Focal Point LA - The pros are back

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Movie
German title Focal Point LA - The pros are back
Original title Lethal Weapon 3
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1992
length Theatrical version: 113 minutes
Director’s Cut : 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Richard Donner
script Shane Black
Jeffrey Boam
Robert Mark Kamen
production Richard Donner
Joel Silver
music Eric Clapton
Michael Kamen
David Sanborn
camera Jan de Bont
cut Robert Brown
Battle Davis
occupation
chronology

←  Predecessor
focal point LA

Successor  →
Lethal Weapon 4

Focal Point LA - The Pros Are Back , also known as Lethal Weapon 3 - The Pros Are Back , is an American action film from 1992 . Director was Richard Donner , the screenplay written Shane Black , Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen . The main roles are played by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover .

The film is the third episode after Two Steel-Hard Professionals and Brennpunkt LA Another sequel followed in 1998 with Lethal Weapon 4 . All four films were directed by Richard Donner.

action

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh find a bomb in a parking garage . Instead of waiting for the bombing squad, they try to defuse the bomb, which leads to a premature explosion. You save a cat at the last moment, but the building is destroyed shortly before the command arrives.

As a punishment, Riggs and Murtaugh have to do patrol duty - all a few days before Roger's retirement. The two get caught in a robbery in which the perpetrators flee with a money transporter. Murtaugh and Riggs manage to overpower the gangsters and arrest one of them. This brings them back their old badges a little later - much to the displeasure of some internal affairs officials ; First and foremost Sergeant Lorna Cole, who, with her direct nature, seems to be targeting Riggs in particular.

The officials of the so-called "internal" want to hunt down the case from the department , since special armor-piercing (and above all bulletproof vests ) ammunition - so-called copkiller - was used in the robbery , which was stolen from the police warehouse. A little later, the corrupt cop Jack Travis, who was actually thought to be dead, turns out to be a thief . He has made a pact with the gang boss Tyrone with some confidants, wants to sell him copkiller ammunition for several million and use the money to legally build the luxury housing estate Mesa Verde as part of his personal pension plan. He shoots the arrested robber, who was part of his gang but who planned the attack on his own, at the station.

Murtaugh and Riggs have other problems with their investigation. Martin makes peace with Lorna, and with a mutual appraisal of their respective old injuries from their service times, the two finally come closer personally. Roger has difficulties selling his house as he is far from satisfied with the negotiating methods of his realtor Leo Getz; in addition, he believes that Martin is approaching his daughter Rianne. To make matters worse, Roger kills a boy who turns out to be a friend of his son in a self-defense shootout. The stress that follows brings Murtaugh to the brink of desperation. Only when Riggs persuades him does he get up, and together the trio, reinforced by Lorna, pick up Tyrone.

Although the three of them can't prevent Travis from stealing the entire copkiller inventory from a police depot, Leo's thorough research ultimately leads them to the connection between Mesa Verde, Travis and the ammunition. In the shell of the luxury estate there is finally a shootout in which Travis, his gangsters, the ammunition supply and Mesa Verde itself are destroyed. Lorna is seriously injured, but survives and is taken to hospital.

Finally, the next day Roger decides that the house will not be sold after all and that he extends his time with the police - much to the displeasure of his wife Trish, who, however, agrees in the end. When Riggs finally arrives, Murtaugh also throws his suspicions about him and Rianne overboard, as Martin announces to his partner that he and Lorna are in a relationship.

At the end of the film, the two of them drive to work when another message comes in about a bomb. When they arrive at the scene, the bomb goes off before Riggs and Murtaugh can even enter the building.

backgrounds

  • Production costs amounted to about 35 million US dollars , the film grossed worldwide a US about $ 322 million.
  • A running gag in the film is that Riggs actually wants to quit smoking , but still takes up a cigarette several times. For various reasons he never gets a chance. As a nicotine substitute, he repeatedly uses dog snacks that he already has with him and once receives a raw onion from Murtaugh, which he bites boldly in order to distract himself from smoking.
  • In the film, Roger Murtaugh's daughter wears an animal welfare T-shirt and stickers are attached to the police station. This is due to director Richard Donner, who is an active animal rights activist.
  • There are some references to the Mad Max films that made Mel Gibson famous. The running gags with the dog biscuits eaten by Riggs as a substitute for smoking are reminiscent of Mad Max II - The Executor , where Gibson eats a can of dog food. In the armored car chase, the security officer Dolores , who chases Riggs and the gangsters with Murtaugh , calls himself a road warrior . Road Warrior was the nickname of Mad Max .
  • There are also short allusions to scenes from the predecessor Brennpunkt LA in the film: When Riggs tries to defuse the bomb in the parking garage and Murtaugh is only against it, Riggs reminds him of the bomb under the toilet in his house. In a later scene, Leo Getz walks through Murtaugh's house as a broker with prospective buyers and tells them that a bomb went off there and a car crashed through the window front and that everything was renovated as a result.
  • Which exploded at the beginning of the garage was in fact the old town hall of Orlando , Florida , which was actually blown up for the film. The policeman who claps and says "Bravo" after the detonation is Bill Frederick , the mayor of Orlando at the time. The city council was more than happy to have the town hall blown up and paid the producers $ 165,000 for the "favor". The town hall was originally lined with marble tops that were later used as table tops for coffee tables in Orlando.
  • The sets of the Mesa Verde settlement were taken over by the producers from a bankrupt construction company on condition that it be demolished for the film and then completely demolished.
  • The ice hockey stadium scene is an arranged match with extras in the LA Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys . To ensure authenticity, video material from a real ice hockey game between the two teams was cut into the film.
  • Many of Rigg's wounds he presents to Lorna are from hotspot LA
  • The computer game that Riggs starts on Lorna's computer is an action adventure called The Three Stooges produced by Cinemaware .
  • Murtaugh's boat is called Code 7 , which is the code for the US police for the lunch break.
  • Director and cameraman Jan de Bont has a mini appearance as a Dutch cameraman.
  • After the credits there is another scene in which another building is blown up.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times of May 15, 1992 that the film was no longer as "refreshing" as Two Steel-Hard Professionals and Focal Point LA. He said the film would focus more on special effects than the first two films in the series and less bet on the characters. Stuart Wilson in the role of the villain Jack Travis was less impressive than Joss Ackland in Focal Point LA .

Peter Travers criticized the script in Rolling Stone , which he described as an "excuse". He called the scene in which Riggs and Cole undress and show the scars the only interesting scene in the film. He compared the decision to shoot the third after two financially successful films with the business practices of Griffin Mill from the film The Player .

"The investigation of a gun robbery from the police warehouse serves only as a hook for perfectly staged, but schematic action and special effects scenes, the end in itself being loosened up less successfully than in the second part by humor."

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Mel Gibson and the duo Gibson and Danny Glover won the MTV Movie Award . The film was nominated for the MTV Movie Award in three other categories.

Eric Clapton , Michael Kamen and David Sanborn won the BMI Film Music Award . Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen and Sting were nominated for a Grammy Award for the song It's Probably Me .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Box office / business for Lethal Weapon 3: The pros are back
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Trivia
  3. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  4. ^ Review by Peter Travers
  5. ↑ Focal Point LA - The pros are back. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  6. ↑ Awards for Lethal Weapon 3: The pros are back