Lethal Weapon ,1987
The boys are back for their last episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers for 2017! J. Blake and Dion Baia are going back once again to that endless well that has been so plentiful for them this year, and tackling one more from 1987! This time around they’re chatting an action classic, one that kick-started an entire franchise. To answer the age-old question: what do you get when you take an unhinged cop who gets partnered up with another whose got retirement on the mind? Well you get the Richard Donner essential, Lethal Weapon, from 1987.
The guys jump right into this Christmas-centric flick by discussing the sub, subgenre of Christmas-related action movies. They chat about what the allure is of having so many of these type of genre films set within the Holiday season. They talk about screenwriter Shane Black and the original script that was even deemed “to dark” by the studio and others involved. Dion and Blake analyze the insane ‘what-if ‘ game for this go-around, looking at how different of a movie this could have been with an alternate cast, had the other actors considered, been chosen. They also look back at the other influences in cinema and within the ‘police genre’ that led Hollywood to Lethal Weapon, and how this benchmark reset the action film for the years to come. So, what 1980’s action flick do the boys think should have been set at Christmas time? Was this actually the first use of a modern cellphone within a movie? And did Dion actually think once upon a time that the film’s title had to be spoken within the movie? Well everyone better make sure their Beretta‘s and Smith & Wesson‘s are cleaned and ready for use, cause the boys are taking you for one last ‘ride along’ on this last, all new 2017 holiday edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!
Extras!
Here’s the deleted opening bar scene that was to originally intro Martin Riggs.
Take a look at the original ending for Lethal Weapon.
Here’s the extended jumper scene.
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That deleted scene with Riggs and the prostitute…damn, that’s heartbreaking. Imagine things got so bad for you that even something as simple as having someone to watch TV with you would mean a lot.
Love Lethal Weapon and love that you guys put this one out!
Oh, and also, the “homework” you guys posed about holiday action movies…oh, I can’t get enough of them. It’s no secret at all that Die Hard is one of my favorite action movies/movies/holiday movies of all time, but then you do more research and you find movies like Lethal Weapon, Invasion USA, First Blood and I Come in Peace where you have these amazing action movies that take place around Christmas and it makes it more fun. Of all of them I’d say Die Hard is the most Christmas-y of the bunch, but realizing there was this whole sub-genre of action films just made my holiday viewing all the more amazing.
Even other Shane Black stuff like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or The Nice Guys is amazing for Christmas viewing.
FYI, I was so stoked to hear you guys give me a shout out on the podcast! I had to wait until I got back home from the holiday weekend to write this but rest assured I literally cheered when I was on the subway to see my parents when I heard it.
Happy New Year Jose! Great list of Christmas movies- I realized after recording that episode that the Christmas ‘action’ movie subgenre is also part of a larger subgenre of films that take place at Christmas-time, especially older films. Stuff like “Remember the Night”, “Miracle of the Bells”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, or “Holiday Affair” and many others- great films that are just set around Christmas time, be it drama, comedy, etc- and in the 80’s, the action movie got into the game so to speak. So yeah, it ends up being a HUGE subgenre, that I absolutely love. But thank you again for all your support, and you’re welcome for the shout out! We should give you one every episode! Ha. Thanks again, and hope you like what we have in store for this year! -Dion