Feb. 23, 2026

Lethal Weapon (1987)

In this episode of the "All 80s Movies podcast," hosts Bill Bant and Jason Masek take a deep dive into the 1987 action hit 'Lethal Weapon.' They break down the film’s plot, characters, and the electric partnership between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The discussion kicks off with a nostalgic revisit of the movie’s VHS box copy before shifting to screenwriter Shane Black and his distinct storytelling style.

Bill and Jason share their first memories of seeing the film and how it shaped their appreciation for action movies. They spotlight standout moments like Riggs’ explosive introduction and the unforgettable rooftop jump, while also playfully debating whether Lethal Weapon qualifies as a Christmas movie.

Throughout the episode, they explore the chemistry between the leads, the balance of humor and high-stakes action, and the film’s lasting impact on the buddy cop genre. The hosts examine the opening scenes, from the lively, relatable chaos of Murtaugh’s family life to the stark loneliness of Riggs, before revisiting fan-favorite sequences like the gun range showdown and the harrowing torture scene. Along the way, they reflect on the film’s pacing, character arcs, and cultural significance, ultimately celebrating 'Lethal Weapon' as a defining action classic of the 1980s.

Show Notes
Transcript

"If these two can learn to stand each other... the bad guys don't stand a chance." We kick off Season 6 with one of the best action buddy cop movies of the decade, 'Lethal Weapon.' The movie stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Gary Busey. Directed by Richard Donner.

Lethal Weapon - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093409/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_lethal
Lethal Weapon - Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lethal_weapon

Bill's Letterboxd Ratings: https://letterboxd.com/bill_b/list/bills-all-80s-movies-podcast-ratings/
Jason's Letterboxd Ratings: https://letterboxd.com/jasonmasek/list/jasons-all-80s-movies-podcast-ratings/
Website: http://www.all80smoviespodcast.com
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/podcastAll80s
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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@all80smoviespodcast
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WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome the All Eighties Movies podcast and podcasts

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where we talk about the blocklisters, love flocks.

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And everything in between.

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From one of the precious decades from movies, the nineteen eighties.

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Host Bill bant Lomcmeeow's journey ram visiting eighties movies is

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my co host Jason Masse. Hello, Jason, Bill, I'm too

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old for this shit. That's right, listeners, we're discussing with

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spoilers of Plenty, the nineteen eighty seven action movie Lethal Weapon.

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It was produced by Silver Pictures and distributed it by

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Warner Brothers. The movie stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and

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Gary Busey. Directed by Richard Johner, this movie is rated

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R with the running time of one hour and forty

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nine minutes. The movie was nominated for one OSCAR for

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Best Sound. So what is this movie about? What's in

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the box. If you grew up in the nineteen eighties

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and what's your local video store to rent this movie?

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You would find this description on the back of the

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VHS box.

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It is What's in the box? Take it away.

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Jason Martin Riggs is no ordinary cop. He's a mad

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Max gone maniacal, a man who's killing expertise and suicidal

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recklessness make him a lethal weapon to anyone he works

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against or with. Roger Murtaw is an easy going homicide

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detective with a loving family, a big house, and a

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pension he doesn't want to lose. Imagine Murtaw's shock when

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he learns his new partner is a guy with nothing

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left to lose. Wild eyed, burnt out Martin Riggs Lethal

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Weapon is the thrill packed story of two Vietnam vets

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turned cops who have just one other thing in common.

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Both hate to work with partners, but their partnership becomes

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the key to survival when a routine murder investigation leads

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to all out, take no prisoners, martial arts and machine

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guns war with an international heroin Ring director Richard Donner

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moves that war at two speeds, fast and faster. Hot

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la days and nights explode in one show topping scene

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after another, culminating in a no holds barred battle between

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Riggs and his angel of death nemesis, mister Joshua in

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an electrifying sequence incorporating three martial arts styles and requiring

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four full nights to film. Fierce Fast and frequently funny

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Lethal Weapon fires off round after round of can't miss entertainment,

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lethal Weapon.

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Leath a weapon. How big was this VHS box that

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you're reading off of.

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Jason, No, no, I'll be honest with you, Bill Bant.

