Lethal Weapon (1987) User Reviews (400)

Action and buddy cop magic

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 10 July 2017]

'Lethal Weapon' may have spawned three sequels and a TV series, but even 30 years later shines heads and shoulders over the rest of the films. It is not a perfect film, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was hugely influential in the development of the buddy-cop film and to this day is one of the better examples of it.

Yes, it is implausible to the maximum and sometimes overblown, but the overblown nature to me and many others was part of the entertainment and wasn't that distracting. The implausibility is not quite as forgivable, with 'Lethal Weapon' being at its weakest in the script. Not that the script is terrible or anything, a lot of it is smart, very funny and crackles with wit, especially in the chemistry between Gibson and Glover, but sometimes the convolution and repetition reaches fever pitch.

Mitchell Ryan is the other weak link. Despite being the head villain, the character is forgettable somewhat and Ryan is both pantomimic and dull (that may sound oxymoronic but both extremes together are possible, indicating an inconsistent performance). Look at other reviews of the film, and one gets the sense that Mr Joshua, the henchman, is far more memorable (which he is) and sees near-unanimous praise for Gary Busey for good reason, who is at his villainous best here being ruthlessly cold and chilling.

It's not just Busey that makes 'Lethal Weapon' such a pleasure. As good as he is, he isn't even the best thing about it. Those three best things are the action, the chemistry between Gibson and Glover and the performances of the two.

The action is slick and bursts with excitement and tension, some of it is overblown but deliciously so. It is very easy to see why the chalk and cheese chemistry of the polar opposite characters of Riggs and Murtaugh became so popular, very rarely in a buddy-cop film has this kind of chemistry been so entertaining and perfectly pitched.

Gibson's performance here as the loose-cannon of the two is one of his best, a performance of wit, melancholy and great intensity. Glover has the no-nonsense and by-the-book character and is just as spirited while being more subtle. The story may seem familiar by today's standards and is not exceptional structurally, but back then there were not many films with the kind of story 'Lethal Weapon' had and the film was so influential that the number of buddy-cop films increased and the film was parodied a fair bit (like in National Lampoon's 'Loaded Weapon 1', one of those films that has seen me going against the grain and enjoying despite its faults).

As said, there are parts of the script that work well, while Richard Donner directs with an assured hand and the way 'Lethal Weapon' is shot and designed screams slick and stylish, still looking good 30 years on. Was expecting Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton's music to jar considering their other work (style-wise that is) and reading up on how it was orchestrated and used, but actually it added a lot to the atmosphere and had an atmospheric groove.

In conclusion, great fun and magic in the case of the action, the buddy-cop chemistry and the two lead performances. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Great team chemistry

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 1 January 2014]

This is the quintessential buddy cop duo. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is a suicidal disturbed cop suffering with his wife's death. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is the veteran unlucky enough to be assigned to partner up with Riggs. Murtaugh's Vietnam war buddy had a daughter who was killed. They investigate and find a conspiracy of drug smugglers.

Mel Gibson does great crazy. Only years later do we see him do it real life. Mel has interior intensity that serves him well over the years. This one is no exception. Danny Glover plays the opposite. Murtaugh's catch phrase "I'm too old for this sht!" says it all. Together they form a great Hollywood cop team. Certainly they have enough chemistry for countless sequels.

Lethal on if you don't see it

[thesar-2 · 8/10 · 12 May 2010]

One more year until Die Hard that set all the clichés for future action pics. Until then, you'll just have to settle for Lethal Weapon, the movie that set the buddy-cop clichés. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

What a fantastically realistic, original and fun movie the original Lethal Weapon movie was. In addition, it broke barriers by adding a lot of subliminal "Can't we all just get along" messages. Some less obvious than others and some in your face, like making the two "opposite cop partners" white and black. (Later in the series, they shove "Save the Dolphin" messages down our throats.) Still reeling in his wife's untimely demise, excellent/top notch/Jack Bauer Detective Riggs (Gibson) is suicidal, a la a "lethal weapon" and is teamed with over-the-hill Murtaugh (Glover) to solve a case involving someone in Murtaugh's war-laced past. They don't get along, have totally different personalities and must learn to work together for their common goal: justice. By means of…fists and gunpowder, for the most part.

A lot of this sounds eerily familiar and predictable. And it is…for someone watching this for the first time today. But, again, this is the movie that set the standards. You'll have to thank this movie for the countless, and I mean countless, like in the hundreds, of rip-offs. Thankfully, this beginning of the "new age" buddy movie was very well done, but not without its flaws.

