Wisecracking Detroit cop Axel Foley begins his adventures in the action/comedy hit Beverly Hills Cop. Paramount has done a nice job of cleaning up this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen print. While some grain and imperfections abound, overall this is a good-looking transfer with minimal edge enhancement and bright-looking colors. The audio is presented in a newly mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in English, as well as Dolby 2.0 in English and French. The new 5.1 soundtrack is passable, though it's mainly composer Harold Faultermeyer's techno-pop score that is filtered through the front and rear speakers. All aspects of the dialogue, effects, and music are distortion free and very clear. Also included on this disc are subtitles in English. This is a "special collector's edition" of Beverly Hills Cop, and as such includes some interesting special features. To start with, there is a commentary track by director Martin Brest that is both informative and insightful (with only a few gaps of dead silence during the feature). "Beverly Hills Cop: The Phenomenon Begins" is a somewhat self-serving documentary that includes interviews with Martin Brest, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Daniel Petrie Jr., and actors Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, and in a limited fashion, Eddie Murphy. This retrospective is interesting, though many of the participants tend to dote on star Eddie Murphy a bit too much. "A Glimpse Into the Casting Process" is a short piece of how the film was cast, and "The Music of Beverly Hills Cop" takes a look at what it took to get both the music score and famous rock songs into the movie. Finally, there is a location map with production information by designer Angelo Graham, a limited still gallery with stills and photos from the movie, and a theatrical trailer for the film. This may not be the definitive DVD of Beverly Hills Cop, but it should please fans in general.

When America's number-one NASCAR speed-demon is issued a direct challenge from a gay, French Formula One racer with a hunger for the top spot and a mean talent for tight-cornering, the race is on to become the number one-man in all of NASCAR in a full-throttle comedy starring Will Ferrell and directed by Anchorman cohort Adam McKay. Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is a national hero with a "smokin' hot" trophy wife, pair of abusively precocious sons, and an endless line of endorsement deals filling his mansion with toys and his driveway with sports cars and Hummers. His racing partner and lifelong friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), never fails to provide him with a hand on the racetrack, frequently performing their trademark "slingshot" maneuver to shoot Ricky into first place, leaving Cal in second. While the public loves these buddies (popularly known by the meaningless childhood nicknames they find so exceedingly cool: "Shake and Bake"), a wedge comes between the two, as Ricky Bobby's longstanding winning-streak is broken by flamboyant French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), robbing Ricky of everything in an instant as the trauma leaves him unable to drive. Ricky's wife takes his fortunes while Cal takes his wife, and now he's back with his mother (Jane Lynch) and long-estranged father (Gary Cole). Things look bad for Ricky, but his father was once a racecar driver himself, and now with the help of a training montage, a live cougar, and the courage to drive without his gleaming-white Wonder Bread endorsement, Ricky might be ready to face the track again. Sony Pictures' unrated, widescreen DVD release includes many scenes not originally seen in the theatrical version interspersed into the film.