Lethal Weapon (1987) | Canadians First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Commentary 

"I'm too old for this shit" 100% became a thing because of this movie. While the character is 50, Danny Glover was 42 when they shot the movie.

“Why are they fighting?” It’s an 80’s action movie.

"Mel Gibson`s hair is very fluffy, and i`ve decided that i like it" is an hilarious and iconic Simone comment.

Remember in Predator the guy with the glasses who kept telling terrible dirty jokes trying to make Billy laugh? That guy wrote Lethal weapon. That same year.

The sponges attached to the jumper cables when Riggs was being tortured is to diffuse the electricity so that it hits more surface area of the skin and greatly reduces the chance of killing the subject being tortured. In short it makes it less lethal but far more painful. Torture 101.

The bit in the shop where Roger pulls out his gun flew right over my head when I saw this as a kid because I didn't know why he says "OWW!". Of course as an adult I realized it's because Riggs pulled the trigger and Roger's hand was the only thing that stopped the bullet being fired. That tiny moment hangs over the rest of the movie and reframes every moment we have with Riggs and Murtagh.

The “brush” at the end of the cable when shocking Riggs is a sponge, which is used to enhance connectivity by making the contact area bigger.

The scene where Riggs is contemplating is such a great scene. So much pain in him and his struggle to deal with it. So powerful.

Speaking of Gary Busey, check out the original Point Break with Keanu!

Police don't have to read you the Miranda rights at the point of arrest, as long as you're informed of them before you're questioned.

The oldest daughter Rianne. Her name is Traci Wolfe. She was 27 when she played her role. I was shocked when I found out years later.

A little fun fact, Gary Busy's son is in the Starship Trooper movie. He plays Ace you might recognize the family resemblance.

The movies actually get more humorous as they go along.. the family always is a main part of the storyline.

Concerning the fight, In the beginning of the movie, Riggs is surrounded by other cops who convince him not to kill an unarmed suspect. After the end fight he is once again surrounded by cops but he has freedom to kill a much badder suspect and chooses not to, even though Joshua has just killed two cops and no one in the LAPD would have batted an eye, and he absolutely intended to kill him, it is when Murtaugh kneels down in the mud and says,"break his f***ing neck" that Riggs stops and says the same thing the cops in the beginning said to him, "... Not worth it", it's not that Riggs suddenly has qualms about killing (especially Joshua) it that he sees Murtaugh's (very understandable) bloodlust and the bloodlust of the other cops (for the death of this cop killer) and knows where this leads, in Riggs mind he/himself is a killer who doesn't follow the rules "we are gonna have to get bloody on this one...." But the law itself and (more specifically) Roger Murtaugh is not, he admires Murtaugh and the way he lives his life and seeing Roger get down into the mud (literally) and say to kill an unarmed suspect makes him stop since Riggs knows where that has led for himself and does not want that for Roger. By the end of the movie Murtaugh has become what Riggs was at the beginning, (a killer who doesn't follow the rules) and Riggs does not want that for either of them, he did the fight to prove himself to be a better man then Joshua, but he didn't kill Joshua because he saw an actual better man descending to his level and didn't want to take him there.

Fun Fact,: Hunsacker mentions an outfit called Air America (used during the war), with his conversation with Murtaugh at the cliff house. Mel Gibson stars in a movie about this outfit in 1990 with Robert Downey Jr.

Such a good franchise. The sequel introduces one of the best and most surprising actors you would expect.

I really hope you guys do the sequels, the character development throughout the series is great!

Murtaugh's wife Trish is played by Darlene Love who is a music legend. She sang the Christmas classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". She's featured in a great documentary worth watching called "20 Feet From Stardom"

I made the mistake of watching this on TV one day and my Mom walks in on the line "Put it in your mouff!" They don't bring up Riggs' wedding ring until part 2, but it has a fantastic payoff.

Mel Gibson can rip your heart out one minute and have you rolling with laughter the next. He's a phenomenal actor and director. Gibson was in a movie called Air America.

Rigg's entrance after the "There are no heroes" line is a nice homage to Errol Flynn in Robin Hood where Flynn enters the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle with a stag carcass draped across his shoulders. BTW the fight moves in the final confrontation were allegedly based on a prison fighting style called jailhouse rock plus Tae Kwon Do and a few others . it is also credited as one of the first screen appearances of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Yes, this was THE movie where the "too old for this" started. It was a massive series in the 80s and 90s and it was a recurring line throughout. This and the Die Hard series became famous for having sequels as good as if not better than the original (the third was probably the best in both series). Lethal Weapon 4 with Chris Rock is probably one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

Having watched Die Hard, Big Trouble in Little China, and now this, you might notice how many movies Al Leong had a role in. He pretty much always is a henchman who gets killed.