It is said that the majority (if not all) of the Lethal Weapon films are improv'ed. Sure, they had somewhat of a script, but for the most part, the actors just did there thing. 90% of the time, it worked. When it didn't, it was slow and a little bit too realistic, like you were watching a dysfunctional family or cop partners on TruTV. Thankfully, that was only 10%.

My parents took me to Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989. I was 14 and was allowed in due to being accompanied by adults. I had yet to see the original for years to come. I fell madly in love with part two. Unfortunately, once I was able to see this, I was disappointed as it was not as action-packed or funny as part 2. That said, this is still worth watching. You will see excellent acting by Gibson, the iconic Busey of the 1980s and the origin of the buddy-cop movies to follow. Absolutely recommended.

A classic The best buddy cop Action movie of all time!

[ivo-cobra8 · 10/10 · 25 December 2015]

Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers art-house-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review. In addition, if you're not able to take a classic action buddy cop movie of all time, ignore this review, as well. We'll both be better off.

Lethal Weapon (1987) is my favorite classic action the best Christmas flick alongside Die Hard! It was always my favorite action flick from Richard Donner and Shane Black beside Superman (1978). If the Godfather is the Godfather of all gangster flicks, then Lethal Weapon is the Godfather of all buddy-buddy action cop flicks! In the summer of '87 director Richard Donner gave us Riggs and Murtaugh. Lethal Weapon is one of the Greatest Action Movies from the 80's. This is the movie I grew up and it is my childhood movie! You should know all of the great action movies: Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Dirty Harry, etc. This movie is a classic. Movie was the best cop movie EVER! It showed that cops are human too and have the same faults as the rest of us. The action scenes were great and keep you engaged through the whole movie. Gary Busey and Danny Glover both started in Predator 2. I think the man Gary Busey is very underrated actor for playing action hero's and villains. I think he did the best job ever. I seriously love him in Lethal Weapon and Predator 2!

The first one in the Lethal Weapon series is a really fun 80s action flick! It's one of my favorite action movies of all time. I love this movie to death I love it!!! And the chemistry between Danny Glover and Mel Gibson is just flawless. The deserts scenes are outstanding and really fantastic in which Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) attempt to rescue Murtaugh's daughter Rianne (Traci Wolfe) in the desert, Riggs provides cover for Murtaugh using a Heckler & Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle with a high-capacity magazine and Harris bipod. He succeeds in taking out several Shadow Company goons and is about to shoot Mr. Joshua when General McAllister (Mitchell Ryan) interferes and captures him, later seen carrying the rifle across his back while escorting the captured Riggs.

Lethal Weapon is the 1987 action film that was one of the first in the modern "buddy cop" genre. Mel Gibson stars as LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, a cop who lives on the ragged edge and who could be suicidal, much to the chagrin of his new partner Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), who is celebrating his 50th birthday. Together they uncover a drug smuggling ring that involves a criminal gang comprised of mercenaries and former members of a CIA / special forces "Black Ops" unit with ties to the Vietnam War. The film was written by Shane Black and directed by Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie). The success of the movie would help spawn a film franchise that spanned four films as well as numerous movie imitators.

Of course, this wouldn't be an action movie without some action. There's plenty of it, and it's perfectly done. The stunts are completely insane in scale (at one point, McAllister has no control over the accelerator and brake pedals, so he can only steer as the car enters a main street, where it's t-boned by a large bus and flipped over. The general is upside down, bleeding, surrounded by bags of drugs and several grenades. When McAllister is trying to reach and grabbing the grenades, they all explode, destroying the car and him). The gunplay is delivered in perfect Richard Donner style (as opposed to the slo-mo John Woo-style) -- you'll see lots of heavy automatic and explosive weapons, and you'll see them used well. The film is violent, and bloody, but ALL of the mean-spirited violence is dealt by the evil characters, not the ones you root for (Quentin Tarantino fans: sorry). And then the truly amazing scenes that bypass acting are shocking and memorable. In the Murtaugh's house the wall of the living room caves in and an empty police car crashes into the room, a police baton wedged onto the accelerator. Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey) shoots a T. V. displaying a Christmas commercial with his Colt XM177 Commando at Murtaugh's home and fires all round in the police car. The fighting sequences between Joshua (Gray Busey) and Riggs (Mel Gibson) is very realistic! You don't see any realistic fighting scenes in any action movie like that!

