Customer Reviews

Lethal Weapon/Lethal Weapon 2/Lethal Weapon 3

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, let me start by saying you're not going to get any reviews on any of these three movies from me. Anyone who lived through the late 80's and early 90's already know the action greatness of these films that launched Mel Gibson from just being known as "Mad Max". No, my review is solely based on the new "Warner Bros. Triple Feature" packaging of the first three movies in the Lethal Weapon series.

On November 7th 2006, Warner Bros released 23 DVD titles from their library with three films in each case with varied subjects like trilogies, westerns, star's films, animals, and others. But probably the best bang for your buck is this Lethal Weapon set (maybe, maybe the second would be the camp-horror classic "It's Alive" trilogy, which I'll be getting as well). Yes it's true, SOME of these titles will bother most videophiles because quite a few titles offered in these triple features are FULL FRAME only when originally they may have been released in Widescreen when first appeared on DVD (see the Free Willy, Poison Ivy, and 15 Minutes triple features for those disapointments). But not, I repeat NOT, the Lethal Weapon one. This one has all three films presented in Widescreen with the original 5.1 AND DTS audio tracks. To put it simply, you get all three films as they were originally released separately on DVD back in 2000: the Director Cut editions, nothing has been changed whatsoever.

I've read videophiles say, "Well then, since it's THREE movies on only TWO discs, the compression has to be weaker". Wrong. Here's the disc set-up: Lethal Weapon's One and Two are on ONE disc, but it's a DVD-18, otherwise known as "double-sided/dual-layered". Both these movies were released in 2000 as DVD-9's (one-sided/dual-layered). Meaning, it's the EXACT compression as originally, but now you just have to "flip" the disc over to get to the other movie. And the second disc is exactly the same as before, with the Lethal Weapon 3 disc artwork on label & as a DVD-9. So you see, the only thing you really lose in buying this over the 2000 box set is two DVD cases and three discs instead of what you get now, two. I'm pretty sure that's the compression/set-up for all the Triple Feature titles, but Warner chose to instead press the Full Frame side on some of these titles instead of the Widescreen. Why, I have no idea.

Also a plus is the price. At Wal-Mart, I paid only $9.00 dollars for the Lethal Weapon triple feature. Even if I found all three titles separately in the "bargin-bin", I'd still pay at least $15.00 dollars for them. This version is cheaper, but just as good. And the normal suggested retail price is still cheaper than buying them apart, so this really is the way to go.

Finally, alot of fans of the Lethal Weapon series also have claimed "Why not include Lethal Weapon 4?". Well, One: all these releases are under the "Triple Feature" title, not a "Quadruple" one, Two: this one also features "The Unrated Director's Cuts" when 4 was released as "Theatrical Rated R", and Three: alot of people just didn't like 4 to begin with (not me, I thought bringing in Jet-Li really added to the franchise). So that should explain that!

So, if you're on the fence about buying this new "Lethal Weapon Triple Feature", I say do it...but only if you don't own the single Director Cut discs already...because you won't get anything new here. And look at each other Triple Feature title's back cover to see if it's Widescreen or not, and could you live with the Full Frame version of the other titles at such a low cost. So: 3 stars for the entire "Warner Bros. Triple Feature" line, 5 stars for the "Lethal Weapon" title from it.

The previous reviewer is correct on all points, which prompted me to purchase this over the Director Cut Editions individually.

What makes it even better is the DTS audio tracks are full bitrate @1536Kb/s! Most, if not all, DTS DVD's are half-bit rate @768Kb/s (Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, Lord of the Rings Trilogy).

Getting three great films in one package, widescreen, and w/full bitrate DTS for $11 is a once in a life time deal.

I bought this yesterday with my Bestbuy giftcard and now I highly recommend if you want the first three films, you should get this.

Pros

+ All three films are on two disc (The first disc double sided and the first one is on one side and the second one is on the other).

+ They are the same DVDs you get if you bought them separately so you don't lose anything.

+ It's Cheap!

Cons

There are no cons really but these might be to some people.

- You don't have the disc artwork for 1 or 2
- You don't have the snap cases.
- The Aspect Ratio is incorrect on the back of the case. The first film has a different ratio than 2 & 3. 2 & 3 are the same.

Warner did a great job with this set alright. Highly recommended.

First saw LW when I was 10. Seen them all half a dozen times, but only owned one of them. For the price they're asking($5, was $10 when I got it) is a fantastic price. Three epic movies for $5? Not bad at all! One of the DVD's came loose in the case, but it probably just came loose on transit, It wasn't scratched or anything, still crisp and clean. Came in a bubble wrap envelope, nice and snug, but not to constricted. LW1 & 2 come on flipside DVD while LW3 comes on a single sided disc.

thanks to u i now have to whole collection of the leathal weapon movies now.

I am so pleased with this and everything I have ordered from Amazon. I order a lot of old movies and I am well pleased.

Mary M. Lewis

Plenty of it in all of them. Cast and characters superb. I'll never tire of watching them.

Lethal Weapon (the first) is a great action film, with very interesting characters. The sequels are rather silly, exaggerating the comedy.

The "Director's Cut" versions in this trilogy are even better than the original releases. For example, most of the first chase seen is missing from the original release of #2, including some damage to Murtock's brand new car. Mel Gibson does an awesome job of portraying the Sergeant Briggs (aka. "Lethal Weapon") character. This is one of the few movies that successfully mix humor with action.

brilliant, copys are excellent condition and can even play them on my dvd player. and im in NEw Zealand.