Lethal Weapon 3 (DVD)

Lethal Weapon 3

Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are sergeants with the Los Angeles Police Department. As the show opens, they respond to a call of a bomb at the ICSI Building. The building had already been evacuated and the bomb squad had been called, but Riggs wanted to go in and check it out himself. Murtaugh is just one week from his announced retirement and he does not have any desire to risk his life to go check on a potential bomb, especially when the bomb squad was on the way. Riggs notes that the bomb squad never arrives on time and charges ahead anyway. Murtaugh feels obligated to accompany him, since they are partners.

They find a large bomb inside a car in the parking garage. Riggs opens the door and pulls back a blanket that partially covers the device. There is less than 10 minutes on the timer. Riggs speaks confidently about being able to disarm the bomb, simply by cutting the red wire. He produces a pair of tiny scissors and is about to clip the wire, when Murtaugh says wait. He wants to know if Riggs is absolutely sure. Riggs is not sure, so he changes his mind and prepares to cut the blue wire. Murtaugh is about to go crazy with panic.

They are startled when a stray cat jumps on top of the car. Riggs finally cuts one of the wires, which causes the timer to accelerate, rather than stop. Murtaugh grabs the cat and the run for their lives. They barely descend the steps in front of the building when it explodes. They take cover behind their car and the building collapses in on itself.

Shortly afterward, well within the original time remaining if Riggs hadn't have tampered with the bomb, the bomb squad arrives. At least they managed to save the cat.

The next day, they are both busted to the uniformed service and they venture outside to start their patrol. They start arguing about the previous day's screw-up and can't even remember whether it was the red or blue wire that Riggs cut. The argument gets physical and Riggs grabs Murtaugh, stopping only when he discovers Murtaugh is wearing a girdle. He had to wear one so he could fit into his uniform again.

Riggs decides to harass a jaywalker, preparing to write the man an ticket, when he notices some armored car guards starting to argue. Two men approaching an armored car are not recognized by one of the guards already inside the vehicle. When he challenges the two who are approaching, one of them draws a gun and shoots the guard. Riggs is already charging the scene, and as the imposter prepares to shoot again, Riggs knocks the gun out of his hand. The associate of the imposter has taken the wheel of the armored car and takes off. Riggs had jumped inside the back of the vehicle and starts fighting with the bad guy.

Murtaugh joins the female driver of a second armored car as she follows the stolen car. The lady driver is also black, and she immediately finds Murtaugh to be a very attractive man and starts flirting with him. Even though he tells her he's married, she persists.

Riggs eventually tosses the bad guy he's been fighting out of the vehicle, then makes his way forward to the cab, where he forces his way in and starts fighting with the driver, taking over the wheel. Riggs eventually has to brake the vehicle hard, causing the armored car to come to a sudden stop, resulting in the bad guy flying through the windshield and coming to rest on the hood. The man is taken into custody, with his first stop being the hospital.

The next morning, Riggs arrives at Murtaugh's house, as they are getting ready for the house to be viewed by a potential buyer. Murtaugh and his family, and Riggs, are all hiding in the kitchen. Murtaugh becomes upset when Riggs starts to light up a cigarette, knowing the smell would probably turn off the potential buyers. He hands Riggs a box of dog biscuits to chew on to help with his craving.

As it turns out, Leo Getz, their old witness protection client, is Murtaugh's real estate agent. Leo brings the married couple into the house and he starts telling them about the car that crashed through the wall and the upstairs bathroom that exploded when a bomb detonated. Murtaugh is about to lose his mind and he and Riggs get into another argument. They end up in a clinched position just as Leo and the buyers come through the kitchen door. The couple can't get away from that house fast enough.

Murtaugh begins choking Leo for telling the couple all about the home's recent history. Leo tells Murtaugh that he has to do that in the interest of full disclosure. When Riggs reminds them of the time Murtaugh shot someone with a nail gun in the house, Leo asks if the repairs after the toilet bomb were properly permitted. That infuriates Murtaugh even more, but Leo quickly says he'd arrange for some backdated permits so that the sale, when they find a buyer, won't hit a snag.

Before they leave for work, Murtaugh and Riggs see Murtaugh's son, Nick, talking to his best friend, Darryl, who has become a gangster. Murtaugh is very concerned about that.

