Lethal Weapon
Short description
Lethal Weapon follows two Los Angeles police detectives who are paired together against their wishes. Roger Murtaugh is a settled family man nearing retirement, while Martin Riggs is a volatile officer whose reckless disregard for his own safety has earned him a reputation. Their assignment draws them into an investigation that grows into a major heroin-smuggling operation run by former Special Forces soldiers, and the two men have to find a way to work as partners if they are to shut it down.
The film was directed by Richard Donner, the sixth of the eighteen features he directed in chronological order, arriving between Ladyhawke and Scrooged, and it was produced by Joel Silver and Donner from a screenplay by Shane Black. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover play Riggs and Murtaugh, with Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins and Darlene Love among the main cast. The production had a budget of about 15 million dollars and took roughly 120 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.6 from around 295,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7.3 from over 5,000 votes, while a critics' rating of 7 out of 10 rests on sixty reviews, placing critical and audience responses fairly close together.
What's left behind the scenes
- Leonard Nimoy was offered the directing job, but he declined, preferring to work on 'Three Men and a Baby' (1987).
- Franco Zeffirelli decided to offer Mel Gibson the role of Hamlet after seeing a scene where Riggs attempts suicide.
- In the scene where Gibson's character jumps from the roof while handcuffed to a suicide jumper, it is visible that the handcuffs break during the jump.
- In one scene of the film, a cinema showing "The Lost Boys" (1987), which was produced by Richard Donner, can be seen in the background.
- According to Gary Busey, he landed the role of Joshua because the producers were looking for an actor capable of convincingly portraying a real threat to Mel Gibson's character. Busey acknowledges 'Lethal Weapon' as a film that gave his career a second wind.
- The director's cut of the film has a runtime of 117 minutes.
- According to an article in the June 2007 issue of 'Vanity Fair', Bruce Willis was considered for the role of Riggs.
- Alternative beginnings and endings were filmed for the movie and can be found on the DVD release of "Lethal Weapon 4." Initially, the film was supposed to begin with a scene where Martin Riggs is drinking alone in a bar, where he is accosted by a group of thugs demanding money. Riggs says he keeps all his money in the bank and tells the men to leave him alone. Of course, they don't listen, and Riggs brutally beats them. The bartender gives Riggs a free bottle of liquor and tells him not to come back. During filming, Richard Donner decided to present Riggs in a more approachable manner and shot a scene where Martin wakes up in his trailer. The alternative ending featured a scene where Murtaugh tells Riggs he is considering retirement, but Martin dissuades him from making that decision.
- A sticker reading “END APARTHEID NOW / FREE SOUTH AFRICA” is clearly visible on the refrigerator in Sergeant Murtaugh’s home. In the next film in the series, Riggs and Murtaugh will fight against apartheid in the guise of criminals from the South African consulate.
- Number of fatalities: 26.
- Roger Murtaugh is around 50 years old in the film. Danny Glover was 40 at the time of filming.
- In the scene where Jackie Swanson's character falls from a high-rise building, Jackie refused the services of stunt doubles and performed the stunt herself.
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Dar Robinson, a renowned stuntman who died in a car accident during post-production.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
