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Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins ... see more see more... , Darlene Love , Traci Wolfe , Jackie Swanson , Damon Hines , Ebonie Smith , Bill Kalmenson , Lycia Naff , Patrick Cameron , Don Gordon , Jimmie F. Skaggs , Jason Ronard , Blackie Dammett , Gail Bowman , Robert Fol , Selma Archerd , Richard Whitaker , Mary Ellen Trainor , Stephen Kahan , Jack Thibeau , Grand L. Bush , Ed O'Ross , Gustav Vintas , Paul Tuerpé , Chad Hayes , Chris D. Jardins , Sven Ole Thorsen , Peter Dupont , Gilles Kohler , Cedric Adams , Jim Poslof , Al Leong , Michael Shaner , Natalie Zimmerman , Deborah Dismukes , Cheryl Baker , Terri Lynn Doss , Sharon K. Brecke , Everitt Wayne Collins Jr. , Donald Gooden , Alphonse Philippe Mouzon , Shaun Hunter , Lenny Juliano , Henry Brown , Brian Strohm , Teresa Kadotani , Frank Reinhard , John O'Neill , Tom Noga , Marion Dougherty , Burbank the Cat , Allison Caine , Sam the Dog

L.A. cop Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), whose wife has recently died, is a loose cannon with a seeming death wish. This makes him indispensable in collaring dangerous criminals, but a liability to any pot... read more read more...ential partners. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), a conservative family man who wants to stay alive for his upcoming 50th birthday, is partnered with Riggs. As Riggs gets to know Murtaugh and his family, he begins to mellow, though his insistence on using guerilla tactics to catch criminals is still (put mildly) above and beyond the call of duty. The main villain is The General (Mitchell Ryan), a drug dealer responsible for the death of the daughter of one of Murtaugh's oldest friends. The General is also in charge of a deadly, militia-like gang of smugglers. Adding fuel to the fire is The General's chief henchman, played with all stops out by Gary Busey. Moviegoers familiar only with the relatively tongue-in-cheek Lethal Weapon sequels may be amazed to find out how dangerous and unpredictable Riggs is in the first Lethal Weapon -- and how likely it seems that Murtaugh might not survive until fade-out time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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81% liked it

271,763 ratings

Critics

90% liked it

41 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Richard Donner

Release Date: March 6, 1987

Keywords: action, cop

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DVD Release Date: June 6, 2000

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Stats: 8,621 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (8,621)

  • aquateen2
    April 29, 2012
    aquateen2
    [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img]

    Irresistible with brilliant chemistry shared between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, Lethal Weapon is one of the best action comedies of the 80's. This is what Bad Boys should have been, fast paced but also... read more with heart and likable characters. It's one of the best buddy cop films i've ever seen and one of the most iconic, engaging and hilarious. An essential must watch classic for action fans and film lovers.
  • blkbomb
    January 12, 2012
    blkbomb
    Roger Murtaugh: I'm too old for this shit! 

    "If these two can learn to stand each other... the bad guys don't stand a chance."

    Lethal Weapon is a classic buddy cop/action comedy. I really liked it, but just like Die Hard; I still feel it is a little overrated. It isn't the cool... read moreest thing I have ever seen or the most fun action comedy I have seen. What it is is still good, but I was somewhat expecting more because everyone loves it so much. To me this is just a solid and entertaining film. I won't argue its classic status, though.  It's obviously a genre staple, seeing as it is one of the most talked about movies in the genre. 

    The most likable thing about the movie are the cops, played by Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. Glover plays the old cop who can still get the job done. Gibson plays the younger, crazier cop. He pretty much plays the character the exact same way as he acts in his everyday life today. Those two together make for some great fun and some hilarious dialogue exchanges. They have great chemistry on screen together in this, and I would assume that they have that same great chemistry in the other three. One actor I really didn't like in this was Gary Busey. He plays the villain, and although the guy is nuts in real life; he gives an extremely bland and overall underplayed performance. With a better villain, this could have been even better.

    The plot is pretty obvious, as it has been done many times. Two cops are partnered up, and hate each other off the bat. After awhile they start to grow on each other, and once they get really into their case, they are best friends. The case they are trying to solve is that of a young woman's murder, which was made to look like a suicide.

    I may not love it as much as some, but I still really enjoy it. It's the type of movie you can just sit back and enjoy anytime. You don't have to be in the mood to watch a movie like Lethal Weapon. If I'm flipping through the channels on tv and I see this is on, more than likely I am going to watch it. Plus how can you argue with Murtaugh's classic line.

