LETHAL WEAPON 3 (1992)

MORGAN'S RATING

OK, OK, OK. They're back. Big time. Lethal Weapon 3 is loaded with a full clip of action, laughs and shoot-the-works effects. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return as Riggs and Murtaugh, L.A. detectives whose work routine is anything but routine. Joe Pesci also returns as Leo Getz. And Rene Russo adds a lethal kick as Internal Affairs investigator Lorna Cole, who loves taking risks as much as Riggs does.

Mel Gibson (Martin Riggs), Danny Glover (Roger Murtaugh), Joe Pesci (Leo Getz), Rene Russo (Lorna Cole), Stuart Wilson (Jack Edward Travis), Steve Kahan (Captain Ed Murphy), Darlene Love (Trish Murtaugh), Traci Wolf (Rianne Murtaugh), Damon Hines (Nick Murtaugh), Ebonie Smith (Carrie Murtaugh), Gregory Millar (Tyrone), Nick Chinlund (Hatchett), Jason Meshover-Iorg (Young Cop), Alan Scarfe (Herman Walters), Delores Hall (Delores), Mary Ellen Trainor (Dr. Stephanie Woods), Mark Pellegrino (Billy Phelps), John Cenatiempo (Smitty), Sven-Ole Thorsen (Henchman), Miguel A. Nunez (Squad Member), Philip Moon (Squad Member), Bobby Wynn (Darryl), Lauren Shuler Donner (Nurse), Stephen T. Kay (Movie Director), Jan de Bont (Dutch Cameraman, uncredited), Mic Rodgers (Bob Scene Cop, uncredited).

THE MAGIC IS BACK AGAIN!

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Richard Donner (Conspiracy Theory).

WRITER: Jeffrey Boam, Robert Mark Kamen and Carrie Fisher (uncredited).

PRODUCERS: Joel Silver and Richard Donner

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Alexander B. Collett and Michael Klastorin.

CO-PRODUCERS: Jennie Lew Tugend and Steve Perry.

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen and David Sanborn.

DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.

QUOTES

Riggs: He's done this twice, oh, damn! I'm gonna suck his eyes out through his nose!!

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: May 15th, 1992 (USA)

Murtaugh: I got 8 days to retirement, and I will NOT make a stupid mistake! Riggs: Look, there is no bomb in that building! I will bet vital parts of my anatomy to the fact! Trust me, okay? Trust me! Murtaugh: That's usually my first mistake!

BOX OFFICE OPENING: $33.2  million  (USA)

BOX OFFICE RESULT: $144.7 million (USA)

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE: $319.7 million

- Gibson eats some dog cookies in order to stop smoking. In Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, he eats a can of dog food in order to survive.

Riggs: When you retire, you're not just retiring you, man! You're retiring us!

- Murtaugh and Riggs drive past a cinema advertising Radio Flyer, also directed by Donner.

Jack Travis: You know what a future a cop has, Murph? None. You punch a clock for 30 years, retirement, pension...nothin' to do. Drunk at noon, bullet in the brain by evening. Well, not for this kid! The police department's got it all: guns, ammo, drugs, cash...it's a one-stop shopping center. If you've got the balls and the brains, there's not a fucking thing anyone can do about it.

- Director Richard Donner is an animal-rights and pro-choice activist, and placed many posters and stickers for these causes in the film. Of note are the T-shirt worn by one of Murtaugh's daughters (the actor's idea), an 18-wheeler with an anti-fur slogan on the side, and a sticker on a locker in the police station.

Murtaugh: I'm too old for this shit!

- Followed by one more sequel: Lethal Weapon 4.

Murtaugh: I hope that when I do retire your new partner is just like you. Riggs: That won't happen to me because there are winners and there are losers and god wouldn't do that to me.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"The best Weapon yet!" -- Pat Collins, WWOR-TV

Riggs cuffs a crook who went flying through a windshield] Riggs: You have the right to remain unconscious. Anything you say ain't gonna be much.

"The action is dynamite." -- Joel Siegel, Good Morning America, ABC-TV

"Despite lazy writing and pointless plot turns, manages to crank enough thrills, laughs, and violent action to rate as acceptable escapism." -- Leonard Maltin

Riggs: I'm chaos, and he's mayhem. We're a double act.

[Travis buries a henchman in cement] Jack Travis: Now we've got a relationship we can build on.

"In a way, LW3 is the perfect sequel. A wham-bam encounter, it gives you everything you want, sets itself up for another sequel, and it makes sure you don't recall a thing about it in the morning." -- Desson Howe, Washington Post

"The freshness of the first two films shows signs of settling down in a formula in this third excursion...Parts 1 and 2 seemed to wing it; this one falls back on experience and craftsmanship." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times