Supremely enjoyable buddy cop progenitor that wrote the rule book on these films. Too old for this shit. Suicidal, psychotic new partner. Family man heading toward retirement. Shady ex-military bad guys. Torture. Blonde henchman. A proper action classic.
Hmnnn didn’t Starskey and Hutch Tv series write that particular rule book?
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Aside from two cops, not sure they have that much in common.
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Like a lot of 70s/80s TV, Starsky and Hutch is an attempt to rip off a movie or a film cycle that’s gained some prominence. There’s a few mid-70s buddy-ish cop flicks like Freebie and the Bean that they were deliberately referencing. I reckon though that these are precursors, and that what Lethal Weapon dies is crystallise a load of different elements such as Vietnam angst / loner cop antihero archetypes (basically Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, The Gauntlet, and Firefox) and bring them up to date in the mid 80s (The Cosby Show is a big influence on the Danny Glover character and his family). Shane Black’s magpie genus is bringing these together into a single flick, then setting it at Christmas. With Gary Busey.
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