If I asked you which Christmas movie made the Beretta 92 famous, I bet you’d say Die Hard, right?
Sorry — wrong answer.
The correct film? Lethal Weapon. Released exactly one year earlier in 1987, it took Mel Gibson’s career nuclear and gave the world a new cinematic sidearm standard. In fact, you could argue it was this movie, not Die Hard, that made the 92 series the good guy’s go-to for the next 30 years.
And there’s a piece of gun trivia that links the two movies — wait till you hear it.
🔫 The Beretta 92 – From Italy to Tinseltown
Beretta launched the 92 in 1976, and it evolved quickly across four key models:
- 92 (1976–1982): Blued steel, rounded trigger guard, frame-mounted safety, heel mag release
- 92S (1978–1984): Safety moved to slide, decocker added
- 92SB (1982–1985): Built for U.S. Air Force trials, added 3-dot sights, firing pin block, American-style thumb mag release
- 92F / FS (1984–Present): Replaced the blued finish with Bruniton, adopted by U.S. military as the M9
The 92F used in Lethal Weapon was the new hotness in 1987 — and would soon take over Hollywood.
🧱 My Personal Pick – The 92SB
In the video, I show my Beretta 92SB, which isn’t the screen-used model, but to my eye, it’s the most beautiful in the family. Blued steel, clean lines, classic Beretta aesthetics.
It was only available in the U.S. for about a year (1985), and is now one of the most collectible 92 variants out there. It’s also the last of the blued Berettas before everything went matte black Bruniton.
It might not be the INOX from Leon, or the twin-modified monsters from Underworld, but I think the SB is the classiest of them all.
🎬 Why Lethal Weapon Was Ground Zero for the 92
Mel Gibson’s Martin Riggs isn’t your typical action hero. He’s broken, unpredictable, and dangerously good with a pistol. Pairing him with the 92F was a smart move — it was cutting-edge, high-capacity, and looked slick in a shoulder rig.
- “Nine millimeter. Takes fifteen in the mag, one in the pipe. Wide ejection port, no feed jams.” – Roger Murtaugh
That line didn’t just sell the gun in the movie — it sold the Beretta 92 to an entire generation of moviegoers and gun owners.
It’s the film’s other co-star.
🎥 Legendary Scenes
There’s one scene that stuck with me since I first saw it: Mel Gibson dumping a full mag at Gary Busey’s helicopter on a cliffside. He tracks, leads, and fires like someone who’s done this before.
And yes — we’ll get into whether the round count was realistic and if a 9mm could stop a chopper. But you’ll need to watch the video for that.
🎞 One Gun, Two Christmas Classics
Here’s that trivia bomb: the exact same Beretta 92F used by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon was reissued the following year to Bruce Willis for Die Hard.
That’s right — the same gun.
It’s not a theory. It’s confirmed by the prop rental houses that supplied both films. The 92F didn’t just star in two holiday action blockbusters — it literally was the star.
And while Die Hard got the gun on its poster, Lethal Weapon is where the magic started. Later films in the franchise would finally put the pistol front and center on the movie posters — correcting that oversight.
🎯 Legacy of the Beretta 92
After Lethal Weapon, the 92 became a mainstay:
- LAPD adoption
- U.S. military sidearm for 40 years
- Used in over 500 movies and shows
Some of my favorites:
- Die Hard (obviously)
- The Matrix – Keanu Reeves dual-wields
- Leon: The Professional – outfitted with an ALGIMEC compensator
- Underworld – dual 92s with barrel weights, infinite mag capacity, and Kate Beckinsale
It’s sleek. It’s reliable. And it became the GOAT of movie sidearms.
🧢 Final Thoughts
Lethal Weapon didn’t just launch a franchise. It launched a firearm legacy. The Beretta 92F became the good guy gun — and it started with Mel Gibson on a rainy rooftop, drawing down on a helicopter.
🎥 Want to know how the movie handled magazine count, shot realism, and whether Riggs could really draw that smiley face at 25 yards? Watch the full video breakdown here:
