Lethal Weapon 4 is
again a little poor on plot side of things. There are so many different things going on
and they all seem to connect in a small and slightly irrelevant way.
The film starts off
with Riggs and Murtagh defending off somewhat of a lunatic with a flame thrower and
assault rifle in a busy city street. The way this is tackled is somewhat humorous but
gives the lead in to some very corny humour which fails to hold up against the witty
versions from earlier Lethal Weapon films.
Basically the story
this time is the discovery of a boatload of illegal Chinese being imported into the
country for the purpose of cheap labour. Discovered by the two cops, Murtagh then finds a
small family hidden in a dingy and “rescues” them keeping them in his home. The
crime factor becomes eminent when they go in search of the other relatives of the family
and uncover a forfeiting ring of Chinese notes.
Whilst all of this is
going on Lorna Cole (Renee Russo) from Lethal Weapon 3 is carrying Riggs baby and shares
the experience with Murtagh's daughter who has also become pregnant and married without
her father knowing. The father (Chris Rock) has struck up a working partnership with the 2
as Murtagh's replacement after retirement and shows some great talent and almost witty
interaction with Joe Pesci... Yes he’s still here.
Anyhow there
isn’t really much more to the plot that you couldn’t guess yourselves.
So how does this
transfer hold up?
...  |
VIDEO
I was amazed here to find that the film has been squeezed into one layer on one side of
this disc. Surely a dual layer format would have allowed for a much better presentation of
the film. Even so, this transfer is considerably better than the other 3. The
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is very sharp and gives great detail
throughout.
Shadow detail has
improved out of sight compared to the other films in the series and is showing great
amounts of detail even in the darkest scenes.
The colour rendering
is perhaps the only real problem here where the first part of the film is heavily
oversaturated and causes significant bleeding. The bulk of the film shows a better use of
colour but is still portrayed in a much more vibrant and bright tone than the other 3
films.
The only other
complaint I have on the transfer is a mark on the screen around 23.50, which really stuck
out. I would have thought this could have been removed before the disc was ok’d for
release as this is very unprofessional.
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track was somewhat problematic at times. The
dialogue in the opening sequence was certainly not of good quality and often unable to be
heard over the sound effects and background noise. Other than this occasion, the dialogue
throughout the film was generally clear and easy to understand.
The surround channels
and the .1lfe channel copped a beating this time around and I was amazed at the amount of
sound and the clarity that was on offer. There were many great sound effects in the rears
and the sub channel was booming away continuously supporting the heavy action on screen.
The score from Michael
Kamen, Eric Clapton and David Sanborn was disappointing and repetitious as shown in the
other films. Somethinga little more original would have gone down well here.
EXTRAS
Theatrical Trailers
for all the Lethal Weapon films
Cast and Crew Bios
Cast and Crew
Interviews
Featurette: Pure
Lethal: A collection of footage from the other Lethal Weapon films, narrated by Danny
Glover (30 mins)
Featurette: Cut and
deleted scenes from Lethal Weapon 1, 2 and 3
Featurette: B Roll
Footage 10 minutes of footage shot from other cameras while making the film.
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
8.5/10 not too bad |
SOUND
- Quality
- 5.1 WOW Factor |
9/10 great
9/10
very exciting stuff on offer here |
| EXTRAS |
7/10
much improved |
| OVERALL |
8/10
could do with some BIG improvements in the plot |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha DTS RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfedale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
Sub: M&K v75
- Reviewed 9th April 2001
* jpeg files for internet promotion use
only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Warner Home Video
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