The first 2 films are the best and have seen all 4 films many times. The original set the tone and Lethal Weapon 2 was a classic as well and even went above the bar of original with the mix of action and comedy especially with the addition of Joe Pesci and more comedy between Glover and Gibson. The villains in first 2 films were the most memorable.
Danny Glover was playing a character whose age was 50 but he was actually only 39. Mel Gibson's character was supposed to be 38 but his actual age was 30.
@@ActionJackson1982 Cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke e-v-e-r-y-w-he-r-e. Even if you didn't smoke, you'd go home reeking of it after going out or some workplaces.
The whole Franchise is worth checking out. Another good Shane Black movie (written by him) is 'The Last Boy Scout' with Bruce Willis and Damon Waynes...it's hilarious!
It’s set at Christmas because the holidays and summer are where the largest box offices come from. I think it’s more of a corporate decision to have a fun movie set at Christmas time.
@@NemeanLion- No-Not when its shane black. there are many other things he always does in every film, along with setting things at christmas. nothing to do with box office or corporate heads, everything to do with shane black being very habitual (in a good way)
Definitely watch all of them. All 4 are great. Mel Gibson was always a superb actor. He has you laughing in one scene and almost rips your heart out with his portrayal of grief in the next.
One of the best buddy cop duos of all time. All the movies are great but part 3 is my personal favorite. The first movie is definitely the darkest, but they do get funnier. Martin and Roger's partnership develops alot more throughout the movies. I really hope you guys decide to finish the franchise.
I think this where the cop buddy action movies began. It was so fresh and new when I saw it in theaters. I don’t remember anything else that had this vibe before then.
@@yankee291 I think technically you are right, it had a similar formula, but for some reason I still think the cop/buddy movies never really took off until 5 years later with Lethal Weapon. I think most people saw 48 Hours as a stand alone film, which is probably why we didn’t get a sequel until much later. It’s also probably because Eddie Murphy’s character was a felon and you can’t really create a franchise around a cop and a felon. Great movie though.
I think it goes underestimated just how much that first dinner with the Murtaghs helped Riggs. Real, genuine laughter at the two youngest kids rapping about their sister, social interaction in general. It marks where he starts to peek out of the shell of pain.
Fun fact, all the main cast including all of Roger's kids, his wife, and even the Captain were in all four movies. You watch his family grow as the movies advance.
The scene where Riggs and Murtagh are having it out about Riggs being suicidal and Murtagh prodds him to commit suicide with his gun: Riggs didn't 'almost do it.' He pulled the trigger. However on that type of revolver pulling the trigger snaps the hammer (on the back of the gun above the grip) forward into the back of the cartridge firing the round. The only reason Riggs didn't die is Murtagh shoved his hand forward and 'catches' the hammer in the web between the thumb and forefinger keeping the hammer from hitting the cartridge and the gun from firing. You can hear the trigger snap and Murtagh yells 'OW!' as the hammer comes down on a sensitive part of his hand. Movie is darker than you think.
Glad to see everyone doing Lethal Weapon this year! Fun franchise, mainly due to how good the chemistry between Glover and Gibson is. Definitely watch all 4! There is a spoof, (National Lampoon's) Loaded Weapon 1, for after you watch #3. It has Sam Jackson and Emilio Estevez 😉
And there is another "fan" sequel, Lethal Weapon 5, done in the show "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" where show characters are Lethal Weapon fans, then they film their own low-budget sequel and cast THEMSELVES playing Riggs and Murtagh. They hit ALL the inside jokes that you'll get after watching the series.
Lethal Weapon is one of my favorite series. Murtaugh family is one of the best, wholesole dynamic, their relationship with Riggs is so great, and it keeps growing. Its one of the things i liked looking foward to in each entry it just gets better.
Well, actually you can go wrong with Mel Gibson. Just give him some alcohol, or ask him about Jewish people or have his girl talk to a black man. But if we're just counting acting & directing?? Yeah. He's great at those.
2nd favorite action movie of all time after Die Hard, you can't beat the bromance between Gibson and Glover. So many movies for the last 35 years has been trying to capture the magic that they had together but never came close in my mind. Also this whole series is good, I think LW 2 is almost as great as the first movie, I think LW 3 is underrated and even part 4 which is my least favorite is still very watchable.
