Fun fact: Director Richard Donner frequentely told Mel Gibson and Garry Busey that the other kept eating the last waffle to add tension beetween the two characters.That's a true story.
woah. those two crazy bastards fighting over a waffle is a terrifying idea. they've only got crazier as the years have passed - I reckon it would end in tears if it happened today. My moneys on Mel.
I binge your videos like it's a netflix show. Fantastic channel, great work, I'm a pretty knowledgeable movie lover and I still always learn something. Particular kudos on the recap-montages you put together, they're always excellent.
Im 38. My dad who passed away in February, sat my brother and I down every Friday night when we were kids and hed have a stack of VHS tapes from the video store. I saw this and all the classics like that. Thanks for these Oliver, makes me think of my old man. I remember watching Full Metal Jacket with him when I was 9 . Lol
I’m 41, and I lost my dad in 2014. We had a similar ritual in our house. My old man would take me to the movies on a regular basis. The earliest experience was Wrath of Khan when I was just 2 years old, unfortunately he didn’t get to finish the movie because I got really really sick. I’m sorry for your loss, but it’s the good memories that were made watching movies with him that you can look back on.
When Riggs asks murtaugh about why his friend says “you owe me” murtaugh says “1965 ia drang valley” he’s referring to the battle at lz xray. The interesting part is that Mel Gibson ended up starring in the movie about this exact battle made 15 years later in “we were soldiers”
Just like Alien (1979) and Die Hard (1988), Lethal Weapon inspired a ton of copycat movies. LW will always be a cult classic. To be honest, I love all 4 films in this series. I re-watch them every single year
This movie is legit the definitive buddy cop movie. It blends action with comedy so good, I literally can't breath at times because I'm laughing so hard.
I laughed my ass off at the scene when Riggs is on the roof of a building with a guy who has an Egon from Ghost busters looking hairstyle with the tall hair and who has a similar life style as he does with being suicidal, hurt and alone and Riggs just loses his shit later in the scene and grabs him by his shirt and says "DO U REALLY WANNA JUMP..DO YA WANNA..WELL THEN THAT'S FINE WITH ME!" Cracks me up everytime.
When Gibson is considering killing himself but puts the gun down and makes this hopeless, guttural moan because he knows he'll have to live with his pain is some of the finest acting I've ever seen. Oh and the rapping too. "My name is Roger, a heeba hooba habba". That's fire right there. EDIT: Oh, you mentioned the scene. Good on you. Great video as always.
You are so right. You really felt his anguish and pain. Gibbo might be mad in real life, but you can’t argue with his acting. I love his final line lines to Roger and Roger’s response at the door. A beautiful way to say they had come full circle with each other.
Samuel Martin I was the same way as a kid in 1990s I liked Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 but now think they are the most boring and definitely a big fan of the first 2 Lethal Weapon movies along with other 80s and 90’s action movies from the classic action stars like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis and Gibson among others.
Lethal Weapon for sure. It’s a forgotten Christmas classic🎄I try to watch that every year instead of Die Hard. I tried watching part 2 not too long ago. It has its charm, but sometimes Riggs takes it too far with the jokes and craziness. Especially in the beginning, when it opens to Riggs just screaming like maniac all excited for nothing during a car chase. I always roll my eyes so hard at that scene 🙄
@@TheSolfilm I can see why u were bored with LW3 but it wasn't boring for me. Joe Pesci returning as Leo Getz with his loud mouth and the explosion in the first scene of the movie with Gibson debating about what color wire to cut and the armored car chase right after that scene...I mean come on...none of 3 bored me for a second and not even LW4 with Jet Li as the new and final main villain in the franchise.
I love all 4 films! I don't care how much people hate on either one of them or even a scene in either one...that's there opinion. I actually saw LW4 in theaters in 1998 and that was one of the best experiences ever! Jet Li as the main villian beating the shit out Gibson and Glover throughout the film kind of cracked me up in a way. I love the final fight scene when it's pouring rain and there both fighting him. Gibson needed help killing Jet Li where as he basically fought the main villian in the previous films himself. As the LW4 trailer says Jet Li is the new main villain causing them 4 times more trouble.
Bit of trivia, the UFC famous family of the Gracies who brought to the fighting world the style of Brazilian Jujitsu were part of the choreographers of the end fight between Joshua and Riggs.
