If you’re a child of the eighties or nineties, one of your touchstone franchises had to be the Lethal Weapon series. I vividly remember how excited I would get when one of them was playing on TV back in the day (before I ended up buying all of them on VHS), as there was nobody who didn’t love the adventures of Riggs and Murtaugh. I watched these movies so much that my father would refer to Riggs and Murtaugh as my friends because they were a kind of cinematic comfort food to me. The same goes for most of my friends growing up—we couldn’t get enough of them.
But how does each movie stack up against the others? I’d argue that the best-to-worst order goes directly in line with the order they were made in, with the first being the best and the fourth being the weakest. While that may not make this the most unpredictable list, I still think it’s worth exploring what makes these movies endure (and who knows, maybe we’ll get a fifth?)—so here goes nothing! The Lethal Weapon movies ranked from best to worst!
Lethal Weapon
It’s hard to accurately explain just how influential this movie was when it came out. Granted, the buddy cop formula wasn’t new—and neither was the white guy/Black guy buddy flick. I Spy did it in the sixties, and in the eighties there were several great examples, like 48 Hrs. (although only one of them is a cop) and the underrated Running Scared (with the late, great Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal in his only action role). Yet, the actor pairing in Lethal Weapon was lightning in a bottle. You had Mel Gibson, the live-wire heartthrob, paired with the classy, older (although he was a good decade younger than he played on-screen) Danny Glover. One is a madman, the other a family man.
Whereas 48 Hrs. and Running Scared relied on edgy humor and jokes, Lethal Weapon, while funny, was grounded by an emotional hook—that Riggs wants to die, and that Murtaugh doesn’t want to be around when he goes off. You buy their evolving friendship, especially when Murtaugh’s daughter is kidnapped and Riggs goes all-in helping rescue her. The payoff—them spending Christmas together—is a classic “guy cry” moment. Plus, it has lean direction by Richard Donner, a classic score by Michael Kamen (with Eric Clapton and David Sanborn), and a great script by Shane Black. My only complaint is that I’ve always found the final fight between Riggs and Gary Busey’s Joshua a bit of a mess, as North American movies hadn’t quite figured out how to stage mano-a-mano fights choreographed so intricately. (The moves Riggs uses—a style of improvised martial arts called “Jailhouse Rock”—are really tight.)
Lethal Weapon 2
To some, this is the peak of the franchise. Richard Donner emphasized the comedy in this one by bringing Joe Pesci into the fold as Leo Getz, and unlike the later films—which lean a little too hard on comedy—this one gets the mix just right. It’s anchored by a pretty dark storyline about racist South African drug dealers operating under the cover of diplomatic immunity and makes some bold choices, such as having Patsy Kensit’s character, Riggs’ love interest, killed off. Yet, the movie also has a lot of warmth, with some really nice scenes depicting Riggs’ evolving role in the Murtaugh household, such as a heartfelt moment he shares with Darlene Love, who plays Murtaugh’s wife, Trish. To me, this one is just a tiny notch below the original, but it’s great in its own right.
Lethal Weapon 3
This one holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first Lethal Weapon movie I saw in theaters. I was ten years old in the summer of 1992, and my buddy Danny’s folks took us to see it—I was riveted. While some say they leaned too heavily into comedy with this one (there was really no reason to bring Pesci back as Leo Getz), the movie also has some amazing stuff in it. Rene Russo is awesome as Lorna Cole, the love of Riggs’ life, while Glover’s Murtaugh has a rich plotline where one of the gangbangers he shoots happens to be a former friend of his son’s. It also continues to show Riggs’ devotion to the Murtaugh clan, and the theme song by Sting, “It’s Probably Me,” is a classic.
Lethal Weapon 4
This was the first movie I ever wrote a review for. I hated this movie so much when I saw it in theaters that I came home and sent an angry rant to the old Rec.Arts.Reviews newsgroup. It’s a problematic film—overstuffed with way too many characters, taking the emphasis away from Riggs and Murtaugh. Director Richard Donner also went way overboard with the comedy, which approaches slapstick levels this time. However, Jet Li is one of the better villains of the franchise, and it’s the one time when you genuinely feel like Riggs and Murtaugh might be outmatched—at least physically. Is it a good film? Not really, but it’s still watchable.
And there you have it. What would your rankings be? Let us know in the comments!