Top Five: Mel Gibson Movies
1) Lethal Weapon: Director’s Cut (1987)
This may not be the first buddy-cop movie, but it’s by far the best. It’s also the best Lethal Weapon movie, the best cut of the movie, the best Richard Donner movie, the best Danny Glover movie and… probably Mel’s best movie. The chemistry between Gibson and Glover (seriously under-rated actor, better than Morgan Freeman) alone sells it. With the exception of Die Hard, nothing feels more 80’s action than this. Beverly Hills Cop II is a close third for ‘that’ type of vibe. It’s not brainless either. Riggs is a deeply scarred man and Gibson conveys these troubles with ease. It’s perfectly directed, perfectly scored and perfectly cast. That added few minutes in the Director’s Cut gives it extra heart, Gibson had the crew crying tears of sadness off camera but tears of laughter.
Mel Gibson, what an acting beast. No film offered him a chance better than Lethal Weapon to show off this range of natural acting and entertaining capability. I think Lethal Weapon is the only movie to put out not one but three good sequels. Not even Die Hard could do that. It’s also one of those Christmas movies, you know, when you need a good action Christmas deal. A violent, buddy-cop Christmas movie that happens to have Gary Busey in it. There’s an MMA fight in this movie for fucks sake, in 1987.
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