Tit was 20 years ago today .
* At this moment, the sequel immediately ups the sexiness ante over the first Lethal Weapon (no disrespect to Jackie Swanson's spectacular, movie-opening topless swan dive in the 1987 original).
In celebrity skin terms, 1989 is noteworthy as a transitional time, and not always for the best . . . or the breast.
A-list stars, who just five years earlier could still be counted on forfull-frontal film appearances and the occasional Playboy spread, clearly seemed to be moving inthe direction of covered-up self-consciousness.
Top-notch flesh did arise, however, from late-night cable TV erotic thrillers, where a new breed of video vixen kept viewers upway upinto the wee hours.
But let's look back at nine of the big stars who did strip down in the enduring favorites of 1989, including: Kelly Lynch nude in Road House, Jennifer Jason Leigh nude in Last Exit to Brooklyn, Bridget Fonda nude in Scandal, and more!
ROAD HOUSE
Kelly Lynch
(1:04)
One of the great cult classics of all time delivers quite the roundhouse kick in the pants with one of the great backdoor shots, to boot(y).
Kelly flashes funbags as she gets out of bed, then treats us to an extended shot of her sweet seat when she walks outside to join mighty martial-arts philosopher Dalton (Patrick Swayze) on the back steps for some post-coital bonding.
Shirtless Swayze puffs a cigarette, but it’s bottomless Kelly who’s truly smoking.
*
LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN
Jennifer Jason Leigh
(1:25)
This adaptation of Hubert Selby’s scandalous novel set among 1950s roughnecks on the Brooklyn waterfront oozes the grit and earthiness of its source material and makes sure not to skimp on the sex either.
The book’s most infamous passage makes for a genuinely skinfamous scene as Jennifer Jason Leigh, portraying a hooker named Tralala, has a few highballs too many in a bar surrounded by sailors.
She then doffs her top, passes out, gets tossed onto a mattress, and, for the rest of the night, she gets covered with seamen. Tra-la-LA!
*
SCANDAL
Bridget Fonda
(0:18)
Scandal recounts England’s 1963 “Profumo Affair” in which Secretary of State for War John Profumo took up with showgirl Christine Keeler (played here by Joanne Whalley), partying along the way with her naked pals, one of whom, in the movie, is Bridget Fonda.
While conservative pillars of British rule whoop it up in the audience, topless Bridget bounces about on stage during a Native-American-themed nudie revue.
And you’ll understand how men of power could so easily succumb to this not-so-little Skindian.
*
LETHAL WEAPON 2
Patsy Kensit
(1:15)
Willowy Brit blonde Patsy nakedly canoodles in the sack with over-the-top(less) Aussie Mel Gibson.
Patsy provides repeated looks at her pert pair during two consecutive scenes of surprisingly tender lovemaking between the former Mad Max and the future wife of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher.
*
SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL
Joan Severance
(1:08)
Before she conquered cable softcore as the signature siren of Showtime’s Red Shoe Diaries, Joan Severance served as leading lady in this off-the-wall comedy that has Gene Wilder playing deaf and Richard Pryor playing blind.
Wilder puts his healthy eyesight to the best possible use as he sneaks into a bathroom when Joan leans out of the shower.
He then gets a gander at her succulent grapefruits after he pretends to be packing heat and she drops her towel.
*
DO THE RIGHT THING
Rosie Perez
(1:22)
The most controversial film of 1989, Do the Right Thing chronicles the events of a sweltering summer day that led to an urban race riot, but the real explosiveness comes from Rosie Perez and the world’s luckiest ice cube.
Director Spike Lee wisely cast himself as Rosie’s romeo, who, to cool things down, rubs ice all over her sizable Puerto Rican rack.
Of course, that only serves to get everyone involved all kinds of hot and bothered.
*
HITCHER IN THE DARK
Josie Bisset
(0:42)
From Italian splatter-horror maestro Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox, Eaten Alive) comes a tale of an angry young man trolling America’s highways for sexual violence victims in his Winnebago of Doom.
Young, pre-implanted, pre-Melrose Place, fantastically tight-bottomed Josie Bisset takes on the title role as an unwitting nubile who thumbs a ride and gets into a heap of naked trouble.
While held captive in the mobile home, Josie gets knocked out by the perv, who then takes numerous Polaroids of her exposed TA.
*
CAT CHASER
Kelly McGillis
(0:59)
Iconoclastic New York filmmaker Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) adapts Elmore Leonard in Cat Chaser, with Kelly playing a married seductress who gets unsuspecting wayfarer Peter Weller in over his head.
During Cat Chaser’s key encounter, Kelly takes off her nightgown for a thug with a gun, and he runs the barrel all over her nude bodymaking sure to explore every nook and cranny. It’s a dark scene, but the kink factor is guaranteed to pull your trigger.
Kelly then takes off bare-assed down a hall, but the creep catches her and does, at last, drag her nude body into a well-lit room. So he’s not all despicable.
*
THE TALL GUY
Emma Thompson
(0:34)
Very tall guy Jeff Goldblum stars in this witty British farce about the making of a musical based on the life of the Elephant Man.
Prep your own trunk for a slapstick love scene between Goldblum and naked Emma Thompson that, for all its daring pratfalls while the wild pair goes at it, is seriously sexy.
Emma’s long, lanky body with its buoyant boobs and adorable backside make for one of the most unexpected, and unforgettable, celebrity skin reveals of the entire 1980s.
