With over seven minutes of previously unavailable scenes, the director's cut of Lethal Weapon is a long-overdue present for fans. Riggs' solitary homelife and the tragic loss spurring him in a reckless disregard for his ow... more »n safety now come into greater fo« less
This Director's Cut 3 DVD Box Set Is What You Want!
Mr. | USA | 12/06/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After Mel Gibson made himself a household name with the Mad Max Trilogy, he took a little time off, then returned to the screen in 1987 for the successful "buddy-cop" movie: Lethal Weapon. You can't deny the chemistry between Gibson's Martin Riggs & Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh. The relationship has the perfect blend of dramatic heart and humor, which is the key to the success of the film. Initially, no sequel was planned (in fact the original filmed ending had both men saying goodbye forever), but director Richard Donner thought the characters were so good together, he just couldn't end the picture with them going their seperate ways. As a result, Lethal Weapon 2 was released two years later, adding Joe Pesci to the mix of this winning formula as Leo Getz ("Whatever you want...Leo Getz"). With the huge success of the sequel, it was only a matter of time before Lethal Weapon 3 hit theaters in 1992, adding yet another new key character, Rene Russo's Lorna Cole, a sort of "alter ego" of the Martin Riggs character. Since these movies are based on good chemistry between the characters, it's amazing to me how they're able to add new elements without deterring the original winning formula. Blind luck? Or Hollywood genius? You be the judge.Now you may be wondering about which Lethal Weapon DVD Box Set to pick up, since there are two of them available. The first set has the first 3 films as well as Part 4 all together in a nice Black case. The other has only Parts 1-3 in a shiny silver case. Why get the shiny case box set? This is the special "Director's Cut" Legacy edition, which includes added footage to the first 3 Lethal Weapon movies. Lethal Weapon 1 has about 7 minutes of extra footage cut back into the film which adds some more insight into the Martin Riggs character. (...) The other films also have some added footage that are not as involving but still enjoyable to watch. I have to point out to many out there, Director's Cuts can be any length, so that doesn't mean you're going to get 20 minutes of extra footage every time you buy one. You also get DTS sound with this set, which isn't available on the other one. It's true that special features on the discs are pretty slim. But I do urge you to pick up Lethal Weapon 4 separately (Part 4 has a whole side of a disc devoted to extra Features) and enjoy the Lethal Weapon movies in all their glory."
Listen up action fans!
raven_nyquist | Dubuque, Iowa USA | 11/05/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have had the pleasure of viewing this three-pack of action movies, and let me say this: There is no better sound than DTS (for now). If you love Mel Gibson or the Lethal Weapon Series, this is the one to get. Sure there's a four-pack of movies, but I've viewed them too, and well, there is not the quality that you get with this three pack. Trust me I fought tooth and nail for the other set, but viewing them both showed the four-pack is just not as good as this set, especially for the price. Suggestion: Get this set then get Lethal Weapon 4 seperately if you want. It's cheaper in the long run, too!"
Gettin' a little more'n what'cha got before...
Zagnorch | Terra, Sol System | 12/14/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As I'm sure many of you know, if you want to get the ultimate definitive editions (so far) of the first three `Lethal Weapon' flicks, this is the set to get! Included in each movie: at least a few extra minutes that director Richard Donner rescued from the cutting-room floor. Seven minutes are returned to LW1, featuring Murtaugh (Danny Glover) checking if he's still "got it" at the police firing range, Riggs bearing down on a schoolyard sniper, and a few other added bits. The highlight of LW2's new footage is Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) using his skills as a former mob accountant to recall the address of the stilt house. Not too much is added to number 3; probably the most noticeable of this is our heroes' use of a high-performance automobile to wring info out of a high-society gangsta.Sadly, this set is somewhat devoid of special features. I was disappointed that Warner didn't use the `Lethal 4' DVD release (which included a half-hour restrospective and a feature-length commentary track) as the model to go off of for the LW Director's Cut DVDs. Aside from the obligatory trailers & restored scenes, there's not much else to these discs. Only LW2 has a featurette that goes behind-the-scenes during the nighttime helicopters-shooting-at-Riggs'-trailer scene. Still, the sound & picture quality of these discs practically blow away (doh!) their VHS counterparts, which were pretty good themselves. Thanks to those extra background channels, you can really hear the reverb when our heroes start poppin' caps at the bad guys! I only wish Warner would finally get around to releasing their mo-pic DVDs in sturdy plastic keep cases, rather than those fairly flimsy & not-very-durable cardboard snap sleeves they seem to favor...`Late"
Directors Cut adds few scenes that add a lot to the story...
Jason | Washington | 02/20/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What can I say? The four Leathal Weapon movies are far beyone great! The humor, the action... Damn these are good movies... then they had to go on and release these "Director's Cut" and they made a great set of movies a little better. The scenes themselves don't add too much, but when taken in context to the rest of the series, they add imensly to the greater story of Riggs and Murtaugh... they amount to little snip-its that provide a better foundation for the characters than the original releases did. If you're going to buy Leathal Weapon, make sure it's the Director's Cut!"
MC groom
MC groom | 04/11/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I absoultely love the Lethal Weapon Movies! You cannot deny that the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is brilliant. Many people already know the stories behind the Lethal Weapon Movies so this review just focuses on the actual DVDs themselves. First of all do not get the original Lethal Weapon DVD box set because this Legacy box set contains the Directors Cuts of the first three movies, whereas the other original box set contains the theatrical versions. The directors cut versions all include additional scenes that were cut out from the orginals. Having these extra scenes makes for an overall better experience and in some cases (e.x.Lethal Weapon) a more insightful experience than the originals. Lethal Weapon contains the most extra footage (which is around 7 minutes) and really adds a lot to the movie and a better understanding about Mel's character, Martin Riggs. The extra footage found on LW 2 and LW 3 is not as extensive but still adds something to each movie. All of additional scenes fit in well with the original versions, so you know that they were all probably cut right before release and were not just thrown in there. Each movie has been re-mastered and has a good overall crispness that the original ones didnt have.
The only thing holding me back from giving Legacy 5 stars is the lack of special features. LW 2 contains a short behind the scenes stunt video, and theres the usual trailers and cast info, but other than that the special features of each movie is very bare bones. Warner Bros. could have and should have done so much more with each DVD, as I know tons of bloopers, deleted scenes (different from these restored scenes), and interviews still exist from each of three Lethal Weapons. How do I know this? Just watch the "Pure Lethal" documentary found on the special features side of Lethal Weapon 4. This documentary is full of the extra stuff. The Lethal Weapon 4 DVD was released before any of these directors cuts and that had a good amount of special features on it. Warner should have kept in mind the way they did the LW 4 extras when putting together Legacy's extras. But other than that complaint this is a great, reasonably priced package, for any Lethal Weapon fan. If the special features were given more attention and if they made a LW 4 director's cut, then this would have been the perfect package."