over analysis of a "simple" movie: The First 20 Minutes of Lethal Weapon...
The First 20 Minutes of Lethal Weapon...
and the Rest of That Crap
The film, or rather movie, Lethal Weapon (1987) is one that seems to have some sort of influence on every man who grew up in the 1980s and early 90s. This is a movie that is made for men by men. There are moments for the ’dates‘ that are predictably seeing this film, but they are few and far between. This action genre Hollywood film is one that attempts to be deeper than it looks, at least for the first twenty minutes or so... I will discuss those successful moments and those unsuccessful, focusing on the technical aspects that drive the movie, but first looking to the creators to see how their influence is spread.
The director Richard Donner, set the course for the film. What we see in Lethal Weapon we also see in his films The Goonies (1985), Superman: The Movie (1978), and Assassins (1995). There is often a lone hero, or at least heroes that can be classified as underdogs. The action genre appears to be his preference. Through this genre he supports and creates the classic Hollywood ending. After Lethal Weapon, he has worked on films in the same genre and with similar themes, also working repeatedly with Mel Gibson. Donner also worked in television, producing many Tales from the Crypt (1989) television episodes. This implies that he has an understanding of the darker themes and scenes that would be used in that series, and appear in Lethal Weapon. In this genre low lighting and intense music are a prerequisite, and Donner has it mastered.
Another influence is the writer, Shane Black. Lethal Weapon was his film writing debut. In the same year the less successful film The Monster Squad was in theaters, also written by Black. Much like Donner, Black’s films fit into the action genre with titles such as Last Action Hero (1993) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). Black, being only 26 when Lethal Weapon was released has reason for writing an immature film. The limited life experience that Black probably held influences the film in that this author is writing from only what he knows. This fits well with the theme of have fun and not much more that is presented in Lethal Weapon.
Production ideas come through the cinematographer as well, in this case Stephen Goldblatt. Joe verses the Volcano (1990) and Striptease (1996) are a few of those that he has worked on. These films are of very different styles but both show a quality in their attempt to be taken seriously, more so in Joe verses the Volcano than in the other, of course. Editing is essential in the way we see a film. Stuart Baird has worked on Superman: The Movie and Demolition Man (1993). He has also worked with Donner on other projects. The cuts in Lethal Weapon follow the basic rules of editing without any real experimentation, which is consistent with the genre and his additional work.
Moving on to the film, Lethal Weapon opens with a helicopter shot of Los Angeles. This opening sequence sets the stage with darkness and Christmas music. In this film there is an ironic choice of setting for the time of year. Christmas is the background throughout, with the music and the sets. In this particular scene ”Jingle Bell Rock“ is used with the line: ”now the jingle bell hop has begun“. This indicates the beginning of the important plot elements. The music is first and then we come to the decorations as we are presented with the half naked whore. The choice of shot here is a continues long shot that zooms into focus on the young blonde. One of first cuts is is to the blonde using coke from the coffee table where we can see a reflection of Christmas lights. The choice of mise-en-scene is being used to play with these contradictory ideas, Christmas versus drugs.
The theme of contradiction carries over to our main characters. Their introduction to the audience is the most effective part of the film. First we are acquainted with Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover) through a picturesque representation of suburban life. A beautiful sunrise shot of a two story house opens the scene. The milk truck pulls up, a neighbor walks by with their dog, we are given an image of American bliss. We then jump-cut to Roger nude in the bath and a ”Surprise!“ from his family. The camera stays on this one shot till the family leaves. For this birthday moment the camera frames the daughter in the middle with Roger the prominent figure. The characters move within the frame to kiss Roger and then leave. This allows Donner to have the focus on whatever character he wants without moving the camera or cutting to a new shot.
