# Worst cop movie scene vs real life ever (Lethal Weapon)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [May 3, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092 "2024-05-03T06:56:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/21 "2024-05-04T16:39:44Z")
Eh, it’s less ridiculous than some of the things cops do in real life but not in the movies.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/22 "2024-05-04T16:52:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#):
>
> Riggs is a loose-cannon with nothing to lose, but he’s also charismatic enough that he gets away with a lot of stuff.
The meta funny thing is, in the TV series, Clayne Crawford, the actor that played Riggs, was apparently really hard to work with and a first rate asshole. But he got away with it for a couple seasons before he was finally fired.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/23 "2024-05-04T18:50:40Z")
Well Mel Gibson seems a POS based on his various controversies and the kinds of films he produces now.
And POS doesn’t stand for Person of Skill.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/24 "2024-05-04T19:11:10Z")
Yeah never understood what their plan was.
Set up a police roadblock for a bunch of kids on bikes and just shotgun them to death if they passed it? I’m pretty sure that’s some step in between “Letting them go” and “5 cops armed with shotguns”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/25 "2024-05-05T17:37:11Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> Set up a police roadblock for a bunch of kids on bikes and just shotgun them to death if they passed it? I’m pretty sure that’s some step in between “Letting them go” and “5 cops armed with shotguns”
3 cops armed with shotguns?
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/26 "2024-05-06T06:04:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> It’s not a good idea to watch a police/detective movie with a real cop
You sound like my wife.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/27 "2024-05-06T07:19:33Z")
I don’t know that _any_ of these quibbles are worse than Riggs’ mullet.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/28 "2024-05-06T08:41:50Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> Maverick cop and his rookie partner find an abandoned warehouse hideout full of heavily armed bad guys.
>
> “Wait here. I’m going in.”
>
> “Uh, shouldn’t we call for backup?”
>
> _ **“There’s no time!!”** _
That’s what I was thinking at the end of _The Silence of the Lambs_. Starling has Buffalo Bill trapped in a basement, and she’s the only person who knows who he is. If he manages to kill her and escape, who knows how many more women he’ll kill before he gets caught. She should be calling local police for backup before doing anything else. Make sure that somebody knows the identity of the worst serial killer in the country so the secret doesn’t die with her.
It’s rather compounded at the end. Starling is flailing around in pitch darkness, Bill has night-vision goggles and a pistol aimed direcctly at her head, and somehow she’s the one who survives?
There’s a lot that’s good in that movie, but I just couldn’t buy the ending.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/29 "2024-05-06T09:16:28Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> Like the person wasn’t holding a hostage or anything and it’s four against one with everyone already have drawn, no way in hell the terrorist has ANY leverage and isn’t just immediately blown away.
Even if he were holding a hostage, you don’t drop your gun. That’s something that always bothers me - you _never_ drop your gun, even if the bad guy is threatening to shoot the hostage. If you drop the gun he’ll just shoot you _and_ the hostage, and what have you gained from that? Keep your gun on him, wait for backup, and try to talk him down.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/30 "2024-05-06T15:08:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> I don’t know that _any_ of these quibbles are worse than Riggs’ mullet.
> [@needscoffee](#):
>
> I don’t know that _any_ of these quibbles are worse than Riggs’ mullet.
My quibble is - that wasn’t a mullet. It’s “long hair”. It has to be short in front to be a mullet.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/31 "2024-05-06T15:18:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> It’s not a good idea to watch a police/detective movie with a real cop, just as it’s inadvisable to see a medical drama along with an actual physician.
Or a war movie with a military vet. I’m always beefing about how the firearms are handled and operated, and how the soldiers are too close together when on patrol, etc. My wife just rolls her eyes.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/32 "2024-05-06T15:23:18Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> The immediate reaction to having someone point a gun at you always seems to be to talk to them instead of shooting them.
It’s why I liked the “Justified” series so much. It was basically “If you touch your weapon or even move your hand in that direction, I’ll shoot you dead.”