Shane Black wrote the script to this movie while he was working on PREDATOR. He even wrote the script to Lethal Weapon 2, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, and The Predator.

"Is this a Christmas movie?" It's (writer) Shane Black. Christmas action movies are kinda his thing. It's pretty much his whole career. See also: "The Last Boy Scout" "The Long Kiss Goodnight" "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" "The Nice Guys" and "Iron Man 3" Christmas is not just incidental to his stories - they take place at Christmas because they're always about trauma and isolation and depression which is always worse around the holidays. Lethal Weapon opens with a suicide, the main character is suicidal and then their first job is stopping a jumper who "walked out of a Christmas party" Weirdly, Shane Black had nothing to do with THE iconic Christmas action movie, "Die Hard" although Die Hard producer Joel Silver also produced Lethal Weapon and Black worked with Die Hard director John McTiernan as an *actor in "Predator"

All the lethal weapon movies are so good. Its a nice balance of very deep and dark moments with some light hearted humour and one liners to make you feel better.

I read somewhere the definition of Christmas movie: "If you take Christmas away the movie plot won't work!" So there are Christmas movies and movies which take place in Christmas!

Im surprised someone from China doesnt know Tai Chi is a legitimate martial art form that has been around since the 12th century.. It focuses more on defense than offense. However, it does have offense and the use of weapons. The "old people" part is simply performing the kata slowly, focusing on stretching and controlled movement.

"I thought it was going to be fun buddy cop." That's the rest of the series. Which I do recommend you watch, they're loads of fun. While still dealing with some fairly grim topics at times.

Totally a Christmas movie! It's sad, but episodes of depression and suicides go up significantly during this time of year and, for so many people, these dark lows is what characterizes the holidays. This movie does a fantastic job making us aware that, for a lot of people, Christmas can be a pretty dark time. So, thematically, this is more of a Christmas movie than Die Hard, as any work party, not just a Christmas one, would've had the same effect of bringing everyone together in that movie. Also, you need to watch the next one!

Simone, you are correct about the Christmas list. This movie checks enough boxes to fulfill the requirements to be called a Christmas movie!

In the torture scene, it was a sponge attached to jumper cables. The wet sponge conducts electricity over a larger area.

Great reaction as always. I love some Mel Gibson's nuanced acting. The scene after the jumper, he ends with "I'm gonna get something to eat", but the intensity inhis eyes drops on the word "eat", almost as if it was his first thought after being in a manic state.

The drug bust scene where Riggs manhandles the guy holding him hostage is lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Andy Keidis's father.

When the film was released, Danny Glover was 41 years old playing 50, and Traci Wolfe who played his daughter Rianne was 27 years old playing a teenager lol

When I saw this in the theater, I was disappointed when it looked like Joshua was going to exit without a man to man match up against Riggs, but when Riggs asked him"Would you like a shot at the title?" it was exactly what I needed. That fact that they didn't even try to make some bullshit rationalization for it made it even better. From the Yautja taking off his plasma cannon to fight Dutch in "Predator" to Batman fighting the leader of the Mutants in Frank Miller's "The Knight Returns," to John Wayne fighting Bruce Dern in "The Cowboys," it's a primal need among alphas.

mid 80’s had a lot of weird trends. 2 things inserted in this were martial arts (after karate kid’s succes) and helicopters for no good reason. there were at least 2 helicopter based shows: blue thunder and airwolf. Magnum p.i. and miami vice featured helicopters often as well

18:28 one thing that you can never unsee when you notice it, Riggs blinks very distinctly every time he pull the trigger. Really highlights Robert Patrick in Terminator 2 did a great job not doing so.

The bit with Murtaugh and Riggs waiting for the next call next to the Christmas Tree and Riggs saying "We're gonna get bloody on this one Roger." That tree wasn't initially lit entirely with red like that. But using the tree as an EXCUSE to cast the lighting all in red - that was GENIUS. Now THAT is excellent cinematography and lighting at work! The tension, the mood. You know the stakes have just skyrocketed through the roof. And it helps set the tone and the mood to PERFECTION.

That scene where Riggs nearly offs himself is so intense. Gibson did a great job at conveying the kind of pain someone has to be in to be driven to that.

8:43 Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, & Yuen Woo-ping made a movie called Tai Chi Master (1993). The characters were pretty deadly.