The daughter, Rianne (played by Traci Wolfe), is the last to leave. This is where the first cut is as it brings Rianne and her father into a close shot together. She splashes him with water and seems to flirt as she teases him about his beard. The cut draws attention to this moment and brings them in a more intimate position. This choice indicates a Electra Complex, which is recreated later in the film. As Rianne says, ”Bye, Father“ and leaves, the music comes in. This is Roger’s theme. It is a slow calm, stereotypically, jazz sax theme. This stereotyping is typical to in all of Lethal Weapon as the black, white, and asian characters are placed in cookie cutters.
These cutters are seen as the music transitions to guitar and we are introduced to Sergeant Martin Riggs (played by Mel Gibson). Contradictory to Roger’s opening shot, Riggs’ is of a dreary gray beach morning. The scene starts with a crane shot of the beach. There is a golden dog running to the right of the screen, and the camera moves in on the dog as he crosses the street to a trailer park. A jump-cut that follows to a man smoking in bed. His face is covered by his arm as he ’wakes‘ with coughing. On the bed with him is a gun and an ash tray. The guitar theme, Riggs’ theme, fades to the sounds of Family Feud on the TV This is the anit-suburban experience. Riggs is not surround by American bliss, but by the leftovers of society.
As the scene progresses we are shown the emptiness of his life, with the exception of his dog. Sam, the dog, fits into Riggs’ character as Riggs is the lone ranger; and although the ranger is alone he still has his horse, or dog. The shots in this scene are close on Riggs, and then move to long shots from either end of the trailer. As in both, Roger’s or Riggs’, scenes the majority of the movie is done through master shots. Baird’s editing style only uses quick cuts in action sequences to exaggerate the tension. This is, as I said before, by the book editing. Even in conversations between characters Baird uses traditional Hollywood shot-reverse-shot almost without exception.
In the Film so far we have had our characters waking to (nearly) everyday life in their own worlds, and this now continues. The cross cutting between these two environments makes the theme of contradiction more apparent, as the next scene returns to Roger’s same morning. The camera, from indoors, follows two young women who enter from the outside. As part of the representation of the relaxed environment Roger lives in, these two women enter without knocking or announcement. Baird is creative with the cut to a close up of a dropped egg. Roger enters the kitchen and comments on his wife’s skill in cooking. Domesticity continues with the couples conversation, even as it includes some of the information we will need later for the criminal plot.
Roger leaves his wife and the kitchen to attend to his children. After a complaint from the youngest, the eldest daughter comes down the stairs and the sax theme starts up. Roger is gazing longingly towards Rianne in her new dress. His lingering gaze cuts off all words until he is at the door and proclaims, ”God Damn Heartbreaker“. In this we can either assume he is the shocked father of an aging daughter or we can bring in Electra. Roger’s gaze is the male gaze of the camera that persists throughout the film on all women. In this scene alone, no women hold a place of respect. The wife is incompetent, and the daughter is a sex object–and so are her friends as Roger teases them. Even in Roger’s comment to the cat shows him as a ’man’s man‘ who doesn’t like fuzzy things, along with one who is rude to his wife, and sexualizes young women.
Moving through the day, Baird jump cuts to Riggs back (still in the trailer) moving away from the camera. The shot introduces the scene with darkness and then the character brings in the light. A creative way to transition, this introduces us to Riggs’ morning as it directly opposes Roger’s. This choice also shows that the character has control over this environment. Here the shot is motionless, the camera stays at the back of the trailer. In Roger’s scene the camera follows him, and cuts to new locations. This is for practical purposes, but it also expresses the smallness of Riggs’ life opposed to the richness of Roger’s. The foley in this scene take on a humorous light as Riggs puts his loaded gun in his pants and a girl screams on the TV set. This enthusiastic scream acknowledges the phallic nature of the weapon, and the use of Gibson as a sex object.
