Lethal Weapon 3 is a 1992 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen.
Riggs and Murtaugh are joined by Leo Getz (Pesci) as well as internal affairs Sergeant Lorna Cole (Russo).
Sergeant Roger Murtaugh and his partner Martin Riggs are demoted to uniform duties after failing to defuse an office building bomb.
The suspect is found to be a known associate of Jack Travis, a former LAPD lieutenant who is running an arms smuggling ring in Los Angeles.
Riggs and Murtaugh are re-promoted and assigned to work with Sergeant Lorna Cole from internal affairs to track down Travis.
The armored car thief that escaped is brought to Travis, who subsequently kills him in front of Tyrone for putting the police on his trail.
While the three are reviewing the footage, their good friend Leo Getz, who has been helping Murtaugh sell his house, arrives and immediately recognizes Travis from several prior business deals and his love of ice hockey.
With Murtaugh emotionally distraught, Riggs and Cole head to the warehouse, where they successfully secure his next arms shipment delivery.
Cole finds that Darryl's gun, the armor-piercing bullets, and the arms they recovered were originally in police custody, meant to be destroyed, and were stolen by Travis; they revoke his credentials from the system.
Cole finds the evidence of hacking and Murphy's absence, and the three, along with a rookie cop, Edwards, who looks up to Riggs and Murtaugh, intercept Travis.
Other series regulars, who appear in minor roles in all four films of the franchise, include: Damon Hines and Ebonie Smith as Murtaugh children Nick and Carrie, respectively; and Mary Ellen Trainor as psychologist Stephanie Woods.
Of note are the T-shirt worn by one of Murtaugh's daughters (the actress's idea), an 18-wheeler with an anti-fur slogan on the side, and a sticker on a locker in the police station.
[6] A November 26, 1991 NHL game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Great Western Forum served as the basis for the hockey scene featured in the movie.
[7][8] The league allowed production to capture the real-life action, although goaltender Kelly Hrudey eventually became annoyed with the additional lights used by the crew and asked filming to stop.
[9] The NHL also let Donner stage part of the scene, where Riggs commandeers the arena's PA system to lure out Jack Travis, during the game's second intermission.
In closer shots, these sequences used extras dressed in unlicensed jerseys that only roughly resemble those worn by the actual teams.
A contemporary AP report cites Lethal Weapon's excessive violence as the reason why the NHL limited its collaboration.
[12] The Los Angeles Kings later featured in a season three episode of the Lethal Weapon TV series, entitled "What The Puck?".
Boam asked to work alone on the script and ended up constantly changing it from October 1991 until January 1992 while filming was taking place.
[16][17] Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Rorion Gracie, who had taught Gibson and Gary Busey in the first movie of the series in 1987, also provided training to Russo and acted as stuntman for a fight scene.
After the film's success, Warner Bros. head Robert A. Daly bought Land Rovers for Gibson, Glover, Pesci, Russo, Donner, Boam, and producer Joel Silver.
The website's consensus reads: "Murtaugh and Riggs remain an appealing partnership, but Lethal Weapon 3 struggles to give them a worthy new adventure as it cranks up the camp along with the mean-spiritedness.
Its title songs, "It's Probably Me", and "Runaway Train" were written and performed by Eric Clapton with the assistance of Sting and Elton John respectively.
[30][31] In 2013 La-La Land Records issued the complete score on a two-disc set as part of Lethal Weapon Soundtrack Collection.