Tagarchief: Joel Silver

A Special Christmas Viewing of Lethal Weapon

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Ah, wonderful Christmas time… I always love Christmas because I’m off, and I enjoy the whole atmosphere. I love Christmas trees, Christmas food, and those miniature Christmas villages. But also – of course – Christmas movies. Or simply movies set during Christmas, because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

When I was a child, there were always great Christmas films on television. But an action movie set around Christmas time can really hit my sweet spot as well. A few Christmases ago, I discussed Die Hard and Die Hard 2, perhaps the ultimate Christmas films.

But let us not forget Lethal Weapon – written by Shane Black, produced by Joel Silver and directed by Richard Donner. Like Die Hard, it’s one of the best action movies of the late eighties and early nineties, and it can definitely be considered a Christmas movie too. So let’s take a look at all the Christmas elements the film contains.

It opens with ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ by Bobby Helms, one of the greatest Christmas tracks, and a girl in an apartment building snorting ‘snow’ (X-mas) before she jumps to her death. It’s the investigation into this death that brings detectives Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) together as a police duo, and later, as besties.

We meet Murtaugh, who’s feeling old on his 50th birthday. His house is warm and cozy, and he can’t believe how pretty his daughter looks in her New Year’s dress. His wife tells him his old Vietnam buddy Michael Hunsaker called about his daughter, who, as we soon discover, is the jumper from the opening scene.

Riggs goes undercover to bust a drug ring at a Christmas tree lot. It quickly turns into a bullet festival, and Riggs reveals just how unhinged he is, and that he apparently has a death wish. This is Riggs’ proper introduction in the theatrical version of Lethal Weapon. In the director’s cut on DVD, there’s an earlier introduction in which Riggs risks his life to take down a sniper at a school.

The suicide attempt scene… Very intense. Great acting by Gibson. He almost does it, but Bugs Bunny on TV saves the day by wishing Yosemite Sam a Merry Christmas.

Cops singing Silent Night. We meet Captain Murphy (Steve Kahan) and the police psychologist (Mary Ellen Trainor) who is evaluating Riggs.

A colleague of Murtaugh admits to crying in bed because he was lonely, and he wishes Murtaugh a Merry Christmas. Afterwards, Murtaugh jumps on Riggs because he’s carrying a gun and he doesn’t realize he’s a cop. Riggs floors him in seconds. Nice to meet you.

Meet the bad guys. In a club, main baddie General McAlister (Mitchell Ryan) proves to a customer just how loyal his men are by holding a Zippo under his henchman Mr. Joshua’s (Gary Busey) hand for eleven seconds. He then wishes the impressed drug wholesaler a Merry Christmas.

Roger talks to Hunsaker. His old friend says Roger owes him, and he wants him to find the bad guys who killed his daughter (it turns out she was poisoned, so she would have died even if she hadn’t jumped) and kill them.

The jumper scene. A santa clause is among the onlookers. And Riggs opens the conversation with the jumper with “Merry Christmas.”

Murtouch tries to get the truth out of Riggs against a Christmas background: “You wanna die?”
Riggs tells him that he’s considering eating a bullet and even has a special one for the occasion.

They follow up on a lead and a young woman invites them inside. They just warmed up to each other a little bit. “Merry Christmas”, she says as she drives off. Friendly people in L.A. The reception is less friendly (shotgun) and Riggs makes another kill.

At the shooting range, Riggs and Murtaugh are clearly closer after their dinner at Murtaugh’s place. Murtaugh jokes that if Riggs doesn’t behave, he won’t be invited for Christmas dinner. “My luck is changing by the day”, Riggs says, taking a playful dig at Murtaugh’s wife’s cooking.

“Fuck easy!”
Roger puts the screws on Hunsaker. They know it’s his illegal activities that got his daughter killed. Then Hunsaker starts spilling his guts about a heroin smuggling operation, but before he can give details he is snipered to death from a helicopter while drinking eggnog from a carton. 🙂

“The bastards got my daughter…”

“You know they’re gonna kill her, don’t you? We’re gonna get bloody on this one, Roger.”

After an intense torture session, the Lethal Weapon team breaks out and enter the club where we first met the baddies. The Christmas decorations are all there. It is time for payback.

Surprise! A note for the bad guys.

Riggs Vs. Mr. Blonde. Riggs wins of course. Then Joshua takes a gun from an officer, and they shoot him dead in response. They are one, the ultimate cop duo.

