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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1980s Movies»Movies 1987
    Movies 1987 Movies L 2 Mins Read

    Lethal Weapon (1987)

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    The first and best Lethal Weapon, this was Mad Mel’s Hollywood breakthrough and the start of his enduring collaboration with Richard Donner in this hard-edged franchise-spawning action thriller.

    Mel Gibson is Martin Riggs – a reckless, suicidal cop (traumatised by the death of his wife) – and Danny Glover is Roger Murtaugh – his cautious black partner, a happily married family man.

    lethalweapon

    Both are Vietnam veterans and the case they’re working on one Los Angeles Christmas turns out to be a legacy of that nightmarish war on the home front.

    Investigating the murder of a teenage cocaine addict, the pair uncovers a vicious gang of ex-soldiers commanded by a former general, continuing in peacetime the same kind of ruthless business they conducted as CIA commandos in Southeast Asia – drug trafficking.

    There’s more hideous violence than usual, and the mayhem is non-stop – Lethal Weapon is excessive and implausible, but never boring.

    The final battle between drug lord and murderer Mr Joshua (Gary Busey with a fierce bleach job) and Riggs is a classic. Both actors did their own stunts and took up martial arts to make this a superb fighting scene.

    Lethal Weapon 2 was released two years later.

    Martin Riggs
    Mel Gibson
    Roger Murtaugh
    Danny Glover
    Michael Hunsaker
    Tom Atkins
    The General
    Mitchell Ryan
    Joshua
    Gary Busey
    Trish Murtaugh
    Darlene Love
    Rianne Murtaugh
    Traci Wolfe
    Amanda Hunsaker
    Jackie Swanson
    Nick Murtaugh
    Damon Hines
    Carrie Murtaugh
    Ebonie Smith

    Director
    Richard Donner

    Video

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