Being a martial artist myself, I always enjoyed seeing Riggs use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the fight with Mr. Joshua. It is thrilling to see these techniques years before they gained popularity from Royce Gracie's UFC fights. Michael Kamen really hit a home run with his score for Lethal Weapon. I can see why he worked on so many other action movies following his work on this film.
As a Christmas movie, Lethal Weapon is often compared to Die Hard, of course. And it makes some sense, they both feature Christmas and are set during Christmas. But it can be argued that Lethal Weapon is much better suited as a Christmas movie. Here's why: Die Hard is an intense, very suspense-ful action thriller simply set in a Christmas setting. Lethal Weapon, on the other hand, feature themes of friendship, family, broken hearts and loneliness as prominently as the chase of the action itself. It's about broken people coming together and fixing and saving each other, while also alluding to other relationships of a romantic or familial nature for these 2 guys. If you want a movie about coming together without actually being a preachy, cheesy Christmas movie, Lethal Weapon is the one to go for. Also, Merry Christmas to you all, my dudes!
Loved your comment. Nothing like movies about friendship. Except for actual friendship, the real thing (if it exists, meh). Though you can't do "this shit" with your friends irl, usually 😏 we're too old(?) for this... Merry quarantines!
With the MacCallister family in there, I like to think this is a shared universe with Home Alone. They could afford that nice house with the millions the family made from heroin.
There should be a movie where Mel Gibson acts as grumpy old cop and Macaulay Culkin is his new partner. They would investigate wetbandits who have killed one of the ghostbusters while raiding his house.
Joe pesci is the link.I like it twin brothers both involved in crime Leo geets aka Leo Lime the money launderer the much more intelligent twin brother of Harry lime unsuccessful house burgular.
@@markstiburski8924 That actually makes sense, since "Leo Getz" is an obvious alias. He could easily have changed it after getting out of prison and splitting with his brother after a burglary gone wrong. Now I feel kind of sad for Harry really. Marv might be a substitute for the brother he never speaks to anymore :'(
0:56 If you wanna know how old Hollywood did that scene, simple, they just painted a canvas to look like cars from an overhead perspective and placed it on a safety mat. If you are lucky, you can catch the ONE frame where butt hits the canvas and it folds in.
While this movie is set around Christmas, it has none of it's themes like say, Die Hard which is all about Christmas in music, themes and how it resolves its conflict (such as the main character learning what family and fellowship means, fights off greed/Hans Gruber, overcomes his fears and learns to let go).
nolan palmer Far better explanation than I usually see. Still kind of generic scriptwriting, but I suppose we should be glad that it wasn’t handled in a saccharine manner, like in Home Alone and many others. Was there a similar fear of that for Willis (Moonlighting), a la Michael Keaton from Mr. Mom being cast as Batman? Anyway, Die Hard 2 deserves more credit for its winter/Christmas themes, as the dangers are not only made part of the plot with the winter weather conditions, but gives us some creative kills, like the icicle to the eye...
@@drakenfist Die hard isn't a christmas movie either. Just beacuse they use christmas songs doesn't make it a christmas movie either. Just like Lethal weapon it's not a christmas themed movie. It could have taken place at any time.
@@basquat76 Did you not read my whole comment?. Everything in that film is about Christmas. You take away the setting and you take away the film. Why is there?. Because it is Christmas eve and he is there to see his wife who he hardly see's. They aren't on the best of terms. The entire plot of the film, terrorists trying steal bonds from the plaza. Is all about greed. Then there is cop that helps John and he has regrets over accidentally killing a kid. Through fighting greed, they both learn to overcome their problems, forgive others and celebrate christmas, free of their own burdens. All the themes are there. You take away christmas and it would make no sense. Die Hard is a christmas movie through and through.
Another option for Christmas is a lesser known movie called The Long Kiss Goodnight. While it is not a Christmas movie, it is as much as Lethal Weapon or Die Hard.
Had gotten to watch this film back in early 2017, and fell in love with it, I wish I had gotten to watch it earlier in my life, this has become my favorite buddy cop film ever, great balance of character development, drama, and action. And I would love to read Shane Black's original script, just to read how insane the action would have been. But my hot-topic would be his original script for _LW2,_ that I would *_LOVE_* to read.
