Detroit movie moments: 8 memorable scenes starring Eminem, Eddie Murphy and more

Detroit might never catch up with New York and Los Angeles as a popular setting for movies. But when it is featured on the big screen, the city makes a powerful impression as these eight cinematic moments from the past 40 years demonstrate.

Here are eight memorable Detroit moments in film history.

The opening chase scene in 'Beverly Hills Cop'

Although the bulk of the action takes place in L.A., the Detroit-shot sequence of police detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) hanging onto the back of a careening semi for dear life — with cop cars in hot pursuit — lets audiences know that this 1984 classic comedy gets its swagger and spirit from the Motor City.

Eminem performs amid ruin porn in '8 Mile'

After having an embarrassing case of stage fright, Rabbit, the aspiring rap star played by Slim Shady, unleashes his skills during an informal session at a parking deck built amidst the stately decay of the Michigan Theatre, a 1926 movie palace. His character raps in words that could describe the location: “Your style is generic, mine's authentic made."

More: 'All Rise' courtroom drama with Detroit's Simone Missick set to air final episodes

Concert mayhem in the D in 'Straight Outta Compton'

The 2015 biopic on N.W.A. gives the D a starring role in a scene that reimagines a 1989 incident that took place during a concert at Joe Louis Arena (and lives on in legend). It's the one where the cops confront the legendary rappers after they disregard warnings not to perform “F--- tha Police.”

The reveal of the curse in 'It Follows'

The 2015 horror film has one of the most terrifying scenes in the history of Detroit-set movies, thanks to the creepiness of the old Packard Plant at night. In it, a young woman (Maika Monroe) wakes up tied to a wheelchair inside an empty concrete structure. Her date (with whom she’s just had sex in his Olds Cutlass) tells her he has just passed on to her a deadly and otherworldly stalker who’ll kill her, unless she gets rid of it by sleeping with someone else. Best argument ever for abstinence.

Whitney Houston's gospel number in 'Sparkle'

Although struggles with addiction marked her final years, the pop diva had a positive experience in Detroit while making what would be her final movie. Despite the toll that life had taken on her voice, Houston performed "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" for a scene shot at the Iroquois Avenue Christ Lutheran Church in Indian Village — and moved the cast and crew with her artistry.

Rodriguez walks in 'Searching for Sugar Man'

The Oscar-winning 2012 documentary introduced the world to Detroit’s Sixto Rodriguez, the iconoclastic singer-songwriter whose message music from the 1960s became an unlikely sensation in South Africa years after he had recorded it. Rodriguez is the epitome of gritty cool as he is shown walking the lonely streets of the Cass Corridor, unconcerned about the revival of interest in his work that would soon arrive.

More: Sixto Rodriguez, Detroit musician who found fame with 'Searching for Sugar Man,' dies

Clooney and J-Lo dine atop the RenCen in 'Out of Sight'

Nestled firmly in the pantheon of best adaptations of Elmore Leonard's novels, this 1998 crime caper starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez made Detroit seem beyond sexy, thanks to their combined charisma and Steven Soderbergh’s sleek direction. When George and J-Lo share a meal at the revolving restaurant on top of the Renaissance Center, the lust is palpable (even though several iterations of the site's mood off-screen was never quite that hot).

Detroiters disappear in 'Vanishing on Seventh Street'

Shot in 2009, this modest horror thriller sets up its premise by convincingly depicting downtown Detroit as littered with abandoned cars on the streets, clothing strewn on the sidewalks and not a person in sight. The city even agreed to block off a small stretch of 1-75 to create a deserted freeway for the project that starred Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo and Jacob Latimore as survivors of a mysterious cataclysm.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit is the star of these 8 memorable movie scenes