Lethal Weapon 2 has apartheid-linked baddies selling drugs; LW3 has gunrunners supplying arms to L.A. gang members. Suddenly, it seems every action movie needs to justify its violence with some social relevance. Here are a few movies that seem to say, ''Shoot first — save the whales later.''
DEAD-BANG (1989)
*Topical Social Malady: Neo-Nazis,
among them a cold-blooded punk who blows away a cop. *Gung Ho Cure: Righteous L.A. detective Don Johnson plugs the bad guy full of holes
inside a church.
NAVY SEALS (1990)
*Topical Social Malady: Mideast
terrorists — maybe the same ones who bombed our Marines in '83! *Gung Ho Cure: Two SEALs (Charlie Sheen and Michael Biehn) lead a
missile-recovery mission — in the process leveling most of what was
left of Beirut.
INDIO (1990)
*Topical Social Malady: Mining company that
ravages the Amazon jungle and slaughters Indians. *Gung Ho Cure: Half-breed Marine (Francesco Quinn) can't resist lobbing a few
bombs to protect his native rain forest.
THUNDERHEART (1992)
*Topical Social Malady: The ghettoization of the Native American — the real motive behind a
murder on a Sioux reservation. *Gung Ho Cure: Part-Indian FBI agent
(Val Kilmer) endangers several of his fellow tribesman while
uncovering a plot to steal their land.
THE HUMAN SHIELD (1992)
*Topical Social Malady: Iraqi
army irregulars, led by a dead ringer for Saddam Hussein. They've
invaded Kuwait and slaughtered women and children — but worst of all,
they've kidnapped the hero's diabetic brother. *Gung Ho Cure: One-man
Desert Storm (Michael Dudikoff) makes the Persian Gulf safe for
General Schwarzkopf.