Apparently there was a Jeffrey Boam script for LW 4 which had neo-nazi domestic terrorists as the main villains, much darker in tone than the one we got. I'd like to read that
@@imcallingjapan2178 That would had been somewhat interesting, with a very different set of villains from the ones in the other films. I'm betting it was rejected for its dark tone, very much like Shane Black's original LW 2 script for similar reasons. And I also read at one point how *_Die Hard with a Vengeance_* - itself based on an original spec script titled *_Simon Says_* - was once briefly considered for LW 4 at one point.
@@DemonBoy3223 Yup, there would be flashbacks to Riggs' Vietnanm experiences in the Boam one, similar to Rambo or the Punisher. The LW4 we got was much lighter but did give a proper conclusion to Rigg's story and closure for his character, as well as good to see Jet Li as the villain. There was another script for 4 that had the Irish mob as villains, with Riggs' fighting a huge bareknuckle boxer at one point. I read that on IMDB but never found the script
A little bit of trivia the film features Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis' father, hes one of the drug dealers with the Xmas trees and he's the absolute spit of his son too.
Is that the guy that Riggs headbutted in the face in that scene? Speaking of the headbutt...nobody can pull that move off in an action movie as well as Mel Gibson can. Danny Glover never headbutted and I think the best one is in LW4 when he headbutts Jet Li 3 times in a row during the final fight. U gotta admit the final fight at the end of LW4 was way bloodier than in the previous films with the main villain especially when Jet Li is choking the life out of Gibson and Glover stabs him in the back. One of the best movie theater experiences was going to see LW4.
Ruben Aerts yes sir, Royce and Rorion Gracie helped out. There was no UFC at this time but still cool that they helped out. Google Gracie Lethal Weapon, there’s pictures of them with Mel and Gary on set for that scene.
Black Rain Retrospective please Directed by Riddley Scott, Starring Micheal Douglass, music by Han Zimmer Edit: when the guy who did Blade Runner tries to make an 80's af movie in Japan
Robert Hipolito I remember that movie. Haven’t seen it in years. I remember it having some very interesting scenes with the motorcycle gang circling Douglas and chasing someone before he almost gets hit by a train. On the other hand, I remember it having a disappointing final act where they are just running around in a field or something.
I believe the theory works if we pretend that _Predator 2_ is the "alternate _Lethal Weapon 3"_ if _LW2_ had instead stuck with the alternate ending where Riggs did die at the end. After the tanker-ship battle and Riggs dies, Murtaugh decided to make an oath to stay in the LAPD in Riggs' honor.
Die Hard is the better film (best action film ever made imo), but Lethal Weapon had the better sequels by far. The addition of Joe Pesci and Rene Russo was genius.
@ChiliContestWinner To me, Die Hard stands as the film that brought A-level film making to the action genre, a genre up until that moment considered as B movies. The directing, acting, cinematography, score, sound effects and visual effects are all absolute top tier. That is what I took with me, when watching this in theaters back in 88, when I was 15 years old.
@@Cbriggs502 I agree with that, both Lethal Weapon (1987) and Die Hard (1988), and would add another one to that list, Predator (1987) directed by John McTiernan who also directed Die Hard (and the third installment). One could say Predator is sci-fi, but there is no question it's a full on action movie, which also has the great directing, cinematography, and acting we're talking about.
Lethal Weapon has always been on my "watch list" over the Christmas period, along with the usual movies, anyway great video as always Oliver and Merry Christmas.
As a child, I thought Lethal Weapon and Die Hard were part of one series, because Die Hard (difficult to translate into Czech) was called "Lethal Trap" in this country.
@Oliver Harper: This was one my late father's favorite film series, as he and I would often watch all 4 "Lethal Weapon" movies back-to-back before he passed (he died from cancer almost 13-years ago)
The fight with Riggs drunk in the bar is my favorite deleted scene. He knocks one out and snaps anothers arm in just a few seconds and asks "We done?" Wish it had made the film.
Perfect timing. Watched it this past weekend and still holds that excitement factor for me. Great review, Oliver. It never dawned on me at the time that the writer was Hawkins. Always a Xmas favorite
This is one of my favourite movie series of all time. It's fun, it's dark, it's exciting, with visceral action and great musical scores, but most of all, it has memorable and likeable characters who, alongside their families, grow very realistically and organically over the course of the movies. These are personal classics of mine which I love to come back to every once in a while.
The film starts with a bad continuity error. Amanda falls to her death and clearly hits the windshield of the car. Cut to the next edit and she's lying squarely on top of the car roof.
