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Eddie Murphy is one of the greatest stand-up comics and movie stars of all time!
The Oscar-nominated actor’s films have grossed over $6 billion dollars at the box office, and he recently received the prestigious Cecil B. Demille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press at the 2023 Golden Globes.
Murphy has the new Netflix comedy ‘You People’ with Jonah Hill premiering on January 27th, and he just wrapped production on the long-awaited sequel, ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley,’ where he will reprise his signature role, which is also scheduled to stream on Netflix later this year.
In honor of Murphy’s Cecil B. Demille Award and the release of ‘You People,’ Moviefone has compiled a list of the 30 best Eddie Murphy movies of all-time!
Let’s begin!
30. ‘I Spy’ (2002)
When the Switchblade, the most sophisticated prototype stealth fighter created yet, is stolen from the U.S. government, one of the United States’ top spies, Alex Scott (Owen Wilson), is called to action. What he doesn’t expect is to get teamed up with a cocky civilian, World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson (Murphy), on a dangerous top secret espionage mission. Their assignment: using equal parts skill and humor, catch Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell), one of the world’s most successful arms dealers.
I Spy
“Attitude meets espionage.”
54
1 hr 37 minOct 31st, 2002
A spoof of buddy cop movies where two very different cops (Murphy and Robert De Niro) are forced to team up on a new reality based T.V. cop show.
Showtime
“Lights. Camera. Aggravation.”
55
1 hr 35 minMar 14th, 2002
For the past four years, San Francisco cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) has been after an unidentified drug kingpin who calls himself the Ice Man. Jack finds a picture that proves that the Ice Man has put a price on the head of Reggie Hammond (Murphy), who is scheduled to be released from prison on the next day.
The King of Far Far Away (John Cleese) has died and Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are to become King & Queen. However, Shrek wants to return to his cozy swamp and live in peace and quiet, so when he finds out there is another heir to the throne, they set off to bring him back to rule the kingdom.
Shrek the Third
“He’s in for the Royal Treatment.”
63
1 hr 33 minMay 17th, 2007
Maximillian (Murphy), the lone survivor of a race of vampires, comes to Brooklyn in search of a way to live past the next full moon. His ticket to survival is Rita (Angela Bassett), a NYPD detective who doesn’t know she’s half vampire — and Maximillian will do whatever’s necessary to put her under his spell.
Amazon Studios
Prince Akeem Joffer (Murphy) is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street savvy Queens native named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). Honoring his royal father’s (James Earl Jones) dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again.
A successful physician and devoted family man, John Dolittle (Murphy) seems to have the world by the tail, until a long suppressed talent he possessed as a child, the ability to communicate with animals is suddenly reawakened with a vengeance! Now every creature within squawking distance wants the good doctor’s advice, unleashing an outrageous chain of events that turns his world upside down!
Doctor Dolittle
“He doesn’t just talk to the animals!”
57
1 hr 25 minJun 26th, 1998
Shrek (Mike Myers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and Donkey (Murphy) set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona’s mother (Julie Andrews) and father (John Cleese). But not everyone is happy. Shrek and the King find it hard to get along, and there’s tension in the marriage. The fairy godmother (Jennifer Saunders) discovers that Shrek has married Fiona instead of her Son Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and sets about destroying their marriage.
Shrek 2
“Once upon another time…”
72
1 hr 33 minMay 19th, 2004
22. ‘Life’ (1999)
Two men (Murphy and Martin Lawrence) in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
Life
“Share it with someone you love.”
66
1 hr 48 minApr 16th, 1999
The hilarity begins when professor Sherman Klump (Murphy) finds romance with fellow DNA specialist, Denise Gaines (Janet Jackson), and discovers a brilliant formula that reverses aging. But Sherman’s thin and obnoxious alter ego, Buddy Love, wants out…and a big piece of the action. And when Buddy gets loose, things get seriously nutty.
Universal Pictures
A luxury condo manager (Ben Stiller) leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook named Slide (Murphy) to steal the $20 million they’re sure is hidden in the penthouse.
Tower Heist
“Ordinary guys. An extraordinary robbery.”
61
1 hr 44 minNov 4th, 2011
A bored and domesticated Shrek (Mike Myers) pacts with deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) to get back to feeling like a real ogre again, but when he’s duped and sent to a twisted version of Far Far Away—where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have never met—he sets out to restore his world and reclaim his true love.
18. ‘Metro’ (1997)
Roper (Murphy), a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber (Michael Wincott) escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars.
Metro
“San Francisco’s top police hostage negotiator is about to get more than he ever bargained for.”
57
1 hr 57 minJan 16th, 1997
A Florida con man (Murphy) uses the passing of the long time Congressman from his district who he just happens to share a name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists. But soon he learns the nature of the game and decides to fight back the only way he knows how, with a con.