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I will look at these images on Google of all

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the different VHS covers and they're great because you see

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the different art, et cetera. And sometimes to be completely

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transparent with all of our listeners, the original box, which

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I try to choose all the time, the first original

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box relief for the VHS. I try to choose that synopsis,

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but sometimes there's just too damn long. But this is

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the one that I didn't actually see too many others

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that were different from or a shorter in length. But

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I will choose the shorter length from time to time

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just to spare everybody.

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I appreciate that. So that was what's in the box.

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Let's move on to our eighties snapshot as we highlight

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some of the creative forces from this movie.

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Jason, who do you have?

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I chose Shane Black, the writer of Lethal Weapon. Here's

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a few of his trademarks as a writer. You know,

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he uses a kidnapping as a plot device in a

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lot of his films, such as This, Lethal Weapon, The

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Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Good Night, and iron

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Man three. His scripts often combine action, thriller, noir, and

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black comedy elements, and five of his screenplays begin with

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the letter L. How about that btw Six of his

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screenplays are all set at Christmas time. His eighties snap shot, Well,

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here we go, Lethal Weapon in nineteen eighty seven, The

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Monster Squad in nineteen eighty seven, then Lethal Weapon two,

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he's credited for story and characters, and well, he ends

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up getting the character's credit for Lethal Weapon three and

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four later on in the nineties, and so well, that

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basically sums up his eighties. And I'm just gonna mention

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some notables afterwards, since his eighties didn't last that long.

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Here for us.

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The Last Boy Scout came out in ninety one. He

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wrote The Last Action Hero in ninety three, The Long

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Kiss good Night in ninety six, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,

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and five Iron Man in twenty thirteen. That's iron Man three,

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by the way, The nice Guys one of my personal favorites.

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In twenty sixteen, he did an episode of the Lethal

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Weapon TV steer series. At least he gets story by

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credit for that in twenty sixteen, he does The Predator

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that later sequel in the Predator franchise in twenty eighteen,

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and then recently he does Play Dirty. He wrote Play Dirty,

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released on Netflix here in twenty twenty five. Little trivia,

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he was twenty two, only twenty two when he sold

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the Lethal Weapon screenplay. And the funny thing is that

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Shane Black might be best known as the character Hawkins, who

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was the first victim killed by the Predator and Predator also.

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Released in nineteen eighty seven.

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Yeah, he's an actor to Shane Black, writer of Lethal Weapon.

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Awesome I saw. I went with actor Danny Glover, who

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was born in San Francisco, California, and from early on

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he committed himself to the craft of acting. He trained

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at the Black Actors Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater.

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It didn't take long for his talent to get noticed.

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His Broadway debut in Master Harold and the Boys brought

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him national attention, and that performance opened the door to

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his first leading film role in Robert Benton's Places in

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the Heart in nineteen eighty four, starring opposite Sally Field.

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By the mid eighties, clever had quickly become one of

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the most respected actors of the decade. In nineteen eighty five,

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alone appeared in two more Best Picture nominees, Peter Weir's Witness,

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which was our fourth episode we did on this show,

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and Steven Spielberg's The Color of Purple, delivering a powerful,

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dramatic performance that drew widespread acclaim. Then, of course, in

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eighty seven, Glover reached global stardom when he teamed up

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with Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. His role as Detective

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Roger Murtaugh, famously too old for This, became iconic, and

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he reprised the character in three hugely successful sequels, firmously

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establishing himself as a mainstream leading man. Other notable eighty

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movies include Silverado and Bat twenty one. But Glover never

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lited himself to blockbusters. Alongside commercial success, he invested his

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energy to deeply personal and socially conscious projects. One of

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them was nineteen nineties to Sleep with Anger, which he

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executive produced and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best

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Actor on Television. Glover earned widespread acclaim as well, winning

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an Image Award and a Cable Ace Award, and receiving

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an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela on

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HBO's Mandela from nineteen eighty seven. He later earned an

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additional Emmy nomination for the nineteen eighty nine TV mini

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series Losome Dump and Behind the Camera. Glover made his

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mark as a director to earning a Daytime Emmy nomination

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for Showtimes Just a Dream in two thousand and two.

