Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Jeffrey Boam (screenplay), Shane Black (story)

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Martin Riggs
Danny Glover	...	Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci	...	Leo Getz
Joss Ackland	...	Arjen Rudd
Derrick O'Connor	...	Pieter Vorstedt
Patsy Kensit	...	Rika Van Den Haas
Darlene Love	...	Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe	...	Rianne Murtaugh
Steve Kahan	...	Captain Murphy
Mark Rolston	...	Hans
Jenette Goldstein	...	Meagan Shapiro
Dean Norris	...	Tim Cavanaugh
Juney Smith	...	Tom Wyler
Nestor Serrano	...	Eddie Estaban
Philip Suriano	...	Joseph Ragucci

Storyline

Riggs and Murtaugh are trying to take down some drug dealers but the they turn out to be not run of the mill drug dealers; they have automatic weapons and helicopters. Eventually they grab one of their vehicles and find a million dollars worth of gold coins or Krugerrands in the trunk. Later Murtaugh is threatened by the men they're pursuing. That's when the Captain reassigns them to protect a man named Leo Getz who is suppose to testify in a big case. When they get to where Leo is, someone tries to kill him and that's when they learn he laundered half a billion dollars worth of drug money. He then takes them to a place he once went to and that's when the people there start shooting at them. Later when they come back with back up they learn that the men work for the South African consulate and have diplomatic immunity. They deduce that they are the ones they were looking for, but because of they have diplomatic immunity they can't do anything.

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Plot Keywords:

krugerrand | shoulder | holster | squad car | squad | 

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Taglines:

Je conduis. Non, je conduis. [canada]

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene in which Leo is cleaning Martin Riggs's house, you can hear the song "I'm Not Scared", by the short-lived British pop group Eighth Wonder, of which Patsy Kensit was the lead singer.

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Goofs

On the Alba Varden, when Riggs is shooting the bad guy in the beige shirt while saying the names of all of the people who have been killed, bloodstains appear on the bad guy's shirt; however when Riggs gets close to the guy, there are no bloodstains.

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Quotes

[after Riggs just destroyed a house on a cliff]
Roger Murtaugh: Riggs, you crazy son of a bitch!

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Crazy Credits

With the exception of the title, there are no opening credits at all.

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Alternate Versions

To receive a 15 certificate, the UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC. These cuts included:

• Reduced violence in the scene where Murtaugh kills two thugs with a nail gun (a shot showing blood on a thug's head was shortened and another showing nails embedded in the other thug's chest was optically darkened).
• Most of the sex scene between Riggs and his girlfriend was cut.
• Riggs' vengeful killing of the villains who killed his girlfriend on the pier was entirely cut.
• Riggs' repeated shooting of a villain during the final shootout was reduced.
• Kicks to Riggs' face by villain in climax were reduced.

Later video and DVD releases had some cuts waived but were raised to an 18, whilst retaining the edits of the pier killing and repeated shooting of a villain by Riggs. The cuts were fully waived in 2010 and the certificate downgraded to a 15. The uncut version is only available on Blu-Ray, while the DVD still has an 18 certificate but is missing the killing of the two thugs on the pier and of the guards on the container.

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Connections

References Pale Rider (1985)

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Soundtracks

Still Cruisin' (After All These Years)
Performed by The Beach Boys
Produced by Terry Melcher
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.
Written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher

User Reviews

An action movie with heart

Many action flicks over the years have been called loud and dumb. This is no exception. The "Lethal Weapon" series has never been especially noted for its intellect but it has something that a lot of action films lack: heart. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's winning chemistry created some of the most tender moments in the series and "Lethal Weapon 2" excels because they make the audience care about their characters. This movie is by far the best in the series with tones of moments registering directly to the viewer. Gibson and Glover provide these characters with depth that could easily have been lacking and the ending of this film leaves the audience actually feeling the love these two men have for each other. And, as a bonus, "Lethal Weapon 2" digs even deeper into one of the protagonist's past, shedding even more light as to why he is the way he is.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Afrikaans

Release Date:

7 July 1989 (Canada)

Also Known As:

L'arme fatale II

Filming Locations:

Fox Plaza - 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,388,800, 9 July 1989

Gross USA:

$147,253,986

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$227,853,986

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 108 min (cut) 118 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) (4 channels) Dolby Digital (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1