First Time Watching LETHAL WEAPON (1987) Reaction & Commentary 

This was fun one! Let's hear your movie recommendations for next year 🤙

This is one of the most action packed AND genuinely heartwarming action franchises ever. Mel and Danny were meant to do these flicks ❤

You will do all of them, because you will love the characters and will want more and more with each movie. Also, the director cuts of the first and third movie add some scenes that really give a better depth to the characters and story.

Ryan pumping out the good stuff. First Leon, now Lethal Weapon. I like it 😊

" I'm to old for this shit" started here ,part 2 is worth it.

I saw this movie back in the '80 when i was 13. I Still remember how heavy and heart-wrenching the begining was for me. Keep with the other three, they are really good.

Lethal Weapon and Die Hard are on par as Christmas, and also as great action movies (not just for the action, but great characters, dialogue, etc.).

You should do them all. The chemistry between them just gets better. I seriously think they are one of the best film duos of all time. Oh, and a heads up. Part 3 has a post-credits scene.

One of my favorite Christmas films. I watch it every year around this time. "Was he actually gonna do it?" He actually *did* it. He had to put his thumb in the way of the falling hammer to keep the gun from going off. Al Leong was not only in Last Action Hero, but another of my favorite Christmas films, Die Hard, and makes a return in the fourth installment of the Lethal Weapon series. He's also a lot of fun in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

The torturer also played the infamous Candy Thief in Die Hard, and Ghengis Khan in Bill & Ted It's amazing how often he appeared

AirAmerica, the secret group of air pilots during Vietnam, is very true. Coincidentally Mel Gibson stard in the 1990 movie AirAmarica. Along with Robert Downy Jr.. I enjoyed the movie for many different reasons & I'm sure you would enjoy it in its own totality.

All of them is a must.

Lethal Weapon is a series in which you must do all 4. You don't get the resolution for the characters until the end of 4, and each movie builds more characterization. Mel Gibson recommendation: Payback. I've been trying to watch this one for half a year and it's finally on Prime Video now.

You definitively have to watch all 4 to get the full experience. Aside from being brilliant movied on their own, what makes the series special is that you get to see the characters grow over time.

That bullet was the special one Riggs told Murtaugh he had specifically to unalive himself. It was symbolic of him deciding he wanted to live.

"I'm too old for this shit!" This movie would NEVER have been made today as it is right now. It would have been called pro-police and boycotted. Fun Fact: Theatrical film debut of Joan Severance. Good Frienemies Fact: To add tension between the actors, the director told both Gary Busey and Mel Gibson it was the other who kept eating the last waffle. Gun Enthusiast Fact: The Beretta 92F Mel Gibson uses in this film is the same gun that would be used by Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988). The gun has since been retired. Second Chance Fact: Gary Busey says he was hired to play Joshua because they were looking for someone big and menacing enough to be a believable foe for Mel Gibson. Busey also credits the film for reviving his failing movie career. Done For Real Fact: Jackie Swanson performed the high fall on her own, trained by legendary stuntman Dar Robinson. Also, the stunt was done using an airbag covered with a life-size painting of the driveway and cars, which, like a foreground miniature, visually blends into the real scene. Thus, the editor is able to hold the shot until just as Swanson makes contact with the airbag, for greater realism.

You should watch the 1990 Mel Gibson movie Bird on a Wire. That is a classic action movie but very underrated

Fun Fact: Air America is a real thing. A CIA operation during the Vietnam War. Also Air America is a great movie starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.

Yes, this is a Christmas movie. The joke is that "Lethal Weapon" was released in the summer of 1987.

The house next door at the end fight is the Griswald's from Christmas Vacation.

Solid start to the series. I really enjoy Danny Glover's reaction to Mel's crazy. The scene where they argue about how Riggs should 😵 himself is comedy gold right up until Riggs actually tries it 😅 2 is my fave, but watch all 4. There is also a parody - Loaded Weapon 1 (with Sam Jackson and Emilio Estevez), but you should wait until after 3 to watch. Basic Instinct is also parodied in it quite heavily, so watch that one too 🦫 😉

Watch them all! They are all brilliant!

They're all all really good.

Love this franchise…you must continue. I think you’ll really enjoy the second one for sure!

33:15-that guy was also the candy bar thief in Die Hard.