Same here. For me it goes 1,3,2, then 4. I was surprised when I revisited Lethal Weapon 2, some of the improv between Gibson and Glover seemed a bit much, or more noticeable than I remembered, in particular in the opening sequence. But I still liked the second one. However the fourth one I was disappointed honestly, the whole plot and feel of the movie, and by the end it just felt like a big reunion, taking a group picture and then going into an end credit scrapbook sequence of all the films.
This is one of my all-time favorite christmas movies. And two haters got Triangle Choke by Riggs. Merry Christmas Oliver, hope you cover Lethal Weapon 2 sometime since it turns 30 next year.
Great as always Oliver. My Dad loves this movie. I never sat through it, but I will have to in the future, I too enjoyed the movie spoof "Loaded Weapon 1". I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas to you. 🎅☃🎄🎁
I thought I was watching one of your more retro reviews. Great, glad to see this on the day premiere. Been watching your stuff for but a few days and think it's utterly great. Love this movie.
When Gibson was a beloved super star in a movie saga that promotes sincere DIVERSITY and an anti-Racist message,when he showed his amazing directorial talents as TRUE MASTER CLASS DIRECTOR and won 2 Oscars for Braveheart(1995) even though he deserved at least a nom for Best Actor too that year ...He was a Hollywood King and a legendary icon(just like his production company lol) ..In that state in 2002 he made a fearless low budgeted art movie that turned out an event movie, a pop culture phenomenon film about Christ ,that smashed the Box office(still highest grossing R movie in the US) ,made criminals confess their crimes after watching it and the Pope cry,not just a movie but an experience as he often says, a movie that provoked some incredible hate from atheists&liberals and jews.... And then in 2006 the DUI incident happened ...For me he did nothing wrong,he just expressed his personal beliefs, nothing that serious to be ostracized from the mainstream Studio System , at least he did not commit criminal acts and felonies like Weinstein ,Polanski ,Brian Singer or Spacey... Hollywood's vengeful hypocrites stopped his epic directorial career for 10 years after the amazing Apocalypto, which is the most innovative and unique movie of the 21st Century thus far, like a prehistoric Rambo or Predator with amazing action and some great historical &sociological commentary ...Hollywood Zionists were triggered by the Passion of the Christ(which simply shows what all the Gospels say) that's the truth ....and their fake news media tried to destroy him like Trump ,this was a character assassination only Robert Downey jr (who is half Jewish) stand by him cause of their true friendship(Mel helped him when he needed it the most in 2003 by giving him roles when nobody else did) and RDJ helped him return with his truly great War epic Hacksaw Ridge in 2016(that was robbed at the Oscars cause of disgusting Liberal virtue signaling )...ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_AAJuynxnTQ.html
Great retrospective, Arthur. We share similar memories of the franchise. #2 has more memories; "Diplomatic Immunity." BAM! "It's just been revoked." It's one of those great, EXTREMELY rare, examples of a series that never turned out a bad installment despite surpassing the trilogy mark. Maybe Rocky (because some do enjoy Rocky V)?
dude... is there any Retrospective / Review of WEIRD SCIENCE???!!! Cause it appears on the intro-poster but couldn´t find it on your channel. :( THANKS!!!!
Ah, the 80's, when Mel Gibson was hot and Tom Cruise wasn't a weirdo, and you could do crazy shit without fear of youtube. Back then, any "good" movie, had to have some saxophone in it, like now every "good" indie movie HAS to have the little guitar or some string played, not crazy, just a pinch, it is as obnoxious as a leaking faucet in the kitchen. It's funny hear Glover call Gibson's character "kid" in the movie, when he's not such a "kid", he's a guy with a mullet.
You know, I can think of two other 80s Christmas action movies. First Blood, and The Terminator. I cannot believe it's a coincidence that the first installment of nearly every big 80s action franchise is also a Christmas movie.
Lethal Weapon has the problem of the decline of Mel Gibson's reputation went south. It's harder to be an unalloyed fan when you have to follow up any praise for the film with a disclaimer that you know the actor is a piece of shit as a human being. It's like being a fan of any of Roman Polanski's films (and it used to be that way for Michael Jackson's music before he died). He in 2016 did an interview calling himself the victim of unscrupulous police officers (who released tapes of his anti-Semitic remarks) following his 2006 arrest and saying that if he were filled with the hate the media claimed there'd be evidence. (Which seems odd as there is also the voicemails from 2010 where he angrily tells his girlfriend that if she gets raped by a pack of n****s it will be her own fault for dressing provocatively, and that he won't put up with her dressing that way any more. He also said he would bury her body in their rose garden. Which all seems like he's got some issues with hate, so that seems to be additional evidence.)