    Roger Murtaugh: Have you ever met anybody you didn't kill? 
    Martin Riggs: Well, I haven't killed you yet. 
  • thmtsang
    December 25, 2011
    thmtsang
    Excellent action movie. Great cast and chemistry between Mel and Danny. One cop is near retirement and one is a loose cannon.
  • garyX
    November 30, 2011
    garyX
    A veteran detective is paired up with a burnt out cop with a death wish when investigating the murder of the daughter of one of his old Vietnam war buddies. Lethal Weapon was probably the film that perfected the Hollywood buddy cop formula and is yet another example of the macho ... read moreexcesses of the 1980s. All mullets, machine guns, drug abuse, explosions and gratuitous nudity while the wise cracking super cops get bare chested and find one excuse after another to blast, bludgeon and brutalise bad guys so irredeemably evil you don't have to worry about anything so trite as their civil rights (or right to stay breathing for that matter!) It was popular enough to warrant three sequels and endures still, mainly because of the winning chemistry between Danny Glover's dismayed old timer and Gibson's comedy manic depressive but the plot is paper thin as well as highly unbelievable and it's really just an excuse to run around with guns and blow stuff up. We've all heard of the chick flick, well Lethal Weapon is one of the archetypal dick flicks. Silly, dumb and soaked in testosterone, it's a film perfectly engineered to appeal to the adolescent boy locked inside every XY chromosome.
  • kenstachnik
    October 17, 2011
    kenstachnik
    Thoroughly entertaining
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    July 14, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    As far as the Lethal Weapon films are concerned, the first film is the best in the franchise, and my personal favorite of the four. I thought it was the best film in the series, because I thought it was the most action packed and serious film of the four. I enjoyed the cast, and... read more I loved seeing Tom Atkins, those familiar with old school 80's horror will know him from his roles in Maniac Cop and Night Of The Creeps. Lethal Weapon is a terrific action film of which the the sequels were never able to top. What I love the most about this first film is that like I said it was the most serious film and it also had some tense, well constructed action scenes. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover had good chemistry going on screen, and the old saying "the first film is always the best" really applies to this film. Lethal Weapon is a fun, action movie that delivers on the action, at times it can struggle, but it manages to have enough going for it. The film is fun, and manages to thrill and unlike the sequels is a film that tones down the tongue in cheek humour and in the process, doesn't annoy the viewer. If you are to see one Lethal Weapon film, watch this first entry and enjoy a good action film that had never been topped by the sequels.
  • ironclad1609
    March 10, 2011
    ironclad1609
    While setting up the characters, the first part of the series is the weakest. The film's morals are questionable at best, the tone somewhat undecided between comedy and rather violent scenes. Of course that's deeply entertaining, but the mix felt a lot more balanced and less seri... read moreous in the later installments. Here, things still feel a bit forced. Gibson and Glover and their entirely different characters already make for a great team, though.
  • ajv2688
    January 29, 2011
    ajv2688
    A classic 80s crime action movie, I think it's probably the best cop flick of the decade. The characters are great and so is the story, I highly recommend this movie.
  • ythelastman89
    January 7, 2011
    ythelastman89
    As far as i'm concerned, this is THE buddy cop experience and debatably the greatest action movie ever made. Not only does it deliver on endlessly cool sequences and suspense, but it has some of the best character development ever put into the genre. Riggs and Murtaugh are the be... read morest, their chemistry together is unmatched and they always manage to take down the bad guys. Mel Gibson is truly a force to be reckoned with, his intensity is off the charts. The story itself is so much fun in terms of the relationship, but the murder mystery/villain aspect is extremely serious and makes the feel of the movie powerful. I'm sure there's some people out there who don't get this type of movie, but they're missing out big time. This is the definition of a fun movie. Richard Donner makes this such a great looking movie; at not one point does this feel like a second rate action movie.
  • cosmo313
    August 22, 2010
    cosmo313
    This is one of the greatest action/comedy flms of all time, and basically is the quintessential buddy cop film. The action is great, things are intense, the performances are outstanding, and I really like how this film balances out action with humor and character development. Th... read moreis movie is one of the most entertaining and influential of its kind.

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Critic Reviews

James Berardinelli
July 7, 2009
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

From a distance, Lethal Weapon might appear generic, but a closer look reveals something special. Full Review

Richard Schickel
August 25, 2008
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

What a concept! Mad Max meets The Cosby Show Full Review

Variety Staff
November 27, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious, but thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls. Full Review

Pat Graham
November 27, 2007
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader

Empty glitz in search of a style. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

The film is all fast action, noisy stunts and huge, often unflattering close-ups, but it packs an undeniable wallop. Full Review

Richard Harrington
January 1, 2000
Richard Harrington, Washington Post

A vivid, visceral reminder of just how exciting an action film can be. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

A pistol-packing, snap-crackling blow-out. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

I'm a guy who is bored by shootouts and chase scenes. I've seen it all. But this movie thrilled me from beginning to end. Full Review

Elliot Panek
January 1, 2011
Elliot Panek, Common Sense Media

Mismatched cops spar in violent '80s action hit. Full Review

August 25, 2008
Film4

A phenomenally successful, noisy, violent buddy movie. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Roger Murtaugh: I'm too old for this shit.
    • Roger Murtaugh: So we should just registar you as a lethal weapon?
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Lethal Weapon Trivia

  • What famous line does Danny Glover utter in every Lethal Weapon movie?   Answer »
  • Which Lethal Weapon had Roger (Danny Glover) sporting a girdle, a man's girdle?  Answer »
  • In which Lethal Weapon movie did Mel Gibson and Jet Li have a fighting scene?  Answer »
  • True or False. In Lethal Weapon 3, Murtagh's boat is called "Code 7" which is the L.A.P.D code for a lunch break.  Answer »
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