Lethal Weapon 4 Studio:
Warner Brothers
Starring:
Mel Gibson
Danny Glover
Renee Russo
Joe Pesci
Chris Rock
Jet Li		 Director:
Richard Donner		 Regional code:
2		 Disc Format:
Double sided, single layer
Screenplay:
Channing Gibson		 Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1		 Anamorphic:
Yes
Year:
1998		 Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1		 Subtitles:
English Closed Captions, English, Arabic
Genre:
Action comedy
Extra disc featues:
One side B: "Puie Lethal" - 30 minute series documentary, 15 minutes of interviews, 15 minutes of cut or extended scenes from the series, 10 minutes of behind the scenes "B roll" footage, theatrical trailers for Lethal Weapon 2, 3 and 4, Biographies and filmographies 		Length:
121mins
   

Review of the DVD - rating: * * * * 1/2

Review of the film - rating: * * * 1/2
Before we get on with the voluminous extras here, a word on the transfer itself. This is, by and large, impeccable - a close up peer at the picture reveals perfection, without a single artefact in sight. The warm hued colours throughout are reproduced to a turn, and the image is pin sharp. All this is all the more impressive considering the running time - it is possible to deliver a 2 hour movie on a single sided disc without transfer flaws of any kind, even to the minutest detail.

The sound is similarly jaw dropping - from the moment Warner's logo explodes 5 seconds into the movie, this is a true home cinema workout. The entire opening sequence - involving a flamethrower and a petrol tanker - has bullets flying around in all directions with a precision that would do an SAS marksmen proud. And there's plenty more fireworks after that...

The "Pure Lethal" documentary is hosted by Danny Glover, and is a pretty cheesy affair, riddled with "wacky" out-takes and behind the scenes footage from the series. It all makes you feel like your wacthing someone else's party through a big window, but buried away are a few choice moments, and the original endings of the first two films are worth a look..

The interviews are okay, and are selectable between the main six cast members, Donner and producer Joel Silver. The deleted and cut scenes are the predictable average bunch, and are crudely edited together with no caption or explanation. Doubtless series devotees will be able to place them well enough, though.

The trailers (all anamorphic by the way) are a nice addition too, but it really is a shame that the commentary by Donner dropped off mid-Atlantic. Ignoring the gripe of having all the extras tucked away under a stick of dynamite in a sub menu on side two, this is nevertheless a great DVD, and pretty much an essential demo disc for any self-respecting home set up.

 The fourth instalment in the series has Murtaugh (Glover) benevolently hiding an illegal Chinese immigrant family in his house. But things all go the shape of a pear when it emerges that a crime boss has paid a whole heap-o-cash to have these poor blighters installed in LA as slaves to help (cackle) fuel his evil empire...

The film may have the feeling that it would be slightly more comfortable living somewhere in the late eighties, but no matter - this is pretty much an enjoyable bit of cartoon making nonetheless. The inevitable OTT prologue is a lot of fun, and the even more inevitable car chase is an awful lot of fun. As to the cast, Gibson and Glover are fine and on autopilot, team rookie Chris Rock (so irritating in the 5th Element) her e fits in well, while Joe Pesci is given a rare franchise chance to actually act near the end - the one genuine surprise of the movie.

On the down side, the film doesn't earn kudos for being unoriginal, is a bit overlong with a few tedious stretches and al so contains a very unpregnant looking "9 months pregnant" Russo. But hey, if you have enough popcorn with it, then this remains a pretty entertaining "bit of a laugh". If you know what I mean, 'arry.