The Distinguished Gentleman
“From con man to congressman”
61
1 hr 52 minDec 4th, 1992
A Florida con man uses the passing of the long time Congressman from his district who he just happens to share a name with, to get elected to his version of paradise,… Read the Plot
Marcus (Murphy) is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline (Robin Givens), is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatised by this, his work goes badly downhill.
Boomerang
“A player who’s about to be played.”
57
1 hr 57 minJun 30th, 1992
15. ‘Mulan’ (1998)
Walt Disney Pictures
To save her father (Soon-Tek Oh) from certain death in the army, a young woman named Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) secretly enlists in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process. Murphy plays Mushu, a Chinese dragon that is Mulan’s sidekick.
Mulan
“Courage. Family. Honor.”
79
1 hr 28 minJun 19th, 1998
‘Sugar’ Ray (Richard Pryor) is the owner of an illegal casino where he and his son Quick (Murphy), must contend with the pressure of vicious gangsters and corrupt police who want to see them go out of business. In a world of organized crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair.
Harlem Nights
“They’re up to something big.”
61
1 hr 56 minNov 17th, 1989
After a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child (J. L. Reate), is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance), humankind’s fate hangs in the balance. On the other side of the world in Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis) seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell (Murphy) on television discussing his ability to find missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his skepticism over being “chosen.”
The Golden Child
“Eddie Murphy is the chosen one.”
59
1 hr 34 minDec 12th, 1986
On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist (Frank Grillo) devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station. However, when the hit man (Butler) turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop (Alexis Louder) finds herself caught in the crosshairs.
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on ’80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom’s hamburgers and much more.
Freestyle Releasing
A unique friendship develops when a little girl (Britt Robertson) and her dying mother (Natascha McElhone) inherit a cook – Mr. Church (Murphy). What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Mr. Church
“He was the one person she could always count on.”
74
1 hr 44 minSep 16th, 2016
9. ‘Shrek’ (2001)
DreamWorks Pictures
It ain’t easy bein’ green — especially if you’re a likable (albeit smelly) ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers). On a mission to retrieve a gorgeous princess (Cameron Diaz) from the clutches of a fire-breathing dragon, Shrek teams up with an unlikely compatriot — a wisecracking donkey (Murphy).
Shrek
“The greatest fairy tale never told.”
77
1 hr 30 minMay 18th, 2001
Paramount Pictures
A snobbish investor (Dan Aykroyd) and a wily street con-artist (Murphy) find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche).
Trading Places
“They’re not just getting rich… They’re getting even.”
72
1 hr 56 minJun 7th, 1983
Universal Pictures
On the verge of bankruptcy and desperate for his big break, aspiring filmmaker Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) concocts a crazy plan to make his ultimate dream movie. Rallying a ragtag team that includes a starry-eyed ingenue (Heather Graham), a has-been diva (Christine Baranski) and a film studio gofer (Jamie Kennedy), he sets out to shoot a blockbuster featuring the biggest star in Hollywood, Kit Ramsey (Murphy) — only without letting Ramsey know he’s in the picture.
Bowfinger
“The con is on.”
62
1 hr 37 minAug 12th, 1999
Universal Pictures
Eddie Murphy stars as shy Dr. Sherman Klump, a kind, brilliant, ‘calorifically challenged’ genetic professor. When beautiful Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett Smith) joins the university faculty, Sherman grows desperate to whittle his 400-pound frame down to size and win her heart. So, with one swig of his experimental fat-reducing serum, Sherman becomes ‘Buddy Love’, a fast-talking, pumped-up, plumped down Don Juan.
The Nutty Professor
“Inside Sherman Klump, a party animal is about to break out.”
56
1 hr 35 minJun 26th, 1996
DreamWorks Pictures
A trio of female soul singers (Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson) cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way. Murphy received an Oscar-nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as James (Jimmy) “Thunder” Early.
Dreamgirls
“All you have to do is dream.”
68
2 hr 14 minDec 25th, 2006
Paramount Pictures
A hard-nosed cop (Nick Nolte) reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal (Murphy) temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer (James Remar).
48 Hrs.
“One Cop. One Con. No Mercy.”
67
1 hr 36 minDec 7th, 1982
Netflix
The story of Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy), who created the iconic big screen pimp character Dolemite in the 1970s.
Paramount Pictures
An African prince (Murphy) decides it’s time for him to find a princess… and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend (Arsenio Hall) to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.
Coming to America
“The four funniest men in America are Eddie Murphy.”
69
1 hr 57 minJun 29th, 1988
Paramount Pictures
The heat is on in this fast paced action-comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street smart Detroit cop tracking down his best friend’s (James Russo) killer in Beverly Hills. Axel quickly learns that his wild style doesn’t fit in with the Beverly Hills Police Department, which assigns two officers (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold) to make sure things don’t get out of hand. Dragging the stuffy detectives along for the ride, Axel smashes through a huge culture clash in his hilarious, high-speed pursuit of justice. Also featuring Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot and Damon Wayans, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ is an exhilarating, sidesplitting adventure.