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/33 "2024-05-06T19:54:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> My quibble is - that wasn’t a mullet. It’s “long hair”. It has to be short in front to be a mullet.
It’s a mullet.
> **[Lethal Weapon (1987)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093409/mediaviewer/rm2554317824/)**
>
> Mel Gibson and Richard Donner in Lethal Weapon (1987)
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/34 "2024-05-06T21:05:17Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Spielberg got some criticism for editing out the guns of the FBI agents in _ET_ but really it made more sense. As a kid I didn’t notice it but they were running around with their guns out when it didn’t make sense. Having them all holding radios is also weird. Anyway Han shot first.
Spielberg can get away with just about _any_ ridiculous shit by saying “Han shot first” and then running away while his critic is momentarily distracted by the validity of his point.
Tarantino, not so much.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/35 "2024-05-06T21:10:50Z")
For the record, Han _didn’t_ shoot first, because shooting first implies that Greedo shot second, while in fact Greedo didn’t shoot at all.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/36 "2024-05-06T21:13:24Z")
…and while you’re reiterating that argument, Spielberg is making good his escape.
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/37 "2024-05-07T07:02:09Z")
I almost forgot about the fanfare around Riggs side arm, the Beretta 92. This is clearly a paid product placement.
It was one of the first 'wondernine" pistols that held larger capacity magazines. After the military replaced the M1911A with it a lot of cops and regular folks went out and bought one. A few agencies adopted it as their standard issue sidearm.
While it is overall reliable, for a lot of people it sucks. It’s heavy, and poorly balanced in the hand. .The double action trigger pull is segmented which is not recommended for duty use.
The grip didn’t fit large hands properly and many found they were inadvertently hitting the magazine release button resulting in an out of battery during shooting. Smaller handed folk felt how imbalanced the pistol was front to back. A lot of agencies that went to it dumped it with 5-10 years in favor of the lighter Glock models.
But a big deal was made about him carrying it while other officers were still packing 6 shot revolvers. This is clearly a paid product placement.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/38 "2024-05-07T11:31:30Z")
I’ve been told that the safety placement sucked, too.
Th US military has since replaced them with SIGs, hasn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/39 "2024-05-07T14:39:20Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I’ve been told that the safety placement sucked, too.
>
> Th US military has since replaced them with SIGs, hasn’t it?
The current U.S. military sidearm is a derivative of the SIG P320. I left the military in 2016 and never saw one.
At my second duty station we got the new Baretta right out of the box. Before that as aircrew I was issued a .38 cal revolver.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [May 7, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-cop-movie-scene-vs-real-life-ever-lethal-weapon/1001092/40 "2024-05-07T15:03:12Z")
> [@pkbites](#):
>
> I almost forgot about the fanfare around Riggs side arm, the Beretta 92. This is clearly a paid product placement.
>
> It was one of the first 'wondernine" pistols that held larger capacity magazines. After the military replaced the M1911A with it a lot of cops and regular folks went out and bought one. A few agencies adopted it as their standard issue sidearm.
>
> While it is overall reliable, for a lot of people it sucks. It’s heavy, and poorly balanced in the hand. .The double action trigger pull is segmented which is not recommended for duty use.
>
> The grip didn’t fit large hands properly and many found they were inadvertently hitting the magazine release button resulting in an out of battery during shooting. Smaller handed folk felt how imbalanced the pistol was front to back. A lot of agencies that went to it dumped it with 5-10 years in favor of the lighter Glock models.
>
> But a big deal was made about him carrying it while other officers were still packing 6 shot revolvers. This is clearly a paid product placement.
One of the major factors driving the change from pistol to 9mm was the murder of NJ State Trooper Philip Lamonaco in 1981. He was killed after pulling over two members of a small domestic terrorist organization. He had a 6 shot revolver. They had semi-automatic pistols. Other tactical and work culture lessons were taken from that incident but the move to a semi-auto weapon was the most apparent. That incident and a couple others changed things across the country. It was only 6 years before the movie came out.
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