There are basically 2 kinds of Tai Chi, old people yoga and a martial art dedicated to redirecting the enemies aggression against them. The martial art level is basically the same thing as the old people yoga but it is taken more seriously and with the intent to use it as a self defense. It is extremely defense focused without many real strikes.

I like that you can see the handcuffs break apart when they jump off of the building. If not that could have done some major damage to their wrists :)

@11:14 when they jump off the building you can see the "handcuff" seperate between the two of them. Loving the nostalgia!

Gibson and Glover have some of the best onscreen chemistry in all of cinema.

Like how you picked out the "END apartheid" bumper sticker. The second movie really leans into the politics of South Africa at the time.

Gary Busy also did the Buddy Holly Story for which he was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor.

In regards to your question about the sponge on the cables when they were torturing Riggs. It would spread the electrical shocks over a greater area. Causing more pain and damage.

Nice Guys by Shane Black is an underrated classic. If you’ve not seen it you really should. Ryan Gosling and Russel Crowe shine in this film.

Oh yessss. Yall have picked a good one this time. 2 3 and 4 are just as awesome!

Tai Chi is actually a serious martial art. The slowed down movements are used meditatively but when sped up they can incapacitate and even be deadly if need be. So no Tai Chi is not an "old people exercise" The idea is that performing the motions slowly not only helps with form and muscle memory but with building up your chi, or ki. I don't understand it all but I have done a couple sessions on a whim. There are videos that show you the movements in both slow and fast form and explain what each movement is meant to do in a combat situation.

The little girl rapping at the dinner table might be in my top ten of 80s movies moments

87 was a good year for movies :D I think you guys watched the cut version though, there's a scene at the start of the movie where Riggs takes on an armed suspect who was shooting children in a playpark... Riggs just stands out in the open and lets the guy fire at him and doesn't even flinch. Definitely watch the sequels... they did something unheard of and kept the same cast throughout... and there's a running joke throughout the 4 films with Roger's car and house constantly getting damaged.

Funnily enough, this is a movie series where I actually like the 4th movie the most. That ending fight with Jet Li in the rain. Awesome.

While most people know Tai Chi as the slow graceful moves, it is a complete martial art, the slow forms are for practicing and improving strength & mobility, but there are also fast forms, and weapons forms, typically only practiced by those who've mastered the slow forms.

This whole series is great, hope you react to them all.

While Tai-Chi is largely seen, and used, as a form of exercise and stretching it does incorporate a bunch of actually useful movements and is actually capable of incorporating both swords and spears. Of course Riggs makes just about 0 movements from tai-chi.

It almost is Die Hard, but with a lot of raw pain in it too.. A well appreciated action movie and yet also one of Donner's greatly underappreciated movies perhaps because of the casual gloss which the movie's reputation and expectation carries. As an aside a probably unintended irony is Tom Atkin's mention of the outfit Air America, which just happens to be another movie with a young Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson.

The scene where Riggs wakes up roger with a coffee and demanding he get up and “catch bad guys” is similar to how a puppy wakes up their owner for a “walk” I think this is because Roger took Riggs suicidal fantasies seriously enough to push him that close. This act of boldness on rogers part earned respect in Riggs heart. Therefore, Riggs , the loose cannon , entrusts Roger with being the leader. Roger even brings him home like a stray dog. Hence the coffee scene .. “give me that cup…AND GET OUTTA HERE!” Then Riggs unquestionably GETS OUT on command.

“Casting By” is an all time great documentary. I’m so glad it got a shout out! Good on you Ms Simone 👌

The rest of the series are also really good, in an unusual twist on normal Hollywood sequels. Looking forward to your reactions :)

I think my favourite bit of trivia in this Mrs Murtaugh is played by Darlene Love. This is not a Christmas film, but she does have one of the most famous Christmas songs!

FYI: The Murtaugh house was also the home of the Partridge family and was also Major Nelson's residence in "I Dream of Jeannie." In the first shot of the Murtaugh home, you can see the Stephens' home from "Bewitched" in the right side of the frame. The glory of the Warner Brothers backlot.

Lmfao at Simone wistfully saying “is that a burger? It’s a burger”

Gary Busey was a normal character actor until he got into an accident and had some brain damage. Now the character he played in Entourage is pretty much just the kind of person that he is. He has enough fame and friends to be around despite his "eccentric" personality.

Y’all play off each other so well! Keep going with this series! This is my favorite buddy cop series ever!

The door slam joke works so amazing. Especially remarkable considering the two scenes it connects.

