Coming to America (1988)

An African prince goes to Queens, New York City to find a wife whom he can respect for her intelligence and will. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: John Landis
Written By: Eddie Murphy, Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Eddie Murphy, Frankie Faison, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vondie Curtis-Hall, John Amos, Eriq La Salle, Madge Sinclair, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, Allison Dean
Franchise: Coming to America
AKA: Prince in New York
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Coming to America belongs to 27 collections
1. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)
2. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
3. #1 at the US Box Office (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 10 stars)
4. Extra scene after credits (collaborative: moderated by djross - 7 stars)
5. Filmsite.org - Sex in the Movies, An Illustrated History (collaborative: moderated by afx237vi - 5 stars)
6. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
7. All-Time Worldwide Box Office over $200,000,000 (collaborative: moderated by QuickyAPI - 3 stars)
8. One Actor, Multiple Roles (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 2 stars)
9. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)
10. Top 2000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 2 stars)
11. Hollywood Hits, 1920 to present (collaborative: moderated by lisa- - 1 star)
12. Netflix instant LATAM (collaborative: moderated by Roman_Herbom - 1 star)
13. Moving In (collaborative: moderated by saudade - 1 star)
14. Coheed's Celluloid Pit (public: Coheed - 1 star)
15. Annual top 5 worldwide box office, 1975 - 2022 (public: djross - 1 star)
16. NAACP Image Award Nominees and Winners (collaborative: moderated by Roman_Herbom)
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19. Mwgerb - Seen but Unrated (public: mwgerb)
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Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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BeeDub | 85 63rd |
I have recently been placed in charge of pithy internet movie reviews.
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terrymac | 70 58th |
This one still holds a lot of charm for me, despite it marking the start of the collapse in quality of Murphy's and Landis' output - there's even a marked gulf in quality between this and Trading Places, now that I think about it. Even if it is a bit self-serving, there's lots to enjoy here - that barbershop action nonsense is great to watch. It's funny, warm, has some pretty decent lines and a likeable cast. Slight, but entertaining.
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BillyShears | 80 77th |
Zamunda was my Wakanda where all the royal penises are cleaned.
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nobamba | 70 76th |
There are a lot of things to like about this. Eddie Murphy is at the top of his game. Arsenio Hall is just as good. I enjoyed the romance more than the comedy. Not enough movies about Africans vs. African Americans. Eriq La Salle was a great condescending Jheri curl jerk. Can't wait for Coming 2 America. Surprised they didn't cash in on a sequel sooner. Fav scene: the grand romantic gesture on the subway and Headley still says no.
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4 | xacviant | 74 35th |
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COMING TO AMERICA is a film of great moments and unfortunate lulls. Eddie Murphy is pretty good as the earnest Prince Akeem, seeking true love in NYC; Arsenio Hall is fun as his doubtful companion. Murphy and Hall play a number of additional roles, many of which are hilarious. And James Earl Jones is great as always as Murphy's haughty father. But the romance is by-the-numbers, and the nearly-two-hour running time is, at times, tiring. Mostly enjoyable, but not the home run it should have been.
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Jasongirl67 | 75 69th |
One of my favorite romantic comedies Great all star cast of actors and a good story
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recklessmess | 78 65th |
Try as I might, I can't locate Zamunda on a map. I'm starting to think that it doesn't really exist. But why would Hollywood lie?
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Quintonjamin | 80 80th |
The script is genuinely funny, but all the actors are amazing in all their parts. I'm also convinced that John Landis is a genius.
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BattleToad | 87 82nd |
Very funny. Very clever. Eddie Murphy is quite possibly at his best here, and Arsinio Hall is great too. Both actors play many very funny parts. The thing is, it isn't really a laugh out loud comedy. It's a genuinely fun romantic comedy. It's subtleties make it a classic comedy. Really good!
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Luna6ix | 72 41st |
While "Coming to America" is a classic 80's comedy well liked in the memories of people who saw it long ago, it really doesn't hold up to how funny I thought it was when I was younger. It works decent as a romantic-comedy with a ridiculous spin on it, but it's not classic in the sense of timelessness.
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Ocelot | 75 81st |
This is a very nice and sweet movie. It is fun and charming and has lots of good characters in it. They don't make 'em like this anymore! Oh, sorry, I let my grandma review this one. She's right though.
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DavidBlast | 90 92nd |
How to explain 'Coming to America'... hmm.. I guess it's like this: There are two kinds of people in the world. The people who were saddened to hear that Eddie Murphy didn't get to host the Oscar show, and the people who were shocked and appalled that he had been cast to begin with. Well, the first kind are those that have seen 'Coming to America', and remember that there was indeed a time, when Eddie Murphy was the funniest man on the planet. 'The royal penis is clean your highness'.
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overrated | 31 22nd |
Murphy's obsession with playing multiple characters in prosthetics was as godawful here as it was in the 90's. Nostalgia is strong with this one.
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philamental | 82 85th |
One of the funniest comedies I had seen when I was a child and one I continued to enjoy through the years and still enjoy to this day. So many great characters and performances (most of them from Murphy and Hall in superb makeup) that entertain the whole way through. Full of memorable quotable one liners, Coming to America remains one of the best comedies from the 80s.
