LETHAL WEAPON (1987)

LETHAL WEAPON And The Redefinition Of The ‘80s Man

“There are no heroes left in the world.”

As someone who is old enough to remember seeing Richard Donner’s LETHAL WEAPON in theaters, this buddy cop actioner has been a long-time favorite of mine for a myriad of reasons. Not only is the onscreen chemistry between co-stars Danny Glover and Mel Gibson off the charts throughout LETHAL WEAPON, where their back-and-forth makes this story an endlessly entertaining experience regardless of how many times I rewatch it, but Donner’s first traditional action project also helped revitalize the career of the one and only Gary Busey (who I was already a huge fan of due to his work in films like SILVER BULLET and THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY) thanks to his unforgettable role as the highly devoted mercenary Mr. Joshua.

Oh, and we can’t forget about Tom Atkins, either, who plays a supporting role in LETHAL WEAPON as Michael Hunsaker, one of Roger’s (Glover) old war buddies who has gotten himself and his family mixed up in the deadly business of heroin trafficking. His eggnog carton death is easily one of the most iconic images from any action film of that era.

Just those aspects alone are enough to make LETHAL WEAPON an all-timer, but as I’ve gotten older and a little wiser, there are a lot of other elements to the movie that have come out in all of my subsequent viewings, where I’ve come to realize that Donner may have been redefining action cinema in 1987 with this work.

Undoubtedly, there is so much more going on below the surface of the action-infused dramedy (many have called the LETHAL WEAPON franchise action comedies, but the comedy seems understated here versus other films in the series), where the story isn’t so much about taking down a corrupt group of drug peddlers as it is an exploration of masculinity in the wake of an evolving society during the 1980s as well as a character study about the long-term effects of war on soldiers. These are people who are often left to deal with the fallout of their experiences for decades to come and Donner’s film subtly examines how hard it can be for some to leave that part of their lives in the past.

That seems like some heady content for Donner to contend with for a mainstream studio project, but the way he’s able to traverse such nuanced storytelling without you even realizing it at times further showcases just how special of a director that Donner was throughout his career.

Prior to the release of films like LETHAL WEAPON or DIE HARD, ‘80s American action flicks were generally about celebrating machismo, big guns, and exerting our dominance—as witnessed through many films from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s oeuvre and even with Sylvester Stallone’s character in the RAMBO sequels (the original film definitely feels like the progenitor of thoughtful action dramas though, which is probably why I love that entry the most).

LETHAL WEAPON definitely has some of those elements to it, but they are far more understated here where the focus is on Gibson’s character Martin Riggs.

So much so that at one point in the movie, Glover remarks that they should register Martin as a “Lethal Weapon” (ultimately fulfilling another thing that I love whenever I’m watching a film—whenever a character says the name of the movie. Those types of moments immediately turn me into the pointing DiCaprio meme from OUATIH).

And sure, Martin’s great with a gun and can certainly kick a lot of ass too due to his martial arts background; but it’s his psyche that ultimately makes him such a dangerous force.

This is evident in the sequence when he helps a suicidal jumper off the roof of a building in his own special way or when he dispatches a bunch of cocaine peddlers in a Christmas tree lot with zero regard for his own safety (fun fact: that Christmas tree lot scene was shot right across from where I live so you can see my bedroom window during some of the reverse shots, which always blows my mind whenever I revisit this movie). I’d even include Martin’s fight scene with Mr. Joshua during LETHAL WEAPON’s finale as part of that, too; he and Roger clearly have the upper hand on the nefarious henchman, but Martin wants to handle Mr. Joshua his own way rather than cuff him and remand him to his fellow police offices.

A lot of that is probably due to Busey’s character torturing him earlier in the film. But considering Martin’s comments about the nefarious nature of Shadow Company and how little respect he has for military personnel who go rogue, this down and dirty brawl between hero and villain also feels like it’s Riggs’ way of fighting against corruption as well.

While there are a lot of excellent moments in LETHAL WEAPON, I think the scene that has always stuck out to me, even as a kid, is when Martin is contemplating suicide. First of all, it’s an emotionally devastating scene as his character’s pain over the loss of his wife is pushing him further and further towards the brink, and the only person that can pull Gibson’s character back is himself. Again, when you consider the types of scenes we typically saw in American actioners during the ‘80s, very few feel as raw as this, proving just how fantastic of an actor Gibson was during his heyday. Plus, I think it’s a moment that really highlights issues of mental health. In 1987, our society wasn’t exactly great about talking about that kind of stuff so that may also be why it lands so hard in LETHAL WEAPON.

There were a lot of action movies that came out during the 1980s but one I revisit the most is LETHAL WEAPON. I think it’s because it leaned into certain audience expectations of what action films of that era should be (shoot outs, explosions, and the bad guys getting their comeuppance) but also defied those expectations as well by really putting some time and effort into its characters. Even the villains felt fully realized here instead of the easily-interchangeable twirling mustache types. There were a slew of films released in the wake of LETHAL WEAPON that owe a lot to the trail that Donner first embarked on here back in the mid-1980s. Many of them are quite good, but none ever capture that same magic in this tale of lethal weapons.