11/30/15
Happy Monday morning Phoenix! Let’s hope it’s a great start
to the week. For Movie Mondays, I’ll be highlighting Christmas movies from now
through the end of December. However, I’m not going to go with the usual ones –
Miracle on 34th Street, etc. I’ll highlight some of the other ones that are
funny and good to watch.
This week’s choice: Lethal Weapon. Not a Christmas movie,
you say? It does take place during the Christmas season. Close enough.
Plot:
Roger Murtaugh has just turned 50, and only has a few more
years to go before he retires from the Los Angeles Police Department. Martin
Riggs has just lost his wife in an accident, and doesn't care if he lives or
dies. When they are paired together, Murtaugh has problems with Riggs suicidal
attitude towards work, as they investigate a drugs baron dubbed "The
General".
Trivia:
• The first movie to feature a cellphone. It can be seen
when Murtaugh calls his wife to tell Amanda Hunsaker's death, and when later
Murtaugh calls Dr. Stephanie Woods to talk about Riggs' insanity. After Michael
Hunsaker is killed, The General can be seen using a cellphone to communicate
with Mr. Joshua.
• A running gag in the Lethal Weapon film series is the
"One, Two, Three" false starts where Riggs and Murtaugh can't decide
whether to go "One, Two, Three... then go!" or "One, Two,
THREE!" (go ON "Three") While the gag does not exist in this
film, there is a "One, Two, Three" false start in this movie. It
happens when the uniformed cops are trying to prepare to sing "Silent
Night" in a chorus and one of the cops keeps starting too soon.
• Hollywood city officials hung Christmas decorations on
Hollywood Blvd. a few months early so that the scenes shot for this film,
particularly the action scenes near the end of the picture, looked like they
happened at the end of the year.
• Film's soundtrack includes Elvis Presley song I'll Be Home
for Christmas. Darlene Love, who plays Murtaugh's wife, was background dancer
in Elvis' production Elvis (1968).
• There is a scene early in the movie that takes place in
Riggs' trailer. In that scene Riggs puts his gun in his mouth for another
suicide attempt. Right after he does so the camera cuts to the television. The
program shown on the television is the Christmas special Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas
Tales (1979).
Goofs:
• When Riggs jumps off the building after handcuffing
himself to the jumper, a close up shot just after they step off the ledge shows
that the rubber trick handcuffs break. When they get out of the air bag, they
have connected real handcuffs on.
• After rescuing Murtaugh and his daughter, Riggs retrieves
his Baretta and then fires it more than 30 times without reloading.
• When Riggs visits his wife's grave, it is heavily raining,
yet in a close-up view, no water is dripping off his chin like it was seconds
before nor is there any rain fall.
• Amanda's stockings are pulled up all the way as she falls,
but are neatly rolled down below her knees after she lands.
• When Riggs is sitting on the couch watching Bugs Bunny you
can see the camera man pass behind the couch.
Have a fangtastic day everyone!
<3 Brock V"""V
