<P> Released on March 6, 1987, Lethal Weapon was No. 1 at the box office for three weeks before Blind Date supplanted it . It grossed $120.2 million worldwide and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing (Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bill Nelson) (losing to The Last Emperor). It is widely considered to be one of the best buddy cop films of all time, influencing numerous "buddy cop" films such as Tango & Cash, Bad Boys and the Rush Hour series . </P> <P> The film holds a score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 51 reviews; the average score is 7 out of 10 . The site's critical consensus reads, "The most successful installment in a phenomenally successful franchise, Lethal Weapon helped redefine action movies for the 1980s and 1990s". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale . </P> <P> Variety wrote, "Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious, but thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls ." Richard Schickel of Time called it "Mad Max meets The Cosby Show", saying that it works better than expected . Richard Harrington of The Washington Post described it as "a vivid, visceral reminder of just how exciting an action film can be". At The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "The film is all fast action, noisy stunts and huge, often unflattering close - ups, but it packs an undeniable wallop ." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun - Times gave the film four out of four stars, saying Donner "tops himself". </P> <P> Lethal Weapon has been released on VHS and DVD numerous times, along with a single Blu - ray Disc release . The first DVD was released in 1997 and featured the film's theatrical version . The Director's Cut was released in 2000 . Since then, numerous sets have been released that contain all four films in the series (featuring the same DVDs). The theatrical version was also released on Blu - ray in 2006 . </P>

Who played the eldest daughter in lethal weapon