Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue a former LAPD officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers:

Jeffrey Boam (screenplay), Jeffrey Boam (screenplay by)

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Martin Riggs
Danny Glover	...	Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci	...	Leo Getz
Rene Russo	...	Lorna Cole
Stuart Wilson	...	Jack Travis
Steve Kahan	...	Captain Murphy
Darlene Love	...	Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe	...	Rianne Murtaugh
Damon Hines	...	Nick Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith	...	Carrie Murtaugh
Gregory Millar	...	Tyrone
Nick Chinlund	...	Hatchett
Jason Rainwater	...	Young Cop (as Jason Meshover-Iorg)
Alan Scarfe	...	Herman Walters
Delores Hall	...	Delores

Storyline

Martin Riggs finally meets his match in the form of Lorna Cole, a beautiful but tough policewoman. Together with Roger Murtaugh, his partner, the three attempt to expose a crooked former policeman and his huge arms racket. The crooked cop (Jack Travis) thwarts them at every turn, mainly by killing anyone who is about to talk, but Murtaugh has personal problems of his own as his family are brought into the equation.

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Plot Keywords:

crooked cop | corrupt policeman | dirty cop | sex | 1990s | 

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Taglines:

The magic is back again!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lethal Weapon 3

Filming Locations:

City of Los Angeles Piper Technical Center - 555 Ramirez Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$33,243,086, 17 May 1992

Gross USA:

$144,731,527

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$321,731,527

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 121 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marble slabs that were once part of the old City Hall, destroyed for the film, are now used as tabletops at a local outdoor café in Orlando, Florida.

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Goofs

When Riggs and Murtaugh pull up to the convenience store and get out of the truck, the windows are clearly rolled up. But after Riggs crashes Reanne's movie shoot and they come back to the truck, the windows are rolled down because Riggs easily leans out of the window to yank off the parking ticket.

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Quotes

Leo Getz: Those doctors are savages. I mean, where does it say that a gunshot wound requires a rectal exam?
[Murtaugh rolls his eyes at Riggs]
Leo Getz: Yeah. With a telescope big enough to see Venus!
Martin Riggs: I guess all they saw was Uranus, huh?
Leo Getz: Oh, that's great, Riggs. Ha ha. That's great. Well, you know what I say? They FUCK you at the hospital! First they DRUG you, then they FUCK you! And when they're done FUCKING you, along comes the insurance company and FUCKS you some more! Ten dollars for a FUCKING aspirin that's ...

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Crazy Credits

During the credits you can hear that another bomb has been discovered. When Martin and Roger show up in their car, they have this discussion again whether or not to go in. Just as they stop at the building, the whole building explodes and you can hear Martin saying, while backing up the car, "I hope nobody saw us".

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Alternate Versions

The USA Director's Cut (Unrated) has about 3-4 minutes of never-before-seen extra footage including the following scenes: Trish forces Roger to wear body armor; Rianne visits Riggs, who's watching the Stooges with Sam and the Rottweiler, at his trailer, to which McGee the carpenter added the sundeck seen in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) ; Riggs, Murtaugh, and Lorna threaten to run over Tyrone's head with a car if he didn't give up Travis.

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Connections

Referenced in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

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Soundtracks

The Three Stooges Theme
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff (uncredited)
Arranged by Lyle 'Spud' Murphy (as Spud Murphy)

User Reviews

watchable though it never really takes off

Third installment of the Lethal Weapon franchise begins with old pro Glover only eight days away from retirement and stricken with grief by the feeling that something bad will happen. It inevitably does when he and partner Gibson cross paths with a rogue ex-cop-turned-gunrunner (Wilson), have their case aided/hampered by realtor Pesci, in addition to Internal Affairs watchdog Russo. The cast is game as usual, but they're let down by an uninspired script that too often throws out forced humor, and direction that is extremely slow. An action-packed finale is definitely the film's highpoint, but it still falls short in comparison to the two other films. **½