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| Lethal Weapon 4 | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Donner |
| Produced by | Richard DonnerJoel Silver |
| Screenplay by | Channing Gibson |
| Story by | Jonathan LemkinAlfred GoughMiles Millar |
| Based on | Characters by Shane Black |
| Starring | Mel GibsonDanny GloverJoe PesciRene RussoChris RockJet Li |
| Music by | Michael KamenEric ClaptonDavid Sanborn |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Edited by | Frank J. UriosteDallas Puett |
| Production company | Silver PicturesDoshudo Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date | July 10, 1998 |
| Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100–150 million |
| Box office | $285.4 million |
Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li (in his American film debut). It is the fourth and final installment in the Lethal Weapon film series.
Lethal Weapon 4 debuted at No. 1 at the box office. Although the film grossed $130 million in the U.S., it was not considered a runaway financial success as the previous three films had been. Shooting began in January 1998, just months before the film’s release, with a production budget estimated at $120–$150 million (although Warner Bros. maintained it cost less than $100 million) and an additional $50 million spent on marketing and distribution.[ This made the fourth film the most expensive entry of the series. Its profit margin was saved in part due to the combined foreign box office sales making the film gross approximately $285 million in total, making the second highest-grossing film in the Lethal Weapon film series behind, Lethal Weapon 3 (1992). Still, like its predecessors, Lethal Weapon 4 was among the top ten grossing films of its release year.
Critical reaction to Lethal Weapon 4 was mixed.[ The film currently holds a rating of 52% on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 66 critics, and an average rating of 5.8 out of 10. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating of 0-100 from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 37 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, which means it has an indication of “generally unfavorable reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A-” on an A+ to F scale.
James Berardinelli gave the film three stars out of four, writing: “Given the expectations that constrain it, Lethal Weapon 4 is probably the best motion picture that could possibly result from another teaming of Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The series has lost a lot of steam since the first two entries, and, although the fourth movie ratchets up the energy level from the moribund state of the disappointing Lethal Weapon 3, there’s no sense of spontaneity.” Roger Ebert gave Lethal Weapon 4 two stars out of four, writing: “Lethal Weapon 4 has all the technical skill of the first three movies in the series, but lacks the secret weapon, which was conviction. All four movies take two cop buddies and put them into spectacular and absurd action sequences, but the first three at least went through the motions of taking the plot seriously (and the first one did such a good job, it made my ‘best 10’ list of that year). This time, we’re watching an exercise.” Michael O’Sullivan of The Washington Post called it a “stupid and violent delicacy” that balances a “patented blend of high action and low comedy”.
The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for Pesci.
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