In 1987, a then-young screenwriter, Shane Black teamed up with Superman director, Richard Donner to bring us the gift of Lethal Weapon. Starring Danny Glover and Mel Gibson; both doing the rare fete in Hollywood - playing characters older than their own ages at the time. As two Vietnam veterans now LAPD officers, family man Roger Murtaugh and depressed and suicidal Martin Riggs; the reluctant partners uncover a plot that tied into both of their pasts.
The chemistry between Glover and Gibson was amazing and helped form the basis of every buddy cop movie since to varying degrees of success. Lethal Weapon itself helped launch a franchise, with each subsequent movie adding at least one more character to the family. It’s a shame that both actors are probably really too old for this stuff, a fifth movie would have been much better than the series.
Lethal Weapon 2 - Riggs Was Supposed To Die
The second movie saw a lot of nasty bloodshed and warfare waged by villains who happen to have (say it loud, you know you want to) - “diplomatic immunity!” The murdered cops, planted a bomb in Roger’s house (his toilet no less!), but they really made things personal when they killed Riggs’ girlfriend, Rika. Riggs’ bloodlust was triggered, and he waged war. In the original script, he was actually supposed to die. However, dying doesn’t lend itself to making sequels (unless we want to watch Roger being depressed over his buddy’s death).
Lethal Weapon 3 - They Blew Up City Hall
In the third film, there is a huge explosion that takes place. With Roger again looking at retirement, he and Riggs figured it would be a good idea to try and defuse a bomb in an empty office building, before the bomb squad came!
The crew of Lethal Weapon 3 lucked out. The Orlando City Hall had a new building built, but the old one still needed to be demolished. Local producers in Orlando got a hold of producer, Joel Silver to strike a deal. The scene itself is very real with Gibson and Glover fleeing for their lives.
Lethal Weapon 3 - Princess Leia Helped Write It
While the first two movies were action-packed and full of vengeance, there wasn’t a lot of laughs. Lethal Weapon 3 sought to change some of that. Besides more of Leo Getz, there was romantic banter between Mel Gibson and Rene Russo’s Lorna Cole. While it was uncredited, Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher did what she did best (besides rock some Cinnabons). She helped touch up the screenplay for the film.
Lethal Weapon - The Screenplay Was Tossed
Imagine being a young aspiring screenwriter in Hollywood. You just finished a script that will eventually be filmed and be heralded as one of the best action movies ever. But Shane Black didn’t have a time machine and known any of this. His first screenplay was Lethal Weapon. Much like a lot of artists, he had not a lot of confidence and nearly heaved his draft in the garbage.
Lethal Weapon - Leonard Nimoy In The Chair
After directing both The Search For Spock and The Voyage Home, it was clear that Leonard “Spock” Nimoy was a very capable director. Aside from Khan, those are two of the best Star Trek movies ever made. Just coming off of the comedy, Three Men And A Baby, it was clear that Nimoy the director was extremely versatile. He was offered the chance to direct Lethal Weapon as well but turned it down to finish Baby and gear up for his next project, directing the adaptation of the play, The Good Mother.
Lethal Weapon 4 - Filmed Really Fast
By this time, director Richard Donner, Gibson, Glover, Pesci, Russo, and even all of the Murtaugh kids (who have been the same actors since the first movie) all know what they’re doing when it comes to Lethal Weapon movies.
That, along with new editing software at that time, Avid helped Lethal Weapon 4 get made really quick. The movie started filming in January and was completed just barely a month before it was released.
Lethal Weapon 2 - “Whatever Leo Wants...”
Lethal Weapon 2 featured the debut of Leo Getz, the fast-talking money launderer in witness protection, with Riggs and Murtaugh guarding him. As it turned out, Getz and his schemes dovetailed with the Afrikaans terrorizing California. Besides Joe Pantoliano being the original choice, Pesci actually got the idea for Leo’s “okay, okay, okay” speech patterns from listening to kids give directions at Disneyland.
Lethal Weapon 4 - Jet Li’s First American Film
The fourth adventure featured a plot involving the Chinese Triads. One of their henchman, Wah Sing-Ku. Jackie Chan was offered the role, but he declined, not wanting to play a bad guy. Instead, Jet Li was cast. It was his first American role and first role as a bad guy. Li’s career was propelled from this day forward. He spent the aughts starring in all kinds of action movies including several with DMX. He will be making his return next year, playing the emperor in the live action adaptation of Milan.
Lethal Weapon - Martial Arts Training
The first film featured a street fight for its big climax. Riggs and Joshua best the heck out of each other. But both actors, Gibson and Gary Busey, along with Danny Glover felt since their characters were all ex-military that would’ve been trained in several forms of martial arts.
So, the actors also trained in several forms of martial arts. The guys learned some Capoeira, Jiu-Jitsu, and a form of prison street fighting called Jailhouse Rock.
Lethal Weapon - Message
It became a little more apparent in the second film, thanks to the villains, the first Lethal Weapon had a whole heap of messages in the movie in regard to Apartheid, essentially segregation in certain parts of Africa. The first movie tackled the issue a little more sublimely than just Riggs holding up a sign to piss off the bad guys.