Rating: 
Summary: Wanna get action? Then get lethal!!!
Review: Since I first got hooked onto the series after I saw "Lethal Weapon 4," I've been a devoted fan ever since! Personally, after you see the first film a million times like I have, you really regard it as the best of the series! Interesting and funny story about a burned-out, criminals worst nightmare, cop named Martin Riggs ( Mel Gibson ) who has a death wish gets teamed up with easy-going, just-turned 50 Roger Murtaugh ( Danny Glover )! They start off not liking each other at all, but as the bad guys start to get nasty with them, they turn out to be a really cool team! With this kind of lethal pairing, what kind of moron bad guy would wanna step up to the plate!
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing sophomoric violence
Review: As is often the case, the original film of the Lethal Weapon series is better than the comparatively pointless sequels which were made. And there's no doubt this film is slickly done, and fast-paced. It's definitely "short attention span theatre" all right. That's the praise I'll give the film.This film clearly shows Amercian society in a very bad light, and hasn't aged well. For pity's sake, isn't anyone just a little nauseated by, or at least fed up with, the concept of a loose-cannon, anti-establishment, psycho-cop who blows away presumed bad-guys with a horrifying prolific precision? Didn't we have enough of this with the whole "Dirty Harry" series? The Lethal Weapon series is very much a Dirty Harry rip-off, except it tries to build two likeable non-conformists (both of whom wise-crack quite a bit) as the centerpiece, instead of the single, more morose Dirty Harry loner. It helps having Danny Glover, who is tough not to like, as a presumed balance of normalcy to the perpetually almost-out-of-control Gibson character. Also, Joe Pesci adds a cartoonish clown role to help tone things down. In effect, a comic veneer tries to take the edge off the fact that Gibson's character, Riggs, shoots a hell of a lot of people, just like Dirty Harry. The chilling thing here is that while Harry Callahan seems not to enjoy the killing - or at least feels it's a necessary evil - Riggs seems to have rather a good time doing it, boasting in fact about his extraordinary marksmanship. It's really sort of a video game to him. I just cannot help but feel that this video game mentality with respect to killing should be repugnant to us; it should certainly not be a characteristic of those we call heroes. Gibson has built a career of making films where the "hero" piles up dead bodies in front of him - all justifiably killed, of course. I won't go on about the excessively violent nonsense of his later efforts like Braveheart and the Patriot, but it is in Lethal Weapon where we are supposed to relate to cops, crime, and killing in modern society, and the message isn't comforting. I would prefer not have such a gleeful pistolero as Martin Riggs on my local police force.
Rating:
Summary: Again, the first was the best and very very good
Review: The plot is unremarkable. CIA drug dealing, and mixed marriage of police "partners". It has been a staple on every television police drama for the past thirty years, but seldom, if ever presented this well anywhere. It is as good a buddy pairing as there has been in recent memory. Glover is the old wizened cop, ready to retire (and taking care not to spoil his planned retirement to be spent as a sea captain by getting his butt shot off) Of course, therefore he MUST get paired with a suicidal Vietnam Vet (As an aside: it would be nice to see these Veterans not portrayed as crazy, but as stable men for a change. For example, lost in this plot is the fact that Glover is also a Vet, which is how the drug guys get to him in the first place.) Glover and Gibson start by not having a bit of trust in each other, but come to recognize their respective and complimentary skills. It is the chemistry between these two (along with Gibson's screen presence) which makes this movie stand up and stand out. Richard Donner has directed an action picture where the excitement was palpable. He had to interject some comedic relief, otherwise the audience would have left the theater wrung out like a bath towel, and he delivers: Gibson's tribute to the Three Stooges, the attraction that Glover's daughter obviously has for him (and Papa Danny's understandable response), the competition at the shooting range and the frequent clever repartee work together to keep us from going over the edge. But make no mistake, the intensity abounds. From the time we are introduced to them all, we just KNOW that the bad guy (played with icy treachery by Gary Busey) and Gibson are gonna have a serious showdown. Whenever they get close to each other, it makes the heart race. The climax does not disappoint, either, with the stable one seeking to kill Busey, while the Suicidal Killer (Gibson) is content to "give him a shot at the title", and being victorious, is satisfied to just say "You lose". It is darker and much more violent than in the three sequels which, while generally entertaining (save III), are not in the same league. The action is crisper, the tension more omnipresent in this one as compared to its successors. This is the only one we need.
