Lethal Weapon 3

In the film's first scene, Riggs accidentally sets off a bomb that destroys the ICSI Building. The ICSI Building was actually the former City Hall building of Orlando, Florida, located at the intersection of Orange Avenue and South Street in Downtown Orlando. Warner Bros. decided to use the destruction of the building in the film, and as a result paid $500,000 for the demolition.[4] From August to October 1991, the production crew fitted the old Orlando City Hall building featured in the opening scene with carefully placed explosives to create the visual effect of a bomb explosion. Bill Frederick, then mayor of Orlando, Florida, was the policeman who sarcastically claps and said "Bravo!" to Murtaugh and Riggs after the explosion.

The building was demolished so that it would collapse slightly forward (toward Orange Avenue), minimizing the chances of it damaging the new City Hall building, built directly behind it. The space was cleared out and became a plaza for the new City Hall, with a fountain and a monument.

The film's climax scene, where an under-construction housing development is set ablaze, was filmed at an unfinished housing development in Lancaster, California. The unfinished houses, which had been sitting abandoned and slated to be torn down, were coated in flame retardant and propane gas lines to ensure that the houses could withstand re-shoots.[5] The original homes were eventually demolished and was eventually redeveloped into another housing development.

During the closing credits, Riggs and Murtaugh drive up to an old hotel where another bomb has been placed. Before they (their doubles) can exit the car, the bomb explodes and destroys the building. The hotel was actually the former Soreno Hotel in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.[6] The film's producers agreed to help with the cost of the 68-year-old building's implosion for the purposes of their film.[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. It was completed in two takes.[10] However, the director was not allowed to film the segment where Riggs chases down Travis onto the ice that evening. It was completed after a Kings practice. 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.[11] However, the organization took a relaxed stance towards the more intense Sudden Death a few years later.[12] The Los Angeles Kings later featured in a season three episode of the Lethal Weapon TV series, entitled "What The Puck?".[12]

Jeffrey Boam's first two drafts of the script were different from the final film. The character of Lorna for example was not a woman in original drafts, but the original character still had the same personality and was just as lethal and crazy as Riggs, making him his match. Riggs also had an affair with Roger's daughter Rianne, and a few parts in the final film where Roger suspects that Riggs and Rianne are interested in each other are only parts left from the original drafts.

Director Richard Donner demanded some big changes on the script which included changing the original character of Lorna (who had a different name in earlier drafts) into a woman and turning her into Riggs's girlfriend. He also re-worked the script to be less story-oriented and not focus on the main villains but instead on the relationship between Riggs and Murtaugh. He also toned down action scenes from the script and brought back Leo Getz into the story. All of his scenes were written in afterwards. In the original script Leo had left L.A. for New York. Boam had some disagreements with changes that Donner made, but he was not against them. Boam was fired after he wrote his first two drafts of the script. One of the reasons for this was because Donner wasn't interested in the script and he disagreed with some parts of Boam's original draft. After another writer, Robert Mark Kamen, was hired to re-write the script, Boam was called to return to work on it again. The filmmakers realized that Kamen's re-writes were not working. 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. These types of changes also occurred during the filming of Lethal Weapon 2.[13]

According to Kamen in a 2012 interview, many of his writing contributions ended up in the final film. Kamen also wrote many parts of the previous film in the series, with the most significant portions being the South African villains.[14]

Screenwriter Jeffrey Boam is credited twice in the 'screenplay by' credits. This is because he did one draft by himself (granting him the first credit) and a second draft collaborating with Robert Mark Kamen (granting him the second credit). In this rare scenario, Boam was hired to rewrite his own script with a second writer. After receiving the unusual writing credits, the advertising department assumed it was a misprint and produced posters with the credits "Story by Jeffrey Boam, Screenplay by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen". After a few of the posters had been sent out, the WGA contacted the department, telling them that the initial credits were the correct ones, and ordering the posters to be recalled and destroyed.

Carrie Fisher was an uncredited script doctor on the film.[15]

Russo received martial arts training for a month before shooting from Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon, who had a karate background and was a former kickboxing champion, and Wheeler-Dixon was also her stunt double.[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.[16][18]

Lethal Weapon 3 made $33.2 million during its opening weekend.[19][20] The $35 million film[1] was a big box-office success, earning $145 million.[21][22][23] Although slightly less than the $150 million domestic gross of the first sequel, it was nevertheless the second-most successful summer film of 1992 (after Batman Returns)[1] and the fifth most profitable film of the year, as well as the highest-grossing in the film series worldwide with $320 million worldwide.

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.[24] Daly later said "It cost us $320,000 to buy those Land Rovers, and we were criticized left and right for the expense. Do you know what it got us? Lethal Weapon 4, which made $285 million".[25]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 58% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. 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."[26] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[27]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review, awarding it 3 out of 4 stars.[28]

Lethal Weapon 3 has been released on VHS and DVD numerous times. The first DVD was released in 1997 and featured the film's theatrical version. The 1997 DVD contains both the widescreen and the pan and scan editions. The Director's Cut was released in 2000. Since then, numerous sets have been released that contain all four films in the series (featuring the same DVDs).[29] The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in 2011.

1. "It's Probably Me" by Sting and Eric Clapton
2. "Runaway Train" by Elton John and Eric Clapton
3. "Grab the Cat"
4. "Leo Getz Goes to the Hockey Game"
5. "Darryl Dies"
6. "Riggs and Rog"
7. "Roger's Boat"
8. "Armour Piercing Bullets"
9. "God Judges Us by Our Scars"
10. "Lorna – A Quiet Evening by the Fire"

Tracks with one asterisk are previously unreleased, tracks with two asterisks contain previously unreleased material.

Disc one

1. "Trust Me" – 3:34 *
2. "Afterglow" – 0:57
3. "Jaywalker" – 2:01 *
4. "Armoured Car Chase" – 4:33 *
5. "Leo Getz" – 3:20 **
6. "Concrete Death" – 1:59 **
7. "Rianne's Big Break" – 2:16 *
8. "Locker Room" – 0:43 *
9. "Firing Range" – 0:59 *
10. "Jack Kills Billy" – 3:15 *
11. "Hockey Game" – 0:58 *
12. "Dum-Dum Wound" – 1:07 *
13. "Shooting Darryl, Part 1" – 3:12 **
14. "Shooting Darryl, Part 2/Step into My Office" – 2:17 **
15. "Man's Best Friend/Lorna's First Fight" – 6:41 **, *
16. "Scars/Love Scene" – 3:45 *
17. "Roger's Boat" – 5:28 **
18. "Shaving" – 1:17 *
19. "Gun Montage/Lorna's Second Fight" – 3:33 *
20. "Captain Abducted/Captain and Travis" – 1:34 *
21. "Unauthorized Access" – 1:57 *
22. "Gun Battle" – 3:47 **
23. "Riggs Falls" – 2:11 *
24. "Drive to Housing Development/On Three" – 3:34 *
25. "Fire/Fire Battle/A Quiet Evening by the Fire" – 7:01 *

Disc two

Original album as above, followed by: Additional tracks

1. "Leo Getz" (alternate) – 2:38 *
2. "Armoured Car Chase" (no overlay) – 4:33 *
3. "Gun Battle" (alternate) – 5:26 *
4. "I Can't Retire" – 1:30 **