Review: Lethal Weapon 4K UHD
4K UHD Blu-ray: Lethal Weapon (1987)
There have been other buddy-cop movies, Freebie and the Bean, 48 Hours, why you could even say to some extent Dirty Harry had his partners, but nothing had quite the nuance of Lethal Weapon. Why?
Other cop movies had partners that disliked each other, what’s so different about this movie?
Shane Black, that’s what. Shane’s story idea and serous/comedic writing was a game changer for this genre and it became a template for a shift and a lot of copycats. Much like Scream re-energised the horror film, Lethal Weapon introduced us to ‘action with a heart’.
The story is pretty run-of-the-mill, two cops forced to work together, one is sensible and about to retire, the other takes too many chances with his life, and others, and may be suicidal after the loss of his wife. They work together to bust a drugs gang. Sounds pretty run of the mill, but this is elevated by some unknown movie magic that strikes now and then, a good film just… resonates and becomes a classic, a blockbuster, and did you know? It’s a Christmas film.
Lethal Weapon is part of the classic cannon (along with such films as Jaws, Die Hard, Dirty Harry, Star Wars etc), the sort of movie that …just ‘IS’. But personally, the reason I adore this film is Mel Gibson.
Yep, I know Mel is problematic, and you’re continually faced with ‘separating the artist from the art’ in film, which I find easy to do with Mel. For me this is his most outstanding performance, and even now watching him stick a gun in his mouth to kill himself, then throw it away crying, unable to complete the job still gives me the shivers.
Here is an actor who has to play crazy, and does it with a palpable sensitivity that is Oscar worthy.
Mel is fantastic in this film. The heart and soul of redemption with NO sense of ‘feel good American movieness’.
This new Warners release is 4K, and as usual the sound and picture is just amazing (I’m not very technical, so have a look at the video below comparing this new release to it’s previous blu-ray outing), lets just say that Mel’s blue eyes are so blue. My only grip is – sparse extras, though there is a new chat with Danny Glover and Shane Black, but I’d love to see a proper retrospective on this movie.
A must buy for fans of the movie AND anyone who loves movies in general!
The 4K UHD disc contains the following new special features:
● A Legacy of Inspiration: Remembering Richard Donner
● “I’m Too Old or This…”: A Chemistry That Became Iconic
The 4K Ultra HD Collector’s Edition contains the following additional features:
- Theatrical and Director’s Cut in 4K and Blu-ray
- SteelBook
- Rigid slipcase with removable sleeve (target outlines)
- Double-sided A3 theatrical poster
- 4x character art cards
- 3x behind-the-scenes art cards
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Warner Bros via Fetch Publicity.