This movie is the best action packed filled with a lot of entrainment, excitement, joy, laughs and a lot of action sequences! It is, a perfect 10, because it takes the vision of one of the most imaginative directors on Earth, and realizes them almost perfectly with all the tools that fit the task -- actors, stunts, great acting, the flying sequences between Riggs and suicide jumper is outstanding but a really crazy stunt, I have ever seen. Without the vision, this film would be nothing. I love this movie, it is the finest action movie of all time ever made!!!!! This first entry in the series that would spawn 3 sequels and countless duplicates, is the darker of the set. But the action and violence is played up and this one is a classic from first view to the next.

10/10 Grade: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, Silver Pictures Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins, Traci Wolfe, Darlene Love Director: Richard Donner Producers: Richard Donner, Joel Silver Writer: Shane Black Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 50 Mins. Budget: $15.000.000 Box Office: $120,207,127.

The best action/buddy film

[george.schmidt · 11 April 2003]

LETHAL WEAPON (1987) ***1/2 Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe. One of the best action/comedy/buddy films of all time with Gibson as suicidal loose cannon maverick cop Martin Riggs mismatched with partner Roger Murtaugh (Glover in one great comic role), who is constantly reminded of his age and the danger he's constantly in: solving a drug-linked homicide of Murtaugh's friend's daughter. Busey is memorable as an albino mercenary, Mr. Joshua, unsusceptible to pain. Some great stunts and lots of thrills thanks to helmsman Richard Donner (who also directed the sequels).

This is the classic action film that introduces one of the best action duos ever to come to the big screen.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 9/10 · 12 November 2000]

Lethal Weapon is a nearly perfectly structured action movie. The acting, the story, the script, the directing, even the IDEA of the movie all combine to make up a fascinating and thrill-packed police film. The cross-cutting at the beginning of the film was particularly effective, in my opinion, as Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are introduced. The startling difference between their separate lives provides for tons of fun to be had later in the movie. Roger starts his day off as the family man reluctantly celebrating his 50th birthday party with his numerous children and his loving wife in the big family house, while Riggs is shown waking up naked in his trashy trailer and beginning his day with a healthy breakfast of a cigarette and a beer.

The fact that both Roger and Riggs hated that they had to work together was especially effective in creating a touching atmosphere as they grew to be closer and closer friends. They worked so well together in this movie; it was a symbiotic relationship. It was almost like they fed off of each other, and kept each other in line and out of trouble. I also liked the way that they showed that Riggs was deeply angered when he learned that the bad guys had taken Murtaugh's daughter. Things like this, when done right, can really get you to sit up and really get into the movie, and it was definitely done right here. Riggs was also very amusing in his anxiousness about being a cop (`Why don't you let me go to sleep?' `No, come on, we gotta get up and catch bad guys!'), and Gary Busey delivers an excellent performance as the lead bad guy. This is the type of role that he plays best (see "Under Siege").

Although the violence was painfully present in some parts (the torture scenes were short but extremely difficult to watch), the film never relied on violence to pull it along or keep the audience's attention. The story was sufficient enough so that there was no overindulgence necessary in anything like that. In this film you see the first of the now traditional Lethal Weapon scenes in which Riggs and Murtaugh stagger away from a smoking crime scene, seeming to hold each other up. The final fight scene between Riggs and Mr. Joshua (Busey) was a little excessive, and there were a few scenes which were a bit faulty (how did the guy on the building ledge expect to kill himself when there was such a huge air bag inflated on the ground directly below him?), but overall this was a spectacular crime thriller. The movie rushes along at a feverish pace, and particularly Gibson's and Glover's success working together on screen make this a timeless action film that is not to be missed.

Fairly enjoyable cop buddy film mainly thanks to great chemistry between the two leads

[jimbo-53-186511 · 6/10 · 17 September 2013]

Lethal Weapon has a pretty abrupt start to proceedings as the opening scene shows a young woman jumping off a balcony from towards the top of a tower block and landing on a car. However, this proves to have some relevance to the plot of Lethal Weapon.

Basically veteran cop Murtagh (Glover)is assigned to investigate this incident which is initially deemed to be a 'suicide'. However, an autopsy confirms that the young woman was poisoned before she jumped, therefore she was murdered before she jumped. Murtagh must try to find out who poisoned the young woman and why, but he's not alone in investigating this case and is assigned a partner Riggs (Gibson). Riggs is a suicidal, unhinged police officer who has a very different method of policing to the more 'by the book' Murtagh.

