Arma letale

This movie is an onslaught of action; beginning with the opening scene death to the captivating end, it's a bombardment of epic scenes and high emotions. The plot is okay but what definitively stands out is Mel Gibson's performance.

From start to finish, Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) makes you feel excited just watching him. Whether it's with his psychotic bouts, unique demeanour or deep moments, his presence adds an energy to this movie that makes it both fun and insane (in a good way). His quality acting in Lethal Weapon is surely some of the best in cinema.

Besides the amazing casting, the overall story is mediocre. In this film, though, it's the acting that makes it special. There are so many aspects to entertainment, and Lethal Weapon hit the mark with Mel as the lead.

One more year until Die Hard that set all the clichés for future action pics. Until then, you'll just have to settle for Lethal Weapon, the movie that set the buddy-cop clichés. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

What a fantastically realistic, original and fun movie the original Lethal Weapon movie was. In addition, it broke barriers by adding a lot of subliminal "Can't we all just get along" messages. Some less obvious than others and some in your face, like making the two "opposite cop partners" white and black. (Later in the series, they shove "Save the Dolphin" messages down our throats.) Still reeling in his wife's untimely demise, excellent/top notch/Jack Bauer Detective Riggs (Gibson) is suicidal, a la a "lethal weapon" and is teamed with over-the-hill Murtaugh (Glover) to solve a case involving someone in Murtaugh's war-laced past. They don't get along, have totally different personalities and must learn to work together for their common goal: justice. By means of…fists and gunpowder, for the most part.

A lot of this sounds eerily familiar and predictable. And it is…for someone watching this for the first time today. But, again, this is the movie that set the standards. You'll have to thank this movie for the countless, and I mean countless, like in the hundreds, of rip-offs. Thankfully, this beginning of the "new age" buddy movie was very well done, but not without its flaws.

It is said that the majority (if not all) of the Lethal Weapon films are improv'ed. Sure, they had somewhat of a script, but for the most part, the actors just did there thing. 90% of the time, it worked. When it didn't, it was slow and a little bit too realistic, like you were watching a dysfunctional family or cop partners on TruTV. Thankfully, that was only 10%.

My parents took me to Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989. I was 14 and was allowed in due to being accompanied by adults. I had yet to see the original for years to come. I fell madly in love with part two. Unfortunately, once I was able to see this, I was disappointed as it was not as action-packed or funny as part 2. That said, this is still worth watching. You will see excellent acting by Gibson, the iconic Busey of the 1980s and the origin of the buddy-cop movies to follow. Absolutely recommended.

This is the quintessential buddy cop duo. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is a suicidal disturbed cop suffering with his wife's death. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is the veteran unlucky enough to be assigned to partner up with Riggs. Murtaugh's Vietnam war buddy had a daughter who was killed. They investigate and find a conspiracy of drug smugglers.

Mel Gibson does great crazy. Only years later do we see him do it real life. Mel has interior intensity that serves him well over the years. This one is no exception. Danny Glover plays the opposite. Murtaugh's catch phrase "I'm too old for this sht!" says it all. Together they form a great Hollywood cop team. Certainly they have enough chemistry for countless sequels.

Lethal Weapon is a nearly perfectly structured action movie. The acting, the story, the script, the directing, even the IDEA of the movie all combine to make up a fascinating and thrill-packed police film. The cross-cutting at the beginning of the film was particularly effective, in my opinion, as Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are introduced. The startling difference between their separate lives provides for tons of fun to be had later in the movie. Roger starts his day off as the family man reluctantly celebrating his 50th birthday party with his numerous children and his loving wife in the big family house, while Riggs is shown waking up naked in his trashy trailer and beginning his day with a healthy breakfast of a cigarette and a beer.

The fact that both Roger and Riggs hated that they had to work together was especially effective in creating a touching atmosphere as they grew to be closer and closer friends. They worked so well together in this movie; it was a symbiotic relationship. It was almost like they fed off of each other, and kept each other in line and out of trouble. I also liked the way that they showed that Riggs was deeply angered when he learned that the bad guys had taken Murtaugh's daughter. Things like this, when done right, can really get you to sit up and really get into the movie, and it was definitely done right here. Riggs was also very amusing in his anxiousness about being a cop (`Why don't you let me go to sleep?' `No, come on, we gotta get up and catch bad guys!'), and Gary Busey delivers an excellent performance as the lead bad guy. This is the type of role that he plays best (see "Under Siege").

Although the violence was painfully present in some parts (the torture scenes were short but extremely difficult to watch), the film never relied on violence to pull it along or keep the audience's attention. The story was sufficient enough so that there was no overindulgence necessary in anything like that. In this film you see the first of the now traditional Lethal Weapon scenes in which Riggs and Murtaugh stagger away from a smoking crime scene, seeming to hold each other up. The final fight scene between Riggs and Mr. Joshua (Busey) was a little excessive, and there were a few scenes which were a bit faulty (how did the guy on the building ledge expect to kill himself when there was such a huge air bag inflated on the ground directly below him?), but overall this was a spectacular crime thriller. The movie rushes along at a feverish pace, and particularly Gibson's and Glover's success working together on screen make this a timeless action film that is not to be missed.

Mel Gibson delivers in this first of a series revolving around detective Martin Riggs, ex-Special Forces soldier, and his relationship with Danny Glover, aging police detective Roger Murtaugh with a family to protect.

You discover that Riggs recently lost his wife, which has given him no fear of dying. He drinks too much, plays russian roulette, and takes no crap from anyone. But he's got a funny side too that Gibson delivers on perfectly. Gibson delivers the perfect mix of crazy and sane that is balanced out wonderfully by Glover. They have excellent chemistry and end up working well together to fight the bad guys.

Gary Busey delivers as one of the key bad guys. Several scenes show you that this guy is just as crazy as Riggs. They have a psycho Commander leading his soldiers, and he commands Busey to do his bidding.

The back and forth lead to a highly anticipated final battle, mano a mano, between the crazy duo. Who will win out? Well, since they went on to make multiple Leathal Weapons, you are pretty assured that Hollywood will prevail and leave you cheering. The ending is similar to several Mission Impossible ones.

All told, great acting by the stars. Decent storyline of good vs evil. Gibson in his youth. A satisfying ending. A solid start to a terrific series. Enjoy Lethal Weapon.