Then we jump cut to the television show and the wedding photo. With Family Feud on the TV, this severely contradicts the happy wedding photo, but matches our lack of knowledge about Riggs’ past. As Roger ate bacon, Riggs eats a dog biscuit, drinks his beer, then throws the bottle into the television set. With this the creators are throwing contradictions in our face. Roger is happy, Riggs is sad. These two characters have completely different lives, but they are still both kind men as we see in Riggs apologizing to Sam (the dog), and the woman in the picture, then promising to replace the TV. Riggs violently smashing his TV reveals his instability, at the same time sending a none to subtle message to viewers about the evils of TV. This anti-media agenda is repeated throughout the film–which is of course a form of media (how ironic) which matches Riggs self loathing.
In the following scene we return to Roger, beginning with Roger’s back to the camera as he takes off his jacket. This devise connects the two men on a subconscious level for the audience. We are being introduced to them in the same way even though they are very different men. Part of the transition is also the use of Roger’s theme, as before. The Sergeant is at the shooting range and is celebrating his birthday by proving to himself that he still has it. ’It‘ being the ability to shoot accurately. The matches another message that this movie sends: what it is to be a man. This is one example of how the characters in this film define their manhood, and this motif of guns as manhood is repeated over and over. This sends the negative message to young men that violence is what makes you powerful.
In this next episode with Riggs we begin the introduction to work personalities. The jump-cut is to Riggs’ American car and a call to a crime scene. The guitar music that is Riggs’ theme comes in, but with a western twang. We see Riggs as the Lone Ranger. Everything in this next scene sets him up to be the lonely man who comes in to save the day when no one else can, the Lone Ranger. The other police officers at the scene are clueless and the S.W.A.T. is not coming. The cuts are made between Riggs strolling confidently into danger, to the children at whom shots are aimed. Baird’s editing allows the viewer to know what is going on quickly and easily. The quick cuts made in this scene are contrary to the long shots in the earlier introduction sequences. This brings up the tension. All of this enforces the perspective that being reckless is sexy and manly.
In the final part of this sequence Riggs faces the sniper. He walks up the stairs to meet him, as the female officer (with pink manicured nails) tells him that's he’s ”in the line of fire!“ and tries to grab his legs. The camera follows him up the stairs in one smooth motion then jumps to a close up of his face, then ”Hello Mr. Sniper“. Riggs appears completely lost in his anger as he shoots at this sniper, and the sniper shoots back with no accuracy at all. Riggs fires out the clip and then loads another after the villain is very dead. The audience understands now that he loses control when firing a weapon. This is reinforced in Riggs’ next scene.
Before Riggs lost control again, we jump to Roger’s day on duty. The shot is long and stays in the car even after Roger has left. Here we are returned to the events of the opening sequence as Roger is assigned to this homicide. We see Rogers concern for the victim only after he realizes he knows her parents. This matches his attitude towards the hooker in the scene. In this it is confirmed that Roger is an upstanding moral citizen. The scene ends with Roger sitting on the floor in the mess of the hotel room. Head down, nearly silhouetted in the light from the window, Roger’s mood is reflected in his theme music as it fades in.
Moral ambiguity is introduced in Riggs’ next sequence. We start with a close up of duct taped bags of white powder– presumably drugs. This transitions smoothly from the last scene as Roger is left in a room full of the same powder. In contradiction to Roger’s scene, the set is outdoors and bright. The viewers take this as a drug deal with Riggs as the buyer. This is supported in the dialogue and the acting. The acting, although terrible, does promote a convincing scene of a corrupt cop. Since this is a comedy we need some humor, which is given through the dialogue. After Riggs reads the criminals their rights, half-assed, a chase persists through the maze of Christmas trees. The traditional orchestral tension music kicks in and the audience knows to hold its breath.
