In Brazil in the 20th Century the Gracie Family, led by Helio and his brother Carlos, had an open challenge to all fighters who wanted to test themselves against their brand of Jiu-Jitsu. Competitors from around the world came to Brazil to fight the Gracies, usually losing, which built up their reputation and made them legends in South America. In the 80's famed American kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez got involved in the Gracie Challenge and eventually had a friendly sparring match with Helio's son Rorion. Later on that decade a Brazilian documentary filmmaker attempted to reunite Gracie and Urquidez for a real match, but that fell through. However, word of mouth spread about the Gracie's. Popular American film director Richard Donner, involved in filming his latest action film Lethal Weapon, contacted Rorion and brought him to set in 1986. One of the key aspects of the film, in Donner's estimation, was the enigmatic character played by Mel Gibson, Martin Riggs. Riggs is an LAPD Detective and former special operative and Donner wanted him to have a unique and deadly fighting style. Three technical advisors were hired to develop Riggs' skills--Cedric Adams, an expert in Capoeira, a spinning and jumping Brazilian fighting style disguised as dance; Dennis Newsome, an expert in Jailhouse Rock, a vicious hand-to-hand combat style developed by American inmates; and Rorion Gracie, master of mysterious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In the climactic action sequence at the end of the film, shot over four days, Gibson uses several techniques shown to him by those three advisors. At one point he pulls guard and applies an armbar to a hapless foe. This may be the first taste of BJJ for the American audience. His involvement in Lethal Weapon, and a subsequent Playboy magazine article that labeled Rorion as "the toughest man in the United States," caught the attention of American entrepreneur Art Davie. Davie worked with Gracie to produce a series of instructional videos called Gracies in Action. Their success with the mail-order tapes convinced them to put on a Gracie Challenge in the United States. The Gracie Challenge would eventually transform into the monumental 1993 pay-per-view known as the Ultimate Fighting Challenge, renamed at the last minute to be called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Without Lethal Weapon there never would've been a UFC.
now that.. is one story I had never heard before. the fight scene on the lawn was one of the coolest I had ever seen when i saw this in the theatre
Making this post sparked my interest so I went and watched this movie again. Can't believe it's been over 20 years since it came out. At the end of the final fight between Gibson and Gary Busey, Gibson (Riggs) is mounted and goes for an armbar but doesn't get it tight and Busey sweeps him and gets on top in Riggs' guard. Riggs keeps a hold of Busey's arm and pulls him into a triangle choke to end the fight. And jiu-jitsu is referenced when Danny Glover's character tells Riggs not to use jiu-jitsu when they are going to interrogate a suspect. It's a pretty great movie. It's been copied to death (like Die Hard) but it still holds up well.
IMO Die hard is nothing like Lethal Weapon. One's a odd couple cop buddy movie, the other is wrong place, wrong time movie. they're both 2 of the best action movies ever though