“Merry Christmas Victoria Lynn.”

A bullet as a Christmas gift…

Riggs no longer has a death wish. Murtaugh invites him in because he refuses to eat “the world’s lousiest turkey by himself.”

‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ plays over the end credits while Sam the Dog and Burbank the Cat fight it out inside.

Streets of Fire

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘A Rock & Roll Fable’

Director: Walter Hill
Written by: Larry Gross, Walter Hill
Cast: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Willem Dafoe

Year / Country: 1984, USA
Running Time: 90 mins.

Walter Hill, who brought us many cinematic treats during the 1980s, now delivers a rock & roll fable. Streets of Fire makes a fitting companion piece to Hill’s own cult classic The Warriors. It offers an unusual mix of action, musical, and romance. The idea behind it – from Hill, screenwriter Larry Gross, and producers Joel Silver and Lawrence Gordon – was to create ‘the perfect film for teenagers’. They only partially succeeded.

Tom Cody (Michael Paré) is a badass who once had a love affair with Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), a rock goddess. She’s kidnapped during a benefit concert by a biker gang led by the strange and menacing Raven (Willem Dafoe). Cody agrees to rescue her, but since he feels she abandoned him for her career, he demands a reward from her suave agent and current boyfriend, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis). Cody also brings along the tough, hard-drinking McCoy, played by Amy Madigan in a role that strongly resembles Holly Hunter.

What follows is a fairly enjoyable ride that – unfortunately – holds only a few surprises. The dialogue and art direction are pretty fantastic, but the film lacks intensity. Not one situation in the screenplay is fully exploited for drama or tension. Had more of these opportunities been seized, this could have been a dream of a movie. As it stands, it’s just an entertaining action flick – nothing more.

Streets of Fire was poorly received both commercially and critically. It was released as a major blockbuster but failed to turn a profit. Still, it retains a cult following, thanks in part to its soundtrack featuring original songs by Ry Cooder, Stevie Nicks, and Tom Petty. It was intended to be the first in a trilogy of action films starring Michael Paré as Tom Cody, but due to its disappointing box office performance, it never got to that.

Rating:

Biography: Walter Hill (1942, California) has been an active member of the Hollywood community since 1967 when he became a 2nd assistant director. Ever since, he has produced, written and directed a significant number of movies. He once said in an interview that he considers all the films that he directed as westerns. If you look closely, you can see western touches, such as revolvers, Winchester rifles and cowboy hats in all of his work. Hill frequently works with character actors James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Brion James and Ed O’Ross.

Filmography (a selection): Hard Times (1975), The Driver (1978), The Warriors (1979), The Long Riders (1980), Southern Comfort (1981), 48 Hrs. (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), Brewster’s Millions (1985), Crossroads (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Red Heat (1988), Johnny Handsome (1989), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Tales from the Crypt (1989-91, TV-episodes), Trespass (1992), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Wild Bill (1995), Last Man Standing (1995), Deadwood (2004, TV-episode), Broken Trail (2006, TV), Dead for a Dollar (2022)

Dungeon Classics #22: The Last Boy Scout

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

The Last Boy Scout (1991, USA)

Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Chelsea Field, Noble Willingham
Running Time: 105 mins.

The Last Boy Scout, which was written by Shane Black who also wrote Lethal Weapon, is an action packed buddy flick. A drunken and cynical L.A. snoop Joe Hallenbeck (Willis) teams up with the charming Jimmy Dix (Wayans), an ex pro football player, to investigate the murder of Dix’ girlfriend (played by Hale Berry). They stumble upon a major conspiracy by a bunch of mean gangsters who are corrupting sports betting in football. It’s a testosterone-fueled spectacle for men who were at the top of their game at that time (Willis, Scott, Black and producer Joel Silver). Apparently they hated working together and also changed the script, which according to Black was much better first (read it here). It still has the trademark coarse dialogue, humor and violence though. Willis and Wayans have a great chemistry (although they hated the collaboration they have said) and the movie has some awesome supporting parts; especially Joe’s foul mouthed daughter Darian Hallenbeck (Danielle Harris) is very memorable. The best reason to watch this is Willis’ delivery of terrific lines such as; ‘so you tripped, slipped on the floor and accidently stuck your dick in my wife?’ There is just no denying it; the guy has considerable talent as a leading man action star. And this is the perfect showcase for this talent. They don’t make ‘m like this anymore.