Photo: Warner Bros.
Yes, Mel Gibson might be considered a colossal asshole these days and nobody has seen Danny Glover in a hot minute., and the only recent Lethal Weapon scenes made have either been It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia spoofs or the first Damon Wayans TV reboot (it’s on FOX so, probably, it’s crap). But goddamit, the original Lethal Weapon is 30 years old now, and this is our hilarious tribute. The first three scenes of this poor man’s Die Hard franchise, beautifully sewn together with guitar and sax solos, are worth watching the movie again, but if you don’t have the time, you can live vicariously through us, as you should. Happy anniversary to Lethal Weapon, Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, wherever the hell you are.
The movie immediately leads off with bare boobs and cocaine.
Jackie Swanson may not have had a large role in Lethal Weapon, but she was the most memorable female in the movie, playing Amanda Hunsaker. Maybe it was because she was topless, laughing and blowing lines all by herself, giving us a promising feeling about the film. The suicide jump was a bit of a bummer, but she was still pretty hot, even then. She shows up later in the movie with two naked girls in the shower, too, so thank you, Jackie Swanson.
That scene is followed with Danny Glover naked in the tub with his family.
Nothing says “happy birthday” like having your family sing to you while you finish up in the tub. If anybody could make this seem wholesome, it’s Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover). Because Lord knows Mel Gibson doing that scene would’ve gone all wrong.
And then the next scene…there he is, Mel Gibson…and his bare ass.
We’d apologize for the grainy image, but if it were any clearer, you’d see why that poor dog looks traumatized. This was the perfect intro to Mel Gibson’s character, Riggs, who struggles with substance abuse, suicidal tendencies and apparently mental animal abuse. It’s giving us the creeps that this scene takes place a couple miles down the beach from us, but the dog is just adorable.
Gary Busey has clearly always been a crazy fucker.
Gary Busey has always been a little off, but this movie dates back to 1987, which tells us he’s never been quite right. But he’s always played a badass, whether it’s the ex-special forces man in Lethal Weapon or the crazy war vet in Tommy Boy.
Mel Gibson’s fro rivals Nic Cage’s worst hairstyles.
Mel’s hair was pretty wacky in the first Lethal Weapon before he toned it down. Odds are someone compared his hair to Nic Cage’s worst hairstyles to his face.
Maybe now is a good time to mention Rigg’s constant suicide attempts.
Not that suicide is funny, but they were laying it on pretty thick with Riggs attempting it on several occasions in one movie. We counted four. Anybody see more? The best was him handcuffing himself to a suicide jumper and somehow coming out as the crazier one of the two.
We got our first taste of Murtaugh’s “I’m too old for this shit.”
We counted three in the first movie alone. Here is a sweet YouTube mash-up of Murtaugh dropping his classic catchphrase throughout the Lethal Weapon franchise.
The action scenes are amazing, as expected, from the get-go.
To be fair, we thought he was selling all that blow for $100, too, given that it was the ’80s. The best part was the tough negotiator who threw in a free Christmas tree with this coke deal going down in public in broad daylight. This shootout makes us feel like we could probably throw down, that was, until we saw what a crack shot Riggs happened to be in the shooting range.
The mobile phones back then…
We have no words, but this does bring up the objects and ideas that have become obsolete in the last 10 years alone.
That unnecessary final fight scene in the “rain.”
They had already caught the bad guy, then let him go so Gibson and Busey could have their old school action movie fight scene in the front yard. From the photo, it looks like they fought in the rain like something out of a Matrix movie, but it’s actually just the fire hydrant conveniently spraying in their direction.
We leave you with this hilarious It’s Always Sunny tribute to Lethal Weapon.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has made a habit of doing future installments of the franchise in their hilarious homemade fashion, including Lethal Weapon 5 and Lethal Weapon 6. We love the switching of the role of Black Face between Mac and Dennis throughout the episodes. If you haven’t seen these episodes, you’re missing out. Happy Anniversary, Lethal Weapon.
