Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crimelord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Shane Black (characters), Jonathan Lemkin (story),

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

4 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Martin Riggs
Danny Glover	...	Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci	...	Leo Getz
Rene Russo	...	Lorna Cole
Chris Rock	...	Detective Lee Butters
Jet Li	...	Wah Sing Ku
Steve Kahan	...	Captain Ed Murphy
Kim Chan	...	Benny 'Uncle Benny' Chan
Darlene Love	...	Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe	...	Rianne Murtaugh Butters
Eddy Ko	...	Hong, Chinese Refugee
Jack Kehler	...	State Department Man
Calvin Jung	...	Detective Ng
Damon Hines	...	Nick Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith	...	Carrie Murtaugh

Storyline

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, after escaping death from the previous movies are put on a hit list by The Triads. When blood thirsty mercenaries are on their tail they team up again with Leo Getz and Lorna Cole, a newcomer (Chris Rock) to finally put an end to the Triads for good.

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Plot Keywords:

triad | private investigator | immigrant | lapd | baby | 

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Taglines:

The Gang's All Here.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese Mandarin

Release Date:

10 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lethal 4

Filming Locations:

Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$140,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,049,606 (UK) (18 September 1998)

Gross:

$129,734,803 (USA) (30 October 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Silver Pictures, Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Body count: 30

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Goofs

When Riggs and Murtaugh enter the Murtaugh house they find the girls hostage. After the men drop their weapons, Riggs and Murtaugh tell the women to leave. They leave. After the brawl when they set the house on fire, the women are back in the house.

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Quotes

[interrogating Uncle Benny at a private dentist's office after accidentally filling the room with nitrous oxide]
Roger Murtaugh: [laughing and pointing to the gas mask that Butters is holding] Hey... Hey, what's that you got there?
Butters: [laughing] Uh... A nut cup? I got some big nuts.
[Roger takes the mask from Butters and inhales deeply]
Roger Murtaugh: That's nitro... oxide?
Butters: [laughing harder] It's laughing gas.
Roger Murtaugh: [hysterical] We... W-W-We're stoned.

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Crazy Credits

A picture accompanies almost every crew and cast member in a large photo album. It includes pictures from all 4 Lethal Weapon movies with outtakes and posed pictures. It closes on a large group shot of the crew, with a back cover with a red "4" on it.

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Connections

Referenced in Moonlight Express (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Jaws Theme"
by John Williams

User Reviews

An excellent movie

Who said all movie series become worse with every installment? Lethal Weapon 4 is probably the best fourth movie in a series ever. I find it incredible that the magic is still there. The main characters still feed of each other and their friendship (both on set and off set) is clearly felt in every scene they have together. Mel Gibson has finally laid the ghost of his wife to rest and is as chipper as ever. He does this without seeming truly obnoxious (even though that is a part of his character). In fact he seems more likable in this film than he did in all the previous films. Danny Glover reprises his role from the previous movies and that is not a bad thing because the Murtaugh role is the best of his career. Rene Ruso returns in her part and although it has been cut down considerably its still a decent role. Joe Pesci is also back and this time around he gets to add some depth to the character (something that was missing in the previous film). Chris Rock is decent. He isn't much of an actor but he is pretty funny and fresh. His part also adds a little something to the all-round comedy of the film, but if you want to know what it is you will have to watch the movie yourself. Jet Li is the villain in this movie and while he is the weakest villain in the series acting wise, he is definitely the most menacing.

The action is still brilliant despite the fact that the actors are getting older. The story is decent for a fourth film and the overall execution is brilliant. I actually prefer this film to the second and third of the series because I find it to be more entertaining overall. It cuts down on the seriousness (even though its still there) and adds a lot to the comedy and this is a very good choice.

All in all an excellent film. Highly recommendable for all fans of action movies and the series in particular.

8/10