Lethal Weapon 3

"The magic is back again!"

1992 1h 58m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 3,392

ActionThrillerCrime

Synopsis

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Riggs and Murtaugh pursue a former officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.

“The magic is back again!”

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Cast

Mel Gibson
Martin Riggs
Danny Glover
Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci
Leo Getz
Rene Russo
Lorna Cole
Stuart Wilson
Jack Travis
Steve Kahan
Captain Murphy
Mary Ellen Trainor
Stephanie Woods
Darlene Love
Trish Murtaugh

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Donner
Writers: Jeffrey Boam, Robert Mark Kamen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 9.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Lethal Weapon Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Donner, shot by Jan de Bont. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eric Clapton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover and Joe Pesci carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The magic is back again!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Donner directs. Jan de Bont behind the camera. Eric Clapton scores. Robert Brown cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 9.2× over at the box office.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Lethal Weapon Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Richard Donner, shot by Jan de Bont. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Eric Clapton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Mel Gibson and Danny Glover and Joe Pesci carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The magic is back again!".
9IMDB entry: tt0104714 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 14 themes, including "showdown", "police", "dark comedy", "sequel".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jan de Bont
Original score: Eric Clapton
Editing: Robert Brown
Production design: James H. Spencer
Makeup / hair: Dino Ganziano
Stunt coordinator: Mic Rodgers
Runtime: 118 min · 1h 58m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $35,000,000
Box office: $321,731,527
Return: 919% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Part of

Lethal Weapon Collection

Lethal Weapon is a buddy cop movie series starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. A total of four films have been made since the first one in 1987, and all have been a success at the box-office.

Also by

Richard Donner

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-29
★ 7/10
The public get what they want. In this third instalment of the popular Lethal Weapon series, Murtaugh is counting down the days till he finally hangs up his badge, but he and Riggs run into an ex-cop who is dealing in special cop-killing bullets. In total there were four Lethal Weapon films, regardless of quality (they declined in quality with each release) each film made gargantuan amounts of money. Who could blame those involved for milking it for all it was worth if the paying public demanded it eh? Made for $35 million, part 3 went on to make Worldwide $321 million, thus ensuring that a part 4 was inevitable. But is Lethal Weapon 3 actually any good? Was the loyal paying public rewarded for their time?. Well yes, chances are that if you were already a fan of the series then this does deliver all you wanted and hoped for. Director Richard Donner and his team of writers shrewdly cottoned on to the basic fact that the ante had to be raised. It's a pretty light plot in truth, but enter more explosions, more action and make Riggs more comically reckless than usual, well it's a successful formula - even if Riggs and Murtaugh are now in essence just a comedy double act (one man love sequence not withstanding that is). Into the mix comes karate-kicking Internal Affairs female sergeant Lorna Cole (a more than agreeable turn from Rene Russo), who simultaneously gives Riggs more scope for gags and a love interest, and love him or hate him, Joe Pesci again pops in with mirth as the whiny Leo Getz. Stuart Wilson gets to play the bad guy with relish, and just to show it's not all about slam bangery and japes, the film also boasts having an affecting strand about kids with guns on the streets - and of course the scum who put those guns into those hands. It's all very simple and disposable in the world of the popcorn actioner, and yeah, it's not as good as what came before it in the series, but it's still an entertaining viewing for the series fans regardless. 7/10
Wuchak2023-04-03
★ 6/10
More fun and dynamic police action with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover Riggs & Murtaugh (Gibson and Glover) team-up with a kick-axx internal affairs officer (Rene Russo) to take down an ex-cop (Stuart Wilson) who’s smuggling confiscated guns to L.A. gangs. Joe Pesci is also on hand. "Lethal Weapon 3" (1992) is more-of-the-same in the successful series helmed by Richard Donner. Like the first two, it’s an over-the-top cop thriller with amusing camaraderie and rapid-fire banter. You have to roll with the outrageousness in order to enjoy it, just as you do with similar cop thrillers, like "The Gauntlet" (1977), although that one’s superior, as are the Dirty Harry flicks IMHO. Of the first three, I marginally prefer the second one (1989), but this one is entertaining enough. The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area with some stuff done in Florida (like the building blowing up at the end, which was shot in St. Petersburg). GRADE: B-
CinemaSerf2025-09-05
★ 6/10
With barely more than a week to go until “Murtaugh” (Danny Glover) retires, he and his now uniformed (and pony-tailed) partner “Riggs” (Mel Gibson) thwart an armoured car robbery and arrest the culprit. Before he can be rigorously interrogated, though, his brains get splattered against the walls of the interview room and our intrepid duo are charged by “Murphy” (Steve Kazan) to work with the IAD detective “Lorna” (Rene Russo) and track down the perpetrator. It takes them all of five minutes to work out that they have to track down rogue “Lt. Travis” (Stuart Wilson) who is involved in a nefarious gun-running enterprise. Finding him might have got a little easier when realtor “Getz” (Joe Pesci) reckons he has seem him somewhere so that starts them on a trail of the usual pyrotechnics, shoot ‘em ups and car chases which, along the way, sees “Murtaugh” enter a depth of despair that only his pal can drag him from as “Travis” has now made everything just a little bit more personal. It is at it’s best when it is just Gibson and Glover, the pithy script and some wise-cracking but I found the burgeoning romance between “Riggs” and “Lorna” a bit of a drag and the only highlight from the downright annoying Pesci is on his head. It’s a solid story well executed by a director who keeps the pace moving whilst letting the two stars clearly have some high-octane fun. I reckon it is the weakest of the three so far, but it’s still watchable escapism.