It's Christmas time, and that means it's time for
us to cover another timeless holiday classic, Lethal Weapon.
What's that?
You forgot that Lethal Weapon is technically a Christmas movie?
Well, it is.
Shane Black strikes again.
Here are seven things you didn't know about Lethal Weapon, probably.
(Sound) Let's start off
by clearing up a big misconception about Lethal Weapon because Murtaugh never
actually says I'm getting to old for this (Bleep) at any point in the film.
What he says is.
>> I'm too old for this (Bleep).
>> One more time for the people in the back.
>> I'm too old for this (Bleep).
No one on the film had any idea that the line would go on to have such a life of
its own, misquoted or not, when they were filming Lethal Weapon.
But, in what went on to become one of the most mosquoted lines in movie history,
right up there with play it, Sam, from Casablanca, I'm getting too old for this
(Bleep) is only said in the Lethal Weapon sequels, a minor change to the line,
but still one worth noting if you're a true movie douche like us.
Moving on.
(Sound) As we covered in the intro,
a lot of people forget that Lethal Weapon is a Christmas movie, but they for
sure let you know that it is right out of the gate.
(Music)
The first piece of music we hear is Jingle Bell Rock.
And director Richard Donner actually had to fight Warner Brothers to let him play
it over the studio logo before the film begins.
And since we don't want to have to fight YouTube over a copyright claim for
playing it here, lets hurry up and move onto our next thing.
(Sound) Lethal Weapon celebrated its 30th
anniversary this year,
which gave us even more reason to squeeze it in before the year is over.
But in this scene, there's an Easter egg for
another movie that turned 30 this year, Lost Boys.
Richard Donner was an executive producer on the Lost Boys so
he figured why not take an opportunity for a little shameless cross promotion.
Plus Jeffrey Boam, who did some uncredited rewrites on Lethal Weapon and then went on
to be a writer on Lethal Weapon two and three, was also a writer on The Lost Boys.
Boom, bonus that you didn't know.
The Lost Boys movie theater marquee wasn't the only thing Donner snuck into
the background during Lethal Weapon, if you know what I mean.
I'm not just trailing off there or hinting at anything gross.
I'm just segueing to our next thing.
Stand by.
(Sound) >> Aside from promoting The Lost Boys,
Richard Donner snuck in some set dressings of a more political nature.
Most notably,
he peppered an anti-apartheid message and not just in Murtaugh's kitchen.
This kid is actually wearing an anti-Apartheid t-shirt
even though you might not be able to really tell.
The anti-apartheid imagery didn't go completely unnoticed, though.
Richard Donner received death threats as a result of them being in Lethal Weapon,
which actually pushed him to make Lethal Weapon two about apartheid.
So I guess the real story here is that Richard Donner doesn't take
(Bleep) from anyone.
(Sound) Despite being a self proclaimed liberal,
there was a moment during the casting of Lethal Weapon where Richard Dunner
confesses he was stuck in an archaic mode of thinking.
See, the script for Lethal Weapon never indicated that Murtaugh was black.
Typically if a script doesn't expressly state that a character is anything other
than white, it's assumed that you'll cast a white actor for the role.
But Lethal Weapon's casting director,
Marion Dougherty, had seen Danny Glover in The Color Purple and was so blown away by
his performance that she rallied to get him considered for Murtaugh.
And Donner's initial response to the suggestion was, but he's black.
Obviously, Donner soon realized that he should have his liberal card revoked for
even thinking that, and he got on board with Danny Glover as Murtaugh,
which led to what is arguably the most iconic buddy cop duo in movie history.
>> You ever met anybody you didn't kill?
(Music)
Well, I haven't killed you yet.
(Sound) >> Like Lethal Weapon, Die Hard is one
of those movies that's easy to forget is a technically a Christmas movie.
But you probably don't know that Bruce Willis was pretty high on the list to
play Rigs.
If that weren't enough, Mel Gibson came pretty close to playing John McClane.
Joel Silver produced Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, and
they came out just a year apart from one another.
But Bruce Willis turned down Lethal Weapon and the rest is history.
Still, it's kind of fun to imagine an alternate history with Mel Gibson as
the face of the Die Hard franchise and Bruce Willis pairing up with Danny Glover.
Maybe The Man in the High Castle people can get on that next.
(Sound) Speaking of things that almost were with
Lethal Weapon, let's talk about directors.
Of course, Richard Donner went on to direct all four of the Lethal Weapon
movies, but he wasn't the first choice for the film.
One of the lead contenders was actually Leonard Nimoy.
Nimoy had made a splash directing the third and fourth Star Trek movies, but
he ultimately didn't feel like he was well suited to direct an action film.
He went on to do Three Men and a Baby instead,
which came out the same year Lethal Weapon was released.
Goddamn, 1987 was great.
For producer Joel Silver, his first choice to direct Lethal Weapon was Ridley Scott.
But Scott had burned some serious bridges with the studio during
Blade Runner a couple of years before and
Warner Brothers straight up refused to let Silver offer him Lethal Weapon.
Yet another instance where a silly Hollywood grudge seriously
altered movie history.
(Sound) That's it for today.
Be sure to hit the thumbs up if you ever want us to do a part two
where we cover some things on the Lethal Weapon sequels.
Or just hit the thumbs up if you love a good old-fashioned high body count
Christmas movie as much as we do.
Thanks for watching and subscribe to CineFix for more trueish things about
movies and sometimes apartheid right here on Things You Didn't Know.
>> (Sound) Hm, what do you do,
sleep with that thing under your pillow?
>> I would if I slept.
(Laugh)