The majority of the humour stems from scenes with Murtagh and Riggs as both of them have a completely different style of policing. Murtagh is more straight laced and has more of a general regard for following police procedure. Whereas Riggs is unorthodox and wild and will go to more extreme methods (as you'll see in the scene where he's on the roof with a potential suicide victim). The character development is also good. Riggs in particular is afforded some depth - we learn that his wife of 11 years was killed in a car accident which explains his suicidal tendencies - it perhaps also helps to explain his rather 'gung ho' approach to policing (as he already feels suicidal, he probably doesn't fear death as much as your average police officer). We also see Murtagh's home life and see that he is a real family man. Both men show their human side, but also show that they can kick a lot of ass when necessary.

There were a couple of problems with Lethal Weapon; Firstly, the final scene where Riggs is left to fight Joshua (Busey) outside Murtagh's house and no police officers bother to intercept until Riggs finally manages to get the better of him. Whilst it was dramatic and a reasonably good finale, it wasn't entirely believable. Secondly; I also felt that at times the film was a bit drawn out and it was disappointing that the baddies were given a lot less screen time than I would have hoped for.

That being said, Lethal Weapon is still a good film but this is mainly due to the great on screen chemistry between Gibson and Glover. Worth watching!

An exciting cop drama cleverly constructed...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 27 September 2003]

The film opens with a panoramic aerial shot of Los Angeles, where a beautiful blonde girl in a penthouse apartment is lying, in a sexy white satin nightgown, on a luxurious red sofa... Drugs comes into focus on a table next to her...

She rouses herself to sniff some white powder, steps out (completely unbalanced) onto the balcony and stands on the railing, ready to plunge peacefully down...

Mel Gibson is remarkable as Martin Riggs... He is talented as both a cop and a clown... His character carries a great level of tension... He is both charismatic and enigmatic... Riggs is a homicide detective suffering harmful levels of stress, after losing his wife in an automobile accident... He seems unstable... He slaps and pummels a drug dealer in the manner of the "Three Stooges," and dares his hostage taker to shoot him...

He is on the brink of despair... He takes out a bullet, loads it in his .9 millimeter Beretta, puts the gun into his mouth, and appears ready to pull the trigger...

He is suicidal... He snaps a handcuff on a jumper's wrist, and snaps the other end onto his own wrist... Then he holds up the key to the cuffs, and flings it out into space...

He is a sharpshooter... He raises his gun and fires without blinking, and claims that killing is "the only thing he could ever do well."

He is partnered with a black middle-aged police detective to investigate the death of the girl that leaped off the balcony... Both quickly build up a strong friendship that lead them to uncover a very dangerous heroin ring...

Danny Glover is at his best against an actor who can easily steal scenes... He plays an old-fashioned detective who is obsessed about his age, and goes by the book... We simply see him scanning, reading the odds...

Murtaugh - on his 50th birthday - wears his past like a scar... He is a conservative family man who has to follow Riggs' hurtful plan to get his daughter back...

Gary Busey plays Mr. Joshua, a trained expert killer, cool as ice, deadly calm... It's essential for him to find out how much the police know... He tries his best to get Riggs out of the picture... His boss the General (Mitch Ryan) is a rugged man with eyes like chips of stone... The ruthless general thinks that it's now the precise time to turn up the heat... He wants Murtaugh to be tortured... He kidnaps Murtaugh's little girl, the gorgeous Rianne (Traci Wolfe) to make him speak...

Richard Donner's 'Lethal Weapon' is one of the finest films to offer its audience the combination of strong acting, and scenes out of hell... It is an exciting cop drama cleverly constructed... The final battle, where the two cops team up against the general and his henchmen, is especially thrilling... Donner's film also skates around the sexual implications of male bonding, but the scene in which Gibson and Glover are captured by the crooks and tortured dramatizes male vulnerability in a manner that became familiar in the action film...

Mel Gibson is electrifying

[AbhiMathews · 7/10 · 28 December 2014]

This movie is an onslaught of action; beginning with the opening scene death to the captivating end, it's a bombardment of epic scenes and high emotions. The plot is okay but what definitively stands out is Mel Gibson's performance.

From start to finish, Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) makes you feel excited just watching him. Whether it's with his psychotic bouts, unique demeanour or deep moments, his presence adds an energy to this movie that makes it both fun and insane (in a good way). His quality acting in Lethal Weapon is surely some of the best in cinema.

Besides the amazing casting, the overall story is mediocre. In this film, though, it's the acting that makes it special. There are so many aspects to entertainment, and Lethal Weapon hit the mark with Mel as the lead.

Will never be matched!

