MovieChat Forums > Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) Discussion > Could this have worked as a Lethal Weapo...

Could this have worked as a Lethal Weapon sequel?

posted 9 years ago by tonyfinn_1
2 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I *beep* love DHWAV. I think it's the only other entry in the franchise to live up to the original by shaking up the series formula while staying true to the core concept of "ordinary cop vs. super criminals". But let's say, in some other reality, Joel Silver was successful in purchasing Hensleigh's Simon Says script from Fox back in '93, with the intention of turning it into Lethal Weapon 4. Would it have worked half as well? I actually think it could've. It would've made an interesting break from the procedural formula of the first three films, having Riggs and Murtaugh suddenly thrown into a deadly game by a mad bomber with a grudge to settle. I already kinda mapped out in my head how the Lethal Weapon version of this story would've played out.

For starters, the obvious change would've been from McClane/Zeus to Riggs/Murtaugh. The villainous Simon would perhaps have been some guy they put away looking for revenge. Other roles could easily be substituted. Insp. Cobb = Captain Murphy, Dr. Schiller = Dr Woods etc. Perhaps it could've been Murtaugh's youngest kids instead of Zeus' nephews who have their school targeted by Simon. I also would bring in Leo Getz to help with Simon's riddles, him being good with numbers as LW2 demonstrated. It would be funny to see him try to work out the St Ives riddle only to be shot down by Riggs and Murtaugh who worked out the real answer ages ago. I would then have Riggs and Lorna infiltrate Simon's boat at the end while Murtaugh tries to save his kids from getting blown up (I'd have Leo forced to tag along, getting a chance to be a hero after being Riggs and Murtaugh's chew toy for the past two movies). When Riggs and Lorna get strapped to Simon's bomb, Riggs decides to finally pop the big question to her.

It would've also have required a change of scenery from New York to LA. They could've had Riggs walk around South Central with the I Hate N****** sign (Leading to some major awkwardness with Murtaugh). Depending on whether or not they kept the "Revenge as smokescreen for major heist" plot twist, Simon and Co. could've targeted the Los Angeles Union Bank instead of the Federal Reserve.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the matter. We should be thankful that DH3 got as good a script as it did. We could've ended up with that awful "Caribbean Cruise hijacked by terrorists" script that ended up forming the basis for Speed 2. Shame the actual Lethal Weapon 4 ended up with such an unsatisfactory hodge-podge of a script.

Your sacrifice completes my sanctuary of one thousand testicles. - The Holy Mountain

[–] Nick7080 9 years ago

Those are some good ideas you have for plot of the movie. I always loved Die Hard With a Vengeance and while i would be more curious to see how would original Simon Says script turned out if it was made into its own movie, i also thought that the plot of the script would work just as well with Lethal Weapon film. Like you said, it would be different, and i'm sure that if done right it would have been very fast paced and fun action film just like DHWAV is.

That being said, i'm glad that DHWAV was made from Simon Says script. And like you and many others have said, Lethal Weapon 4 that we did get was very big disappointment and very lousy sequel. It did had some fun action sequences, but with the way story and characters were written it wasn't enough to save the movie. Even without knowing how they never had finished script during filming and little time to get it made, you can still tell that LW4 has lot of problems. Speaking of alternate plots and ideas, i think that the script that writer of third LW film wrote, one which had Riggs and Murtaugh fighting against neo-nazi militia group attacking L.A would be the better script for LW4.

[–] BOandBarbecue (2264) 2 years ago

this film was originally suppose to be lethal weapon sequel. the script is letheal weapon cast off.