Lethal Weapon
1987 Directed by Richard Donner
Synopsis
If these two can learn to stand each other... the bad guys don't stand a chance.
Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.
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The buddy cop action movie. Sure, other films have tried to replicate the banter between Riggs and Murtaugh, with the only one I feel comes close being Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and that was written by the same guy who wrote this. It is essentially unbeatable.
Also, there's some fantastic action sequences, other laugh-out-loud moments and the henchman is Gary Busey. Need I say more?
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Richard Donner, an almost forgotten genius. This guy made so many great films in the seventies and eighties that he should have had the plaudits garnered by much lesser directors. The Omen.Superman The Movie,The Goonies,Lethal Weapon and possibly one of the best Christmas films ever made in Scrooged, Donner may well have made a couple of stinkers but his legacy is clear to see.
Mel Gibson had made a promising start to his career with iconic roles in Mad Max and Gallipoli,but it was Lethal Weapon that made him a superstar. With Danny Glover as his partner in this buddy cop film, Gibson oozed that star quality in a charismatic portrayal of a cop on the edge. Sarcastic,funny and tough… -
a few quick things on a movie i have been overthinking for 25 years.
i love that it's largely Murtaugh's story. he's the main character; Riggs is inflicted on him. Roger's never a mystery to us and Riggs is entirely unpredictable, not just the titular lethal weapon, duh, but truly an unstable danger. it's hard to remember that this collection of what would become laughable tropes was itself a response to same. it's like if someone with a DSM-IV and a shitty attitude got a look at Paul Kersey. throw in Roger & Martin's (vaguely implied) shared but vastly different experiences of Vietnam and you got yourself a stew.
speaking of Vietnam, the villains are also notably not street punk dope…
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"I'm too old for this shit!" - Murtaugh
No one is too old for this shit !!
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What I would give to trade in our current batshit crazy/evil Mel Gibson for this old charming and funny crazy Mel Gibson is probably beyond the scope of this review. In those days, he was so much fun on screen. He shouldn't have stopped drinking. Or he shouldn't have started again. Or whatever it is that happened.
To me, this is still my favorite film in the whole buddy cop action genre. It's just plain fun to watch. It doesn't take itself seriously enough to cause problems with how unrealistic it is and it doesn't go so far overboard that no sane person could stand to watch it. Riggs and Martaugh are, in some ways, the ultimate team. The straight…
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"What did one shepherd say to the other shepherd? Let's get the flock out of here!"
A very badass film.
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Mel Gibson says YOLO in this film.
Dumbass kids thinkin' that shit's new. -
8.0/10
Lethal Weapon is an excellent action movie. The way it mixes action, suspense and comedy is fantastic, and the story is perfectly told. The first entry in Richard Donner's successful tetralogy is a remarkable classic of the 80's, and though my favorite is the second one, I have to say that in many aspects the first one is possibly the best.
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A classic that I had never got a round to seeing, "Lethal Weapon" lives up to its reputation as an action packed, smartly written buddy cop film.
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Lethal Weapon is a very entertaining action movie but to me it's not a great 80s action movie, to me it's just a typical 80s action movie. There are some fantastic 80s action movies but Lethal Weapon is just not one of them to me. The one thing that stopped me from thinking this was a great movie is the story of the movie. We've seen this story a thousand times and it has all the clichés of an action movie. I'm saying that that's necessarily a bad thing but it's the only thing stopping it from being a great movie to me. Even though the story isn't the greatest, Shane Black's writing is still pretty good. Black creates this…
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Are you really crazy, or are you as good as you say you are?
Lethal Weapon is a remarkably better than the action genre ever promises. Shane Black’s whip-smart and sarcastic script centered around a completely original cop on the edge, starring actors instead of genre muscleheads and directed by Richard Donner at his absolute best. I want to start there cause Donner’s a bit of a joke now, but he made The Omen, Superman, The Goonies and Ladyhawke along with the numerous Weapon sequels which followed. Perfectly balancing a solid police investigation with big, exciting action setpieces, strong characters and hilarious comedy, this is his finest work and one of the 5 or 10 best directed action films of…
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Shane Black has this thing - I don't think it works for him - where the third act villain reveal always seems to lower the stakes. It's always 'sky's the limit' for two acts, followed by 'it was all done by a snobby white guy' for 40 minutes. It hurts LONG KISS, BOY SCOUT, this, even IRON MAN. But when the character outweighs the plot, it doesn't matter so much. With Glover and Gibson, the character outweighs the plot.
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a few quick things on a movie i have been overthinking for 25 years.
i love that it's largely Murtaugh's story. he's the main character; Riggs is inflicted on him. Roger's never a mystery to us and Riggs is entirely unpredictable, not just the titular lethal weapon, duh, but truly an unstable danger. it's hard to remember that this collection of what would become laughable tropes was itself a response to same. it's like if someone with a DSM-IV and a shitty attitude got a look at Paul Kersey. throw in Roger & Martin's (vaguely implied) shared but vastly different experiences of Vietnam and you got yourself a stew.
speaking of Vietnam, the villains are also notably not street punk dope…
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Surprisingly, a first-time watch.
Even on first watch I can see why this was the quintessential buddy cop movie for so long, and that is despite it containing a few edgier elements not present in other examples of the sub-genre.
A smart script with an astonishing protagonist in Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs - and part of that is the smart, but never cocksure, interplay between Murtaugh and him.
Assured and smart character work, as well as taut pacing and direction, elevates it beyond its contemporaries.
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I figured in preparation for Iron Man 3, I should watch the film that started Shane Black's career, and a movie I've been putting off for too long: Lethal Weapon.
Even back then, Black had a strange obsession with Christmas. But this was a really fun watch, and the two leads pretty much make this movie. Say what you will about Mel Gibson as a person, but he is delightfully insane here. It's a little dated, and there are plenty of action cliches here, but I had a lot of fun with the movie.