The reason Gary Busy seems more "Mellow" in this movie compared to Predator 2 is because between this movie and that one, he had a serious motorcycle accident where he had a head on collision (into a wall if I am not mistaken) and suffered head trauma and if I am not mistaken again, was pronounced dead at one point and was brought back, and since then he is slightly unhinged and more "open" in his views about life and death and aliens and what not. So yeah, this is not the same Gary Busy we know of later in his career. This is still "Buddy Holly" Busy.
Lethal Weapon 5 is happening. Richard Donner did write the script before he died. There’s an interview where Mel Gibson said that he was asked by Richard Donner “Hey Kid, if I kick the bucket I want you to direct this movie…” so yeah Mel Gibson is directing Lethal Weapon 5
I think you should watch all four movies. It's very rare that the chemistry between Gibson and Glover stays powerful enough to carry on four movies without them ever losing that spark they developed in the first one. Richard Donner directed all four of them and he cared so much for his fellow actors and the characters they play that there's a reason why the charm and continuity throughout the franchise never lost their balance. It's too bad his passing prevented him from directing the fifth one, but Gibson took over the Director's chair as Donner's wish in case such an event were to happen. This is one of the franchises that's worth exploring entirely.
Roger's whole family is pretty prominent in all of the movies don't worry, honestly I think my favorite scene of the whole franchise is between Martin and Roger's wife in part 2 when Roger isn't even around, (no spoilers) but it is a wonderful character moment between the two of them and when Roger walks in at the end of the scene they don't tell him about their conversation, it really shows that Martin is fully a member of Roger's family and can confide in his wife about things he wouldn't be able to tell Roger. Really a wonderful series all together.
Watch em all. It’s one of the very few action sequels that actually do work. Same actors, same director (Richard Donner), same production crew, same fans.
The whole series is excellent on my opinion. Every one of the movies adds a little something extra, characters, story arcs, etc. All 4 are worth watching to me. They ramp the comedy wayyyy up in 3 & 4 as well. Great reaction guys! Merry Christmas 🎄
An interesting note is that your head villian, The General is Mitchel Ryan, the same guy who played Charlie McCoy in Magnum Force. Also, if you want another Shane Black Christmas movie in the same vibe of Nice Guys, check out KISS KISS BANG BANG
As you’re also covering Dirty Harry, it’s interesting to see how that film paved the way for Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. And the Rogue hero cop genre was born:)
The rest of the Lethal Weapon movies are good, but this is my favorite by far. The rest are very much the buddy cop genre, with more funny stuff, but still great action. But this one has so much depth of character, and drama, it's very different, and one of my favorite movies.
The opening credits has "Jingle Bells" as theme, the first scene is about a person jumping out of a building, and the plot is about some dudes trying to bring snow to L.A...... What can be more christmas than that???......
What I find is an interesting tidbit from this movie. When Roger is confronting Michael Hunsscker right before he's killed, Hunsacker references a group Air America. A few years later in 1990, Mel Gibson would star in a film about Air America with Rober Downey, Jr.
If you haven’t seen or reacted to ‘Silverado’, don’t miss it. Danny Glover has a great role, and the rest of the large cast is fantastic. Even though Westerns aren’t a big genre for me, it’s a solid favorite.
A golden standard of the buddy cop genre. All 4 films were directed by the late, great Richard Donner (Superman The Movie, The Goonies). Shane Black wrote both Predator & LW. Released the same year and months apart. Btw, Murtaugh in the script was age 50 while Danny Glover was actually in his 40s. The tv series ran for 3 seasons. But it went on a much different path than the movies. Part 5 was in pre-production as R. Donner had just turned age 90 and ready to direct it. He asked Mel Gibson if he would takeover as director, just in case his health got worse. Mel said yes and even after Donner's passing with speculation of it never happening. It was confirmed that LW5 would be made.
Danny Glover was a costar in the western movie "Silverado". One of my favorite movies. Unfortunately your Patreons haven't shown it much love on the western poll.😟
The screenwriter Shane Black hated how everyone thought of Riggs as "comic relief" when he really wrote the character as an individual deeply affected by PTSD and the loss of his wife. When Warner Bros. asked him to write a script for the sequel with even more comedy surrounding Riggs he instead turned one in that was even darker and more violent than the first installment, in which Riggs was actually killed off. Warner Bros. booted Black off the project and he was never given the chance to work on any Lethal Weapon movie again.
@@Viglin123 *Star Wars is a saga. Unlike a film series, a saga is a single story across several films.* "Franchise" is a word used by those who see movies as products/properties/vehicles, instead of as a visual form of storytelling.
