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:

Next summer is lethal.

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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

Murtaugh's children are played by the same actors and actresses in all four Lethal Weapons.

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Goofs

After Riggs jumps from the table into the car on the freeway, it falls away and gets run over. Yet for a second in the next scene it is clearly still attached to the back of the truck.

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Quotes

Lee Butters: It's about time they poured in some new blood. I just don't want it coming out of me.

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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 HBO First Look: Making 'Romeo Must Die' (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Jaws Theme"
by John Williams

User Reviews

Lethal Weapon 4 - Great ending to a great series

This movie is the end of a series which spanned almost two decades.

This time around Riggs (Gibson) is facing three very personal problems. 1) Age is catching up to him, 2) his g/f is pregnant and he's facing being a daddy, and 3) he's facing the dilemma of wanting to remarry. Also, Murtaugh (Glover) is about to be a grand-daddy to a baby by his oldest daughter, and she is secretly married to Detective Butters (Chris Rock), which everyone is keeping a secret from him.

Add to this the fact that both they are now taking on one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world, the Chinese Triads, in an effort to stop slave trading and money laundering. The task of a bad guy this time goes to Jet Li, who made his American debut (atleast from an American Film Company) in this movie. Yes, this is the movie which launched him here in the states, and he deserved it.

This movie is as good as the rest of them, though nothing beats part 2 in my opinion. Lethal Weapon 4 really hits home on a lot of subjects, such as facing responsibility, to coming to terms with who you are. And it ended the series in a way that makes you smile and love it even more.

I give it a 9 out of 10.