Product Details

• Actors: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci
• Directors: Richard Donner
• Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: May 22, 2012
• Run Time: 476 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (216 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0079KGAOY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,519 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The explosive and edgy Lethal Weapon introduced America to its favorite modern buddy team: Mel Gibson's suicidal firecracker Martin Riggs, a Vietnam vet whose reckless stunts earn him a reputation as the Los Angeles Police Department's least desirable partner, and Danny Glover's aging family man Roger Murtaugh, a veteran detective who wants nothing more than to gracefully live to see his pension. Richard Donner's smash movie is sleek, stylish, and practically nonstop action, but it's the chemistry between the combustible energy of Gibson and the paternal reserve of Glover that makes this combination so lethal. A sequel was inevitable, so Lethal Weapon 2 sent Riggs and Murtaugh after a South African drug syndicate, tossed funnyman Joe Pesci into the mix as a comic foil, and upped the ante of explosions, car chases, and apocalyptic property damage. Kung fu-kicking Rene Russo signed on for Lethal Weapon 3, a "mad genius run amok" adventure rushed into production without a finished script (and it shows in sloppy ad-libbed scenes) and crammed with wild high-speed chases and spectacular explosions. When Lethal Weapon 4 hit screens in 1998, the starring cast had ballooned: hot comic Chris Rock joined Gibson, Glover, Russo, and Pesci to take on a Chinese counterfeiting and slavery ring led by Hong Kong martial arts superstar Jet Li. Director Richard Donner helms every installment of his series, topping the frenzy of action and pyrotechnics with each new feature; watching the arc of the Lethal Weapon franchise is like a crash course in American action cinema of the '90s: bigger, faster, louder. Yet at the heart of every film is Riggs and Murtaugh, mismatched partners who become unlikely buddies, ready to lay their lives down for one another. By the climax of Lethal Weapon 4, as they team up against the fighting fury of Jet Li, their friendship has become the defining drive of the series. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

Lethal Weapon (1987): With over seven minutes of previously unavailable scenes, the director's cut of Lethal Weapon is a long-overdue present for fans. Riggs's solitary homelife and the tragic loss spurring him in a reckless disregard for his own safety now come into greater focus. We see that recklessness is new scenes underlining the differences between the two cops. Murtaugh, just 50, needs reassurance about his skills at a firing range. Riggs, not caring if he sees another birthday, coolly walks into a schoolyard sniper's field of fire. All the humor and adrenaline that made this original an entertainment milestone are here, too. No scenes have been removed. But new action and new insight are now included. Include yourself in the excitement.
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989): Riggs wows the pretties of a hotel spa before getting to Getz. Murtaugh receives bad bodywork news from an auto repairman after his beleaguered station wagon sees some Riggs-piloted street action. Plus, feisty Leo shares a newly included scene in which he recalls a suspect's address by complex spins of numbers that, well, no one can tell it like Leo. And no one would follow his lead but Riggs and Murtaugh. It's police procedure, Lethal style. And it's yours to enjoy as the duo draws a bead on criminals hiding behind diplomatic immunity.
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992): Riggs and Murtaugh are back again. This time, they must stop a former cop who has become an arms dealer to L.A. street gangs.
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998): Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return as buddy cops Riggs and Murtaugh, with Joe Pesci riding comedy shotgun as chatterbox Leo. Murtaugh is still the family man. Riggs is still the gonzo loose cannon and - what's this? - family man. His will-he/won't he marriage to Cole (Rene Russo) is one of the new wrinkles in this powerhouse crowd-pleaser that also stars comedy favorite Chris Rock and international action star Jet Li. This sequel involves an action packed battle with a Chinese ganglord.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Entire Film Series At a Bargain Price January 30, 2008

By tvtv3 TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

The Lethal Weapon movies are some of the best buddy/action/comedy movies ever. This two disc set includes all four movies in the Lethal Weapon series for the price of one movie. Each of the movies is shown in the Director's Cut edition. There are trailers for the first three movies, but not for LETHAL WEAPON 4. However, LETHAL WEAPON 4 does include a commentary with director Richard Donner. If you're unfamiliar with the Lethal Weapon franchise, a brief synopsis of the films follows.