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That is actor Danny.

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Glover outstanding Badass.

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It was a great career.

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And this leads us to earliest memories. Jason, was your

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earliest memory of Lethal Weapon?

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Yeah, I've been hiding my excitement a little bit. This

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movie rules. I'm a huge fan, all right, So let's

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talk about some early memories.

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Huh.

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Well, I couldn't tell you who I was with or

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where I was when I saw it for the first time,

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but it was on TV. I did not see this

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in the theater, and I do remember really liking it,

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and I knew Mel Gibson from The World Warrior, not

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much else. I didn't really know Danny Glover at this time. Now,

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going back and thinking when you just mentioned Witness and Silverado,

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I'm a huge fan of both of those movies. But

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for whatever reason. I don't know if Danny Glover's face

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just kind of stuck with me. So it's just it's

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this It's lethal weapon is really where Danny Glover took

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a permanent place in my consciousness. Maybe I recognize Gary

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Busey a little bit, but that's about it. I mean,

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this movie was right my wheelhouse in regards to the

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buddy cop genre and those types of films. My love

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for this film would just grow and grow upon every

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revisit to this day. I've watched it so many times.

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I could tell you that I have an early memory

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of every scene in this movie. I could go from

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beginning to end and tell you why every scene is awesome.

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I have a supremely nostalgic attachment to the soundtrack of

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this film, as it was quickly added to my orchestral

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soundtrack collection. I would use this as creative fuel for

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years and years afterward, and this music would be another

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way to bond with our fellow film pal, Patrick Duty

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in college. That's a fond memory of mine and Patrick Duty,

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whom we've had on this podcast a couple of times.

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But it's not just the music. I remember the dry,

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witty humor of Martin Riggs. It was the Rigs role

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as I call it, as I think a lot of

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people would dub this as well. It's his move that

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he uses when he's firing off his baretta and he

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drops to the ground and he rolls in a circle

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and he keeps shooting. It's a great movement, looks very cinematic.

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It's very cool, and I would emulate that move with

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high school friends while fake fighting all the time, probably

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most likely with Chris Valenzano, fellow film buddy again who

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is on this podcast. But honestly, I think we were

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emulating the Riggs role from Lethal Weapon two. But I

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just want to be honest about that. But he does

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do it here in Lethal Weapon one. My memories, of course,

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surround Martin Riggs that character a lot. It's just him

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being a badass. I always love Glover in this franchise.

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He is one half of it. I mean, he's a

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huge part of it. But as a young and I

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wanted to be Martin Riggs because of mel Gibson's performance.

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I always think of his vulnerability, his portrayal of loss

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and inner turmoil, living on the edge, his crazed mannerisms,

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whether it's you know he's almost committing suicide in the beginning,

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or jumping off a building or sprinting through traffic. I

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remember his intensity, his sheer, explosiveness. But it's about the

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Riggs Myrtau relationship. They're back and forth, how the movie moves,

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and how the stakes get higher and higher. These are

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all things that have stuck with me over the years,

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and that's what I think of when I think of

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this movie, and overall, Bill Bank, just how fun it is.

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It's fun now.

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This is one thousand percent one of the movies that

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made me want to be in movies and make movies.

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It's a great Los Angeles movie, a great Hollywood movie,

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and it's a Christmas movie. These are the things I

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think of over the years when I was watching it.

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What's not to love?

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I've watched it since with so many friends and quoted

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it and paused it and watched it in slow mode

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to see who shot first at mister Joshua in the

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final fight sequence. I got a lot of nostalgia attached

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to this. It's an all timer. It stuck with me

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throughout the years. I am in love with lethal weapon.

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What are your early memories?

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Bill bant Well, if you've listened to our Hoosiers episode,

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I'm pretty much going to be repeating a story here.

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There was something about those trailers or commercials to this

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movie that I had to go see this movie in

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the theater, and three of my friends went was supposed

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to be opening night to the AMC Orleans eight to

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go see Lethal Weapon. But my friends pulled the fast

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one on me because they all decided they wanted to

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go watch Hoosiers instead.

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We had a vote.

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I lost three to one and we saw Hoosiers, which

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win win.

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On that one. Yeah, for sure. Oh man.

