48 Hrs.

Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Annette O’Toole, James Remar
Runtime: 96'
Year of Production: 1982
Language: English
Subtitles: Greek

Not only one of the great box-office successes of American cinema in the '80s, nor just the film that rightly turned Eddie Murphy (only 21 years old at the time) into a major-league star of great magnitude. «48 Hours» should be cited first and foremost as the defining film that, thanks to the way it chose to blend two completely dissimilar heroes, forcing them to coexist in a dynamic combination of crime adventure and black comedy, created an entire film genre and paved the way for a bunch of imitators who tried unsuccessfully to repeat its formula (just consider of how many «Lethal Weapons» and «Rush Hour» followed). However, none of these films realized that the effectiveness and appeal of Walter Hill's classic work was based on the excellent chemistry between the two leading actors, the harmonious matching of violent action with humor, the constant racial tension that never failed to aggravate the plot and, of course, its choice not to play completely by the mainstream rules, maintaining attitude, cynicism and bluntness that ultimately secured its explosive temperament. Loukas Katsikas