LETHAL WEAPON is the first movie in the series and introduces the unlikely cop team of Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson). Murtaugh is fifty-years old and a veteran officer. Riggs is an up-and-coming star of the police force, known for his atypical style. They are partnered together and become close friends while working to bring down a major drug cartel. Besides being just a good movie, LETHAL WEAPON is also notable for being the movie that made Mel Gibson a box officer superstar in the United States. Mel became famous because of Mad Max, but it was LETHAL WEAPON that made him a household name in the U.S.

LETHAL WEAPON 2 continues a few years after LETHAL WEAPON. Murtaugh and Riggs are still partners. Once again they are on a drug case, but this time it's an international drug ring of diplomats from South Africa with diplomatic immunity. They are also put in charge of protecting a key witness and informant, Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) who becomes a great secondary character in the series. Also, Riggs falls in love and pulls a house off a cliff. As a bit of trivia, Riggs was supposed to die in this one, but the studio called for a rewrite knowing how successful the franchise would be....

The Lethal Weapon series was going to be a trilogy wrapped up with the retirement of Murtaugh at the end of LETHAL WEAPON 3. After thirty-years on the force, Murtaugh is finally going to retire. However, eight days before the big event he and Riggs become involved in a case of gun running and cops gone bad. Riggs finds lasting love with an internal affairs officer, Lorna Cole (Rene Russo). Leo Getz also returns. This film is the weakest of the Lethal Weapon movies and the studio wisely decided to bring everyone back for one last film.

LETHAL WEAPON 4 brings back the entire cast of the Lethal Weapon films for one last go-around. Lorna Cole is pregnant with Riggs' child. Murtaugh's eldest daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe) is secretly engaged to Detective Lee Butters Chris Rock) and has a baby on the way, too. Meanwhile, Murtaugh and Riggs get entangled in bringing down a Chinese king pin, Wah Sing Ku (Jet Li) determined to move his operations from the Orient to Southern California.

If you don't already own the Lethal Weapon movies, this is THE DVD you want to own. Read more ›

208 of 234 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy the box set - buy the DTS director Cuts versions August 17, 2000

By powderboy

Format:DVD

I almost bought this but have discovered the hard way that you should ALWAYS research the DVD especially for uncut versions and missing footage. This box set contains the old cut versions and NOT the directors cut DTS versions. LW 1-3 are out on DTS and LW 4 is only available in DD 5.1 and actually contains the missing footage for the previous 3 movies !!!

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This is good, but the 3 pack is better... November 5, 2000

By "raven_nyquist"

Format:DVD

The Lethal Weapon series in itself is a great set of movies, and this is a flat-out good pack of movies for the fans of the Lethal Weapon series. This has the original DVDs with the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and the Widescreen video, but I'm a fan of extras so I like the 3 pack director's cut better.

If you feel like getting all four movies in pack, go for it: otherwise I would get the cheaper three pack and buy LW 4 seperately.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why do I have to import an American franchise? March 7, 2011

By David J. Brown

Amazon Verified Purchase

This series of films is one I've been hoping for for awhile now. I am aware that the first two films are available here in the states but they don't have any special features to speak of. Imagine my surprise when I was just looking things up randomly and found an entire box set, five discs, of the Lethal Weapon films available on blu ray and for a reasonable price!!!!