At a housing development in the desert outside Los Angeles, an African-American named Tyrone (Gregory Millar) meets the foreman of the project, Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson). He explains that people will buy the houses because they don't want to live next to people like Tyrone. He then calls over Smitty, who it turns out is the armored carrier impersonater that got away. Travis found out about the attempted heist, and he tells Tyrone and Smitty that doing something like that would jeopardize their project. He then has his men knock Smitty down and pour concrete over him, smothering and killing him. Travis forces Tyrone to watch.

While heading to work, Riggs looks across the way and sees what looks like Murtaugh's eldest daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe) being held at gunpoint. Riggs charges over there, followed shortly by Murtaugh. Riggs punches the guy and knocks him down, only to find out that what's going on is a film production, and Riggs just ruined the scene. The director is livid and fires Rianne, but Riggs then roughs up the director and forces him to re-hire Rianne, with a pay raise.

At work, as they change into their patrol uniforms in the locker room, Murtaugh accidentally discharges his firearm. Riggs immediately starts kicking lockers and making lots of noise, so that the other officers who came running to see what happened, will think he's having a tantrum. The two head to the shooting range, where they meet some of their comrades, including Officer Edwards (Jason Rainwater), who is fresh out of the Police Academy and is an incredible shot. Riggs shows them a new bullet just came into circulation on the streets: a pointy-tipped .357 Magnum armor-piercing bullet that the bad guys called "cop killer." The bullets were found in the gun of Billy Phelps (Mark Pellegrino), the armored car suspect they caught. Riggs had him moved to Interrogation, so he and Murtaugh could question him.

Jack Travis arrives at the police building, where he reveals the credentials of an LAPD Lieutenant. In the meantime, Riggs and Murtaugh go up an elevator with Lorna Cole (Rene Russo), a female detective who is with Internal Affairs. At their mutual stop, it is revealed that Internal Affairs is taking over the Billy Phelp's case. Angered by this change, Riggs and Murtaugh force Cole to go with them to see Captain Murphy (Steve Kahan) and the head of Internal Affairs to clear things up. They decide to have Riggs, Murtaugh and Cole work together on the case. Riggs and Murtaugh are also restored to their former positions as homicide detectives.

While Riggs, Murtaugh and the others are in their meeting, Travis enters the interrogation room to talk to Billy Phelps, but it turns out he's not there to talk, but to shoot. He produces a handgun with a silencer and quickly dispatches Billy, then calmly walks out.

Riggs, Murtaugh and Cole arrive at the Interrogation Room and find Phelps dead in his seat. Cole reveals that there recently were cameras covertly installed in every interrogation room, so they are able to see a close-up of Jack Travis, an AWOL cop who they correctly surmise has gone rogue.

Leo Getz walks in on them to tell Murtaugh that the house has termites. Leo glances at the video and tells them he recognizes the man in the video. He thinks about it awhile, then says he once got the man some Los Angeles Kings hockey tickets. As a result, the three go to a Kings game to see if they might find Travis there. Riggs takes the extraordinary step of using the PA system to call Travis out. Ultimately, Leo sees Travis trying to run and he takes off after him, actually jumping onto Travis. Their struggle carries them onto the ice and Travis shoots Leo in the arm. Riggs follows Travis out of the arena, but loses him. Leo is taken to a hospital for a minor flesh wound, but Riggs persuades the doctor to admit Leo for a few days. Before leaving the hospital, Riggs grabs Leo's chart and adds "proctology" under the treatment section.

To celebrate their re-promotion, Murtaugh takes Riggs to a friend's lunch shack. While Murtaugh makes some hamburgers for them, Riggs notices something at a nearby construction site: several gangsters in an apparent drug deal. He wastes no time deciding to interven in that, and gets hit in the back of the head by a 2-by-4 as he is closing in. Murtaugh arrives to assist, but most of the gangsters escape. One takes refuge in a shed and Murtaugh orders the man to surrender, but a hand extends through the door holding an automatic weapon and fires at Murtaugh. Murtaugh returns fire, shooting several rounds through the aluminum wall of the shack. The man crawls out, having been shot several times. He collapses just beyond the door, and dies. Murtaugh turns the man over and takes off his sunglasses: it was Darryl. Murtaugh is distraught, since Darryl was Nick's friend.