Yes sequel !...yes Christmas movie... Carrington: "they've made improvements in mental health treatments since the 80's" Me: have you looked out your windows lately ?...🤣... Happy Christmas Carrington...🌿🎄🌿

Ryan…EVERYONE had the faux wood paneling on their station wagons, man.😃 Ours was maroon w/the “wood” bc u know…u need to pretend to have wood on the side of ur car. Lol This was before minivans were invented. Kids, back in the day, would lay sleeping bags or thick blankets in the back & we’d lie down back there on long car trips. My sister & I went from Syracuse NY to Disneyworld in FL like every year. 18 hours or so down & 18 hrs back. Nobody cared ab seatbelts or car seats. No. We rode in the back.🤭 And had a flippin’ blast, btw. Horrible parenting was also everywhere in the 80’s🤘

Absolutely! See Lethal Weapon 2,3 and 4. All, in their own rights, are unique good. The companionship grows. Thanks for sharing.

Great reaction! Please do all the lethal weapon movies, they are all just as good or better.

Just recently found your channel.. of course subscribed 😊 went on a semi binge of your posts. So many good movies to watch. The Guardian Field Of Dreams Vantage Point Conair Flight Of The Phoenix I could go on & on...

The Bounty is probably Gibson's best 80s movie -aside from The Road Warrior.

At least watch the second one - though they're all pretty enjoyable. For me its the Chemistry between Gibson and Glover with the Dialogue by Shane Black that makes it. In fact Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the Nice Guys go pretty well with Lethal Weapon (both by Shane Black). Even Dead Heat (basically Zombie version of Lethal Weapon - Shane Black is the Don of buddy films) is a fun watch I don't see many people reacting to. Funny you mention Last Action Hero too (Shane Black again). What I mean to say is just look up Shane Black.

Dude! I recommend watching the "Director's Cut" of this movie, but also to watch the other 3 movies in this franchise. The Director's cut fleshes out Riggs' character a bit more than the theatrical version. But also, the 4 movies have a wonderful character arc/story progression for all of the characters. I'll tell you WHY I relate to Riggs as much as I do, but you might find it a bit depressing. Also, Lethal Weapon is DEFINITELY a Christmas movie! As is Gremlins (another one you don't really hear about being one, since that "other" movie hogs the spotlight.... and yes, I HATE "Die Hard". Come at me.) 3:45 - The original Mad Max series with Mel is fantastic. I can't recommend them enough, if you haven't seen them. Braveheart (later in his career) is another top notch movie. I can't think of many others off the top of my head at the moment, though. 7:10 - THIS is where I identify with Riggs so much. While his wife was killed in a car accident (as is explained a few scenes later)... I lost my first wife to Ovarian Cancer. But the result was pretty much the same. For a long time after she died, I literally didn't care if I lived or died, and behavior backed that up. I was reckless as Hell, because I didn't care. I eventually moved past it, and Rose (my first wife) lived up to a promise she made before she died, that she would send me someone when the time was right, so that I wouldn't be lonely for the rest of my life. She sent me Katina (my current wife), whom I've been married to for over 12 years, now. Rose chose well, and I can't say otherwise. If it wasn't for Katina, I would be dead long before now. But she's with me, loves me, and supports me, so I'm not dead yet. 8:50 - Actually, work became my saving grace. Rose and I had worked at the same company, and had been allowed to work together for much of it. We made a great team, if I'm honest. The company helped us out when she went "terminal", and made sure that her "end of life care" wasn't interrupted. I took off 5 days after she died, then went back to work (I was told I could take off as much time as I needed to, to grieve), because had I stayed home and just kept going down that abyss I was going down... the company would have been mourning TWO employees, instead of just one. I never would have survived that, so I went back to work, and literally threw myself head first into doing my job as best I could. I had loved that job, and honestly wish I could still do it (I'm disabled now, and simply can't). But I appreciate what the company did for us. They are good people, and I am forever in their debt for it. Truth be told, had I NOT gone back to work when I did...... it would have ended badly for me. Work helped me focus on something other than her death. It wasn't the same, because like I said, we had worked together there... but it helped me to "move on". 15:55 - Not ALL Americans are stupid.... I knew what you meant by "Bonnet". :p 28:20 - Those "Bad Boys" movies are nothing compared to the original with Sean Penn. Different stories, being honest..... but they should have found a different name for them. 32:10 - Heh.... the "wood paneled Station Wagon".... we nicknamed them "Grocery Getters", because they were MOST popular for going grocery shopping (or hauling a LOT of kids back then, because seat belts weren't required), Not even joking, right now... but you could fit about 10 kids in the back of those things, as well as a weeks worth of groceries. I think the "wood paneling" part was because Wood Paneling was popular in homes back in the 1970s, so it likely extended outside of the home, all the way to cars. But I can't confirm that (I was too young at the time). 33:45 - Exactly. Which is why it isn't a valid method of extracting information from someone. Yet it's still used to this day..... 38:40 - MINOR spoiler: Remember that..... there WILL be a callback to it, later in the series. I won't say WHEN.... just that it will. 41:30 - My first wife chose to be cremated, so I have her urn about 5 feet from me as I sit at my computer. So I don't need to go to a cemetery to visit her. But I totally get how Riggs is feeling right now. I didn't when this movie came out, but I learned that lesson in 2006 when Rose died. I don't wish that level of emotional pain on anyone. 41:55 - I paused, so I don't know if you "get it" or not, yet. The bullet Riggs gave to Murtaugh, was the one was had specially chosen to end his own life with. (Riggs had earlier claimed it was a "hollow point", but the bullet shown both then, and at this point of the movie, is NOT a hollow point (I'm an American, and we can tell the difference)). Still, the message is clear.... Riggs is no longer "looking to end his own life" (hence the scene at the cemetery), and has chosen to live, and to "prove" that to Roger (including how much HE (and his family) meant to Riggs), gave him (Roger) the exact means of his own demise. Much like I myself did a couple of years after Rose had died. I can't define exactly WHEN it happened, but I had decided to choose living over "not giving a shite" if I lived or died. THAT was when everything changed for me. It's a long process, and can't be forced. I don't know HOW Mel Gibson knew how to play this part of the script... but he did an AMAZING job at it! 42:28 - Okay, VERY minor spoiler, because you asked (and it's not key to the plot).... the dog's name is "Sam".

