner
- CastingJudith Holstra
- ProducerJoel Silver
- EditorFreeman A. Davies
- ADR EditorMark Mangini
- Stunt DoubleTerry Leonard
- Set DecorationRichard C. Goddard
- StuntsNick Dimitri
- Stunt DoubleJohn Sherrod
- Stunt DoubleVince Deadrick Jr.
- StuntsBruce Paul Barbour
- StuntsBilly C. Chandler
- StuntsLarry Holt
- Stunt DriverConrad E. Palmisano
- Stunt CoordinatorBennie E. Dobbins
- StuntsJerry Brutsche
- HairstylistDagmar Loesch
- StuntsTony Brubaker
- Special EffectsJoseph P. Mercurio
- GafferCarl Boles
- StuntsWalter Scott
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- prison
- san francisco, california
- knife
- partner
- revenge
- convict
- buddy cop
- tough cop
- fake fight
- dysfunctional relationship
- absurd
- amused
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1982-12-07R
Also known as
International titles
- 48 HoursUS
- Forty Eight HoursUS
- 48 Hrs. 1US
- 48 HorasSV
- Keturiasdešimt aštuonios valandosLT
- 48 heuresFR
- 48 Ώρες: Το Κυνήγι Του ΔολοφόνουGR
- 48 HorasMX
- 四十八小时CN
- 48 HorasBR