The call comes in to the Murtaugh residence, where his wife picks up, and finds out about Darryl. Murtaugh arrives home in his car, and starts to get out, but reconsiders and drives away, still upset, unable to face his family. The next day, Murtaugh didn't arrive at work, but Riggs covers for him with Captain Murphy and the precinct's psychologist.

Lorna Cole insists on speaking with Riggs. He drags her into the men's restroom, where she dresses him down for interfering with the Internal Affairs investigation, but Riggs turns it on her, saying she's the one that hasn't been forthcoming. They decide to work together. In Cole's office, they look up information on the gun that Darryl had. It was stolen from an LAPD impound lot several months previous. The reason Internal Affairs was on the case is because they believe Jack Travis was stealing guns and ammunition from LAPD impound and selling them on the black market.

Riggs and Cole go to the address listed for a phone that Billy Phelps had called several times. They encounter a vicious Rottweiler guard dog. Riggs gets down on all fours and starts acting like a dog. He also has some of those dog biscuits that Murtaugh had given him to munch on, so he gives the Rottweiler some of those, and ends up making friends.

Cole and Riggs then go on inside the building to discover a bunch of guys loading a truck with boxes full of stolen weapons. They initiate a fight, where Cole shows extraordinary hand-to-hand combat skills. Cole and Riggs end up stealing the truck, pausing to wait for the Rottweiler who runs after them. They head back to Cole's place so she can dress up his wound. She's not very sympathetic to his moaning, and shows him one of her old scars. That leads them to alternately taking turns showing various old scars. Things get heated, and they end up making love. Riggs briefly stops himself because of a possible "serious ethical breach", only for Cole to tell him to shut up.

As it turns out, the aforementioned Tyrone was the intended buyer of the guns Riggs and Cole recovered. Jack Travis convinces Tyrone to give him another chance to get his guns and ammo back.

That afternoon, Rianne arrives at Riggs' beachfront mobile home, where he has brought his new Rottweiler friend inside with his other dog. Rianne tells Riggs that her father had yet to return home, since the incident with Darryl. That night, Riggs heads to the marina, where he finds Murtaugh aboard his boat. He was drunk. He is not dealing with the killing of Darryl very well.

Initially Murtaugh is angry that his daughter went to see Riggs at his beach home, since he's always worried that Riggs would seduce Rianne. Riggs works to snap Murtaugh out of his funk with rhetoric about how they share the same problems, and they need to stick together. Riggs finally talks Murtaugh down, reasoning that Murtaugh had no choice but to kill Darryl, since Darryl was shooting at him, with intent to kill.

The tension resumes when Murtaugh convinces Riggs to share a problem that might be giving him trouble. When Riggs reveals he "slept with somebody he shouldn't have," Murtaugh punches Riggs off the boat, assuming he meant Rianne. After pulling Murtaugh into the water with him, Riggs explains that he was speaking about his liaison with Cole, though he had to clarify that he meant Lorna, as her uncle worked in the Traffic department. Riggs and Murtaugh attract the attention of an LA County Sheriff boat officer, who tells them to clear out of the water.

The next morning, Murtaugh finds Nick attempting to shave, getting ready for Darryl's funeral. Murtaugh helps his son stroke the razor correctly. Nick tells his father that he loves him and he doesn't blame him for having to kill his friend.

The Murtaugh family, Riggs and Cole all attend Darryl's funeral. When Murtaugh goes to express his condolences to the parents, Darryl's mother slaps him in the face. The boy's father gives Murtaugh an admonishment: find the man that gave Darryl the gun.

Riggs, Murtaugh and Cole then begin a series of raids, tracing the path of Darryl's gun. First they strike one of Darryl's gang buddies, whom Murtaugh dresses down about "genocide", and black people killing each other. That leads them to Tyrone, who in turn directs them to one of Travis' associates, Herman Walters (Alan Scarfe). Cole once more shows her hand-to-hand combat skills, this time for Murtaugh to see, but Walters gets away. They were able to take one of Travis's henchmen, Hubie, into custody.