Now I'm not giving plot synopsis of each film and I'm not really going to review each film with any depth. Sorry, just don't see the point in doing so for a 24 year old franchise. The first Lethal Weapon is an American movie classic at this point. It's been ripped off and emulated multiple times(and unfortunately still is today). At the time of its release there wasn't a huge action movie market back in 1987. Sure, there were action flicks, mostly starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but most of them were real low budget and grindhouse type fare. This had name stars and a big director(Richard Donner of Goonies, Omen and Superman the movie fame) attached. Now this wasn't a huge budget film either. The film only cost about seven million to make, and even back then that was peanuts. The Lethal Weapon film had something that the other films of the time like Commando didn't have; GREAT CHARACTERS. Characters that you believed and were interesting and ultimately you cared about one way or another. The plot itself is ludicris and impossible. The way the police go about their 'procedure' is very much of the 80's, but the snappy dialogue, fun action set pieces(set pieces that stand out due to them feeling urgent and possible, unlike most action films of today), and great cast chemistry made this film original. If this film had just been a slice of life drama and not an action film then it would've still worked.... Lethal Weapon 2, while not as classic for being original as the first, just furthered the strong points of the first and arguably made a better film. Adding a great addition in the form of Joe Pesci playing an annoying state witness named Leo Getz. The antics with stars Glover, Gibson and Pesci are not to be missed. Letha Weapon 3 is where the quality started dropping. It's by no means a bad film, it's actually a really fun good one, but the routine-ness of the proceedings were starting to show through. Joe Pesci's character has no function in the film beyond the fact that he was so popular in the last movie. The villain is weak to boot. The action is great and Gibson and Glover are just as endearing and watchable. Plus, they added a legitimate love interest to the mix played by Rene Russo. Russo and Gibson have a now classic scene of foreplay as they compare battle scars. Lethal Weapon 4 is the low mark in the series. I woudn't blame or argue with anyone that hated this film. It's a more episodic film(due most likely to the film being written as they were filming, which you learn in this new set's fifth disc suppliments). There are action scenes, tho they are awesome and expertly staged, where the main characters bicker and joke WAY TOO MUCH. You just want them to shut up for a second so you can watch the scene play out. It's also the most sentimental in the series as all invovled were aware of the serie's long running popularity and the fact that they knew this would probably be the last. As with previous sequels a character is added in the form of Chris Rock(in his first major studio film) as Glover's would-be son in law. Now I like the film enough despite it's flaws. It's still a fun flick, espeically if you're already a fan of the other films. It has a nice sense of closure, jaw dropping action(especially a brilliant freeway chase like no other),and a great villain played by Jet Li(this being his introduction to mainstream America). So, those are the films themselves.

The new Import Only blu rays are AMAZING. Totally worth picking up for any fan. The transfers are all crisp. This is the best the films have ever looked. The first two films exist here in the states on blu ray but they're pitiful transfers in comparison. Each disc ports over the blu ray features for each film(deleted/extended scenes, vintage featurettes, etc) and adds brand new commetary tracks for the first three films by director Richard Donner. I was excited by the new commentary tracks, but was a bit disappointed. Donner is accompanied by the new set's producer and he seems more interested in watching the films then commenting on them. Plus, he doesn't seem to remember much and often confuses scenes with other films in the series. The producer doesn't help him much as he doesn't do much to push along the commentary. More annoyingly, sometimes you hear Donner responding to someone in the recording booth who isn't mic'd, and he starts answering questions with no frame of mind for the audience. Can be very frustrating. The dvd commentary for part 4 has been ported over from the 1998 dvd, and it's still a fun listen as Donner is accompanied by several members of that film's production team.

Sorry folks but these ARE NOT THE DIRECTOR'S CUTS of the films, or as they should properly be referred to as 'the so-called director's cuts'. Back when Lethal Weapon 4 came out Warner Home Video released director's cuts of the first three films. They had previously deleted scenes incorporated back in(all these scenes are included on each film's disc as special features). Now while Donner didn't object he didn't personally put these scenes back into the films. He states that the theatrical versions are his director's cuts. The first film had the most added footage. While at the time I was excited to see more, the film buff in me knew something was wrong. The first film has a great deleted scene where Riggs confronts a sniper at an elementary school. This is an exciting scene in itself but redundant when edited into the final film. It essentially does the same job as the scene where Riggs goes undercover to buy coke at the Christmas tree lot---it shows that he's daring and prone to violence. It's cool but doesn't do much for the final narrative. I know some love the director's/extended cuts and would prefer them to the theatrical, but Im not one of them. I'm happy having theatrical versions with the deleted scenes as extras. SO DO NOT BUY IF YOU WANT DIRECTOR'S CUTS.

