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71
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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65
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xx
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74
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43
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69
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Lethal Weapon
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Shane Black
Directed by: Richard Donner
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 6, 1987
DVD: March 25, 1997
Running Time: 110 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for violence, nudity and profanity
Starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitch Ryan, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, Lycia Naff, and Jackie Swanson
Reckless cop Riggs and family man Murtaugh are partners whose work routine is never routine. (Warner Bros.)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: 16 Blocks Conspiracy Theory Lethal Weapon 2 Lethal Weapon 3 Lethal Weapon 4 Scrooged Superman: The Movie Timeline
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
In a movie with the energy of this one, we're exhilarated by the sheer freedom of movement; the violence becomes surrealistic and less important than the movie's underlying energy level.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Richard Harrington
After watching Gibson and Glover grow accustomed to each other, develop trust and confidence in each other and charge bullheadedly into dangerous situations, you can't help but hope there's a "Lethal Weapon II." It would be one of the few times a sequel would make sense and dollars.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
Lethal Weapon opens with a shot of Mel Gibson in his birthday suit and just gets better. Likewise we meet costar Danny Glover in the bathtub, fêted by his family on his 50th birthday. This endearing double exposure introduces us to the vulnerabilities of these superduper heroes, an odd couple of cops who mature into friends as they quell crime.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
Gibson is truly frightening as the cop about to go into orbit, and Glover is a standout as the down-to-earth lawman with very much to lose.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Lethal Weapon sinks an unexpectedly sharp hook at a delightfully unique angle, and never once lets up. A purposefully off- kilter flick, it fakes one way and moves another, thwarting our conditioned responses and fuelling our happy surprise. [6 Mar 1987, p.D1]
Empire Gavin Bainbridge
The pace never slows, the jokes never miss and the stunts never disappoint in this macho-dream of an actioner.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Janet Maslin
The film is all fast action, noisy stunts and huge, often unflattering close-ups, but it packs an undeniable wallop.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious, but thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
What a concept! Mad Max meets The Cosby Show. What a surprise! It works better than a fastidious mind might imagine. One reason is that Mel Gibson himself has been recruited to play Lethal Weapon's lethal weapon, Los Angeles Police Detective Martin Riggs. [23 March 1987, p.86]
Boston Globe Jay Carr
The skies are thick with whizzing bullets and strings being pulled by Shane Black's crude script and Richard Donner's cement-mixer direction. Predictably, the chicks-and-ammo stuff is punctuated by TV cop show repartee. [6 Mar 1987, p.36]
Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon
Lethal Weapon is vulgar, violent and predictable. Yet, in some outbreak of id, I got caught up in the shenanigans of Danny Glover and Mel Gibson as a mismatched cop team. Mr. Glover is more than solid and Mr. Gibson has added a kind of raw humor to his repertoire that is extremely sexy. [5 Mar 1987, p.1]
Los Angeles Times Michael Wilmington
At bottom, Lethal Weapon isn't much. It's a big, shallow, flashy, buddy-buddy cop thriller; it attacks you like a stereophonic steamroller, flattening everything behind it. Snatches of "Hustle" "Magnum Force" and "48 HRS." float above this plot like scum on a polluted lake, and the holes in logic and mindless climax are (or should be) embarrassing. [6 Mar 1987, p.4]
Chicago Reader Pat Graham
Unfortunately, director Richard Donner doesn't pay much attention to text, subtext, or anything else; his 1986 film is empty glitz in search of a style, with arbitrary action substituting for ordinary narrative coherence.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Johanna Steinmetz
The melodramatic clumsiness of the script, and, in one scene, its gratuitous endorsement of marijuana, betrays the youth of its writer, recent UCLA graduate Shane Black. And veteran director Richard Donner, whose credits include another cartoon movie, can't seem to thread the scenes together in any meaningful way. [6 Mar 1987, p.G]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H gave it a6:
One of Mel Gibson's better efforts, but it still has more than its share of cliche's. It is indeed very fast paced and has some great action sequences. I am not at all a fan Mel Gibson, so it may effect my rating. Others may enjoy it more.
jemima k gave it a10:
They don't make em like this anymore. Unabashed macho testosterone fest with just enough vulnerability & humanity to make us gals weak at the knees. Glover's gentle puppy dog eyes as he rolls his head around before taking his man out with one shot, and Mel's wild law man on the brink crossed with that kooky little-boy streak ("I'm hungry") - potent magic potion, this. Guilty pleasure? Maybe. But I feel no guilt at admitting that I've watched this franchise a number of times.
Bob S gave it a9:
One of the greatest action movies of all time, even the climax can't hold it back.
