Bersaglio n. 1

It's been a long time since I've seen it...but I recall the title theme being exceptionally good.

I was a big fan of Valerie Bertinelli, too, so I'd have watched this just for her, probably.

She & Billy Dee (who I'd already seen in "Hit", which is enormously better than this, among others), plus the title music, are really about the only reasons to watch this clear Lethal knockoff. (If you want a much better spin on Lethal, have a look at "Bon Cop, Bad Cop".)

No one will ever say this was a "great film", but it's still got plenty of redeeming qualities that place it far above most of the tripe Hollywierd is pumping out these days. An endless stream of subtle but hilarious one-liners ("Man, I was just on the toilet thinking' about you. Ain't life a bitch?" and "I guess he shoulda froze." "Well, it's not like we didn't tell him."), scene setups that have been copied to death for their comic potential (like the drying-out scene), and the cliché but still fresh presentation of a classic buddy-movie. Even the annoying characters (like Mom) are somehow entertaining in their own way. It doesn't surprise me that this title is conspicuously absent from rental shelves, but I, for one, will be glad when it's finally available on DVD.

PS I still find myself quoting this movie at least once a week: "No, thanks. I'm on a low-mucous diet." :-D

Don't get me wrong, this is a horribly by the numbers, worthless and forgetable film, but in my circle of friends it has developed a cult classic status. This is due to a friend giving me repeated copies of it as gifts as a long running joke. This caused me and some other friends to make our own sequel to it, Number 2 With a Bullet, to give to him on his birthday. After showing our film to some more friends we then made another, Number 3 With a Bullet. We even plan to make another in the next month. These are crudely made pieces but are highly entertaining nonetheless (more so than the original it has to be said).

I hope that one day the makers of this poor buddy movie discover the legacy they have created (just as long as they don't sue).

Is this the pinnacle of 80s buddy cop movies? I'm a millennial, so my bases are rooted in Turner and Hooch, and Cop and a Half, then I have fond memories of catching the TV versions of Lethal Weapon.

Number One with a Bullet is an amazing hit in my nostalgia vein. You can sense that the film makers are sick of the genre, but everyone is still having a good time. You can see background characters trying to hold back their snickers as Nick smart alecks banally as Everybody Loves Raymond's mom dotes on him, and I join them as Frank the trumpet player practices on his kazoo between set pieces.

And there's loads of action. Plane vs helicopter shoot outs, dump yard car magnet dodgeball, generic explosions, and loads of ACAB negligence.

If you ever wanted to see Naked Gun played straight, check this one out.

(1987) Number One With A Bullet ACTION COMEDY

After the success of "Lethal Weapon" came this low budget effort which is quite good but cannot level up to the same manner as the first two "Lethal Weapons films in terms of budget anyway. But in my opinion is better than "Lethal Weapon 4" and for it's story line and resonating characters. It has Det. Nick Barzack (Robert Carradine) and Det. Frank Hazeltine (Billy Dee Williams) on a crusade to bring down a drug ring. At the same time Barzack is having problems with his home life as he is still separated with his wife, Tereasa Barzak (Valerie Bertinelli) and his boss of the police department, Capt. Ferris (Peter Graves).