The scene comes to a head with Riggs begging the drug dealer to shoot him. In the confusion of the moment he takes the gun and threatens the criminal. In an unrealistic manner, which fits with the film as a whole, a fellow officer calmly walks up, while Riggs is still aiming the gun, and tells him its not worth it. This is our introduction to Riggs’ suicidal tendencies. Re-enforcement is given as we fade to the beach. It is a dark shot similar to the one in the morning. Instead of Sam there is a bonfire. The crosscutting editing choice is broken here. We do not return to Roger but continue with Riggs and see the end of his day. In this switch we understand Riggs to be the main character–of course it’s the white character. He is back at his trailer at night. Riggs is drinking and watching a Looney-Toons Christmas special. We cut to what is sitting in his lap: the wedding picture, and a gun in Riggs’ hand. To build the tension quick cuts are used, back and forth between Riggs loading his special bullet and the wedding photo. Even shots of the TV program are included, the director's anti-TV message can’t be missed. The tension ends as Riggs drops the gun and hugs the photo while crying.
After this emotional sequence we are jump-cut to singing police officers. Explanation or Riggs’ behavior is given by the ineffectual cop psychologist. Her conversation with the chief is one-sided and stopped by the men’s room door. This is an obvious statement that this is a man’s world and that women just don't count. We then move to Roger’s world. He is speaking to the ’80’s man‘. The definition of how men are supposed to act is given: they are supposed to cry. Although, this doesn’t actually change anything as the man explains his motivation to cry as not having a woman to fuck. This is enforced with Roger’s whole discounting of the emotional man. Roger then spots a strange man who looks criminal. Here is where the characters meet. They are in the defined wholes as the nervous older man, and the dangerous wild man, as Roger attempts to take down Riggs and is instead taken down himself.
From here we have the buddy picture. We continue on the path of these two characters as they enforce their own stereotypical roles and absorb some of their buddy’s traits as their own–in classic buddy flic form. The rest of the film has the violence and tough guy manner that makes this genre successful. We are presented with racism (with Endo, the Asian torture specialist, and his American accent), sexism (as no female plays an effectual part). The film fulfills the expectation of the audience.
In the first twenty minutes our main characters are introduced in many different scenes in the crosscutting editing that allows for them to be connected and separate. We are given traditional Hollywood techniques’ in Riggs desperado scene, and Roger’s suburban bliss. These contradictory characters are formulated in these opening scenes to express Donner’s message and to relate to the audience. What makes this film worthwhile is the techniques used to present these characters.
and the Rest of That Crap
The film, or rather movie, Lethal Weapon (1987) is one that seems to have some sort of influence on every man who grew up in the 1980s and early 90s. This is a movie that is made for men by men. There are moments for the ’dates‘ that are predictably seeing this film, but they are few and far between. This action genre Hollywood film is one that attempts to be deeper than it looks, at least for the first twenty minutes or so... I will discuss those successful moments and those unsuccessful, focusing on the technical aspects that drive the movie, but first looking to the creators to see how their influence is spread.
The director Richard Donner, set the course for the film. What we see in Lethal Weapon we also see in his films The Goonies (1985), Superman: The Movie (1978), and Assassins (1995). There is often a lone hero, or at least heroes that can be classified as underdogs. The action genre appears to be his preference. Through this genre he supports and creates the classic Hollywood ending. After Lethal Weapon, he has worked on films in the same genre and with similar themes, also working repeatedly with Mel Gibson. Donner also worked in television, producing many Tales from the Crypt (1989) television episodes. This implies that he has an understanding of the darker themes and scenes that would be used in that series, and appear in Lethal Weapon. In this genre low lighting and intense music are a prerequisite, and Donner has it mastered.
Another influence is the writer, Shane Black. Lethal Weapon was his film writing debut. In the same year the less successful film The Monster Squad was in theaters, also written by Black. Much like Donner, Black’s films fit into the action genre with titles such as Last Action Hero (1993) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). Black, being only 26 when Lethal Weapon was released has reason for writing an immature film. The limited life experience that Black probably held influences the film in that this author is writing from only what he knows. This fits well with the theme of have fun and not much more that is presented in Lethal Weapon.
