One of the all-time success stories in on-screen chemistry. Gibson and Glover are amazing together, so much so that they were able to get away with "The Magic Is Back!" as the tagline on the poster for LETHAL WEAPON 2 and nobody batted an eye or questioned it. Everybody knew what the magic was: Gibson & Glover together. Casting directors don't often get shoutouts, but shoutout to the legendary Marion Dougherty, who not only paired Gibson and Glover but also Newman and Redford in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID *and* Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Unreal.
When Gibson and Glover first see each other in Maverick, they give each other a funny look as though they somehow already know each other in a way that they themselves don't understand. That was humorous for the audience, because most of the audience was acquainted with the Lethal Weapon movies. Since in that movie they're not only playing different characters but are in an earlier century, it's not as simple as a reincarnation joke. Unless you take it as a sign that these two entities meet each other in every incarnation they experience through all time. I don't think the Maverick director was trying for anything that deep. Probably just told them to give each other the funny look, for fun.
@@DougRayPhillips The Maverick director IS the Lethal Weapon director, it’s Richard Donner again. It was absolutely just played for laughs to have Glover cameo in Maverick and give the audience a fun in-joke callback to the trio’s other films they made together.
Something I've just realized after 30 years of watching this movie: Murtaugh's musical cues are the sax, and Riggs' are the electric guitar. They sound very different separately but can also sound very good together. Awesome detail!
This is The case in a lot of movies where they have a sort of low key theam on every main character. Specially in T2 when sarah goes hunting down dyson they mixed sarah and The terminator theme
A golden standard of the buddy cop genre. All 4 films were directed by the late, great Richard Donner (Superman The Movie). This first installment was from the screenwriter and co-star of Predator, Shane Black. Both films (Predator & LW) were released the same year, 2 months apart. 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.
Did you know that he also wrote the 2nd movie but they canned his version because he decided to kill off Riggs (Gibson). Based on how bad the second one was, I think they should have stuck with him.
@@Jindorek i knew that Riggs was suppose to die. Don't know how i would react to LW2 ending like that. But here's something else. Rika (Patsy Kensit) in LW2 was killed off Instead of Riggs. Even after the original ending was filmed with her surviving.
If you enjoyed this one, Jen, the sequel is even wilder. Joe Pesci joins the team and "Lethal Weapon 2" becomes a bit like a Three Stooges comedy with Mel, Danny, and Joe.
It was brilliant. Mel & Danny such good chemistry in the first, but to add Joe and their crazy chemistry. Plus the bad guys are better and Pasty Kensit OMG.
during the scene where Huntsacker got shot, he mentioned the C.I.A. front "Air America". well, there is also a movie called Air America starring Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. its also a good 80's flick that was overlooked
Another fun fact: shortly after the jumper scene, Danny Glover (Murtaugh) & Mel Gibson (Riggs) walk past a movie theater marquee advertising that 'The Lost Boys' is playing. Director Richard Donner was the executive producer on 'The Lost Boys'....
Yes, this is definitely a Christmas movie. Highly recommend watching all 4 movies. Each one, while different, displays a wonderful progression of both Riggs and Murtaugh, as well as their relationship. This 4 movie set is one of the best overall multi-movie stories ever told. New characters are added, and backstories for the main characters are told. They get fleshed out, very well. I hear a 5th one is in the works, but I honestly don't know how well it will fit into the established story. Part 4 really wraps everything up so well. The action is really good, the pacing works SO well, and yeah, I'm talking about all 4 movies. Also, I recommend watching the "Director's Cut" for this movie. There are some things added that help flesh things out from the start (Especially Riggs)... but they do change the pacing a little. So I understand why they were cut from the theatrical release.
This soundtrack is very 80s. The music was composed by the late Michael Kamen, who did the music for several 80s action and horror movies like The Dead Zone, Lifeforce, Highlander, Die Hard, Road House, Licence to Kill, and Lethal Weapon 2. Eric Clapton also collaborated with Kamen on the Lethal Weapon score, performing the guitar parts.
