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.

If you love high octane B-Movies, then this one's for you. It's a relentlessly paced onslaught of huge explosions and action that never let's up. It's also highly absurd and totally ridiculous, which is what makes it so great! You really have to suspend all disbelief and just check your brain at the door because common sense was not a factor when writing the scrip. It's dumb, but also so much fun. It wears it's early 90's vibe on it's sleeve (mullets!),and easily one of the most enjoyable Die Hard knockoff's out there, not to mention on a visual level, it looks fantastic. Yeah it may be unintentionally hilarious because of how absurd it is, or how totally ridiculous scenario's are what drive the film forward, but again, it rules because stuff get's blown up on a minute to minute basis and it's kind of hilarious, awesome, and ridiculous all at the same time.

I had to give credit to Ken Wahl on the lead performance as a quarterback football player. To me, whenever I see this movie, it kind of asks me this question... "How can one man go through an entire night of running from the bad guys that are robbing the city of Beverly Hills as if this is some kind of real life-or-death football game all of a sudden?" Well, I don't have the answer to that one just yet.

Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

"The Taking of Beverly Hills" combines elements of the James Bond caper "Goldfinger" and the Bruce Willis cop epic "Die Hard." "Ipcress File" director Sidney J. Furie not only helmed this exciting, larger-than-life actioneer, but he also came up with the audacious story. A sleazy millionaire hatches an outlandish scheme to sabotage a wealthy insurance company owner because the former hates the latter with such contempt. The affluent villain concocts a plan to systematically loot Beverly Hills by staging a phony toxic waste spill prompting the evacuation of all the wealthy residents while keeping the Beverly Hills police locked up in their own facility. The ambitious idea flounders because one of the cops changes his mind about the crime and teams up with a playboy NFL quarterback and they derail the millionaire's strategy. However, fighting these high-tech thieves is no picnic, especially when one of them, Benitez (Branscombe Richmond of "Renegade"),pursues them with a passion in a SWAT Team tank, hurling shells at them when it isn't smashing through walls, fences, and homes. Indeed, mullet-headed Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl of "The Soldier") is the fleet-footed quarterback who shoots himself up with cortisone because he suffers from a bad leg. Boomer gets unexpected help from a turncoat Beverly Hills Cop, Ed Kelvin (Matt Frewer of "Orphan Black"),who saves our signal caller from getting riddled by bullets from bogus police in his Beverly Hills home. Together, these two misfits undermine rich man Robert Masterson (Robert Davi of "License to Kill") and blow his grand plan to screw over Mitchell Sage (William Prince of "The Gauntlet") who detests everything about Masterson except his money. At the same time, leading lady Harley Jane Kozak plays Sage's daughter Laura who doesn't hold Masterson in the same contempt that her dad does. Masterson has romantic aspirations for Laura, but Masterson's star quarterback Boomer cuts into his plans. Just as Boomer and Laura are about to soak into a hot tub with bubble bath, Masterson's goons orchestrate their phony toxic spill and isolate the city. The villains set themselves a time table and rigidly adhere to it and have over $700 million in loot when Boomer and Kelvin pull the rug out from under them. Sidney J. Furie doesn't squander a second in this fast-moving crime thriller punctuated with fireball explosions. Wahl shuns guns and relies on his throwing arm and his football strategy to avoid getting sacked on the field. He has a device that helps him deal with a football field blitz. The film sets up the heist with an opening expository scene about Beverly Hills and how it is a self-governed enclave to itself in the middle of Los Angeles. Indeed, Furie and his scribes establish the credibility of the scheme from the get go. Lots of fun. The dialogue is crammed with neat lines.