Production ideas come through the cinematographer as well, in this case Stephen Goldblatt. Joe verses the Volcano (1990) and Striptease (1996) are a few of those that he has worked on. These films are of very different styles but both show a quality in their attempt to be taken seriously, more so in Joe verses the Volcano than in the other, of course. Editing is essential in the way we see a film. Stuart Baird has worked on Superman: The Movie and Demolition Man (1993). He has also worked with Donner on other projects. The cuts in Lethal Weapon follow the basic rules of editing without any real experimentation, which is consistent with the genre and his additional work.
Moving on to the film, Lethal Weapon opens with a helicopter shot of Los Angeles. This opening sequence sets the stage with darkness and Christmas music. In this film there is an ironic choice of setting for the time of year. Christmas is the background throughout, with the music and the sets. In this particular scene ”Jingle Bell Rock“ is used with the line: ”now the jingle bell hop has begun“. This indicates the beginning of the important plot elements. The music is first and then we come to the decorations as we are presented with the half naked whore. The choice of shot here is a continues long shot that zooms into focus on the young blonde. One of first cuts is is to the blonde using coke from the coffee table where we can see a reflection of Christmas lights. The choice of mise-en-scene is being used to play with these contradictory ideas, Christmas versus drugs.
The theme of contradiction carries over to our main characters. Their introduction to the audience is the most effective part of the film. First we are acquainted with Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover) through a picturesque representation of suburban life. A beautiful sunrise shot of a two story house opens the scene. The milk truck pulls up, a neighbor walks by with their dog, we are given an image of American bliss. We then jump-cut to Roger nude in the bath and a ”Surprise!“ from his family. The camera stays on this one shot till the family leaves. For this birthday moment the camera frames the daughter in the middle with Roger the prominent figure. The characters move within the frame to kiss Roger and then leave. This allows Donner to have the focus on whatever character he wants without moving the camera or cutting to a new shot.
The daughter, Rianne (played by Traci Wolfe), is the last to leave. This is where the first cut is as it brings Rianne and her father into a close shot together. She splashes him with water and seems to flirt as she teases him about his beard. The cut draws attention to this moment and brings them in a more intimate position. This choice indicates a Electra Complex, which is recreated later in the film. As Rianne says, ”Bye, Father“ and leaves, the music comes in. This is Roger’s theme. It is a slow calm, stereotypically, jazz sax theme. This stereotyping is typical to in all of Lethal Weapon as the black, white, and asian characters are placed in cookie cutters.
These cutters are seen as the music transitions to guitar and we are introduced to Sergeant Martin Riggs (played by Mel Gibson). Contradictory to Roger’s opening shot, Riggs’ is of a dreary gray beach morning. The scene starts with a crane shot of the beach. There is a golden dog running to the right of the screen, and the camera moves in on the dog as he crosses the street to a trailer park. A jump-cut that follows to a man smoking in bed. His face is covered by his arm as he ’wakes‘ with coughing. On the bed with him is a gun and an ash tray. The guitar theme, Riggs’ theme, fades to the sounds of Family Feud on the TV This is the anit-suburban experience. Riggs is not surround by American bliss, but by the leftovers of society.
As the scene progresses we are shown the emptiness of his life, with the exception of his dog. Sam, the dog, fits into Riggs’ character as Riggs is the lone ranger; and although the ranger is alone he still has his horse, or dog. The shots in this scene are close on Riggs, and then move to long shots from either end of the trailer. As in both, Roger’s or Riggs’, scenes the majority of the movie is done through master shots. Baird’s editing style only uses quick cuts in action sequences to exaggerate the tension. This is, as I said before, by the book editing. Even in conversations between characters Baird uses traditional Hollywood shot-reverse-shot almost without exception.
In the Film so far we have had our characters waking to (nearly) everyday life in their own worlds, and this now continues. The cross cutting between these two environments makes the theme of contradiction more apparent, as the next scene returns to Roger’s same morning. The camera, from indoors, follows two young women who enter from the outside. As part of the representation of the relaxed environment Roger lives in, these two women enter without knocking or announcement. Baird is creative with the cut to a close up of a dropped egg. Roger enters the kitchen and comments on his wife’s skill in cooking. Domesticity continues with the couples conversation, even as it includes some of the information we will need later for the criminal plot.
