Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers (WGA):

Shane Black (characters)
Jonathan Lemkin (story) ...

Release Date:

10 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

The Gang's All Here.

Plot:

With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crimelord trying to get his brother out of prison.

Plot Keywords:

Triad | Baby | Immigrant | Lapd | Private Investigator

Awards:

4 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Martin Riggs
Danny Glover	...	Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci	...	Leo Getz
Rene Russo	...	Lorna Cole
Chris Rock	...	Detective Lee Butters
Jet Li	...	Wah Sing Ku
Steve Kahan	...	Captain Ed Murphy
Kim Chan	...	Benny 'Uncle Benny' Chan
Darlene Love	...	Trish Murtaugh
Traci Wolfe	...	Rianne Murtaugh Butters
Eddy Ko	...	Hong, Chinese Refugee
Jack Kehler	...	State Department Man
Calvin Jung	...	Detective Ng
Damon Hines	...	Nick Murtaugh
Ebonie Smith	...	Carrie Murtaugh

Also Known As:

Lethal 4 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

127 min | Philippines:125 min | Portugal:123 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M (cut) | Australia:MA (uncut) | Philippines:PG-13 | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:G (British Columbia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) (video rating) | Finland:K-14 (cinema release) | USA:R (certificate #36137) | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Argentina:16 | Belgium:KT | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:18 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | New Zealand:R16 (video re-rating) | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The final film in which composer Michael Kamen composed the music for producer Joel Silver. The other films he'd worked on with Silver were, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Road House, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Hudson Hawk, The Last Boy Scout (a film which Kamen and Silver themselves hated), Lethal Weapon 3, Assassins, Fair Game (in which his music was rejected in both cases) and finally this film. Kamen would pass away from multiple sclerosis in 2003.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the beginning of the movie when the gas tanker flies into the air, one shot clearly shows the edge of the artificial rainstorm.

Quotes:

Martin Riggs: Plus they shot at me and Rog, and that pisses us off.
Uncle Benny: Really? Ha, too bad they missed!

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2nd Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jaws Theme

The fourth installment in the now huge Lethal Weapon series has no shortage of action, but it just doesn't have the high quality of the last three.

By this point in the series, it seems that they just aren't trying as hard with these films, which is kind of a shame. The Lethal Weapon series is really a good group of action films, but part 4 doesn't really seem to take itself seriously. It clearly had the biggest budget and probably some of the most elaborate stunts and action scenes (as well as some of the most exciting, such as that thrilling freeway chase scene), but many of the other elements of the film have deteriorated badly.

I think that with the addition of Chris Rock, while he delivered a satisfactory performance as far as the role that he was playing, caused the film to detract into too much goofy comedy, which unnecessarily diverted attention away from the surprisingly interesting smuggling plot involving illegal Chinese immigrants and counterfeit money. Joe Pesci was just as funny as ever, which is probably the reason the Chris Rock actually took away from the film as a whole. Pesci is all the comic relief that a Lethal Weapon movie ever needed, and Rock is another substantial addition of comic relief that just isn't necessary.

Danny Glover and Mel Gibson work great together for the fourth time; I'm beginning to wonder if they couldn't go on with this great duo forever. And of course, Renee Russo is back, with her and Riggs picking up with their quirky relationship, right where they left off at the end of part 3. But the person who really steals the whole show is Jet Li. Man, I thought Jackie Chan was fun to watch! Even though it's not all exactly real, this guy pulls out some unbelievable martial arts moves that give Lethal Weapon 4 a much-needed boost of energy. I wonder how long it will be before Jet Li and Jackie Chan come out with a movie together. Probably never, because if they worked together, no one could touch them, and if they were enemies, neither of them would be able to end up as the loser or the bad guy. Oh well, we can still hope, right? Even though the 4th installment in the Lethal Weapon series is not nearly as good as any of the previous three, it still remains a quality action film, despite its many weaknesses.