You mentioned the music in the movie. The saxophone was played by the amazing jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, and the guitar was played by the guitar god, the legendary Eric "Slowhand" Clapton. The overall score by the late, great Michael Kamen uses these instruments as cues. With Sanborn's sax, the focus is on Roger Murtagh,. with Clapton's bluesy guitar riffs the focus is on Martin Riggs. When both instruments sound it's the buddies, Riggs and Murtagh, their individual moments become second to the overall story. This is done with all four films, Clapton and Sanborn sharing in the scores. The second expands the family of characters with Joe Pesci, and the third does so again with Rene Russo. The chemistry not just with Gibson and Glover, but the whole cast under Richard Donner's direction creates a really amazing franchise. There is a bit of opinion as to how good each film is...I feel LW & LW2 are equally good, there is a slight overall quality dip in LW3, and more of one in LW4...but even so, all four movies are awesome, and I love them all. The chemistry of the actors, the character development, the storylines, the spectacle of action sequences, the overall direction, and the music...all worked amazingly well IMHO. I hope you do all of them!
I was waiting for the Sanborn & Clapton comment. Among the best musicians to do movie soundtracks free flow like this with little or no rehearsal. Two musical geniuses for their time and genres.
This is the movie that shot a very young (25ish) Shane Black to stardom, which is unusual because he was the writer. He earned $250,000 for this, his first script, and eventually was paid a record $4 million for The Long Kiss Goodnight in the mid 90s. The majority of movies he's written or directed since have been similar in style, content, humour and being-set-at-Christmas as Lethal Weapon, and most of them are pretty great - The Nice Guys, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang are all especially good.
He also wrote Last Action Hero with Dave Arnott, (based on a story by two other authors) but the suits kept messing with the script, handing it off to a number of writers for re-writes including William Goldman (he wrote the princess bride) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). It eventually got released far too late at the wrong time and bombed quite badly. Personally i think Arnie wasnt the best choice and the kid was just too annoying to be likeable.
My wife was killed in a car accident 7 years ago. And that suicide scene hits way too damn hard. Especially around Thanksgiving. Dude who killed her ended up switching himself off at the scene... When you don't really have an outlet for the anger, alcohol or drugs or worse takes its place.
7:30 “That guy” is Gary Busey. There are those who’d say he isn’t really acting when he’s “the crazy guy” in a movie, and I’m not sure I’ll argue the point. But he was also nominated for Best Actor for “The Buddy Holly Story.” The soundtrack for the whole series is great, with the exception of the title song in the first movie. Score written by Michael Kamen, with David Sanborn and Eric Clapton playing with him. Second movie has songs by The Beach Boys and George Harrison, the third has Elton John and Sting.
One of the best franchises in cinematic history. The second and third really define the Buddy-Cop / Action-Comedy genre. The fourth is solid too and now I hear we're getting a fifth...
Roger Murtaugh: [discussing a theory] That's pretty fucking thin. Martin Riggs: That's very thin. Roger Murtaugh: What the hell, thin's my middle name. Martin Riggs: Your wife's cooking, I'm not surprised. [fires his gun several more times] Roger Murtaugh: What? What? Martin Riggs: Nothin'. Roger Murtaugh: Remarks like that will not get you invited to Christmas dinner. Martin Riggs: My luck's changing for the better every day Automic like for me The best buddy cop franchise ever With every sequel the Family expands. Lethal weapon is not just an action movie. It's dark at some times. Funny at other times.
Jen's reactions are always amazing and very entertaining. You will learn more about riggs backstory as the movies go on. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are my favorite buddy cop duo of all time. Jen is definitely a beacon of light during these dark and trying times. 🙏❤
I use Lethal Weapon as an example of a movie that takes place at Christmas but isn't really a Christmas movie, in relation to Die Hard. Christmas is part of the plot of Die Hard, you have to rewrite it if it's not Christmas for multiple reasons. Not as much with Lethal Weapon, you can take Christmas out and it has no effect on the plot. They both have "finding/getting to family" themes, though.
Darlene Love plays Glover’s wife- she’s a legendary singer and I highly recommend the documentary 20 Feet From Stardom which explores her story as a background singer.
The first one is the most serious of the series. After this it goes full-on buddy cop action movie, with lots of humor. They're all loads of fun. Definitely watch them all.