I couldn’t click on your reaction fast enough, I knew y’all were gonna love it! There will be more comedy in the sequels, which are still actioned packed. I hope y’all don’t wait too long to watch the sequels since this one is fresh on your minds. Wishing y’all a Merry Christmas!
Another criminally underrated buddy cop movie is Running Scared with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. It's a bit lighter in tone but the 2 leads had great comedy chemistry and I don't think many channels have covered it
15:29 The range scene was shot in an indoor shooting range in Arcadia, California. That very target was framed and hung in the entrance of the place for years. My dad took me to shoot there when I was a kid. Brings back memories as the range closed down years ago.
This is one of my favorite movies and definitely is a Christmas classic! The next 3 are very good sequels, number 2 being the strongest. I surprisingly really enjoyed the recent tv series. They did a great job of honoring the original concept while making slight changes and modernizations.
Yes. You need to react to all four films. They are all equally fantastic, and they do get progressively funnier. When you get to the third film, there is a humorous post credits scene, so be sure to watch it.
The whole series is great and you should definitely continue with the franchise. Also you are getting pretty close to 100k so I just wanted to say congratulations a little early. Merry Christmas!!!
Fun Fact: The Beretta 92 pistol that Mel Gibson uses for this series is the same physical pistol used by Bruce WIllis in Die Hard (the one that made him deaf in one ear for that under-table shot.) As most film productions rent their firearms from the same prop armories, that particular pistol was on-screen all throught the '80s in an impressive variety of films.
I still remember watching this on TV when I was like 11 and you can imagine my mom's concern when out of all the dialogue in this movie, she hears: "PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH!"
Respect where it’s due, Richard Donner directed Lethal Weapon and he did the 3 sequels. They have been trying to do LW5 for years and the Donner passed a couple years ago. Supposedly Gibson is going to direct 5 if it ever happens.
I definitely say watch the whole series. All four movies are great there is not a bad one in the bunch. Looking forward to the rest of your reactions to this series. You are going to love it! And I cannot wait for the fifth one. Mel Gibson is going to direct that one since Richard Donner, the director of all four movies passed away.
This has to be the 3rd or 4th reaction to this I’ve seen this month but something tells me I’ll like this one the best😉. It’s the review at the end that sets this channel apart. That’s always the best part and no one else does it,it makes you guys legit professional critics. Btw Danny Glover was actually about 40 playing older,Idk how old Riggs is supposed to be but he’d have to be at least 35 to have been in Vietnam(maybe not if he was there up to 1973)….yeah I’m not sure I know what I’m talking about🤣. Also the drug dealer that Riggs head buts and disarms at the tree lot is played by Anthony Keidis’ dad which is some weird and random trivia. I’m voting you guys watch the entire series,the 4th one is a little weak but Gibson and Glover’s chemistry is still superb. It’s hard to say which of the first 2 is better and for every person that prefers 1 there’s an equal amount that think 2 is the best,I’m not even sure which one I prefer
Did you catch the reference to the Ia Drang Valley? Roger mentions serving with Michael Hunsacker in the Ia Drang Valley. That's the battle later depicted in the film 'We Were Soldiers' starring ... Mel Gibson Additionally, Hunsacker mentions Air America. Air America was a covert CIA front operation. It will be later depicted in the film 'Air America' starring ... Mel Gibson
Feels like I've been waiting for this one ever since I started watching Your Channel, more than a year ago...and now, so glad y'all finally got around to it! Now BRING ON the Sequels, each one gets better and better...and better, in every way!!!! "Merry Christmas, Friends."
Richard "Dick" Donner directed all four movies, but he was also very good in other genres as well. The Omen, The Goonies, the original Superman, Ladyhawke, even one of the best Twilight Zone episodes, "NIghtmare at 20000 Feet" with the gremlin on the wing of the plane. But if you're looking for a fun movie to watch that brings in both Mel Gibson and the Western genre, check out Donner's Maverick, with Gibson, Jodie Foster, and the original Maverick, James Garner. Watch for a delicious cameo by Danny Glover that continues the Riggs Murtaugh dynamic splendidly.
There’s another name you’re forgetting Richard Donner. He is a big part of old with weapon movies, and you might know him most from his work directing superman in Superman 2.
RIP to the man, he had so much range with the multiple genres of movies he directed. Lethal Weapon movies, Superman, The Omen, The Goonies, Maverick, Assassins, Conspiracy Theory, Ladyhawke, Scrooged.
