In 1987 Superman and The Goonies director the late Richard Donner unleashed the perfect buddy action flick with Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The film spawned three sequels and a highly anticipated fifth film in the works, but the one that started them all still rules the franchise. Now it’s finally getting the much-deserved 4K treatment.

 

Lethal Weapon follows Mel Gibson as a one-man killing machine, a Los Angeles policeman who recently lost his wife and has been acting increasingly unstable. Danny Glover plays a by-the-book homicide detective with an impeccable record and a loving family. Now the two are stuck with each other as partners, investigating a suicide that leads to an international crime ring and ever-increasing danger in this blockbuster action thriller.

 

Lethal Weapon is one of my all-time favorite action films. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched it and the sequels. It is a rare series that every film either got better than the next or at least equally as good. This time around I revisited the director’s cut of the film that I hadn’t watched in years, and I have to say I like it so much better. There aren’t that many changes, but the Riggs and school sniper sequence is a great intro to his craziness and skill.

 

This film is not only a great action buddy cop film but changed the game for the action genre. It holds up to perfection in every way. Gibson and Glover are an iconic duo that should never have worked and yet they do on every level. The comedy, drama and action are perfectly blended to deliver a cohesive flick that brings everything you want to the front. The action beats still hold up great, but it’s the chemistry of the leads and the cast around them that really makes this what it is.

 

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