Roger leaves his wife and the kitchen to attend to his children. After a complaint from the youngest, the eldest daughter comes down the stairs and the sax theme starts up. Roger is gazing longingly towards Rianne in her new dress. His lingering gaze cuts off all words until he is at the door and proclaims, ”God Damn Heartbreaker“. In this we can either assume he is the shocked father of an aging daughter or we can bring in Electra. Roger’s gaze is the male gaze of the camera that persists throughout the film on all women. In this scene alone, no women hold a place of respect. The wife is incompetent, and the daughter is a sex object–and so are her friends as Roger teases them. Even in Roger’s comment to the cat shows him as a ’man’s man‘ who doesn’t like fuzzy things, along with one who is rude to his wife, and sexualizes young women.
Moving through the day, Baird jump cuts to Riggs back (still in the trailer) moving away from the camera. The shot introduces the scene with darkness and then the character brings in the light. A creative way to transition, this introduces us to Riggs’ morning as it directly opposes Roger’s. This choice also shows that the character has control over this environment. Here the shot is motionless, the camera stays at the back of the trailer. In Roger’s scene the camera follows him, and cuts to new locations. This is for practical purposes, but it also expresses the smallness of Riggs’ life opposed to the richness of Roger’s. The foley in this scene take on a humorous light as Riggs puts his loaded gun in his pants and a girl screams on the TV set. This enthusiastic scream acknowledges the phallic nature of the weapon, and the use of Gibson as a sex object.
Then we jump cut to the television show and the wedding photo. With Family Feud on the TV, this severely contradicts the happy wedding photo, but matches our lack of knowledge about Riggs’ past. As Roger ate bacon, Riggs eats a dog biscuit, drinks his beer, then throws the bottle into the television set. With this the creators are throwing contradictions in our face. Roger is happy, Riggs is sad. These two characters have completely different lives, but they are still both kind men as we see in Riggs apologizing to Sam (the dog), and the woman in the picture, then promising to replace the TV. Riggs violently smashing his TV reveals his instability, at the same time sending a none to subtle message to viewers about the evils of TV. This anti-media agenda is repeated throughout the film–which is of course a form of media (how ironic) which matches Riggs self loathing.
In the following scene we return to Roger, beginning with Roger’s back to the camera as he takes off his jacket. This devise connects the two men on a subconscious level for the audience. We are being introduced to them in the same way even though they are very different men. Part of the transition is also the use of Roger’s theme, as before. The Sergeant is at the shooting range and is celebrating his birthday by proving to himself that he still has it. ’It‘ being the ability to shoot accurately. The matches another message that this movie sends: what it is to be a man. This is one example of how the characters in this film define their manhood, and this motif of guns as manhood is repeated over and over. This sends the negative message to young men that violence is what makes you powerful.
In this next episode with Riggs we begin the introduction to work personalities. The jump-cut is to Riggs’ American car and a call to a crime scene. The guitar music that is Riggs’ theme comes in, but with a western twang. We see Riggs as the Lone Ranger. Everything in this next scene sets him up to be the lonely man who comes in to save the day when no one else can, the Lone Ranger. The other police officers at the scene are clueless and the S.W.A.T. is not coming. The cuts are made between Riggs strolling confidently into danger, to the children at whom shots are aimed. Baird’s editing allows the viewer to know what is going on quickly and easily. The quick cuts made in this scene are contrary to the long shots in the earlier introduction sequences. This brings up the tension. All of this enforces the perspective that being reckless is sexy and manly.
In the final part of this sequence Riggs faces the sniper. He walks up the stairs to meet him, as the female officer (with pink manicured nails) tells him that's he’s ”in the line of fire!“ and tries to grab his legs. The camera follows him up the stairs in one smooth motion then jumps to a close up of his face, then ”Hello Mr. Sniper“. Riggs appears completely lost in his anger as he shoots at this sniper, and the sniper shoots back with no accuracy at all. Riggs fires out the clip and then loads another after the villain is very dead. The audience understands now that he loses control when firing a weapon. This is reinforced in Riggs’ next scene.