[MinorityReporter · 9/10 · 26 May 2005]

This is not only one of the best cop-buddy movies but it is also by far one of Mel Gibson's best movies. In my opinion it almost matches Braveheart which is by all standards a great movie.

First of all the overall acting in this movie is nothing short of excellent. Especially Mel Gibson portrays the deeply disturbed Martin Riggs with great finesse and his ability to create nuanced characters shines through in this movie. You genuinely feel with him and feel the incredible weight of his wife's death on him. Furthermore one of the things that makes Mel Gibson one of the really great actors in Hollywood is his ability to portray rage. Pure, uncontrolled rage and he certainly lifts the movie a few nudges acting wise. The other lead actor, Danny Glover, is also great in his role as the aging family father and he literally embodies the part of Roger Murtaugh and his line: "I'm too old for this s*h*i*t" has become a legend in the film world. Gary Busey is one of my top 10 screen bad guys. Not because he is an especially talented or great actor but he brings an edge to his character that makes one believe that he is the perfect nemesis for Riggs. Last but not least we have the underused Mitch Ryan (whom we have come to know best in the part of Edward Montgomery in Dharma and Greg) and he also does a great job with the relatively few lines he is given.

In terms of story and interaction between the characters I can only say that it is close to perfection. The meeting between the two main characters is a classic moment and their slowly growing to like each other is also brilliantly done. The on-screen chemistry between the two actors is excellent and I'm tempted to say that they have the best chemistry EVER in film history (perhaps bested only by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs). In terms of the story the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh has been weighed more heavily than in the following movies which means that the villains will naturally be less refined than in the following movies and this weighing is very acceptable because the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh is the carrying element of the movie.

The action in the movie is excellent for an 80s movie. I'll even say that I think that the action in this movie is better than much of the action in movies today because somehow it just seems much more believable in this movie than it does in movies like Die Another Day for example where the action has been amplified so much that it just becomes ridiculous and, lets face it, silly. Most of the action involves Mel Gibson and this works great because he really is one of the greats when it comes to action. He gives the action credibility unlike "actors" like Sylvester Stallone or Steven Segal. You genuinely believe that he could be able to shoot someone with a sniper rifle at a distance of 1 - 2 kilometers.

All in all a movie where basically everything works and is perhaps underrated by the voters of IMDb.

9/10 - watch this movie right now!

Intensity at its finest

[klindon-38400 · 9/10 · 3 May 2023]

Nothing is more watchable than an intense performance. He and his intensity were born to be in the movies. He's also a damn good actor. I admit I had to watch other movies of his before I was ready to crown him the title of "good actor" but I'm ready to say Mel Gibson isn't just a good actor but a damn good one. He's intense almost to the point of crazy. His eyes get this look and you know something's about to go down. But he also has other emotions that are intense too. He takes all of them to the max. A very watchable actor and maybe one of the most watchable actors of all time which brings me to Braveheart because I just watched both. I'll put my Braveheart review on that one.

Terrific Bang of a Movie

[jb_campo · 7/10 · 25 December 2018]

Mel Gibson delivers in this first of a series revolving around detective Martin Riggs, ex-Special Forces soldier, and his relationship with Danny Glover, aging police detective Roger Murtaugh with a family to protect.

You discover that Riggs recently lost his wife, which has given him no fear of dying. He drinks too much, plays russian roulette, and takes no crap from anyone. But he's got a funny side too that Gibson delivers on perfectly. Gibson delivers the perfect mix of crazy and sane that is balanced out wonderfully by Glover. They have excellent chemistry and end up working well together to fight the bad guys.

Gary Busey delivers as one of the key bad guys. Several scenes show you that this guy is just as crazy as Riggs. They have a psycho Commander leading his soldiers, and he commands Busey to do his bidding.

The back and forth lead to a highly anticipated final battle, mano a mano, between the crazy duo. Who will win out? Well, since they went on to make multiple Leathal Weapons, you are pretty assured that Hollywood will prevail and leave you cheering. The ending is similar to several Mission Impossible ones.

All told, great acting by the stars. Decent storyline of good vs evil. Gibson in his youth. A satisfying ending. A solid start to a terrific series. Enjoy Lethal Weapon.

I'm Too Old For This S***

[Ofisil8-850-238679 · 4/10 · 28 June 2011]

Plot: One police officer with suicidal tendencies and his close-to-retirement colleague have to uncover a huge drug-smuggling operation and at the same time cope with each other.