Travis is on his way to the LAPD, where he takes Captain Murphy hostage and forces his way back into the LAPD's storage facility to get more guns and ammo. Meanwhile, Riggs, Murtaugh and Cole return to the precinct, where Murtaugh asks Riggs to show him some hand-to-hand combat techniques. Riggs demonstrates a roundhouse kick, but he positions Murtaugh such that he tries it out, he kicks a water cooler over, leading to a brief run-in with the psychologist.

Some more research leads them to Mesa Verde Construction, Travis' cover operation. Leo Getz returns from the hospital, promptly going through a tirade about hospitals because of an unnecessary rectal exam he received, before Murtaugh calms him down and sends him off to research Mesa Verde.

As Travis finishes loading up the guns and ammo he's stealing, with Captain Murphy in tow as a hostage, Cole is on a computer and discovers that the files on the very same guns and ammo had just been accessed and deleted. They hurry down to the storage room, with Edwards tagging along for extra help. Riggs tells Edwards to stay behind him.

Travis attempts to escape via the subway, which was still under construction. The group discovers the guns missing, and traces them down into the subway, where a firefight ensues. The bad guys attempt to kill Murphy, but he manages to push his immediate captor onto the rails, electrocuting him on the third rail, and gets away. Edwards is killed when he takes cover behind a barrel, and gets shot by Travis, who is armed with the cop killer bullets.

Riggs chases Travis and Walters, who are getting away with the guns on a truck designed to ride the subway rails. He jumps onto the front of the lead subway car and directs the driver to move up on the truck. Once aboveground, Riggs jumps off the subway and commandeers an LAPD motorcycle, then continues his pursuit of the truck, which has by then left the rails and taken to the streets. Murtaugh races in his vehicle to catch up. Riggs pursues Travis on the wrong side of a freeway, then into a section that was under construction. Travis manages to get stopped, but Riggs flies off an unfinished ramp, getting hung up by some cables. The cables give way, and he falls through several platforms, to the ground. He's okay, despite dislocating his unstable shoulder again.

Leo arrives on the scene. He announces that he has the location of Mesa Verde's desert construction project, Rancho Royale. Leo wants to go with them, but Murtaugh shoots out his car tires, preventing him from tagging along.

Riggs and Murtaugh head to Rancho Royale, where they are joined by Lorna Cole. Murtaugh intends to use Darryl's gun to finish off Travis. They use Cole's empty car as a decoy, then attack the development. Riggs inserts a hose in the gas tank of a truck and siphons it to start a flow, then he drives through the housing frames, spilling fuel all over the place. Murtaugh ignites the fuel, setting the development ablaze.

Travis shoots Cole and she goes down. Murtaugh fights through some of Travis' men, then finds some cop killer bullets and loads up Darryl's gun with them. Riggs fights hand-to-hand with Travis, then gets pinned down as Travis tries to run him over with a front-end loader. Murtaugh takes out Walters, then tosses Darryl's gun to Riggs, loaded with the cop killer bullets. Riggs shoots through the bucket of the front-end loader, killing Travis.

Tending to Cole, Riggs finds that she was wearing two bullet-proof vests. She was still badly hurt, but they prevented fatal injuries. Riggs goes with her as she is taken by helicopter from the scene. He then lectures her on how you're supposed to live "for" somebody, not "because of" them, declaring his love for her.

Murtaugh's final day of work arrives, and he is taking a bubble bath when his family comes in to celebrate his retirement. He breaks the news that he's decided not to retire after all. Leo Getz then comes marching into the bathroom and says he's finally sold the house, but when Murtaugh tells him about his decision not to retire, Getz gets upset and Trish Murtaugh (Darlene Love) has to usher him out.

The movie ends with Riggs arriving and saying goodbye to Rianne as she heads to her own work. He's also started smoking again, because of his "dog biscuit problem". Murtaugh is again suspicious that Riggs has designs on Rianne, but Riggs eases his fears by saying that things are getting serious between himself and Cole, who he is picking up from the hospital later that day. They already have a dog, after all.

In an post-credits scene, Riggs and Murtaugh arrive at the scene of another bomb threat. As soon as they exit their vehicle, the building explodes. They quickly get back in the vehicle and drive off like nothing happened, both cursing their bad luck.