It is funny that you mention that it was kinda surprising how dark the movie was and how long it took the protagonists to bond as they initially seemed to detest each other both thing which seem somewhat out of place for a buddy cop movie but both elements are also present in 48 Hours, which is not necessarily is the first buddy cop movie but was the one that made the genre popular, in that movie the relation between the protagonists is even more tense and rough and was also a somewhat dark movie though due very different reasons, that movie is also recommended a classic Eddie Murphy 80s movie. Someone that is fan of MMA will notice that the final fight of this movie has elements of it specially the grappling moves Riggs was using against Joshua, he went for an armbar and a triangle choke, this is because one of Gracies that later went to co-found the UFC some years later helped in the fight choreography of the movie.
You got to watch them all. Especially number 4 for Americas first look at a certain Martial Arts legend (no spoilers). And your right they are working on No5 :)
A forgotten gem in the "Buddy Cop" genre that puts a lot of focus on the characters and not following the mold (like this movie) is Running Scared (1986) with Billy Crystal and Gregory Himes. Crystal and Himes supposedly ad libbed like 70% of their lines. Funny and action packed. Also an early role for Jimmy Smits aka Bail Organa from Star Wars.
My favorite buddy cop franchise ever. At the end of part 1 Martin Riggs has become a part of the Murtaugh family. The lethal weapon family grows larger with each sequel. There are currently 4 movies all directed by Richard Donnor (R.I.P.) and a fifth one is coming out in 2023. Richard Donner also directed the movie Maverick a western comedy with Mel Gibson also a great watch.
15:41 those kids saved their lives, if them singing "you're gonna bust Dixie" hadn't delayed them they'd have been standing at the front door when the house went kaboom💥
FYI the fight scene at the end was choreographed by Rorion Gracie, in case you were wondering how Martin Riggs knew how to do a leg triangle choke several years before UFC 1.
Ok, Dixie's house blowing up is Sam's third biggest gasp behind 1. Steve Buscemi getting shot in the face in Fargo and 2. Shooter McGavin buying Happy Gilmore's grandma's house.
There are 4 and a TV show (same characters - different cast). This film series is pretty amazing for the recurring cast, most franchises don't keep the same people from sequel to sequel - it's impressive. OH the sax heavy score in this film is amazing.
This is one of the classic action movies. I'm glad that you two have started on the series! You should definitely watch all of them. Part 3 is the weakest, but it's still a good action flick, amd introduces some important characters.
Love the director's cut of this film..there's a good 20 or 30 mins before riggs even meets murtagh.. Riggs gets a call to a sniper in a school shooting at kids and there's other bits through the movie
Roger (Danny Glover) says that Hunsacker saved his life in Vietnam: "1965, Ia Drang Valley". This was the first battle between US and North Vietnamese forces. Mel Gibson did a film about it in 2002 called "We Were Soldiers" based on a book, "We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young" by General Hal Moore and reporter Joe Galloway. Mel Gibson plays Hal Moore (a Lt. Colonel in 1965) and Barry Pepper (the sniper from "Saving Private Ryan") plays Joe Galloway. Martin (Mel Gibson) says that he worked with the Phoenix Project and Air America, which were active at the end of Vietnam, ~1972-1975, so they were there about 8-10 years apart. Mel Gibson did a film called "Air America" in 1990 with Robert Downey Jr.
Yay thanks for taking my suggestion or "ours" if others suggested this series too! If you guys want something scary i'd recommend "30 Days of Night" from 2007. The director is David Slade. It has Josh Harnett and Melissa George in it. This one is awesome, but the sequel sucks, wouldn't waste your money on it. I would honestly donate just to get you guys to watch this, if I was able to, it's that good
Some trivia: Shane Black also co-wrote the 4th Predator movie and was part of Schwarzenegger's crew in the first Predator film, he played Hawkins (the guy with the bad jokes).
Love a good buddy cop movie. Look forward to you watching them rest of the 'Lethal weapon' franchise. I recommend Rush Hour as another good buddy cop movie. 🤞Fingers crossed you get to 100k before Christmas so close now.(Can't believe not there already)
Mel Gibson is a big fan of the Three Stooges, which is why he threw in that slapstick moment. Most of Lethal Weapon crew also share his sense of humour.
Great that you finally got around to this one! Like Die Hard, this film is kind of an "archetype" when it comes to buddy cop movies. People just assume it's a simple, funny action movie, but it's actually quite dark and the acting is very good for this genre (especially Gibson). The second one is also a must watch. IMO, The 3rd one is not up to the standards of the first two, but the 4th was entertaining. BTW If you want to see a very good Shane Black movie that he also directed, check out "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" if you haven't already(?).
