DIRECTED BY: Richard Donner

WRITTEN BY: Shane Black

MEL GIBSON AS: Sergeant Martin Riggs

GENRE: Action, Crime, Thriller

TAGLINES:

- The magic is back!

PLOT SUMMARY:

Los Angeles P.D. officers Roger Murtaugh (Glover) & Martin Riggs (Gibson) are back, and this time they are chasing a thug in a red BMW. When the car crashes, several million dollars in Krugerand – South African currency – spill out of the trunk. After Murtaugh is ambushed in his home by a group of South African thugs, they speculate that the vehicle they were chasing may be linked. When their captain assigns them to guard a witness (Pesci) in a drug case, they soon find out that the drug dealers the witness was dealing with are South African diplomats hiding behind their immunity to carry out cocaine smuggling. Riggs also discovers that one of the consulate employees is in fact the murderer of his wife! After the thugs kill a consul secretary Riggs was in love with, and several fellow police officers are murdered by the diplomats, Riggs & Murtaugh exact angry, bloody revenge against the psychopathic drug-dealing diplomats… –IMDB

RELEASE DATES:

1989 July 7 (United States)
1989 August 2 (France)
1989 August 4 (Finland)
1989 August 10 (Australia)
1989 August 11 (Sweden)
1989 September 15 (United Kingdom)
1989 September 28 (West Germany)
1989 October 21 (Japan)
1989 October 26 (Argentina)
1990 February 24 (South Korea)

BOX OFFICE GROSS:

United States: $147,253,986
International: $80,600,000

FILMING LOCATIONS:

San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, and West Hollywood, California, USA.

TRIVIA:

- While the Murtaugh family waits for the commercial, they watch “Tales from the Crypt” (1989), specifically episode #1.2, “And All Through The House” (the psycho Santa episode), which aired on 10 June 1989, starring Mary Ellen Trainor, who plays police psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in this movie. Some episodes in the series were produced by the film’s director, Richard Donner.

- The carpenter is named McGee. This is the actual surname of the actor portraying him (‘Jack McGee’ (I) ).

- The bottle of cologne that is shot during the destruction of Riggs’ trailer is “Hero.” The first time we see Riggs going into his trailer, there is an ad for that same cologne on TV.

- In the scene in which Leo is cleaning Martin Riggs’ house, you can hear the song “I’m Not Scared”, by the short-lived British pop group Eighth Wonder, of which Patsy Kensit was the lead singer.

- Leo’s “okay-okay-okay” schtick was based on Disneyland employees giving directions to Fantasyland. Originally, Leo was going to be an oily, effeminate character, but Joe Pesci didn’t want to play him that way. He pitched the idea of making Leo all-too-eager to please, complete with “okay-okay-okay” ad libs, to Richard Donner. Donner laughed and said, “Do that! Do that!”

- On the side of Riggs’ refrigerator is a U.S. Army Military Police School diploma.

- Riggs was originally to die on the boat, but the producer decided to make more movies, hence his survival, after being shot three times.

- The scene where Mel Gibson attaches cables to the stilts of a mountain-top home and pulls it down cost over $500,000.

- When the family’s getting ready to watch the commercial with their daughter, “Tales from the Crypt” (1989) is on TV, which was produced by the film’s director, Richard Donner.

- The body count is 33, the highest of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ series.

- The “bomb in the toilet” sequence was used as an early teaser trailer for the movie. The trailer ended with the toilet landing on Murtaugh’s car and the voice-over announcer saying “They’re not taking any more crap!”

- Main cinematography took place in the spring of 1989.

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