Before Riggs lost control again, we jump to Roger’s day on duty. The shot is long and stays in the car even after Roger has left. Here we are returned to the events of the opening sequence as Roger is assigned to this homicide. We see Rogers concern for the victim only after he realizes he knows her parents. This matches his attitude towards the hooker in the scene. In this it is confirmed that Roger is an upstanding moral citizen. The scene ends with Roger sitting on the floor in the mess of the hotel room. Head down, nearly silhouetted in the light from the window, Roger’s mood is reflected in his theme music as it fades in.
Moral ambiguity is introduced in Riggs’ next sequence. We start with a close up of duct taped bags of white powder– presumably drugs. This transitions smoothly from the last scene as Roger is left in a room full of the same powder. In contradiction to Roger’s scene, the set is outdoors and bright. The viewers take this as a drug deal with Riggs as the buyer. This is supported in the dialogue and the acting. The acting, although terrible, does promote a convincing scene of a corrupt cop. Since this is a comedy we need some humor, which is given through the dialogue. After Riggs reads the criminals their rights, half-assed, a chase persists through the maze of Christmas trees. The traditional orchestral tension music kicks in and the audience knows to hold its breath.
The scene comes to a head with Riggs begging the drug dealer to shoot him. In the confusion of the moment he takes the gun and threatens the criminal. In an unrealistic manner, which fits with the film as a whole, a fellow officer calmly walks up, while Riggs is still aiming the gun, and tells him its not worth it. This is our introduction to Riggs’ suicidal tendencies. Re-enforcement is given as we fade to the beach. It is a dark shot similar to the one in the morning. Instead of Sam there is a bonfire. The crosscutting editing choice is broken here. We do not return to Roger but continue with Riggs and see the end of his day. In this switch we understand Riggs to be the main character–of course it’s the white character. He is back at his trailer at night. Riggs is drinking and watching a Looney-Toons Christmas special. We cut to what is sitting in his lap: the wedding picture, and a gun in Riggs’ hand. To build the tension quick cuts are used, back and forth between Riggs loading his special bullet and the wedding photo. Even shots of the TV program are included, the director's anti-TV message can’t be missed. The tension ends as Riggs drops the gun and hugs the photo while crying.
After this emotional sequence we are jump-cut to singing police officers. Explanation or Riggs’ behavior is given by the ineffectual cop psychologist. Her conversation with the chief is one-sided and stopped by the men’s room door. This is an obvious statement that this is a man’s world and that women just don't count. We then move to Roger’s world. He is speaking to the ’80’s man‘. The definition of how men are supposed to act is given: they are supposed to cry. Although, this doesn’t actually change anything as the man explains his motivation to cry as not having a woman to fuck. This is enforced with Roger’s whole discounting of the emotional man. Roger then spots a strange man who looks criminal. Here is where the characters meet. They are in the defined wholes as the nervous older man, and the dangerous wild man, as Roger attempts to take down Riggs and is instead taken down himself.
From here we have the buddy picture. We continue on the path of these two characters as they enforce their own stereotypical roles and absorb some of their buddy’s traits as their own–in classic buddy flic form. The rest of the film has the violence and tough guy manner that makes this genre successful. We are presented with racism (with Endo, the Asian torture specialist, and his American accent), sexism (as no female plays an effectual part). The film fulfills the expectation of the audience.
In the first twenty minutes our main characters are introduced in many different scenes in the crosscutting editing that allows for them to be connected and separate. We are given traditional Hollywood techniques’ in Riggs desperado scene, and Roger’s suburban bliss. These contradictory characters are formulated in these opening scenes to express Donner’s message and to relate to the audience. What makes this film worthwhile is the techniques used to present these characters.
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