Brian Dennehy, Robert Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, and Jack Nicholson were considered for Roger Murtaugh. Patrick Swayze, William Hurt, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Lambert, Lamb bear, Jeff Bridges, Richard Gere, Christopher Reeve, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Tom Hanks, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Douglas, and Val Kilmer were considered for Martin Riggs. David Bowie, Christopher Walken, Scott Glenn, James Woods, and John Saxon were considered for Joshua. Peter Boyle, Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Lee Marvin, Bruce Dern and Richard Jordan were considered for General McAllister.
Hello Jen and folks in the comment section! What I enjoy most about your reactions is that you truly immerse yourself in the narrative and feel for the characters. Totally agree with you about the 80s music btw. The best to you and yours.
At the beginning of Dirty Harry, when Harry is walking into the cafe at the beginning of the movie, you can see "Play Misty For Me" on the marquee next to the cafe
I love the fist fight on the lawn at the end. 1, the terrorist is a cop killer so the LAPD are happy to watch Riggs beat him to a pulp. And 2, they're both Vietnam vets so there's that respect in the air.
Joshua was played by Gary Busey, who's done some wonderful work (including The Buddy Holly and Under Siege) and some less wonderful work. He suffered brain damage during a motorcycle accident in 1988 that has rendered him in some ways like many of the eccentric characters he often plays and now often takes on the role of a self-parodying cultural icon.
Cool reaction Jen. You might want to check out the rest of the franchise--same cast, different bad guys, and an absolutely comedic Joe Pesci. Your insights make me suspect that you have some experience as a police officer (You're building quite a resume--secret agent, bank robber, cop, and with "I'm a vanilla girl" maybe a hip-hop singer). I'm a little concerned about your enthusiasm with snipers. You look harmless enough, but... Please keep reacting to movies and I'll keep watching.
You know Jen, the way you really love all these 80's movies and James Bond movies... I think you were born a couple decades late. Sounds like you should have been born in the 70's!
Yes this is a Christmas movie one of my favorite Christmas movies. This was the role that I was completely blown away by Mel Gibson he brings so much emotion and heart to his character.
Such a great reaction, Jen. It's well worth doing the complete series of the 'Lethal Weapon' films all four of them, they're all good, great 'Bromances', too. Another great film similar to this is, 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Samuel L Jackson and Geena Davis.
When you picked the soundtrack as your MVP, I thought you where going to pick up on the character themes ... The Saxophone for Roger and guitar riff for Riggs... At the start of the movie both themes are played separately - but as the movie progresses the themes mesh together and become a melody just like the characters on screen...Also I see you've already seen "Die Hard" did you not see the resemblance in the final shooting ... Al shooting the hanged man in Die Hard for the final jump scare of the movie - and Joshua grabbing the officers gun while being arrested? Great reaction...
I'm excited! This one's a wonderful surprise. All 4 are great. If you do 'em, I'll be here. So much fun energy; so much great chemistry. Thanks. See you in a bit!
Definitely do the rest of the LETHAL WEAPON movies, Jen! It’s a great film series! Fun fact: this movie (like the rest of the series ) was produced by maverick producer Joel Silver, who is responsible for multiple iconic movies like 48 HRS (1982), STREETS OF FIRE (1982), WEIRD SCIENCE (1985), COMMANDO (1985), PREDATOR (1987), DIE HARD (1988), and THE MATRIX (1999). Fun fact #2: Like this film, which takes place at Christmas time but was released to theaters in March 1987, Joel Silver’s production DIE HARD (1988), which was released in July 1988, also takes place at Christmas time, and is also considered by many people to be “a Christmas movie.”
27:50 I remember in high school (late 90's) having a discussion in English about the power of names and associations teacher brought up Blade as an example with him being named Eric
The 80's movies were great. No PC stuff getting in the way, loads of violence, cool one-liners and lots and lots of explosions! I mean, everything exploded at the drop of a hat... for no reason... even dropped hats 💥 Another highly enjoyable reaction Jen, thx for sharing with us :)
The scene with Mel Gibson battling with himself over committing 'self-homocide' is so *very* powerful! It was *seriously* hard for me to watch; I was literally quivering in my seat in the theater, and an actual whimper was squeezed out of me (I had lost a *very* good friend to 'self-homocide' [YT has a 'thing' about '$e|f-h@®m' mentions] three years earlier) ... and that scene really 'dredges it up' for me (yes, even all these years later!) - *that's* how piercing/powerful that scene is! Oh yeah, really good reaction - and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie!
