Bird on a Wire, 1990

Director: John Badham (also directed Saturday Night Fever)

Stars: Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn

Rick has spent 15 years in Witness Protection after helping put murderous drug dealers Diggs and Sorenson behind bars. When his former fiancee Marianne (Hawn) thinks she recognizes him at a gas station in Detroit, he knows it's time to move on, before Diggs and Sorenson find him too. Unbeknownst to him, however, his new contact in the FBI is working with the drug dealers, and gives them his location. When they come to Detroit to kill him, Marianne unwittingly saves his life. Now they are both on the run!

I love this movie! I also feel a special attachment to it, since it takes place in the Midwest. (It was filmed in British Columbia, Canada, though, sadly.) But it's supposed to be Michigan, Wisconsin, and Missouri, so that should count for something!

Just a little warning: this isn't the cleanest movie. You see Mel's butt (he was shot in the butt), and there's a sex scene, though you don't see too much.

NOTE: Okay, one thing I always notice and I've never noticed on any other movie before (not that no one else has done this, I've just never noticed before): the credits at the end come from the top and go to the bottom! It's a little weird!

Lethal Weapon 2, 1989

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

Riggs and Murtaugh return! Hurray! And with them is a new character, Leo (a very hysterical Pesci), a man they must protect from South African crazies who have diplomatic immunity, which, at least in television and movies, is absolutely disgusting. Do people really use diplomatic immunity the way they do in Hollywood? Because if so, why do we have it? It seems wrong to me!

Anyway, it was really good for an action movie. Once again, I've just got to warn anyone who wants to watch it that there is nudity and language, and naturally, violence.

Basically, the good guys fight the bad guys. Riggs is a part of the Murtaugh's family now.

If you liked Lethal Weapon 1, I'm sure you'll like 2!

Lethal Weapon, 1987

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover

Um, wow! My parents let me watch this!?!

Okay, it isn't the dirtiest movie out there, and the only nudity is in the first ten minutes: you see a woman's chest and then a little later, Mel's butt. This isn't for kids! I would say it's great for action, because I like Mel Gibson, and he and Danny Glover work so well together as the new partners who hate each other, and then become friends. Language is kind of awful too, but I think this movie might be the best of the series (there are 4) in the language department. The F-word is sprinkled throughout.

Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) has recently lost his wife, and lives for the thrill of near-death situations, even contemplating suicide quite often in his sadness. Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Glover) gets stuck with Riggs as his new partner, and doesn't trust this crazy man with a death wish. But soon, Riggs saves Murtaugh's life, and Murtaugh lets Riggs meet his big family full of wonderful kids, who love Riggs at once. And the two become friends as they fight the bad guys.

It's not as heart-warming as that, but that's basically it. And actually, it was a Christmas movie, so it's supposed to be heartwarming, I guess. And it's nice to watch the other movies in the series, and see how the relationship grows between Riggs and the Murtaughs, and how he becomes part of the family. That's the part I like. They're so sweet!

And in between are lots of fighting, explosions, shooting, and death. Yay!

Note: The director, Richard Donner, sounded very familiar to me, so I looked him up. I found that he also directed Maverick, The Goonies, and the Superman movies! I must have recognized his name from The Goonies, one of the my favorites!

Conspiracy Theory, 1997

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart

Crazy, paranoid conspiracy theorists shouldn't be this handsome.

Don't get me wrong, Mel does a great job, I think. You can't help but think he's totally dreamy because he's Mel, even though he lives in an apartment that has a combination lock on everything, even the canisters of food inside the locked fridge. And he has to purchase a copy of The Catcher in the Rye every time he goes to a bookstore.....

Jerry (Gibson) is a paranoid conspiracy theorist-- but this guy isn't just crazy for no reason: he's got lots of secrets of his own. His lawyer friend Alice (Roberts) soon gets caught up in his troubles as well. But some things don't add up, and Alice begins to investigate with Jerry the mystery behind Dr. Jonas (Stewart) and his secret project.

It's a bit hard to explain. It's hard for me to explain, anyway. (Wikipedia has got it covered, so I don't have to.) It's a thriller, and just to warn you, there are some torture spots. Not fun! But there are a few funny moments- Jerry's lines can be quite amusing.