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:

shoulder | holster | squad car | squad | car | 

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Taglines:

The magic is back!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

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

Immediately before the first viewing of Rianne's commercial, when Carrie and the rest of the Murtaugh family are admonishing Roger for eating tuna, Carrie mouths the "Daddy killed Flipper" twice, though in the audio, she says, "you can't eat tuna" the first time, and "Daddy killed Flipper" second.

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Quotes

Pieter Vorstedt: What is going on down here?
Martin Riggs: Freeze dickhead! Get down here dickhead. Come on, it's been a bad day!

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Crazy Credits

We miss you, Jay Engel

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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

Referenced in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

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Soundtracks

I'm Not Scared
Performed by Eighth Wonder
Courtesy of WTG/CBS Records, Music Licensing Department
Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

User Reviews

Pure Magic

The first one was hard core. It was all about drugs, intrigue and Vietnam. It was also about Riggs' suicidal tendencies. It was serious. Too serious. That was awesome. This one is about a lighter, gentler Riggs. The same Murtaugh I'm afraid but a lighter gentler Riggs-for a while that is. Reasons why this film is better than the original: 1. Leo Getz, 2. Same chemistry but with a tighter bond, 3. Comic relief, 4. Truly despicable villains, 5. Revenge story that pops out of nowhere really (this is quite surprising for a Gibson flick mind you). This one's the best of the series. Part three was a joke. Part four...I dunno what the hell that one was. Part one was pure setup baby. This is the one. >

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Afrikaans

Release Date:

7 July 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Play Dirty

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