What is a Christmas movie? It is an existential question that has been asked for, well, not that long, but is worth considering for people wanting to shoehorn a favorite flick into that genre. Consider whether “Lethal Weapon” is a Christmas movie.

Released a year before Christmas classic “Die Hard,” does the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover vehicle qualify as a Christmas movie? Does it involve reuniting a family? Yes. Does it happen at Christmastime? Yes. Are there Christmas songs? Yes. Does it have a redemption arc? Kind of. Is it a heart-warming tale to share with the family? Absolutely not.

To be honest, the film’s main character, Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs, is working through some issues. He loads up his Beretta 92FS with what he describes as a hollow point bullet and considers suicide – daily. He jumps off a building after handcuffing himself to a suicidal subject. Riggs is not in a good place, but the redemption arc has to start somewhere.

Southern California doesn’t offer the most Yuletide feel, with its blue skies and palm trees, but the film is all-in on Christmas. The film definitely leans into the holiday with Christmas music, decorations and holiday references sprinkled throughout. Looking a little closer, is that enough to consider “Lethal Weapon” a Christmas movie? Beware. There are spoilers ahead from this 1987 shoot ‘em-up blockbuster.

Christmas Trees and Shotguns

“Jingle Bell Rock” plays over the opening credits, signaling the film is set at Christmas time before it gets to its grim plot, starting with the investigation into a young woman’s death, falling from her apartment balcony. We’re introduced to Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh and Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs separately before they are paired.  Murtaugh is turning 50 and he mutters his famous phrase for the first time in the movie, “I’m too old for this sh#t.”

The first true sign of Christmas is Riggs at a tree lot surrounded by firs and pines on an undercover drug arrest, the first significant set piece of the movie. Three drug dealers demand payment. When Riggs attempts to arrest them he pulls out his badge to the trio’s disbelief. Riggs assures them it is quite real, pulling his Beretta 92F, saying “Now that’s a real badge, I’m a real cop, and this is a real f**king gun!”

Riggs is in the generous holiday spirit, sharing his 9mm bullets with the bad guys, especially a fourth who appears with a Mossberg 500 from the back of a truck full of Christmas trees.  Riggs ends the confrontation with a head butt to the last remaining bad guy.

Martin Riggs faces down three drug dealers while a fourth man tries to get a jump on him from behind with a Mossberg 500. Spoiler: the bad guy fails.

Later in the movie as Riggs and Murtaugh investigate a house as they begin unwind a vast drug conspiracy, they are shot at by a bad guy wielding a Remington 870 “Witness Protection” model with a shortened barrel and stock. Things don’t go well for him as he is shot in the leg, then shot again, falling into a swimming pool where he dies.

We never get good looks at the shotguns, since Riggs makes quick work of the men shooting them, but Internet Movie Firearms Database assures us the tree lot shotgun is a Mossberg and the bad guy who ends up in the pool was carrying the shortened variation of the best-selling shotgun in history.

A bad guy shoots at Riggs and Murtaugh using a shortened Remington 870 pump shotgun. The Witness Protection model was adopted by the U.S. Marshal’s Service and has a 14.5-inch barrel and a shortened stock with an ergonomic grip.

Unhappy Holidays?

Christmastime can be filled with joy, laughter and fun, but for some it is a struggle with loneliness, and that is Riggs’ ordeal. Not to dwell on it, but the scene with his Beretta, a single bullet and a photo of his dead wife is a poignant reminder of how difficult the holidays can be for some. Riggs’ fragile mental state is driven home after his handcuffed jump from the building fuels an argument between the two new partners. The argument, in a store with a window advertising a “Christmas sale” and a snowman painted on a door involves Murtaugh’s Smith & Wesson Model 19 and shows how close Riggs is to self-harm.

The Beretta 92 used in “Lethal Weapon,” would be carried a year later by John McClane in the archetypal Christmas actioner, “Die Hard.”

The pair, with their guns, do share a light-hearted moment on the police gun range where Murtaugh shows off with a perfect head shot with his Model 19. Riggs sends the target out even further and lets fly with his Beretta. Returning the target, he has added bullet hole eyes and a smile.

