After “Lethal Weapon 3” became a box office hit in 1992, Joel Silver tried to buy a script called,” Simon Says.” The plot involves a detective and a shop owner who team up to prevent a bomber from blowing up an entire city. The bad guy seeks revenge towards the detective. In 1993, Brandon Lee was gonna star in the project as a sequel to “Rapid Fire.” It never came into fruition. Two years after Brandon died from an accidental gunshot wound while filming “The Crow,” Simon Says was heavily rewritten as “Die Hard With a Vengeance.”
“Lethal Weapon 4”is a long behind-the-scenes story. If you wanna read an in-depth analysis, I highly recommend Peter Bart’s book, “The Gross: The Hits, The Flops: The Summer That Ate Hollywood.” Peters’s a former studio executive who wrote the book about big budget films during the summer of 1998. The fourth installment follows Martin Riggs & Roger Murtaugh who are assigned to work on a case involving Chinese gangsters smuggling Chinese immigrants and counterfeit money. The duo are accompanied by newcomer, Lee Butters. Lorna Cole & Murtaugh’s daughter, Rianne are pregnant.
Released in 1998, (same year The Big Lebowski came out) the fourth installment of the Lethal Weapon series earned mixed reviews and barely recoup its expensive $100-$150 million+ budget. Anyway, I have a three good reasons why I wanna review my favorite installment of the Lethal Weapon series.
- Mel Gibson & Danny Glover are working on a fifth Lethal Weapon film. As of mid 2026, a release date has yet to be confirmed.
- The pair will also attend Fan Expo Dallas 2026. The aforementioned three-day event will commence in September 11-13. I got plans to take my pic with Mad Max himself.
- Mel’s next project as director is “The Resurrection or the Christ.” A two-part sequel to “The Passion of the Christ.” Parts 1-2 will be released separately in March 26-May 6, 2027.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS.
Smart & Dull Qualities
Smart: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci & Rene Russo reprise their roles and they all did an excellent job for their respective performances.
Chris Rock & Jet Li both did a decent job for their respective performances.
Fun Facts
- Chris Tucker & Will Smith were considered to play Lee Butters. They dropped out, due to conflicts working on separate films, “Rush Hour” & Enemy of the State.”
- Speaking of Rush Hour, Jackie Chan was offered the villain role. He declined, because he didn’t want to play a villain. So, he worked on Rush Hour instead.
- Chris Rock later played a cop twice in “Osmosis Jones” & “Spiral.”
- Johnny Cochran’s mentioned. “Bulworth” made a similar joke.
Richard Donner did a great job directing. He also co-produced the fourth film along with Joel Silver.
Action Sequences are unforgettable. My favorite’s the highway chase scene.
Funny Moments made me laugh so hard. The dentist scene’s my favorite. Ten times funnier than these unfunny comedies from 1998.
- Kissing a Fool
- Chairman of the Board
- Barney’s Great Adventure
- My Giant
- 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain
- Quest for Camelot
- Hope Floats
- Mafia!
- BASEketball
- Wrongfully Accused
- Casper Meets Wendy
- Holy Man
- Bride of Chucky
- The Rugrats Movie
- Babe: Pig in the City
- Stepmom
- I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Channing Gibson (no relation to Mel) wrote the script. Made sure every plot point’s coordinated.
Michael Kamen (Die Hard, Highlander, The Iron Giant) & Eric Clapton orchestrated the soundtrack.
Cinematography’s shot in stable condition.
Pacing didn’t feel like a slow burn.
Chemistry between Riggs & Murtaugh serves as the main highlight. The duo also interact comic relief, Leo Getz, their loved ones and new partner, Butters.
Opening Scene starts strong. The duo encounter a guy dressed like Batman villain, Firefly.
Random Thoughts
- I think Butters stole the film. He’s funny as heck. Especially his rant about cellphones.
- Again, I consider the fourth installment as my favorite within the Lethal Weapon franchise.
Dumb: I couldn’t find nothing wrong. I’m giving the cast and crew and Extra Point for making a flawless entry as possible.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
Despite critics like Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert giving Lethal Weapon 4 thumbs down, I thought it was awesome. I’m like really? It’s not a god awful flick like Roland Emmerich’s “Godzilla”or Gus Van Sant’s horrific “Psycho” remake. As a fan of the Lethal Weapon series, the fourth entry’s the runner-up of 1998. “Saving Private Ryan” takes the top spot as my number one film of 1998. If you’re excited to see Mel Gibson & Danny Glover attending Fan Expo Dallas 2026, rewatch all the Lethal Weapon films.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 