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I was so pissed though it took a while for

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Hoosiers for it to kick in because I'm sitting in

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the theater going it should be like, fucking lethal Weapon?

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Why are we watching this movie? Receiving But one of

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my friends did promise that we would go see it,

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and we did go back. Finally two weeks later, two

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of us and I remember the middle of movie turning

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to him and go and see see why I wanted

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to go see this, and he's like, You're totally right,

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this is awesome. So but I do thank my friends

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for taking me to Hoosiers.

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Clip.

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I probably would not have seen it in the theater,

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and it's probably one of the most watched movies I've

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seen from the eighties. That would definitely be another one

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that's in my top ten. Not as close as Beast Master,

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but it's up there. That's my story. Fantastic man, that's funny.

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I've definitely seen leth Or. I did see Lethal Weapon

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more than The Beast Master. Yes, it's all right. I'm

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catching flak for having not seen The Beast Master. I

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don't know how I missed it. I was living in

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a hole apparently. Anyway, lethal Weapon, let's talk about it

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a little more. You want to get into some initial thoughts, Yeah,

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let's do it.

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What do we got?

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Well, I'm gonna go over a few things here, because

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I mean, starting with I was like, we went, how

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long is Lethal Weapon? It's one of the things we

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look at just because we're scheduling and I got to

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carve out some time to watch the movie for the

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pod and I look forward to it. And this movie

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is running time is only an hour and fifty minutes

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or forty nine minutes come on clocks in it under

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two hours. That's amazing. That means you can make a

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badass movie in less than two hours. For sure, you

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ever need proof, this is it. So I love that

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first and foremost the movie kicks in. This is, without

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a doubt, a Christmas movie. There is no debate. Oh

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there is a debate. Oh come on, really.

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I used to joke that Diehard and Leath the Weapon

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are my favorite Christmas movies, right, I was just about

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to say, But watching it this time, I don't.

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Consider it a Christmas movie.

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Really, yes, because Christmas is important to the plot of

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die Hard, whereas Leath the Weapon this could happen at

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any time. There's nothing that needs Christmas in it to

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make the movie go, Whereas I think with die Hard

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you need that element of Christmas for the movie to

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move forward because they're having the Christmas party. McLean is

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coming in because it's the Holidays. The reason it's actually

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robbers are there, it's because of Christmas, Whereas Litha Webbon

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this could have happened at any point. I used to

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consider it a Christmas movie, but watching it this week,

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I'm like, no, but listeners want to disagree, have at it.

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I think you make a really really good point, and

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you make a solid argument there. I do disagree wholeheartedly,

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only because upon this rewatch. I mean, every other scene

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has some sort of Christmas element in it. Is it

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used as a plot device or to move the story forward,

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maybe in ways like it is in Diehard. No, absolutely not.

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You are absolutely right. It could take place at any time.

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But it's just that the Christmas spirit is so present

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throughout the film, whether it's the Myrtaw house and the

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Christmas tree and notes attached to the Christmas tree, or

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it's the cops near the beginning rehearsing they're going to

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be singing a Silent Night. It's built into the soundtrack.

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You hear the bells ringing in the background with the

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Michael Cayman score. It's very present for me. But you're right,

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You're right, it's just the story itself. Yeah, correct, it is.

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It's window dressing. That's a great point. So I don't

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know if you want to do this now. I was

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going to save it to the end of my initial thoughts,

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but there is a major comparison to be made here

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to Diehard. There's just a lot of similarities between this

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film and I was surprised in watching this. But we

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can talk about that at the end. If you want,

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unless you want to address it right here off the top. Now,

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let's go for it.

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Okay, it's a great one two punch for sure.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely, So that's what I mean. This is the die

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Hard crossover. We have our producer Joel Silver, who produces

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both films. We have Michael Kaman, who's the composer for

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both films. We have our supporting actors, grand El Bush

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love him in this, love Him, Detective Johnson in the

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helicopter in Diehard. We've got Mary Ellen Trainor as the

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psychiatrist here in Lethal Weapon, and she's the reporter in Diehard.