You'll love Lethal Gun if: You like these macho, cop-duo over the top action films of the 80's and don't really care about getting you intelligence insulted. Honestly… I rented this movie just to help myself remember why I liked it when I was very young and I can't say I figured out why. However if you can handle the movie's cheesiness, unrealistic situations and characters and the stereotypes of US cop films, you're in for one of the best of its kind… at least that's what the majority says. The saving grace of the film: the great chemistry between Danny Glover and Mel Gibson and while when I was younger I loved the psycho bad-ass Mel Gibson, I can see now that Glover not only plays a much, much better character but also a more realistic one… thus easier to relate to, (unless you are 8 years old).

You'll hate Lethal Gun if: You hate these unrealistic cop films and if you want a movie with an actually interesting plot. Honestly what's the big deal with this movie and its -far worse- sequels? They are one of the worst movies I've ever seen. The plot is pretty typical… nothing will leave you with your mouth open or surprise you. The characters are of cardboard quality at best, with Gibson playing a cartoon who is more irritating than cool. Glover plays the conservative family man, (with a moustache of course!), and Gibson is the rebel cop who cries at night while trying to kill his self because his wife died in a traffic accident… boooohoooooo! Riiiiiight… The action sequences are boring and the way the main characters and especially Gibson behave is unrealistic and far from heroic… more like suicidal just for the fun of it. You want a good cop movie look elsewhere. Yes, I've seen worse but the point here is that this movie is one of the most successful ones!!!

FINAL VERDICT: A Series Of Action Movie Clichés (4.4/10)

[+] Great main character chemistry.

[-] Boring action sequences and plot. Extremely stereotypical characters.

Also Check: Bad Boys (1993) - Die Hard (1988) – Lethal Weapon (1989) – Rush Hour (1998)

P.S.: My purpose in all my IMDb Reviews is not to say "I like\don't like this movie" but to help you decide whether YOU will like it or not since everything is all about taste and expectations IMO...

One of the greatest cop movies of all time!

[filmnut81 · 15 November 1999]

I've seen Lethal Weapon over 100 times and it just keeps getting better! Mel Gibson plays a crazed cop who teams up with a family cop (Danny Glover). At first, they can't stand each other, but as the movie rolls along, they end up with this type of bond. I'm sure that most people or everyone has seen this wonderful movie. It has plenty of action and violence. I love the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. And who could forget, Gary Busey, Mr. Joshua, a VERY fitting role for the wonderful actor. He couldn't have been replaced for that role. No one could have done a better job than Busey. Go Gary! I love the end! One of the best fitting scenes in film history. I also admire Gibson and Busey doing their own stunts, and studying martial arts, just to make 4 nights of filming a cult fighting scene for this excellent movie. This one is definitely a winner! If you haven't seen this superb film, then I STRONGLY recommend that you do! Great film!

Action, Comedy & Mismatched Cops

[seymourblack-1 · 9/10 · 15 September 2016]

The template for "buddy cop movies" had already been created some years before "Lethal Weapon" went into production and so its combination of action, comedy and a couple of mismatched cops didn't seem to offer anything particularly new. What it did offer, however, was an excellent plot, a couple of well-drawn characters and two actors whose extraordinary on-screen rapport contributed enormously to the phenomenal success that this movie justifiably achieved.

Its story, which involves murder, drug-smuggling and kidnapping, is exciting, violent and often tense with some light relief being provided throughout by the bizarre behaviour of one of the cops and the entertaining banter that's an on-going feature of a relationship that, against the odds, develops into a strong friendship between two very different men.

Homicide detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is assigned to investigate the apparent suicide of a young woman who had leaped to her death from a penthouse balcony. He soon discovers that she was the daughter of his old Vietnam War buddy, Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins) and later receives evidence that confirms that she was murdered. At fifty years of age and with retirement approaching, Murtaugh is keen to avoid any unnecessary danger and so, when he's teamed up with detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), who has a certain reputation for being unstable, he becomes very apprehensive.

Riggs is an ex-Army Special Forces sniper who was classed as a "lethal weapon" and who, following the recent death of his wife, had become unpredictable and suicidal. His state of mind had become a source of concern for police psychiatrists because it had led to him taking great risks in his work and soon it becomes evident that he and Murtaugh have very different ways of doing things. The tensions caused by this situation initially makes their partnership difficult but as the investigation continues, some incidents that they confront, lead to them gaining more trust in each other.

