Plot: What’s it about?
This is a sequel to the classic Lethal Weapon. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) come back to fight the South Africans from smuggling drugs, money and Krugerrands into and out of the country. The story starts out with a high speed chase from the men in blue of LA. that Riggs and Murtaugh are leading. The man in the red BMW gets away, but in his car he leaves an awful lot of Krugerrands in the trunk. The South Africans send out some thugs to silence Murtaugh and keep the police off of their tracks. Well it doesn’t work even though Riggs and Murtaugh are assigned to take care of Leo Getz, (Joe Pesci) a key witness in a federal case. They later find out that Getz was a money launderer for drug dealers and that he had a job interview for the South Africans at a house on stilts. This after nearly being killed by one of the drug men themselves at a hotel. Riggs and Murtaugh learn that the South Africans are doing a triangle trade all over again, drugs to dollars to Krugerrands. They also learn that these men are part of the South African consolate and are above the law. Riggs and Murtaugh are determined to stop them at any cost and they don’t care if the South Africans, “can’t be given a parking ticket.” They have to do all of this while keeping Getz in their hands.
The action sequences are entertaining and the laughs in this movie are a plenty. This is another one of my personal favorite movies and also one of the main reasons why I bought my DVD player in the Christmas of ’97. I couldn’t wait to see this movie in 5.1 sound once I heard it was out. Boy I wasn’t disappointed either. Not only did it sound better it also looked a lot better than my once superior Laserdisc version. I have seen this movie about 50 times, probably more, and my best friend and I recite the words to this movie whenever we watch it, and now that he has been married for three years it rarely happens anymore, but even when he is not around I will recite the lines out loud now and then. It still irritates anyone who dares to sit down and watch it with us. I guess what I am trying to say is that this is a must have DVD and I am shocked when I learn that some people have never seen this movie. I almost broke up with my girlfriend when I learned that she had never seen this movie or Braveheart for that matter. I almost had a coronary with that news. Oh well I sat her down and made her watch Braveheart on Laserdisc with me and the Lethal Weapon movies one at a time on DVD. Don’t worry it was over a course of about three months. And speaking of my favorite movie of all time. When in the bloody hell is Braveheart coming out on DVD? Well my girlfriend is still with me and I still laugh at the same spots in Lethal Weapon 2 and love every minute of it. There are also some deleted scenes from the first three Lethal’s on the Lethal Weapon 4 DVD which is also a must have DVD. I also read a rumor over at DVD Review about director’s cuts of the Lethal Weapon series coming out in the summer of 2000 on DVD. I just hope that there are more deleted scenes that what is on the Lethal 4 DVD. Also over at the Digital Bitz website I read a rumor that Braveheart will be coming out on DVD about the same time as well. In the color of shite I hope they are not blind and make an awesome Braveheart special edition. I’m sure that would sell fairly well. Anyway I digress… Go out and buy the whole Lethal Weapon series or wait until the summer of 2000 and hope that the rumor is true.
Video: How does it look?
As we all know, the old Letal Weapon 2 was not anamorphically enhanced, even though parts I and III were (and it said it was on the box as well). Well, Warner has gone back and given Lethal Weapon 2 a splendid 16:9 transfer and it looks as good as the adjective I used to describe it with. The colors are bright and the whole image looks far superior to it’s previous release. If you ever need proof of how much a new 16:9 transfer adds to a movie, then compare and contrast the two versions of Lethal Weapon 2. ‘Nuff said.
Audio: How does it sound?
While utilizing the same Dolby Digital track that was used for the first version, Warner has gone back and added a new DTS track to the mix (so to speak). The DTS track is a noticeable improvement over the Dolby Digital, but still sounds a bit dated by some of today’s standards. Where the Dolby Digital falls short, the DTS takes full advantage of it’s uncompressed sound mix and if you have a choice, listen to it in DTS.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The same stunt featurette that was found on the first edition is also on this version as well. Once again, if you don’t have the first version of this (or any) of the Lethal Weapon series, pick up the Director’s Cut set. In addition to a new dual-layered edition of the movie and a new 16:9 transfer, you get some neato animated menus. If you already have the first version, this is the only Lethal Weapon worth getting, due to it’s new transfer.