Rating: 
Summary: This isn't an action movie
Review: Why there were three sequels to this is beyond me. All it is is a city prostitute committing suicide and her dad thinking about killing himself too. The action scenes are bad. Not Good, Bad.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Movie But The Sound Is OFF!
Review: I really enjoyed seeing the additional footage on DVD and the picture quailty was GREAT, but what really was missing was the great sound of DTS. I've heard other moives in DTS and they would blow you away, but this moive leaves you flat. There is no surround sound rear speaker involvment to mention. I was disappointed with this aspect of the DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Action Drama
Review: This first "Lethal Weapon" is one of the best buddy movies ever made. An exciting blend of pathos, humor, and explosions. The story centers around a family man cop played by Danny Glover and his suicidal partner played by Mel Gibson. The beginning of their relationship is predictable enough, they dislike and distrust eachother. Then through a series of action scenes and explosions they start to bond and eventually become friends. This is all good stuff, and sets the stage for the enevitable sequel which is even better!
Rating:
Summary: Added scenes are worth it
Review: I won't waste your time by rehashing the film here. It's been out since '87 so I'm sure you've seen it by now. I really enjoyed the first two Lethal Weapon films and decided that they were worth adding to my budding DVD collection. I hesitated in purchasing the first release on DVD (without the added scenes) and I'm glad I waited! While the scenes don't add much time to the film, they do speak volumes in terms of characterization.
Rating:
Summary: A Portrait of Greatness Getting Better...
Review: I can't count how many times I've seen this movie, and I still don't get sick of it! I have to watch it all the way through once I start to watch a scene. Is there a better action movie with the depth of Glover's and Gibson's characters? I haven't found one. The interplay the guys have with each other is amazing. The dialogue and emotions are fluid and natural, much like the movement of the camera in recording this awesome spectacle. This new version finally gives everyone the opportunity to see the brilliant writing and thought processes behind the Glover and Gibson characters. The studio has added 7 minutes of footage to enhance the foundation of the characters' motivations. It's almost a new movie! The new DTS sound is as good as it gets with the old audio tracks. The picture is clean and crisp. The scene where Riggs is shot through the glass window of a store shows every cracking shard with absolute precision. The extra footage is seamless after being transfered brilliantly. I would recommend this disc as a starting piece for anyone looking to build a collection of solid movies. There is more to this movie than incredible action sequences. This is one of those action movies where you and your date are physically exhausted and sporting huge, goofy smiles at the end of the movie. There aren't many movies like this anymore. Magic like this only happens once in a great while. Get this disc and capture a little piece of it.
Rating:
Summary: Lethal
Review: One of a crop of interesting, influential Hollywood blockbusters that defined the turn of the 80's / 90's (along with 'Robocop' and 'Die Hard'), this was followed by a batch of inferior sequels which draw attention away from how good this film is. Darker, more violent yet subtler than the follow-ups, this would have been a mundane buddy-buddy cop thriller were it not for the inspired casting of Gibson and Glover. Whilst it isn't exactly 'The French Connection' (at no time does it seem to take place in the real world) , it comes on strong enough for the silliness to not matter. It's worth watching on television, if only to see how the television people get around the swearing.
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect - typical Warner Bros. shortcomings.
Review: Great picture and DTS sound, but no audio commentary! C'mon Warner Brothers, get with the program -- your titles almost never have audio commentaries and you still use cheap cardboard packaging!
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