Hunsaker admits that he had, for some years, been involved in a drug smuggling operation which had been in existence since the Vietnam War and which was headed by General Peter McAllister (Mitchell Ryan) who, like his henchman, Mr Joshua (Gary Busey), is extremely ruthless and they had murdered his daughter as a consequence of his decision to get out of their racket. The ensuing pursuit of the smugglers leads to Murtaugh's daughter being kidnapped and both detectives being tortured before Riggs and Joshua meet in the movie's final confrontation.

Mel Gibson gives a remarkable performance in this movie as he excels as an action hero but also brings incredible intensity to the passages of the film where Riggs struggles with his suicidal tendencies. It's also interesting to watch how his initially volatile and reckless character gradually becomes more rational as a result of his relationship with Murtaugh and his family. Danny Glover also does a brilliant job of showing Murtaugh's humanity, warmth and insecurities as he deals with the demands of his job and his family, whilst also coming to terms with his concerns about getting older.

"Lethal Weapon" is hugely enjoyable, exciting to watch and full of humorous moments. It's extremely well-written and its emphasis on the nature and development of its characters is what ultimately elevates it above the level of most other similar action movies.

Great film

[mrossman-89850 · 7/10 · 30 June 2018]

Really great film to watch. Action packed with likable characters.

Action and comedy at their best

[DunnDeeDaGreat · 10/10 · 16 June 2003]

Lethal Weapon is the first in a series of films that were all good. Richard Donner made an action packed buddy picture that everyone can enjoy. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover were both good in the lead roles and the action sequences are top notch. Kudos to Gary Busey for making a great bad guy.

Oh, smart and funny and filmed with pizazz, but mostly Gibson and Glover!

[secondtake · 7/10 · 28 September 2011]

Lethal Weapon (1987)

In some ways this is a great movie. It's fast, it's filmed with dramatic fluidity and terrific light, it has more lively acting than most movies, and it's filled with heroes and bad guys you can relate to.

Director Richard Donner broke out of years of successful television directing with the headline hit, "The Omen," in 1976, followed the next year with "Superman." But oddly enough (or not, following his t.v. years which included not only several "Twilight Zone" episodes but also "Gilligan"s Island" and "Perry Mason"), it was the unlikely buddy movie with Mad Max star Mel Gibson that has made him very rich, and almost famous.

Gibson makes it easy to forget all the nastiness that has happened lately in his life (from his own doing) because he's such a natural screen presence. I had almost forgotten how alive and a little edgy he could be in his goofy, handsome way. And Danny Glover, equally, comes alive on the screen, a little goofy as well, of course, but comfortable as the dad in a functioning middle class family. The two men are cops, thrown together and by some stroke of bad luck, pitched into high stakes dramas one after another.

And if you really bother paying attention, the plot is a strain, made more for effect than anything that matters or even quite makes sense. There are ex-CIA heroin dealers and absurd (and dangerous) helicopter chases, fantastic skills with guns and an even more fantasy-like muddy hand-to-hand fist fight under the spray of a broken fire hydrant at night. Yeah, it's crazy and over the top and you just have to dive in and say, cool, go for it, great filming, funny one-liners.

It's a moment for moment movie with a handful of clunker moments but hundreds of crazy fast and exciting ones. For all they are worth. In some ways, at least, as entertainment straight up, a kind a television on steroids, this is a great movie.

More Christmas-y than Die Hard

[cricketbat · 9/10 · 20 December 2020]

Die Hard gets all the attention for being a Christmas movie, but I would submit that Lethal Weapon is even more Christmas-y. Plus, it's just a great action movie. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover practically invented the buddy cop genre, and their bromantic chemistry is undeniable. Combine that with impressive stunts and a compelling story, and you've got yourself a fantastic film-even for the holidays.

just a B-movie, after all

[winner55 · 7/10 · 28 September 2009]

Beginning with the first Christopher Reeves Superman movie, the creative concept guys at Warner Bros. realized that if you sank millions of dollars into a B-movie formula, including hiring the right cast and crew, you would not only get millions of dollars in return, but everybody would be talking about it like it was an A-class film. (This knowledge had already been discovered by the James Bond team, but only with the success of Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films did it at last become obvious to all.) Look, Lethal Weapon, like so many other action films since that discovery was made, is a factory product. Some committee came up with the idea and set about hiring a team to realize it. It is all surface and no substance. There's no vision here, it's all meant to make money, that's all.

