{"id":2816,"date":"2024-12-17T01:15:16","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T01:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2816"},"modified":"2024-12-17T01:15:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T01:15:16","slug":"is-lethal-weapon-a-christmas-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=2816","title":{"rendered":"Is Lethal Weapon a Christmas Movie?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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What is a Christmas movie? It is an existential question that has been asked for, well, not that long, but is worth considering for people wanting to shoehorn a favorite flick into that genre. Consider whether \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d is a Christmas movie.<\/p>\n

Released a year before Christmas classic \u201cDie Hard,\u201d<\/a> does the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover vehicle qualify as a Christmas movie? Does it involve reuniting a family? Yes. Does it happen at Christmastime? Yes. Are there Christmas songs? Yes. Does it have a redemption arc? Kind of. Is it a heart-warming tale to share with the family? Absolutely not.<\/p>\n

To be honest, the film\u2019s main character, Mel Gibson\u2019s Martin Riggs, is working through some issues. He loads up his Beretta 92FS with what he describes as a hollow point bullet and considers suicide \u2013 daily. He jumps off a building after handcuffing himself to a suicidal subject. Riggs is not in a good place, but the redemption arc has to start somewhere.<\/p>\n

Southern California doesn\u2019t offer the most Yuletide feel, with its blue skies and palm trees, but the film is all-in on Christmas. The film definitely leans into the holiday with Christmas music, decorations and holiday references sprinkled throughout. Looking a little closer, is that enough to consider \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d a Christmas movie? Beware. There are spoilers ahead from this 1987 shoot \u2018em-up blockbuster.<\/p>\n

Christmas Trees and Shotguns<\/h3>\n

\u201cJingle Bell Rock\u201d plays over the opening credits, signaling the film is set at Christmas time before it gets to its grim plot, starting with the investigation into a young woman\u2019s death, falling from her apartment balcony. We\u2019re introduced to Danny Glover\u2019s Roger Murtaugh and Mel Gibson\u2019s Martin Riggs separately before they are paired. \u00a0Murtaugh is turning 50 and he mutters his famous phrase for the first time in the movie, \u201cI\u2019m too old for this sh#t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first true sign of Christmas is Riggs at a tree lot surrounded by firs and pines on an undercover drug arrest, the first significant set piece of the movie. Three drug dealers demand payment. When Riggs attempts to arrest them he pulls out his badge to the trio\u2019s disbelief. Riggs assures them it is quite real, pulling his Beretta 92F<\/a>, saying \u201cNow that\u2019s a real badge, I\u2019m a real cop, and this is a real f**king gun!\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs is in the generous holiday spirit, sharing his 9mm bullets with the bad guys, especially a fourth who appears with a Mossberg 500 from the back of a truck full of Christmas trees. \u00a0Riggs ends the confrontation with a head butt to the last remaining bad guy.<\/p>\n

Later in the movie as Riggs and Murtaugh investigate a house as they begin unwind a vast drug conspiracy, they are shot at by a bad guy wielding a Remington 870 \u201cWitness Protection\u201d model with a shortened barrel and stock. Things don\u2019t go well for him as he is shot in the leg, then shot again, falling into a swimming pool where he dies.<\/p>\n

We never get good looks at the shotguns, since Riggs makes quick work of the men shooting them, but Internet Movie Firearms Database<\/a> assures us the tree lot shotgun is a Mossberg and the bad guy who ends up in the pool was carrying the shortened variation of the best-selling shotgun in history.<\/p>\n

Unhappy Holidays?<\/h3>\n

Christmastime can be filled with joy, laughter and fun, but for some it is a struggle with loneliness, and that is Riggs\u2019 ordeal. Not to dwell on it, but the scene with his Beretta, a single bullet and a photo of his dead wife is a poignant reminder of how difficult the holidays can be for some. Riggs\u2019 fragile mental state is driven home after his handcuffed jump from the building fuels an argument between the two new partners. The argument, in a store with a window advertising a \u201cChristmas sale\u201d and a snowman painted on a door involves Murtaugh\u2019s Smith & Wesson Model 19 and shows how close Riggs is to self-harm.<\/p>\n

