When all is said and done, Lethal Weapon may embody the "typical” 1980s action film better than any other. As I watched it from the vantage point of 2025, I couldn't help but think it looked like some sort of "greatest hits" reel.

All the 1980s standbys were there: wisecracking cops, ultra-violence, and a hip soundtrack. It's also a pretty good movie.

On his 50th birthday, Detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) starts to feel past his prime. Still distraught over the accidental death of his wife three years earlier, Detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) behaves in reckless and semi-suicidal ways.

Murtaugh and Riggs find themselves paired as partners when they investigate a homicide that leads them toward a drug ring. Opposites, Murtaugh and Riggs clash but they must figure out how to cooperate to pursue their case.

After almost 40 years and three decreasingly interesting sequels, it became hard to remember that the original Lethal Weapon possessed an edge that clearly quickly evaporated as the series became a franchise. Riggs' depression actually plays a role in the plot of Lethal Weapon, something it would never do again.

It also makes him much more of a human being than the goofball supercop he turned into later. Not that Lethal Weapon can be called realistic drama.

It provides a fairly cartoony little ride, but the historical perspective of how artificial and superficial the characters would become certainly makes them seem more true to life here. Gibson is not now - nor has he ever been - one of my favorite actors, but he gives Riggs the proper form of demented charm.

I'm not sure I ever believed Riggs was truly suicidal. Nonetheless, Gibson comes closer to a vivid performance here than he would later be capable of doing.

Danny Glover seems mostly effective as middle-aged family man Roger Murtaugh. However, I have a much harder time viewing his character with historical detachment than I do with Riggs simply because the aging cop nearing retirement as become such a cliché.

Murtaugh may have been a fairly original character back in 1987, he soon turned into a stereotype, and it can be hard to appreciate Glover's work on its own. Still, he's pretty believable in the role, and he does a good job of grounding Riggs' psycho tendencies.

On their own, neither actor performs at a level that seems particularly noteworthy, but as a pair, they do radiate a chemistry that undeniably adds appeal to the film. I think it's actually largely because of the winning combination of Gibson and Glover that the Lethal Weapon series continued and prospered for so long.

The movies increasingly relied on their alleged comedic banter, all to the exclusion of niceties such as plot and character development. However, I guess that shouldn't eradicate the fact that at the start of their run the two offered something different and compelling.

The plot for Lethal Weapon is your standard issue 1980s action movie kind of thing: drugs and bad guys, heroes gotta rescue people, blah blah blah. While there's nothing new here, at least the story doesn't get in the way of the main assets of the movie, as the chemistry between Gibson and Glover and the fairly well executed action sequences.

Richard Donner directed many, many movies over the years, and he was a capable director, but never more than that. Donner’s work tended to seem slightly above average but nonetheless pretty pedestrian.

Donner kept Lethal Weapon moving at a decent clip, but he never threatened to make it a truly memorable experience. Overall, it's interesting and compelling but not spectacular.

Lethal Weapon appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The flick came with a pretty solid image.

Overall sharpness worked fine. Although a few wider shots looked a bit soft, the majority of the movie appeared accurate and concise.

I witnessed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and the film lacked edge haloes. Print flaws failed to impact the presentation, and while I suspect a smidgen of noise reduction got used, grain usually seemed natural.

Weapon went with a natural palette that looked impressive. With a boost from HDR, the colors appeared full and bold.

Blacks felt deep and dark, while low-light shots brought appealing clarity. HDR added range to whites and contrast. This wound up as a more than satisfactory presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s remixed Dolby Atmos soundtrack offered an engaging auditory experience. This meant all the channels got a good amount of usage.

Though not an over the top amount of usage, which I appreciated. I worried that the sound designers would go nuts with the Atmos format and over-utilize the various speakers in a manner that didn’t connect with the 1980s source.

Instead, the soundscape accentuated the material in a positive way. The track brought an appealing sense of place in quieter moments.

Action scenes used the channels in a dynamic manner that allowed them to pack a punch. Music also boasted solid stereo presence.

Audio quality worked nicely, with speech that remained natural and without obvious edginess. The score offered positive vivacity and clarity.

Effects followed suit, as they showed solid accuracy and range, with nice low-end as appropriate. The Atmos track worked well.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2012? The Atmos audio showed a bit more involvement than the prior 5.1 mix and also brought superior clarity and range as well.

The 4K UHD’s visuals looked better defined and featured stronger colors and blacks. The UHD also lost the smattering of print flaws. Both picture and audio boasted good upgrades over the spotty Blu-ray.

The 4K includes both the film’s theatrical version (1:49:31) as well as its Director’s Cut (1:57:02). What does the extra seven and a half minutes add?

The most substantial “new” sequence shows Riggs as he deals with a sniper at a school. It brings some action but seems unnecessary in the scheme of things.

We also see Riggs solicit a prostitute, but not for sex. Instead, he hires her to simply watch TV with him.

Though not important, this clip does humanize Riggs a it, as it shows his loneliness. While the movie doesn’t need it, I think it works fine.

Otherwise, we get short bits that offer minor character beats or exposition. Outside of the moderately interesting scene with the hooker, the movie doesn’t really benefit from any of these bits.

Note that “Director’s Cut” doesn’t accurately describe this version of the film, as apparently Richard Donner didn’t assemble it. Instead, the folks at Warner simply plopped the footage into the movie on their own.

Two featurettes follow. A Legacy of Inspiration runs seven minutes and brings notes from associate producer Jennie Lew Tugend, widow/studio executive Lauren Schuler Donner, writer Shane Black, and actors Danny Glover, Traci Wolfe and Jackie Swanson.

Essentially a tribute to the late Richard Donner, we get a fair amount of praise for the filmmaker. Nonetheless, “Legacy” comes with enough useful notes to merit a look.

I’m Too Old for This spans six minutes, six seconds. It involves Tugend, Shuler Donner, Black, Glover, Wolfe and Swanson.

“Old” delivers a short overview of the movie’s production. While it brings some good notes, it seems awfully brief.

The 4K loses an audio commentary as well as deleted scenes, a trailer and a music video. I don’t know why Warner didn’t bother to bring them back here.

Even more disappointing: 2012 brought a boxed set with a bonus disc that included plenty of featurettes the 4K UHD could’ve provided. Perhaps these will reappear on some other 4K UHD down the road, but I suspect they’re going to remain MIA for good.

An influential ‘buddy cop flick’, Lethal Weapon holds up reasonably well after almost 40 years. While not a great film, it creates positive entertainment and remains easily the best in its franchise. The 4K UHD provides very good picture and audio but lacks a lot of supplements. The absence of more substantial bonus features disappoints but the 4K UHD presents the best depiction of the movie itself to date.