Great reaction. This was Mel Gibson's breakout action genre role to wide American audiences His self-contained tension was awesome and enough can't be said about Danny Glover's understated performance as the job weary veteran. The two personality extremes played off each other perfectly.
By the time Leathal Weapon came out in 1987, Mel Gibson was already a worldwide star (just not as big in America yet) due to the first 3 Mad Max films (Mad Max 1979, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior 1982 & Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985)... 😁✌️
I will never tire of seeing people react to this movie for their first time. However, i would like to see someone react to the extended director's cut with the scenes of Riggs stopping a sniper from shooting at a school playground, the extended scene of Riggs contemplating suicide (he smashed his TV in the extended version), and Riggs hiring a hooker to watch TV with him in order to keep his promise to Roger not to kill himself. They weren't 100% necessary, and I understand why they were cut, but i kinda liked them.
Dang it, Jen, why don't you live somewhere near me?!? I have so much fun watching movies with you! I love it when you predict the plot: "Oh, no, they're probably going to take his family hostage." "He's probably going to get sniped." And so on... Well done! 😄
JEN, it's already been mentioned how the only reason he doesn't off himself if that he wants to be a cop to protect people. At the end of the movie, he's protecting his best friend's family. i don't know if someone like you can understand it (I hope you can't, for your sake), but for him, just trying to do that was the best reason to be alive. to stay alive. to prove that he should stay alive
Jenn: He's gunna get sniped or something. .... He's gunna get sniped right now?!? LOL! Jenn is like me. She has a way of reading where a movie is going. Good instincts.
Limo v Helicopter - I could be wrong (I'm not an expert), but I don't think the chopper could have stopped the limo if she hadn't panicked and lost control. Helicopters are not the easiest aircraft to fly. If the pilot were to actually land fully on the car, he risked the skid breaking the window and getting caught in the car's frame, which would be a disaster for him. A small chopper like that isn't strong enough to lift a car, so the car would act like an anchor, very likely causing him to lose control and crash. On the other hand, one of the henchmen probably could have shot at the car from the back of the chopper. There's a deleted scene that introduces Mel's character in a different way. Riggs is driving when he hears a call about a sniper at a school. He shows up and after a little hesitation, he goes up the steps and walks right out onto the playground to call to the sniper. The sniper pops up and fires several shots, missing him. Riggs takes aim at the window, then taunts the sniper. When he pops up again, Riggs empties his gun into him, than casually walks away.
Such a fun movie. The problem with letting people go on leave or whatever when they have suicidal tendencies is that its not always the best idea because many many people use work not to think about their bullshit. If they don't go to work, they just have more time to think about that bullshit. You actually are not helping them unless you supervise/guide them outside of work which I don't know any company or work management that does. Usually it will go as "get better" and if you take too much time to get straithen up, they will want to cut your pay or fire you (if you even had paid leave in the first place).
The chemistry between Gibson and Glover is second-to-none. Even as the plots of the sequels weaken, they stay amazingly strong. I say go for all of them.
One of my all time favorite movies. The scene at the coast where Riggs is shooting at the helicopter is an area of Los Angeles called Palos Verdes. I grew up around there. People dont realize how high up you are there. The cliffs are easily a 1000 foot drop, and many areas dont have guard rails. You are on your honor to use common sense.
@@jenmurrayxo Wow, thx Jen. 2 is the weakest in my opinion but it has important storylines and one of the funniest scenes of the series. 3 and 4 are a riot! :)
“Are they gonna bare knuckle fight?” lol yes my dear, it was the 80’s and that’s what we all wanted in the end. For more Gary Busey aka Joshua watch Point Break. Hunky Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. You’ll love it!
From 1980-85 Mel made 8 movies and became an international superstar! The first to be name sexist man alive. But by 1985 he was burnt out and took 2 years off to get to his heath back. Lethal Weapon was a come back. Mel Aussie accent was still thick and in Lethal Weapon he's making his voice deeper to hold it back.
" I'm too old for this sh*t" I seem to say that more and more often...could it be I am getting old? Noooo! tell me it is not true (denial can be fun) 😆
