4 Film Favorites: Lethal Weapon (Dbl DVD)

Nothing special, just 4 of my favorites in one, low priced package!

So damn good.

Like this movie a lot. It's a classic for me.

Brought this as a gift for a household member and everyone in the house has watched it at least 3 times individually. These movies are funny, action-packed, and a series totally to themselves. If you've never seen this series I highly recommend and if you're already a fan it definitely doesn't let down.

Let's face it- the kind of movie embodied by Lethal Weapon franchise has become cliched. 2 cops with radically different personalities are thrown together, and despite their differences, they become buddies, and take down the bad guys......a premise that was thoroughly used both before "Lethal Weapon", and after it. But you know what? The "Lethal Weapon" movies manage to somehow keep things endearing, even with the over-the-top approach used, by balancing the action with a sense of continuity and growing familiarity, with not only the main characters, but also their coworkers and family. For those not familiar with the franchise, "Lethal Weapon" opens by introducing two very different cops: Martin Riggs, a suicidal loner, whose daily attempts to court death are a reaction to the loss of his wife, and Roger Murtaugh, a veteran cop and family man, whose catch phrase is "I'm getting to old for this @!$#$!@". The first movie throws them together when Riggs is transferred to homicide, with Murtaugh being stuck with the guy no one else wants to be stuck with. As the movie proceeds, we get to meet Murtaugh's family, in between the action sequences. Mel Gibson does a good job of playing crazy here (although by now, his real life behavior has managed to outstrip Riggs' nuttiness in more unsettling ways). Danny Glover does a great job in selling the more grounded Murtaugh in such a way that the average guy can really identify with him. It's that dynamic that manages to inject the good-natured fun into this franchise that sets it apart from just another set of action movies. The second film ups the ante, as this time, the bad guys seem more untouchable, being crooked South African diplomats, with diplomatic immunity and high-grade armaments to back them up. The supporting cast continues to grow, including the introduction of Joe Pesci's likeably obnoxious Leo Getz character, while the movie also ties in the death of Riggs' wife to good effect. I actually like Lethal Weapon 2 a bit more than the first one. Lethal Weapon 3, as is often the case in franchises, shows a bit of sequel fatigue, as the bad guy is a bit forgettable. But Richard Donner manages to pull some more tricks from his sleeve, including the introduction of Lorna Cole, an Internal Affairs cop who is tough enough to impress Riggs, yet feminine enough to be a believable romantic foil for him. Maintaining the same supporting cast members and their characters (Leo Getz, the hard-bitten police chief, the misguided police department psychologist, even the bomb squad guy from the second movie) also goes a long way in making it feel like a worthwhile series to be a fan of. Of course, when you hit the 4th installment in a franchise, you're playing with fire, artistically speaking. Fortunately, Lethal Weapon 4 is not awful in the way that Batman and Robin was....it's just a bit forgettable. Jet Li's character is a bad guy who's not really the head bad guy, but ends up being the defacto chief villain because his superiors are some ill-defined quartet of Triad bosses we barely see. The plot also seems to be running on autopilot at this point. That being said, the movie is saved by......yes, you guessed it, franchise continuity/affection, and the fact that it resolves multiple running themes in the franchise. Fortunately, the creators decided to end the franchise at this point on a satisfactory note of closure....well, at least as of now. The DVD set is, like the Superman, Batman and Matrix franchise 4 Film Favorites collections, on a set of 2 sided DVDs. The picture quality is pretty decent, and it's also worth noting that LW 1, 2 and 3 are all the Director's Cut versions. Aside from that, the extras are pretty skimpy, but for a bargain price like this, I can't complain. Finally, I'd like to discuss a couple things that were a point of contention in another review I read. You can't really fault this franchise for its so-called "reckless" portrayal of violence, as it's silly enough to be clearly intended to not be taken seriously, and is presented as such. This isn't like a Michael Bay movie, where tone-deaf brutishness and excessive collateral damage is combined with the attitude that the movie is supposed to be taken seriously somehow. On another note, the fact that Mel Gibson has revealed himself to be someone with serious, serious personality issues doesn't impact my enjoyment of the movies, in the way that any "real life" personality flaws that Wagner, Ted Nugent or Christian Bale exhibited don't prevent me from enjoying their work. That's just my approach, though. Anyway, this is a pretty good budget collection, in my opinion, and worth the price.

Everyone knows that Mel Gibson now has major issues, to put things kindly. But as Martin Riggs, loose cannon and suicidal (over the death of his wife) detective, he used his charisma, angst, and sense of humor to full effect. And, once Riggs is teamed with veteran family-man detective Roger Murtaugh, the fun begins, including what one would expect in these movies: Lots of quips, explosions, and memorable villains, most memorably, Gary Busey (another actor with issues), as Mr. Joshua in the original film. Over time, the audience meets other villains, not to mention Leo Getz, played to annoying perfection by Joe Pesci and IA detective Lorna Cole, played by Rene Russo. Cole and Riggs do the usual hate/love dance - complete with a great scene of comparing battle scars in the third film. While the last film is arguably weak, it still manages to keep the action going thanks to a new villain played by Jet Li in his first (I think) American movie role. And Chris Rock adds more humor to the mix (some may say too much humor by then) as fellow cop and new son-in-law to Roger Murtaugh, Lee Butters. Butters and Rianne, Murtaugh's eldest daughter, also give Murtaugh a new person to stress over/love in the form of a grandchild-to-be, much to Roger's surprise. Naturally, Riggs and Cole are on a parallel path with Riggs having found happiness with Cole, awaiting their own bundle of joy. Okay, so the last film seems like family overload, but again, the new villain angle lets everyone know this is still an action franchise, so enjoy it if just as an end to a great series. Included in this set are the scenes which were included in the so-called director's cut (so-called since Richard Donner once blasted that and has publically stated the theatrical versions *are* his "cut" with the inserted scenes seen as a cash grab) as separate bonus/deleted scenes. A fifth disc not found on the UK version also contains more extras, too. So with the price being so low, grab this now, make some popcorn and have a marathon with L.A.'s craziest cops, proving in scene after scene, movie after movie, that while they claim "[we're] too old for this s***!", they can still get the job done and live to joke about it.

Saw these yrs ago when they came out on vhs and was waiting for the right time to get them on blu ray, since almost everything i own is in that format. Liked all of the movies, now can watch anytime i want to. All 4 on this format and at a great price, can't go wrong there.

Ran perfectly