Story Overview

p>Lethal Weapon (1987) follows two sharply contrasting detectives working for the Los Angeles Police Department, thrown together by circumstance and danger.

After losing his wife in a tragic accident, Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) has become increasingly reckless, with suicidal tendencies that worry everyone around him. His new partner, Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), is the complete opposite: a devoted family man and veteran cop counting down the days to his retirement.

Their uneasy partnership is tested when Murtaugh begins investigating the murder of the daughter of his old friend Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins), whom he knew from the Vietnam War. What initially appears to be a straightforward homicide soon reveals a far more dangerous reality.

As Riggs and Murtaugh dig deeper, they uncover a ruthless criminal organization operating beneath the surface of Los Angeles. The investigation escalates into a brutal confrontation, forcing the two detectives to rely on each other to survive—and laying the foundation for one of cinema’s most iconic buddy-cop dynamics.