The Warner Bros. Ranch has been demolished since this reaction, Murtaugh's house is no more. An episode of Young Sheldon created a backstory where a tornado destroyed the neighborhood, in reality it was the wrecking crews. Murtaugh's phone was a small size for the time, check out Lee Van Cleef's one in Escape from New York just six years earlier, the thing was about double the size.

michael kamen's score featuring Eric Clapton's guitar. is amazing.

I'm getting too old for this shit...

27:21-FYI-that vest wouldn’t stop rifle rounds

i agree, if Die Hard is a Christmas movie the so is this one

43:00 Love how you say that there wasn't "anything groundbreaking" when the majority of action movies after LW and Die Hard took so many elements from them. I think you watch the older movies forgetting they are usually the first and that others copy them, making it seem that the older movies are cliché.

This movie series is so good. The Murtaugh house is the Neighbors house in Christmas Vacation. The houses are in a studio in LA California. Whenever you watch the first 2 Lethal Weapon movies you have to check out the movie National Lampoon’s Loaded Wepon 1. It is a spoof movie of the Lethal Weapon movies. It’s very funny. It has Samuel L Jackson and Emilio Estevez in it. There is a cameo in the movie that is very funny too

Man that Scrubs Guy Love reference was absolutely perfect, bravo 👏

Not to get to technical but a Police officer has to state 'you are under arrest' prior to Mirandizing. Also there were multiple subjects. And it's movie magic too 😉

It's a good "buddy cop" movie, that nailed a solid recipe for the genre. 2 is great. 3 is good. 4 is not terrible. I think there are talks of 5 coming in 2025.

Oh man, you’ve really got to do the next three. This is from when they knew how to do a sequel without ruining the whole thing. Each one of these is better than the last, fantastic series.

That rush hour cut scene was magnificent my friend 😂😂

6:08 - actually police are not required to read Miranda rights during the arrest or detainment. They are required to do so before speaking with the suspect.

Mate, don't ask if you should continue to watch the series... Go the whole nine yards and you will have a ton of fun... 😁

I implore you to react to the entire franchise. Every sequel gets better. In my personal opinion.

I love this movie, and the franchise does get cheesier and cheesier, in a way, but it's always fun and also always has a heart.

No definitely. Die hard and Leathal Weapon were watched EVERY Christmas since 1989. And Multiple times!!

The whole series is very entertaining, but this first episode is quite dark with Rigg's mental health issues .

