Lethal Weapon (1987)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Richard Donner

Writer:

Shane Black (written by)

Release Date:

6 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

If these two can learn to stand each other... the bad guys don't stand a chance.

Plot:

A veteran cop, Murtough, is partnered with a young homicidal cop, Riggs. Both having one thing in common, hating working in pairs. Now they must learn to work with one and other to stop a gang of drug smugglers.

Plot Keywords:

Suicidal | Police | Death | Vietnam | Drugs

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 10	9:00 PM	SPIKETV
Sat. July 11	1:30 AM	SPIKETV

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Sergeant Martin Riggs
Danny Glover	...	Sergeant Roger Murtaugh
Gary Busey	...	Mr. Joshua
Mitch Ryan	...	General Peter McAllister (as Mitchell Ryan)
Tom Atkins	...	Michael Hunsaker
Darlene Love	...	Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe	...	Rianne Murtaugh
Jackie Swanson	...	Amanda Hunsaker
Damon Hines	...	Nick Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith	...	Carrie Murtaugh
Bill Kalmenson	...	Beat Cop
Lycia Naff	...	Dixie
Patrick Cameron	...	Cop #1
Don Gordon	...	Cop #2
Jimmie F. Skaggs	...	Drug Dealer #1

Runtime:

110 min | Germany:108 min (cut version) | USA:117 min (director's cut) | Turkey:104 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-15 (director's cut) (DVD version) | Finland:K-18 (1987) | Brazil:16 (1999 re-rating) | Brazil:18 (original rating) | New Zealand:M | Hungary:16 | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | France:-12 | Ireland:18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | South Korea:18 (director's cut) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | West Germany:16 (director's cut) | West Germany:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Silver Pictures

Trivia:

Franco Zeffirelli reportedly decided to offer Mel Gibson the role of Hamlet after seeing his suicide contemplation scene in this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Riggs jumps off the building after handcuffing himself to the jumper, a close up shot just after they step off the ledge shows each man has a hand cuff on, but the handcuffs are not connected. When they get out of the air bag, they have connected handcuffs again.

Quotes:

Martin Riggs: You know they're going to kill her, don't you?
Roger Murtaugh: Yeah.
Martin Riggs: So if you want her back, you're going to have to take her away from them.
Roger Murtaugh: I know.
Martin Riggs: You do this my way. You shoot, you shoot to kill, get as many of them as you can. All you got to do is just not miss.
Roger Murtaugh: I won't miss.
Martin Riggs: We're going to get bloody on this one, Rog.
Roger Murtaugh: Are you really crazy? Or are you as good as you say you are?
Martin Riggs: You're just gonna have to trust me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of the Censors (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bell Rock

Lethal Magic!

Do things like magic really exist? Well, if you've seen Lethal Weapon - not only the greatest action comedy, but perhaps also the greatest movie of all time! - you should know that the answer to that question is YES. If you don't, it's very obvious that you need to see a doctor. And in case you for some incomprehensible reason haven't seen Lethal yet, I have only one thing to say: stop reading this comment and go rent it immediately!!! There's simply no logical excuse for anyone old enough NOT to see this brilliant movie.

The Lethal Weapon series started out with this film back in 1987, starring the phenomenal Mel Gibson as psychotic loose cannon Martin Riggs and Danny Glover (truly wonderful as well) as his total opposite for a partner - family man and by-the-book police officer Roger Murtaugh.

Murtaugh lives a happy life with his loving family in a friendly neighborhood and is planning to retire from the force. But on his 50th birthday his life takes off in a different direction when the daughter of an old friend from Vietnam jumps out from a window and dies. This incident tosses Murtaugh into a dangerous and twisted investigation. And as if that's not enough: he is also teamed up with a new partner - a burned-out lunatic named Martin Riggs, who's been leaning on the edge of suicide ever since his wife was killed in a car crash. Roger is shocked when he meets this "lethal weapon". These two cops only have two things in common: they're both Vietnam vets and they both hate working with partners.

This is my all time favorite movie, because it gives you everything you could ever ask from a great flick: action, drama, suspense, and even love (without getting all sentimental). And if you love Mel Gibson (God, he used to be so beautiful!!)- like me - this is were he makes one of his strongest and most remarkable performances. Actually, I can hardly call it acting - he IS Riggs. The emotions he's going through is so evident in his eyes and so real and cuts right through your soul: you can actually feel his pain and his anger. And Mel also contributes a great deal to the humorous element of the film with his attitude, witty comments and eagerness of doing his job: "Man, I love this job! Can we put the sirens on?" Danny Glover is outstanding as Murtaugh and serves the audience a normal, middle-aged man who is fighting with his age, a daughter who's turning into a young woman and a partner who doesn't care whether he lives or dies. Danny's hilarious making those faces and throwing back at Mel! He plays his part with great sensitivity and I think he, just like Mel, gives so much life to his character that no other actor could have done it better. And together, he and Mel undoubtedly makes the best film team there was, is or ever will be! (The concept has been copied too many times, though..."

With the fantastic action, humor, performances and screenplay, Lethal Weapon and its sequels definitely top the list of all time action movies. Danny and Mel (naturally) won an award for "best duo on screen" on MTV Movie Awards once, and considering their work with these series, I believe director Richard Donner and producer Joel Silver makes the best duo OFF screen.

I'm convinced this is a movie that not only action fans would enjoy watching, so I recommend it to everyone. This is a movie you can't afford to miss!