Murtaugh’s Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver was a popular police carry gun in the 1980s. Chambered in .357 Magnum, a later variation would be the stainless steel Model 66.

Christmas Beverages

Murtaugh is contacted by a former Army colleague, Michael Hunsacker. He is the dead woman’s father, a banker tied to a heroin-trafficking operation, called Shadow Company, which started as a CIA paramilitary unit in the Vietnam War. During the two men’s conversation, Hunsacker drinks from a carton of the classic holiday beverage, egg nog.

Unfortunately, Shadow Company’s enforcer, Mr. Joshua, played by Gary Busey, arrives at the oceanside mansion via helicopter and dispatches Hunsacker from the hovering copter with a scoped Colt XM177 Commando. Riggs mag dumps his Beretta at the helicopter as it flies away.

Mr. Joshua uses the Colt Commando with great ferocity throughout the film.

The Colt XM177 was introduced in 1966 as a shorter M16 with select fire and a flash suppressor. The barrel was extended from its initial 10 inches to 11.5 inches, reducing muzzle flash and noise.

A Christmas Joke?

After a failed attempt to rescue Murtaugh’s daughter, Rianne, who had been taken by Shadow Company, Riggs and Murtaugh are tortured – Riggs via a car battery. After he escapes his torturer, Riggs dispatches several Shadow Company thugs and rescues Murtaugh and Rianne. They flee from where they were held with Riggs asking, “What did one shepherd say to the other shepherd?” The answer? “Let’s get the flock out of here.” One must decide if this is related to the Christmas story or is it just a dad joke before dad jokes.

Escaping through a nightclub, the fleeing trio have to avoid spray from an Uzi, carried by several of the Shadow Company thugs during the film.

Along with the Beretta 92, the Uzi enjoyed a Hollywood heyday in the 1980s, used in more than 60 movies during that decade.

Christmas Lights and a Final Fight

The heroin ring unraveled, Riggs and Murtaugh figure Mr. Joshua is headed to the Murtaugh house for revenge on Roger’s family. Mr. Joshua shoots up the house, including the television showing a Christmas commercial, but ends up brawling with Riggs in the front yard, lit by Christmas lights from the house and surrounding houses. Riggs defeats Mr. Joshua who is taken into custody. Mr. Joshua gets free and gets an officer’s gun, but is fatally shot by Riggs and Murtaugh.

Mr. Joshua wields several guns during the film including a compact Beretta 950 Jetfire chambered in .25 ACP.

A Murtaugh Family Christmas

The film ends with Riggs, who visited his wife’s grave, goes to the Murtaugh’s shot-up house where Rianne answers the door. He gives her the hollow point bullet wrapped with ribbon. “Tell your Dad I won’t need this anymore.”

“It’s a bullet,” she replies.

“Yeah, he’ll understand,” said Riggs, achieving redemption and defeating his demons.

Rianne Murtaugh holds the bullet Riggs asks her to give to her father as they stand at the family's holiday-decorated plywood front door.

Murtaugh hears them at the door and invites Riggs in for dinner. As Riggs enters the house, Murtaugh adjusts one of the lights on the house’s trim. The film offers a family story – a violent family story set at Christmas, starting a trend that would set “Die Hard” at a Christmas party gone wrong.

According to a Dazed Digital interview with one of the “Die Hard” screenwriters, producer Joel Silver wanted it set at Christmas because he “had made Lethal Weapon the previous year, which was also set during the holiday, and he had decided he liked all his movies to take place at Christmas, as they would then very likely be played on television every December, and we would all get residual checks. Obviously, he was right!”

Is “Lethal Weapon” a Christmas movie? Clearly, yes.

A message for Mr. Joshua nestled among Christmas decorations. A moment later, a police squad car crashed through the front of the Murtaugh house.

Merry Christmas from Rock Island Auction

Whether your preference in Christmas movies is the Hallmark Channel, classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street,” or bombastic action films set at Christmas, like 2022’s “Violent Night,” we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sources:

Internet Movie Firearms Database