Question: For many years, I've never understood - how did Zack know exactly where to find Mikey to kill him? Mikey, after stealing the bonds in California, would obviously not have told any of the bad guys where he was running off to. Not only did Zack figure out Mikey was in Detroit, but he knew the exact address Mikey was heading to (Foley's apartment) and Zack never knew Foley at this point. Can someone explain all this to me?
Answer: Money talks. A guy like Mikey would have bragged and boasted about what he did to friends and drinking buddies. Plus, how easy would it have been to check planes, trains, and bus schedules? Once he arrived, they would have bribed an airport, train, and bus employee to find out what taxi he took or car rental.
Question: When Axel and Jenny are investigating Maitland's warehouse, and they find the cocaine buried under the coffee, then they're caught by Maitland's men. Why don't they just shoot and kill Axel and Jenny right away?
Answer: He was surrounded; Axel didn't want Jenny to get killed in the crossfire. Plus, they wanted to interrogate him and find out how much he knew and if he told the LAPD.
Question: Did Eddie Murphy improvise his hotel meltdown speech (where he claims to be a reporter) or was it scripted?
Chosen answer: Much of Axel Foley's lines were improvised, including this scene, according to the commentary. But many other actors improvised their lines too, most notably Bronson Pinchot. The script was originally written with the intent of Sylvester Stallone playing Axel and as such, the issue of his race wasn't scripted and the director tried to avoid mentioning race in the film. It was Eddie Murphy that would bring it up in improvised lines.
Question: Why did the bus do a 180? You never saw the semi truck in that shot, so why did it make an insane turn like that when the truck had nothing at all to do with it?
Answer: There might be a deleted scene showing an extended chase scene, but as it is, it seems out of place. From what I can tell, the road was slick, like something oily was spilt on the road during the chase. I don't think it's from the fruit and vegetable truck either. The bus looks like it's breaking suddenly (perhaps to avoid an unseen wreck) and skidded out and the driver over compensated, spinning the bus out. In fairness, a licensed bus driver would probably be able to control the bus in that situation, so it was exaggerated for the film. It probably should have been cut, but I'm guessing someone liked it and kept it in for more action.
Answer: Jenny is the one who got Mikey the job. Presumably, Maitland knows Jenny and Mikey are from Detroit. Maitland must have sent his crew to Detroit to find Mikey, assuming he fled to his hometown. It appears that Zack somehow spotted Mikey and Axel while they were out drinking and followed them to Axel's apartment. None of this is shown or explained, but we can at the very least assume Maitland guessed Mikey would go to Detroit and infer the rest.
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