One of the OG "cop buddy flicks" I view this as second only to the original 48 hours. Gibson and Glover were a great paring and tho every single sequel would be worse they were all at least fun. This original film however is a gem and still holds up terrific to this day and THANK GOD (at least so far has not been remade and no I am not counting the TV show)
The first 35 minutes were excellent, because it focused on how crazy Riggs was. After that it’s a standard action movie with a lazy third act. The desert scene offers nothing except a scene where the good guys are captured and then tortured, escape, shoot it out with the bad guys, than the end. Nothing dramatic. The buddy cop movie 48 Hours offers much more depth and is way better. Lethal Weapon is a very overrated movie and it’s too bad it wasn’t a darker movie.
About Patreon, sorry to put this here, I cant find a way to contact you. Please give us an alternative to Patreon to support you, since Patreon is promoting censorship many of us are removing our accounts, but I want to keep supporting you, so please, give us an alternative, something like SubscribeStar or similar. Thanks for your great content.
It's funny. When you watch this film back, you really realise just how far Hollywood has slipped down the regurgitated corporate teeny-bop slope of PC quick buck flicks. Today, Hollywood class Mutant Turtles, Transformers, & Spider-Bitch as "Action". I hate to sound cliché but CGI is so underwhelming. It's incredibly cheap looking, has no impact, & always feels fake. And I am not the only adult male in the world who is SICK to his back teeth with American superhero films. They're convoluted, goofy, always protracted, the dialogue is sententious, the characters immaculately photoshopped, subserviently choreographed, & all vestige of realism is thrown out the window the moment the lights go dark. These films here still hold their own because the effects, the way it was edited & the music do not SUCK just to be trendy like films have to be today.
Since when does using a mercury switch make it a professional hit? It's a kinda obvious and reliable way to make sure a car bomb doesn't go off until someone drives the car. 'Least it was when the movie was made, and you couldn't just buy an accelerometer on EBAY. But a mercury switch is stoll better, cus the circuit can be totally dead until activated, so the batteries will basically last their whole shelf life. I know this, and I'm not in special forces; I push buttons on rollercoasters. If I were researching a movie and needed a way to make it clear that the bomb was planted by a special forces guy, I'd not want to insult the audience's intelligence that way. It seems like one of those, "Well, it will sound like it makes sense to the audience, 'cus they're stupid" kind of things. Like: We need transparent aluminium in order to transport whales inside a spaceship...for some reason. Give them whales a view of the inside of the hull, that they coulda just swam right up to
hahaha one day ago i talked to a friend about lethal weapon. love the movie, love the franchise but the best thing to come from it is the loaded weapon movie. today i watch this and couldn't help cracking up about your mention of it ;))
I love this series. Proves that characters (and the actors that play them) is key to a great film. Not explosions. This series and the friendship the leads have are the reasons I can never hate Mel Gibson no matter what he does.
Lethal Weapon 3, RIggs confronts a despondent Murtaugh and says: I have 3 beautiful children, they're yours. Playing the long game with the series worked really well and helps LW4 make more sense in a larger context.
@@johnsmith-wx5fb The movie felt like it was missing large junks of scenes making the pacing very off. I like the tone, the soundtrack, and the car chase, but TLDLA was a poor book to big screen adaptation. Definitely qualifies for a remake. RU-vid search 'To Live and Die in L.S.' 50 minute short film. Enjoy :)
@@8bit_bryan thanks for putting it in to better words than me.these dossers probably are only namechecking it in some weird way to appear cool to oliver. Oliver sees right through posers though. Well im very glad you and i actually watched it. I will check out your recommendation
3:58 It's hard to call *48 HRS.* a buddy-cop film (technically) because it has only ONE cop ☝ but nevertheless has the tone and feel of one and the chemistry of Nolte and Murphy is UNDENIABLE 👍👍 *Running Scared* is an often overlooked gem that needs WAY MORE respect (oh, please do a review of this one 🙏)
