Get ready to revisit one of the most legendary duos in action movie history – without spending a dime. Lethal Weapon, the 1987 buddy-cop classic, and its three sequels that helped redefine the genre and launched a billion imitators, are heading to Pluto TV this July. With its 80% Rotten Tomatoes score, explosive action, and endlessly quotable banter between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, it’s exactly the kind of comfort movie that’s somehow still better than most of what’s in theaters today. And obviously, it still slaps. The movie is the blueprint for how to do a buddy-cop movie.
You know the setup: Two wildly mismatched cops are forced to work together. One’s a loose cannon (Gibson’s Martin Riggs), the other is days from retirement (Glover’s Roger Murtaugh). What could go wrong? Everything, obviously. But in the hands of director Richard Donner and a then-unknown screenwriter named Shane Black, the formula became gold and has been copied for decades, to varying degrees of success.
Gibson brings a volatile intensity to Riggs, teetering between lethal precision and emotional chaos. Glover’s Murtaugh is a steady hand, the grounded soul who can’t believe he’s stuck with this guy, and he’s definitely too old for this sh*t. But together? They’re unstoppable. That chemistry is the whole game – and it’s why the movie spawned three sequels, a TV series, and endless genre knockoffs.
The original Lethal Weapon made $120 million off a $15 million budget, kicked off a franchise that’s pulled in over $900 million worldwide, and introduced the phrase “I’m getting too old for this s***” into the pop culture hall of fame. The movie also stars Gary Busey in peak unhinged villain mode, with Mitchell Ryan (Grosse Pointe Blank), Tom Atkins (City on a Hill), Darlene Love (Holiday Rush), and Traci Wolfe (She Said) rounding out the cast.
Will We Get ‘Lethal Weapon 5’?
And if you’re wondering about Lethal Weapon 5 – yes, it’s still alive. While original director Richard Donner sadly passed away in 2021, Mel Gibson has confirmed he’ll be stepping behind the camera to direct the long-awaited sequel. According to Gibson on the Inspire Me podcast, Donner had completed a large portion of the script before his death, and the team is carrying that vision forward.
“Richard Donner… kind of tasked me with carrying the flag home on that one. So it’ll be an honor for me to do that… I’m pretty happy with it, it’s good, I had a lot of fun doing it.”
Lethal Weapon and its three sequels land on Pluto TV starting July 1.