Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Film and Plot Synopsis

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh are back with another lethal adventure. This time Riggs and Murtaugh find themselves up against a former, dirty cop named Jack Travis who has become an arms dealer that specializes in selling cop-killing, armor-piercing bullets. Along the way, the duo are joined by the beautiful but deadly Lorna Cole, an internal affairs detective who is desperate to bring Travis to justice. However, can the three detectives capture Travis fast enough before he gets his deadly product onto the streets exposing every police officer to mortal danger?

‘Lethal Weapon 3’ Movie Summary

Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is a week from retirement when his unorthodox partner, Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) mishandles a bomb investigation resulting in an office building being destroyed. The two are busted back to uniform patrol duty where they witness an attempted robbery of an armored car. Riggs stops one of the robbers while Murtaugh works closely with the armored car driver, Delores (Delores Hall). Two robbers get away. Delores becomes infatuated with Murtaugh while Riggs learns that the robber he apprehended is a known associate of Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson), a former LAPD police lieutenant who went bad. Travis is the head of an arms smuggling ring that is known to traffic in armor-piercing bullets.

When the apprehended robber winds up dead in a police interrogation room, Riggs and Murtaugh are promoted back to detective rank and ordered to work with internal affairs detective Sergeant Lorna Cole (Rene Russo) to track down and arrest Travis. Cole is aware that Travis killed the robber based on secret surveillance cameras placed in the interrogation rooms by internal affairs. Meanwhile, Travis meets with one of his potential buyers, a gang leader named Tyrone (Gregory Millar). Tyrone brings one of the escaped robbers in front of Travis who kills the robber for working on the side. Tyrone realizes that Travis means business.

Meanwhile, Riggs and Murtaugh enlist the help of their good friend Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) to help them find Travis. Leo is now a real estate agent, who is trying to sell Murtaugh’s home, who happened to work with Travis on a deal previously. Leo leads Riggs and Murtaugh to an ice hockey game, which was where Leo remembered Travis liked to go. The trio attempts to apprehend Travis, but the former cop gets away after shooting Leo with a minor flesh wound. The wounded Leo provides them with some additional information about Travis, specifically a warehouse that he believes Travis owns.

Riggs and Murtaugh stop for lunch at a hamburger stand while they wait for Cole to meet them. Riggs witnesses a drug deal nearby and moves to intervene. However, Riggs is hit in the head with a wood board by one of the drug dealers. Murtaugh goes to assist his partner and is forced to shoot a drug dealer who is firing at them. In the aftermath, Murtaugh recognizes the gunmen as one of his son Nick’s (Damon Hines) friends, Darryl. Murtaugh is overcome with guilt for shooting the young boy and withdraws into a bottle.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say ain’t gonna be much. Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson)

Meanwhile, Cole and Riggs visit the warehouse themselves. They discover Travis’ next delivery and confiscate it. That night, Riggs and Cole begin comparing notes about their various injuries and discover that they have feelings for each other. Ultimately, they sleep together. Later, Riggs goes looking for his partner at Murtaugh’s boat which is docked in the harbor. Riggs consoles his friend and convinces him that he did the right thing. Not long after, Cole, Riggs, Murtaugh, Nick, and Trish Murtaugh (Darlene Love), Murtaugh’s wife, attend Darryl’s funeral. When Murtaugh goes to express his condolences to Darryl’s family, Murtaugh is slapped by Darryl’s mother while Darryl’s father asks the detective to find out who put the gun into Darryl’s hands.

Murtaugh, Riggs, and Cole begin aggressively following up every lead they have about the weapons, which leads them back to Tyrone, who gives up some of Travis’ men working at an auto shop. Cole also discovers that the weapon found on Darryl and the armor-piercing bullets all came from police custody and were meant to be destroyed. They conclude that Travis stole them from police lock up since his credentials were never revoked from the system.

Meanwhile, Travis learns of another group of weapons scheduled to be destroyed by hacking into the police computer system. Travis forces Captain Murphy (Steve Kahan), Riggs and Murtaugh’s boss, to give Travis and his men access to the new police facility. Cole detects the hacking, and she, Riggs, and Murtaugh move in to stop Travis. The trio successfully rescue Murphy and stop Travis from stealing the weapons, but Travis ultimately gets away despite an active pursuit by Riggs.

Leo arrives and provides some additional information about Travis. He has discovered a housing development that is owned by Travis’ shell company. Riggs, Murtaugh, and Cole go to the construction site in the middle of the night. A large gunfight breaks out. Riggs sets the entire construction site on fire as a form of distraction. Most of Travis’ men are killed in the exchange, but Travis wounds Cole who survives an armor piercing bullet by wearing two bulletproof vests. Riggs shoots and kills Travis by using Darryl’s gun filled with armor-piercing bullets. As Cole is being loaded onto a helicopter, Riggs confesses his love for her.

The next day, Murtaugh’s family is celebrating his retirement day. However, Murtaugh announces that he is not going to retire, instead choosing to stay in the force and preserve his partnership and friendship with Riggs. Riggs informs Murtaugh that he never thought he was actually going to retire and that he has begun a relationship with Cole.