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fudgieb | 92 79th |
I'm sorry, but I love this movie and can never get sick of watching it. I'm not sure why I'm apologizing for that; I guess somehow, I just feel a need to.
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TripleSH | 75 60th |
A lot of classic moments in this one. It's good to see Eddie Murphy before he started producing crap films and bedding she-males.
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ServantDagon | 85 68th |
A comedy classic. God, you're missed, Eddie.
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TheDenizen | 50 26th |
Dopey fish out of water comedy with Arsenio Hall overreacting to everything Eddie Murphy does for 90 minutes.
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lachapelle | 74 46th |
Another good pairing of Murphy and Landis. Cute cameo from Bellamy and Ameche. Murphy and Hall really pull off the multiple role bit with finesse. This is an all around good movie, with a sweet story and good actors. Plus any movie with James Earl Jones has got to be good.
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lrampartl | 92 95th |
Yes, it's true. Eddie Murphy USED to be awesome.
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PeaceAnarchy | 76 47th |
Back when Eddie Murphy was still funny he could take a silly premise like this and make it a pretty enjoyable film. It's not great but it has a heart and is generally a good time.
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twincinema | 75 64th |
Oh wow, and 80's comedy that holds up?? What a feat!
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Obdurate | 60 22nd |
Meh, whatever. It was really setting itself up at the beginning to be very funny and then it just stopped being funny almost entirely. I mean, the romantic side of it feels genuine and was decent written and acted. I just didn't find the movie that funny.
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TheRealJ-Ro | 85 84th |
HILARIOUS comedy, Eddie Murphy shows his absolute finest comedic chops.
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1 | Tangoooooo | 84 76th |
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The Royal Penis is clean your Highness
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woodoo | 85 63rd |
It's weird how weak the A story (the romance) is, but it doesn't matter because everything around it is funny as hell.
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Sweekoden | 86 90th |
The best Eddie Murphy film I've seen, and by a landslide. Crazy low PSI on this one -- it was infinitely more enjoyable than the now-dated Trading Places. Funny throughout with a bunch of silly, effective characters and neat locations. 25th film of 2018.
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1 | alexrm1x | 100 80th |
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One of the best fun films Ive ever seen.
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guy piranha | 85 95th |
witty dialogue, charming stereotyping, instantly likeable characters and some of the funniest and memorable moments in comedy history make this clearly eddie murphy's magnum opus. at least for me. there's abundent reasons for a rewatch every once in a while, and afterwards we still quote scenes for days. honorable mentions to his royal highness king vader, the fantastically coiffed eriq la salle and arsenio hall, who is the perfect sidekick here.
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1 | myfavchords | 88 93rd |
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This is my favorite Eddie Murphy movie. Murphy gives several funny performances and Arsenio Hall is also very funny playing multiple roles. The script has a lot of laughs and there are plenty of fun supporting characters. I highly recommend this comedy.
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Ryan Lueders (ReelRyan) | 78 50th |
A fish out of water story or maybe a lion out of the savanna as Eddie Murphy plays an African Prince who decides he doesn't want an arranged marriage and comes to America to find his Queen. Where does one find a Queen in America? Queens, NY of course! This movie has some really funny moments. I love how naive Murphy is and his pal, played by Arsenio Hall, is also great as his pampered and spoiled friend. The fact that Murphy and Hall play so many characters is impressive... [Full Review]
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mattorama12 | 87 96th |
As hard as it is to believe for some of my friends who don't watch anything beyond the new release section of [Blockbuster, Netflix, Redbox, etc.], Eddie Murphy used to be a genuinely hilarious guy. And this was his finest work. The barbershop scenes are some of the funniest ever committed to film.
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aross | 60 60th |
Still funny and worth a watch for anyone who hasn't seen it. I think it could've done without the extra characters Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall play.
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Yiannos | 68 65th |
Murphy was at the height of his fame with C.T.A, and it marked the end of his phenomenal run of back-to-back hits before the inevitable slide, of which he never fully recovered. He's charming in this fairy tale like rom com as Prince Akeem, and the film is a showcase for his skill at playing multiple characters with heavy prosthetics that reached its nadir in Norbit. Hall is equally skilled in this area, and they work well together, and they are backed by a strong supporting cast.
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hakkanarejo | 91 44th |
Akeem is the Crown Prince of Zamunda, a kingdom in Africa. Akeem grew up in unprecedented luxury with servants for everything he could wish for. He doesn't even have to tie his shoes. When he is introduced to his bride at the age of 21, he knows after a short conversation that she is not the one. He asks his father for permission to go to America to find a bride there. Arriving in America, the wealthy prince adopts a poor lifestyle together with his servant Semmi.
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Hawkins | 81 71st |
I swear Comedy Central used to run this sucker twice daily for months on end and somehow I never got burnt on it. It's still funny and the romance works and I can't get enough of the inclement NY setting.
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TimeCapsule | 83 87th |
Eddie Murphy's first film playing multiple characters is probably his funniest to date. Teaming back up with director John Landis, Murphy and Arsenio Hall are at times hilarious as both their main roles as well as side characters. The love story is a little generic, but the premise provides enough of a unique twist on a classic a tale to keep the film's heart.
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Average Percentile 47.03% from 5357 Ratings | ![]() |