You’re a lethal weapon.. Or something less bad as an attempt at flirting 😂 👀

"Was it really like this in the '80s?" Mental health had a huge stigma that still lingers. Going to counseling or seeing a shrink would get you shunned. People mostly treated mental illness as a personal defect of character or morality. If you haven't seen the movie Patton there is a famous historical event there that depicts this attitude.

Now you have to watch the parody of this franchise called Loaded Weapon 1.

Mel Gibson plauys a raging lunatic so well. You can almost believe he's not even acting, but is just that insane

The last time I was here, this guy was called Ryan Carrington, now he’s gone all Hollywood and just goes by simply ‘Carrington’. I’ll be very disappointed if I come back in a few months and he’s not transitioned into ‘the RU-vidr formerly known as Carrington’.

watch all the sequels please there awesome ps can't wait till the 5th one comes out as well sadly Richard donner passed away but he did tell mel gibson to direct the 5th and final lethal weapon

Mad Max and Road Warrior are good Mel Gibson movies from this era

After watching "The Other Guys" with Samuel Jackson and the Rock I wasn't necessarily expecting an air bag to catch their fall.

Great reaction! If you want another buddy cop film, check out 48 Hours (1982) and the sequel Another 48 Hours (1990). Both star Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. The first film is generally credited as being the first film in the buddy cop genre, though Lethal Weapon is usually the one that's considered to have perfected the formula and tropes.

The Patriot is another good Mel a Gibson movie

Road Warrior is fun.

Now you can watch national lampoons loaded weapon one

It looked like UFC because the Gracie family that started the UFC choreographed the fight. First time a mainstream Hollywood movie had a Triangle choke in it.

This movie is mostly about a serious topic people are not allowed to talk about on RU-vid with action and crime drama mixed in. Subsequent films become increasingly generic action comedy. Not that they're bad. Surprisingly the franchise maintains very good quality throughout just like Carrington reactions.

That was era when law enforcement was switching from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk Carrington 😉

“Braveheart” and “The Patriot”

Blue Streak cutaway in Leon followed up with a Bad Boys 2 one here, very choice sir. Magnificent work. 😎

The guy you recognised from Last Action is none other than Al Leong. One of the most recognisable faces of 80’s and 90’s action cinema and television. He made a career out of playing the henchman. Famously it is said he stood on the street with a sign saying "Will Hence for food" during hard times. Yeah the other LW movies are great, the direct sequel is a banger. "Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior" with Mel Gibson is f-ing brilliant... "Okay".

My favorite movie ever.

You must watch all of them now.

I'm not a big Mel Gibson fan but I like several of the movies he was in. There's been nothing of note in the past several years, imo, but some of his old stuff is good. I'd recommend any of these: Signs; We Were Soldiers; Payback; Conspiracy Theory; Ransom; Maverick; Air America. Of these I think Payback and Air America are the most fun. ✌🏽 Air America is a place that's actually mentioned in this movie, in the scene that ends in Hunsaker being shot. It's a fun movie with Mel and Robert Downey, Jr.

Yeah. Keep watching. They keep getting better. Riggs and Murtaugh, I mean Briggs . . . no . . . Riggs. Anyway, their friendship grows and the stories are fun. Wait til they add Joe Pesci and Chris Rock. They're all good! Thanks for this one. Lots of fun! Happy non-denominational extended weekend!!

Once you have children your privacy weakens, & the more children you have the less privacy you have. At around 4 or 5 it ceases to exist. Or you stop trying to find it. I have 6 brothers & sisters, if our parents wanted privacy. They rented a hotel room for the weekend & didn't tell the kids where they were going. Because that was the only way they were going to get it. & The only time I ever saw a look of true panic on my mothers face. My B/S & I sat in a reading circle & we read our books. Mom flew up the stairs at 90mph, when she saw what we were doing, she said "Don't ever do that again"... 7 children upstairs & I didn't hear a sound. You scared the crap out of me. (The noise & constant interruptions are part of parenting a large family. Mom & Dad are used to it. & Even expect it. )

You have to watch all of them. Especially fun to watch when joe pesci joins them. They're all great. I re-watch the series often 🎉😊

it's a real shame - this art of making a good, fun, action film, which is just good entertainment, seems to be completely lost today. It's the script wrting, of course. Back in the day people didn't do a course on 'creative writing' and write fanfiction level stuff. People watched movies and enjoyed them. They didn't "analyse" everything according to the course they took and talk about "the themes". It's ruined writing and internet "critics" destroy the industry by shitting on every film before it's even out. It's a disaster. You'll never see a film like this, as things stand.

