OK, I just figured out what happened.
Yesterday, I went to Target with the express purpose of buying a cheap movie. It had to be cheap, but it also had to be one I'd want to see again and again. Y'all, they have a lot of movies at Target. I know I read the titles of at least several hundred, and I only looked at Drama, Comedy and New Releases. But it took me to the last section before I found something I wanted to buy. [Don't you hate that kind of mood? When you want to buy something, and there's nothing that you can agree with yourself on?]
They had a DVD for $10 that included all 4 Lethal Weapon movies. Now, I don't think I've seen Lethal Weapon 4 -- I could be wrong, we'll know soon -- and of the 3 I know I've seen, I have always liked LW2 the best. But I figured, hey, $10 for 4 movies, not a bad deal.
Even though LW2 is my favorite, I started at the beginning last night. And was almost immediately freaked out. LW was so much more violent and edgy than I remembered. I was so disturbed by the first half-hour of the movie that I almost stopped it. But then the plot really kicked into gear and I was sucked in.
Just now, I figured out what the deal was. I was checking the case to determine the year the movie was released [1987], and I noticed that the first 3 movies on this DVD are labeled as "Director's Cut." And all 3 of them are not rated.
Well doh. It had a bunch of scenes not in the theatrical release -- which also explains why parts of it didn't feel particularly familiar. I knew it had been a long time since I'd seen it, but I have seen it since '87. Come to find out, I'd never seen this version.
I think they were on to something when they made the final edits for the theatrical release. I'm a little wary of watching LW2 and LW3 off this set, but at least I've now been forewarned. And hopefully LW4 will make it all worthwhile....it's the theatrical release.
