Genre: Action / Thriller / Noir / Black Comedy
Premise: Two cops: one who just turned 50 and another one who is suicidal after his wife's death in a car crash, become partners. They kill people, survive a desert shootout, jump off buildings, play with all kinds of weapons, rescue Glover's kidnapped daughter, endure electric shock torture, and emerge heroes.
About: Shane Black who had recently graduated from UCLA wrote the screenplay in 1985 when he was just 24 years old. His agent sent the script to Joel Silver, who brought the script to Warner Brothers the next year. The script sold for $250,00 Leonard Nimoy was considered but was busy on Three Men and A Baby, so Richard Donner was selected.
Writer: Shane Black
It'd be real easy to talk about how brilliant this thing is. Nearly every book on screenwriting has some reference to how Lethal Weapon is a masterwork of film. But, I'm going to try my best and highlight two elements of this film that don't get mentioned alot in this script A) What's the original draft like? and B) What are the weakness of Lethal Weapon as a story? But, before I start digging my claws into these questions, Lethal Weapon is one of my all time favorite action movies: dark, funny, moving, original characters. And the thing has a pace like a runaway train.
The original script has most of the scenes and movement of the original film. But, probably the biggest difference is that neither Briggs nor Murphy are revealed to be as damaged: not so much emphasis on the suicidal element for Briggs or as many suggestions Murphy is really aged. These elements are definitely set up, but Gibson and Glover seem to give many more visual cues than are planted. The other thing is that Gibson is alot more violent. And, it's perhaps a little bit harder to see him as a good guy because he beats up a group of guys who are torturing a dog.
The weakest part of Lethal Weapon as a film is it's so one note. None of the characters are very conflicted in terms of behavior, moral sides, or who supports who. And as a result, this story is insanely predictable, and Gibson's unhingedness is the most interesting part. But, I don't think we're afraid afraid Gibson is going to die during the film. So there's no depth to this film.
But, I mean, what can I really say? Lethal Weapon is classic. There really isn't an over riding reason to set this on Christmas much like The Long Kiss Goodnight. But, what happens that's awesome is it's set in California, in non-winter scenes which are interspliced with holiday songs and decorations so it's a cool contrast. And because I can't really think of another film that does this, Lethal Weapon makes pretty awesome use of the XMAS setting.
Scooby Doo (Complete Crap)
Atilla (Poor, Few Redeeming Qualities)
Wedding Crashers (Mediocre)
Hot Rod (Good)
[X] - Definitely Maybe (Pretty Darn Good)
What I Learned: Shane Black writes terrific dialogue. But, one of the things that makes it terrific is he's always making these "baby" structures in which to have characters speak. Small games, drug deals, etc. Not to mention throughout Lethal Weapon, each scenes either gives the story an obviously positive or negative twist. So the moral is, an audience will have an easier time going along with you if you can make dialogue that seems to have some form of overarching reason rather than stray asides.
Isla Prospect: No. There's not really any female roles in this thing, though.
Script Link: The production draft is all over Google. Try the big sites.
Premise: Two cops: one who just turned 50 and another one who is suicidal after his wife's death in a car crash, become partners. They kill people, survive a desert shootout, jump off buildings, play with all kinds of weapons, rescue Glover's kidnapped daughter, endure electric shock torture, and emerge heroes.
About: Shane Black who had recently graduated from UCLA wrote the screenplay in 1985 when he was just 24 years old. His agent sent the script to Joel Silver, who brought the script to Warner Brothers the next year. The script sold for $250,00 Leonard Nimoy was considered but was busy on Three Men and A Baby, so Richard Donner was selected.
Writer: Shane Black
It'd be real easy to talk about how brilliant this thing is. Nearly every book on screenwriting has some reference to how Lethal Weapon is a masterwork of film. But, I'm going to try my best and highlight two elements of this film that don't get mentioned alot in this script A) What's the original draft like? and B) What are the weakness of Lethal Weapon as a story? But, before I start digging my claws into these questions, Lethal Weapon is one of my all time favorite action movies: dark, funny, moving, original characters. And the thing has a pace like a runaway train.
The original script has most of the scenes and movement of the original film. But, probably the biggest difference is that neither Briggs nor Murphy are revealed to be as damaged: not so much emphasis on the suicidal element for Briggs or as many suggestions Murphy is really aged. These elements are definitely set up, but Gibson and Glover seem to give many more visual cues than are planted. The other thing is that Gibson is alot more violent. And, it's perhaps a little bit harder to see him as a good guy because he beats up a group of guys who are torturing a dog.
The weakest part of Lethal Weapon as a film is it's so one note. None of the characters are very conflicted in terms of behavior, moral sides, or who supports who. And as a result, this story is insanely predictable, and Gibson's unhingedness is the most interesting part. But, I don't think we're afraid afraid Gibson is going to die during the film. So there's no depth to this film.
But, I mean, what can I really say? Lethal Weapon is classic. There really isn't an over riding reason to set this on Christmas much like The Long Kiss Goodnight. But, what happens that's awesome is it's set in California, in non-winter scenes which are interspliced with holiday songs and decorations so it's a cool contrast. And because I can't really think of another film that does this, Lethal Weapon makes pretty awesome use of the XMAS setting.
Scooby Doo (Complete Crap)
Atilla (Poor, Few Redeeming Qualities)
Wedding Crashers (Mediocre)
Hot Rod (Good)
[X] - Definitely Maybe (Pretty Darn Good)
What I Learned: Shane Black writes terrific dialogue. But, one of the things that makes it terrific is he's always making these "baby" structures in which to have characters speak. Small games, drug deals, etc. Not to mention throughout Lethal Weapon, each scenes either gives the story an obviously positive or negative twist. So the moral is, an audience will have an easier time going along with you if you can make dialogue that seems to have some form of overarching reason rather than stray asides.
Isla Prospect: No. There's not really any female roles in this thing, though.
Script Link: The production draft is all over Google. Try the big sites.
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