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Correct if I'm not mistaken, And yes, then the one

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the only Al Leong, al Leong, gotta love Al He's

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Endo in this. I don't now, I can't think of

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his actual terrorist name in Diehard, but I forget you.

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It's like that's his big moments when he's looking down

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at the candy.

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But it's awesome, right, he's great.

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I'm wondering if that's his real voice.

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Yeah, Oh, we can talk about actually a little bit,

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I'm going to talk about a little bit of a

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d R in this, which is funny. Also one of

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the comparison I wanted to make to die Hard the

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ending with the final fight sequence. Here in Lethal Weapon,

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we have this classic moment where we think that mister

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Joshua has been defeated by Riggs in this great martial

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arts fight, this fisticuffs type of fight, and Martin Riggs

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gets him in a like a wrestling hold and basically

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renders him unconscious. But then of course mister Joshua for

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one last time, comes back to life, grabs one of

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the cops guns, and Martin Riggs and Murta turn around

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and both shoot him in the chest, putting him down

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for good. That just, to me, that's the end of

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die Hard. That's Carl coming back to life and shooting

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at McLain and then of course good old Al gets

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him first and saves McLain's life in that at the

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very end and is able to fire his weapon, which

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is a big deal for Alt. So I'm like, this

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is very, very similar. It's just it just really came

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to the forefront for me upon this viewing this die

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Hard type of crossover. It's just funny because die Hard

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is known as changing the landscape of action films from

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then on, when so many films were pitched as oh,

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this is die Hard on a plane or die Hard

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in as such and such, Right, die Hard on a

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cruise boat or whatever? And I'm thinking was die Hard

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lethal Weapon in a high rise?

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Right?

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And not to mention, the most obvious thing is the partnering, right,

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we have a Caucasian an African American partner together as

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buddy cops, right, So I mean that's you know, in

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the of course, the one cop is breaking the rules, right,

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and he's anti authority or whatever, and then the other

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cop is straight laced and playing it by the book.

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It's the same same thing, all right. Yeah, let's talk

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more about this film, of course, Lethal Weapon. That soundtrack

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Man Michael came in, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton.

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End of sentence, What else do you need to say?

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I love the.

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Theme in this the wow wow wa, the saxophone from Sanborn, Eric,

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I mean, the riffs this upon this watch. The soundtrack

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supported so much of this in such a strong way

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that it stood out to me on this rewatch as

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it hasn't done before, not just the talents of Sanborn

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and Clapton on their individual instruments, but the score itself,

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the instrumental score self, particularly during the desert sequence outside

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of Victorville, where Glover's got to go out there to

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hopefully retrieve his kidnapped daughter, and then of course Riggs

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is shooting everybody up. There's this whole opening sequence when

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the choppers coming in, which is the cinematic shot, and

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the dust is kicking up, and the score is triumphant.

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So it just was like, Wow, this score really is

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another character in this film. It's fantastic. Let's talk about

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Gibson and Glover. The chemistry is undeniable. I can't really

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see anyone else playing these roles. The banter, the writing,

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the crosstalk, this back and forth, the banter where they're

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kind of talking over one another. That I thought was

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excellent direction, excellent writing, that Shane Black Black comedy element

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of it. It made it feel natural. And I don't

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know that I'd seen this kind of banter between.

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Cops like this before.

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That was kind of quick and quick witted, And I

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don't know how you felt about that.

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I mean, speak on the chemistry, man, yeah, I.

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Mean shout out to casting director Marion Daugherty that was

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able to figure this out, that she thought mel Gibson

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and Glover would work. I mean, based on what they

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had done up to that point. I don't know how

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she figured that out, and she knocked out of the park.

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That's what everybody loves about these movies. It's just the

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two of them back and forth. They are opposites, I mean,

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there are polar opposites who seemed to just work together.

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It's amazing, it really is.

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Yeah, and from what I read as well, well, same thing.

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Much credit to the casting director as well. You know,

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there were obviously other choices for these roles, and especially

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Martin Riggs. There's a lot of that in the research.

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But what I did read is, you know, when they

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did their read together, that being Glover and Gibson, it

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was like magic. Credits to the casting people for recognizing

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that and casting because that. I just don't see anybody

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Lethal Weapon (1987)

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