There's also a fifth disc with a four-part making of/retropspective documentary that runs about two hours. It has brand new interviews with Richard Donner, Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Chris Rock, Rene Russo, screenwriter Shane Black, producer Joel Silver, and producer Mark Canton among others. This is the motherload right here. It goes in deep about the production for all four films(while, like the Indiana Jones dvd set, focusing more on the first film more) and gives you every scoop you could want regardin this film series. It's fun and informative. My favorite moments that I can think of off the top of my head have to do with Donner admitting his own ignorance regarding the suggestion of Danny Glover being offered up by casting director Marion Dougherty for the role Roger Murtaugh. "But Danny Glover is black", was Donner's initial response not realising right away that he could cast a black actor despite the fact that the script didn't specifically describe one. Show the times and how they've changed. My other favorite has to do with the long process that went behind Riggs' suicide attempt in his trailer. Gibson wasn't ready to do so asked to have it pushed back in production schedule. They cut the trailer set in half and carried it around with them from location to location until Gibson finally said he could pull the scene off. And if you've seen the first film you know it was worth the wait. A truly sad and harrowing scene ever committed to any action film I've ever seen. There's tons more of this and it's worth a view by EVERY Lethal Weapon fan. Just to hear about Shane Black's original, and much bigger, scripted ending is worth the view. I know I'll be watching it again in the future.

All in all this is worth the upgrade. Great transfers. An abundance of new and old special features. Despite the weak first three films commentary tracks I was happy to give them a listen, tho I won't be listening to them again, this is a great set. If you prefer the theatrical versions over the director's/extended cuts, or just don't give a crap either way then this is a total no brainer! Buy it! You know you want to.

PS: I don't know of any official US release date for these films in this particular form, but I am kind of annoyed that I have to import American made films with new special features, especially a franchise this popular and influential. I couldn't wait so I obviously had to. Though, Warner Brothers doesn't regionally code their discs so it should play in all players. I learned this last year when I got copies of The Goonies(another Donne classic) and Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(which includes special features not even on the US dvd releases like a great Tim Burton commentary). Read more ›

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Money Well Spent! November 25, 2007

By Christian J. Brittingha

Format:DVD

It's absolutely worth the money. It's great that movie companies are now putting movie franchises all in one set at a great price. If you're a fan of the lethal weapon series, I highly recommend this for you. All four Letal Weapon Movies with Director's cuts and bonus features. You will not be sorry!

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent 4 Movie set for 10.49 Wow GR8 On Two Discs.Highly Recommended. January 10, 2008

By stewart L

Format:DVD

Imagine Lethal Weapon 1-4 on two discs for 10.49 in widescreen!!You cant do better,on this set The dvd quality is excellent.The set makes an excellent gift.I bought 3 copies as holiday gifts and everyone was thrilled by the set 5 star rated.A great deal thank you!01/10/08.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Video and Audio Quality April 6, 2012

By Cincinnati Dan

Format:Blu-ray

Please accurately describe the audio and video quality of any Blu-Ray you review. Thanks to those who do this.

I purchased the UK version, and have watched all four of the movies in the set. Of course I haven't seen the USA version, but it will most likely be the same.

I am very pleased with this Blu-Ray purchase. I took notes after watching each of the four movies.

I thought the video quality was great. The first movie didn't have quite as good of video quality as the last three, but it was still very good. I noticed a little fine grain in some of the scenes in the first movie, but didn't see any in the last three. In all four of the movies, blacks were black, without grain, and without distortion. There were a lot of night scenes in the fourth movie, and they all looked great. Overall, I give the movies an average of 9.4 on a 10.0 scale, with 10.0 being absolutely perfect. I have never rated a Blu-Ray less than 4.0.

Aspect ratio was 2.35:1 or 2.4:1 in the last three movies, and, for some reason, 1.78:1 or 1.85:1 in the first movie.

All four of the movies have DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, which is also great. There is a lot of surround sound, except for the third movie, which doesn't have as much as the other three. There really isn't much sub-woofer bass, but I did notice more in the fourth movie.

Movie 1: 1 hour and 47 minutes.
Movie 2: 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Movie 3: 1 hour and 54 minutes.
Movie 4: 2 hours.

All of the movies are very good, but my favorite was the second movie. There is a 5th disc, but I did not watch any bonus material.