You'll be interested to know Rorion Gracie was the fight choreographer for the film which is why you see Riggs attempting(pretty terribly) to perform a triangle choke. The director wanted a fighting style nobody had ever seen in films before and his AD was a student of Rorion's. 6 years before UFC 1.

Now you gotta watch: 1) Lethal Weapon II 2) Basic Instinct 3) Loaded Weapon I

is Burbank a human name?..should've named the cat Purrbank..

This was before the Helicopter Loudening Act of 1990. Used to read about folks waking up and wandering out to pee without realizing a helicopter had gotten into the house fairly often. Glad they sorted it.

I really like all 4!

i haven't seen this in decades. gotta watch your full length version some time. this time however i noticed something i hadn't previously -- at 21:38 Danny's character is leafing through a high school yearbook he pulls out of a package. Palos Verdes. my dad taught at that high school back in the 70s. we had a crazy house there. one entire wall of the living room was glass. looked out down the hillside and straight to the ocean. he died in april, not even a year ago. that yearbook was an unexpected trip. really put my head in a spin. thanks for all you do, bro.

My favorite action series, buddy cop movies and Shane Black movie.

I love this film. I do agree the that the fight on Murtaugh’s lawn was a little silly. It could have been done in a more necessary and less obligatory way. Part two is the best in my opinion, and they add Joe Pesci to the cast:) Good times:)

Mel Gibson later made a movie called "Air America." I think it is about the same smuggling operation. I never saw it.

Endo, aka the electrical torturer who apparently was also in Last Action Hero (not a film I have fully watched) is a stunt man that plays in a lot of action films. He was also in the original Die Hard as one of the terrorists. He hesitantly grabs a candy bar at one point from under a glass counter, which is funny as he second guesses stealing candy when he's already well beyond that at that point...lol

For Mel Gibson movies, The Patriot and Braveheart are iconic must sees. What Women Want is also a fun watch if you are looking for something on the lighter side.

yeah the 80s were messed up...would you youngsters believe there were separate restrooms for men and women?... thank god that horrible injustice has been undone an men and girls can use the same public restrooms

13:49 He DID it. He pulled the trigger, that why the hammer snapped Murtaugh's hand.

Thanks for the video!! See you later!! Stay safe and Merry Christmas 🎄🎄😊🎁

He does not have to read them their Miranda warning. That's a misconception. Miranda is more to do with interrogation than arrest. As long as he's not gathering statements from them for the purposes of building a case against them, it's fine. It's not unusual for it to be given in an interrogation room at the police station by someone completely different hours later.

I can really recommend you watch the sequels too. They get less dark and more funny, but still great. This was a series where it felt like an extra birthday every time one was released.

You definately SHOULD check out the next one 😁

15:00 - this is the first "modern" cell phone usage in Hollywood movies.

Good Lord Vader I love this movie!!! Lethal Weapon 2 is a must watch and is just as good as this one!

All 4 are excellent. They couldn't talk to the police and risk his daughter.

One of the funniest buddy cop action comedy movies ever made! Shane Black's original 1985 script was a lot darker and more violent than the final cut of the movie: The Sniper scene, which is in the Director's Cut, was very different as a kid was shot and killed by the sniper, taken away in a gurney, and while Riggs used his Beretta and gunned him down, he used a rocket launcher to blow the guy away. The draft ended with a helicopter chasing Joshua who shoots down the chopper with a napalm missile and causes the chopper to crash into the Hollywood Sign. Murtaugh kills General McAllister driving a tanker truck filled with heroin which explodes over the Hollywood Hills next to the Sign. Riggs kills Joshua by ripping out his eyes with his fingers. It was revealed that Riggs was an assassin for the CIA and had been mentally unstable since the Vietnam War ended.. Murtaugh actually killed a fellow soldier in training with his bare hands before he went to fight in Vietnam.

Mel Gibson's Payback movie 🍿 is a great watch

37:51 none of them tried to help because they were all OD'ing on the herroin dispursed into the air from the grenades. Lol

Endo was also in Die Hard. He was the terrorist eating candy bars in the lobby.