The pair, with their guns, do share a light-hearted moment on the police gun range where Murtaugh shows off with a perfect head shot with his Model 19<\/a>. Riggs sends the target out even further and lets fly with his Beretta. Returning the target, he has added bullet hole eyes and a smile.<\/p>\n

Christmas Beverages<\/h3>\n

Murtaugh is contacted by a former Army colleague, Michael Hunsacker. He is the dead woman\u2019s father, a banker tied to a heroin-trafficking operation, called Shadow Company, which started as a CIA paramilitary unit in the Vietnam War. During the two men\u2019s conversation, Hunsacker drinks from a carton of the classic holiday beverage, egg nog.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Shadow Company\u2019s enforcer, Mr. Joshua, played by Gary Busey, arrives at the oceanside mansion via helicopter and dispatches Hunsacker from the hovering copter with a scoped Colt XM177 Commando. Riggs mag dumps his Beretta at the helicopter as it flies away.<\/p>\n

Mr. Joshua uses the Colt Commando with great ferocity throughout the film.<\/p>\n

A Christmas Joke?<\/h3>\n

After a failed attempt to rescue Murtaugh\u2019s daughter, Rianne, who had been taken by Shadow Company, Riggs and Murtaugh are tortured \u2013 Riggs via a car battery. After he escapes his torturer, Riggs dispatches several Shadow Company thugs and rescues Murtaugh and Rianne. They flee from where they were held with Riggs asking, \u201cWhat did one shepherd say to the other shepherd?\u201d The answer? \u201cLet\u2019s get the flock out of here.\u201d One must decide if this is related to the Christmas story or is it just a dad joke before dad jokes.<\/p>\n

Escaping through a nightclub, the fleeing trio have to avoid spray from an Uzi<\/a>, carried by several of the Shadow Company thugs during the film.<\/p>\n

Christmas Lights and a Final Fight<\/h3>\n

The heroin ring unraveled, Riggs and Murtaugh figure Mr. Joshua is headed to the Murtaugh house for revenge on Roger\u2019s family. Mr. Joshua shoots up the house, including the television showing a Christmas commercial, but ends up brawling with Riggs in the front yard, lit by Christmas lights from the house and surrounding houses. Riggs defeats Mr. Joshua who is taken into custody. Mr. Joshua gets free and gets an officer\u2019s gun, but is fatally shot by Riggs and Murtaugh.<\/p>\n

A Murtaugh Family Christmas<\/h3>\n

The film ends with Riggs, who visited his wife\u2019s grave, goes to the Murtaugh\u2019s shot-up house where Rianne answers the door. He gives her the hollow point bullet wrapped with ribbon. \u201cTell your Dad I won\u2019t need this anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bullet,\u201d she replies.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019ll understand,\u201d said Riggs, achieving redemption and defeating his demons.<\/p>\n

Murtaugh hears them at the door and invites Riggs in for dinner. As Riggs enters the house, Murtaugh adjusts one of the lights on the house\u2019s trim. The film offers a family story \u2013 a violent family story set at Christmas, starting a trend that would set \u201cDie Hard\u201d at a Christmas party gone wrong.<\/p>\n

According to a Dazed Digital<\/a> interview with one of the \u201cDie Hard\u201d screenwriters, producer Joel Silver wanted it set at Christmas because he \u201chad made Lethal Weapon the previous year, which was also set during the holiday, and he had decided he liked all his movies to take place at Christmas, as they would then very likely be played on television every December, and we would all get residual checks. Obviously, he was right!\u201d<\/p>\n

Is \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d a Christmas movie? Clearly, yes.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas from Rock Island Auction<\/h3>\n

Whether your preference in Christmas movies<\/a> is the Hallmark Channel, classics like \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d and \u201cMiracle on 34th Street,\u201d or bombastic action films set at Christmas, like 2022\u2019s \u201cViolent Night,\u201d we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

Internet Movie Firearms Database<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is a Christmas movie? It is an existential question that has been asked for, well, not that long, but is worth considering for people wanting to shoehorn a favorite flick into that genre. Consider whether \u201cLethal Weapon\u201d is a Christmas movie. Released a year before Christmas classic \u201cDie Hard,\u201d does the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}