Busey was nominated for an Oscar for starring in The Buddy Holly Story in 1979. At some point he was in a motorcycle accident and, related or not, he is now out of his mind.

seeing the movie mentioned in the comments alot, i sure hope The Last Boyscout is on your list, a must see 90's action movie with bruce willis, if im not mistaken halle barrys breakout role too

Two great movies with gary busey where he plays a good guy: Point Break with Keanu and The Firm with Tom Cruise.

19:31 That firing range is an indoor range in Arcadia, California (no longer there). My father use to take me shooting there. That happy face target sheet was in a glass frame at the entrance of the store. Wow, this place brings back memories.

Danny Glover was actually 40 years old when he did this film!

I love so much about this franchise, but I love the fact that they used the same actors throughout all 4, down to his family they didn't hire people to just play the role they all continued to come back. I always laugh when I hear Gary say it's God damn Christmas, he's the voice on a Christmas map I play on killing floor 2 lol I can't help but giggle.

The Lethal Weapon franchise is one of the greatest franchises in the history of Hollywood. Great reaction! 👍🏿 Please react to the sequels. You can't go wrong. 😎

a quick glance at the thumbnail i said wtf lol 😂 y’all always have great reaction!!

Not many years later, Gibson played Hamlet in a film directed by Franco Zeffirelli. When announced it seemed to many to be an odd casting choice, but when asked, Zeffirelli said that what made him think Gibson could play Hamlet was the bullet/picture/gun scene early in the movie. "That's 'To be or not to be,' isn't it?" Absolutely stellar performance, that scene! Exquisite.

That was the time when films had real stories, tension was built up without revealing everything right at the beginning and dialogues were creatively designed. The sequels are also very good.

Is there snow? .. lol not in L.A.

Fun fact, through all 4 movies Roger's wife and kids were played by the same actors.

I love this series! Thanks for watching it with us. My favorite buddy cop movies.

I used to watch "Die Hard" "Lethal Weapon" and "Gremlins" every Christmas. To me, they are among my favorite holiday films!

Yes this movie coined the phrase “ I’m too old for this shit”. By the way you guys should do all the sequels. They’re all great in there own way

Yes, this is the movie that started "I'm too old for this shit"

The films director was Richard Donner who also directed The Omen, Superman the Movie,The Goonies,Ladyhawke,amongst many other great movies

Shane Black sets a lot of his movies during Christmas. See also: The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, etc. I dig it, even if I don’t dig all his movies.

I thought you would have saved this one for Christmas time. It's another one of those films that takes place during Christmas, but isn't technically a Christmas movie, like Die Hard 😅

Why we love the Lethal Weapon movies!! Must watch all 4:)

One more Christmas tie-in. The actress playing Murtagh's wife, Darlene Love, is famous for the song Christmas(Baby, Please Come Home). A well known Christmas tune.

I'm never too old for this shit! 😊👍

Please keep going with these. They're so good! At least to the third one. Not sure I've seen number 4.

Hahahah. “ Is that a burger ?” Sounded like ahhh why don’t I have one of those right now .

You were so shocked by the Riggs and the Jumper jumping that you didn't notice that the chain on the stunt double's handcuffs breaks off.

This reminded me of a movie you guys would absolutely love called Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. check it out. And keep it up. You guys are the best!

If you ever do merchandise, "Now kiss" would be a great line to use. The rest get increasingly comedic and Gibson-driven. I still like the second one the best for the cinematography and the amazingly loathsome villains.

Notice how Murtaugh saved Riggses life, by putting his tumb on the hammer. 12:00

When they jump at 11:14, you can see the fake bracelets breaking apart. And when back on the ground, they are re-attached. Famous blooper.

I hope you'll do the other 3 Lethal Weapon movies. Definitely worth watching. And yes, "I'm too old for this s+++" is from this movie.

I really hope you watch the other films, they get a lot funnier. The 2nd and 3rd a the best in the series.

17:56 "I know that made a cool imagery in the yearbook, but would the school actually _allow_ you to do a photo where your _back_ is to the camera?" It probably depends on the school and the grade. I remember, when _I_ graduated from high school, all the freshmen, sophomores and juniors were photographed in much the same way, but the _seniors_ were given _incredible_ latitude in terms of the photos we could submit. A couple young ladies submitted photos of themselves posing in the trees of a nearby park. One guy submitted a photo taken from the back of himself, walking out of the front of the school, cheering. One guy, honest to god, submitted a photo of his dog. _Incredible_ latitude.

The sponge during the electrocution scene is vital. A wet sponge is used to conduct the electricity and shock him instead of having the electricity jump into him directly and cook him. When the electric chair was used for the death penalty, they'd put a wet sponge on your head for the same reason.