48 Hrs. is a 1982 action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut. The screenplay was written by Hill, Roger Spottiswoode, Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza and Jeb Stuart (uncredited).

48 Hrs. is often credited as being the first "buddy cop" film. The genre evolved throughout the 1980s and 1990s with features such as Beverly Hills Cop, Running Scared, Lethal Weapon, Tango & Cash, Bad Boys, and Rush Hour. The film spawned a 1990 sequel, Another 48 Hours.

Oddball cop and tough guy, Jack Cates is the only survivor of a cop shooting and in hunting down the murderer collects Reggie Hammond from jail for 48 hours. Hammond is oddly motivated to help. The killer is searching for his stash of cash. Cates and Hammond who have the Black-white, cop-crook thing to work out make surprisingly good partners as they navigate through the city looking for their suspect. Written by John Vogel

Convicted robber Albert Ganz escapes from a road gang with the help of his partner Billy Bear, and they immediately kill their partner Henry Wong, then they check into the Walden Hotel in San Francisco under false names. Alcoholic San Francisco cop Jack Cates and two of his fellow cops VanZant and Algren go to the Walden Hotel to check on a guy named G. P. Polson, who turns out to be Ganz. Ganz and Billy kill Algren and VanZant, then leave. Jack wants revenge, so he convinces his boss, Haden, to let him work alone on this case. Jack goes to a prison and visits Ganz and Billy's former partner Reggie Hammond, and Jack decides to spring Reggie for 48 hours so Reggie can help him find Ganz and Billy, but it's not going to be easy, especially since Jack and Reggie are not getting along with each other. The tension between them gets so high that they end up beating each other up in a garbage filled alley on their first night together, then it turns out that Reggie has $500,000 stashed away in the trunk of his car, and his car has been in a parking garage ever since he was convicted. Ganz and Billy are after the money, so they have kidnapped Rosalie, the girlfriend of their former partner Luther, in order to force Luther to get the car with the money in it. With this in mind, Jack and Reggie try to find Ganz and Billy before Jack has to return Reggie to the prison. Written by Todd Baldridge