I enjoy this film, very much - I've seen it over and over again, and I am thrilled by the action scenes and amused by the humor. But great film-making this is NOT. It's very slick, but it's also noisy, and clunky in spots, exploitative (did we really need to see the porn film the dead girl made?), overlong (with occasionally questionable editing choices), and it's "dramatic" moments are clearly intended to manipulate rather than arouse our emotions. This isn't even remarking the lack of realism regarding police procedure or the consequences of the behavior of the two heroes. Finally, as is apt for a B-movie, all the major players ham it up something fierce.

But all this is entirely forgivable once one admits that, yeah, it's just a B-movie, after all, an amusing way to spend two hours when you have nothing better to do and want to watch good guys chase bad guys and blow things up.

Lethal Magic!

[mellan_love · 10/10 · 28 June 2005]

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!

More entertaining than, but almost as dated as me

[Spondonman · 7/10 · 22 June 2013]

I'll have to be careful what I put for the first Lethal Weapon; it's one of my daughter's favourite films and when younger she used to have a crush on Mel Gibson. So, it was a marvellous, even classic film.

But what of the flimsy plot? Black and white cops up against ex-army heroin smugglers, interspersed by shedloads of comedy. How about the slapstick acting caricaturing the police force of the time, to be sure an ancient time when officers went about shouting Yipikaye to the baddies as they killed them unmercifully. The schmaltzy family scenes in contrast to the vigilante attitudes? No matter how laughable this always was or how dated it's getting it was always prime entertainment and a great way to spend two hours. Like Die Hard it was a deliberate and laudable propaganda attempt to get black and white people to understand together and to work for their common good together. Like Die Hard it had Christmas violence and baddies beyond the pale, in fact albino – baddies who only deserved to be terminated.

It portrayed a brilliant fantasy world where Health & Safety or police protocols played no part, along with mobile phones, the internet and without the cgi cartoonery that's taken over movies in the last 20 years. There seemed to be plenty of time to enjoy nonsensical action films such as this back then. But I loved it again tonight and am already looking forward to the next time to check how much more dated it will have become.

Misfired weapon

[son_of_cheese_messiah · 2/10 · 13 June 2011]

It seems utterly incredible that this poor movie inspired a successful series. Badly directed, badly written and badly acted, it is more like a series of action movie clichés than a story. It borrows heavily from various previous superior films especially Dirty Harry. The 'suicidal jumper' scene in both films makes the comparison; in Dirty Harry, the scene was honest, but the inferior copy version, the scene ends with an unearned and deceptive pay-off, a cheat in other words.

It is not possible to speak of the plot being contrived, but rather a series of implausible contrivances one after another. The basic idea, an unstable cop being allowed to continue working (and even being transferred to homicide!), is utterly absurd in itself but it gets worse. Basic procedures, such as handcuffing subdued criminals, are not adhered to, leading to two characters drawing weapons and having to be killed. People start shooting for no apparent reason, such as at the swimming pool. A hackneyed and unconvincing plot about a secret conspiracy emerges. An over the top shoot out in the desert, complete with helicopter. A gruesome (but laughable) torture scene. Gibson hurls a dead body across a room like a deadly weapon. A sub-machine gun fight takes place on a crowded free-way. And a final punch-up while the cops just look on.

Everything about this film is clunky. It takes a long time for the story to get going and it is held together by certain convenient details. The dialogue is wooden, as is the acting (apart from the kids, who at least emerge with credit). The music is of the late 80s variety, and sounds very dated now.

Nor are the action scenes very memorable, just a series of deeply contrived set pieces which neither look good nor convince. Situations are set-up just so a car can drive through a wall or hit a bus or explode. There is no artistry in any of this, and none of it lingers in the memory.

A cartoon, and not a particularly good one.

The Best Cop Film Of The 1980's

[Big Movie Fan · 23 May 2002]

I have watched Lethal Weapon dozens of times and it still entertains me like it originally did in 1987.

A good cop movie has to have the following ingredients; chemistry between it's stars, plenty of action, plenty of humour, action, car chases and a damn good villain.

American cops seemed to be stereotyped in movies. They always seem to be crazy and without any respect for their superiors. I hope they're not like that in real life but it's perfect for a movie.

It's great seeing Riggs and Murtaugh become good buddies by the end of the movie. I like cop films like that.

The really great thing about Lethal Weapon is the action. Riggs is crazy in this film-I wouldn't want to meet a cop like him. Riggs and Murtaugh are opposites but they say opposites attract. Riggs is mad and Murtaugh is sane. Together they spell bad news for the bad guys.

I would also like to give credit to Gary Busey who never disappoints when it comes to playing a villain (or indeed any other part).

Great movie!