You know, I was going to point out when you were talking about Joe Pecsi that the later LW films he was in might be one of the times that he was actually annoying as an actor. He certainly wasn't my favorite, but I can understand why he was in the movies. It has been a long time since I have seen any of these, but I do know what you were talking about concerning the first movie being darker. He definitely has a death wish. I thought it was interesting as well that the first movie seemingly has tie ins to the movie Air America which Gibson was also in, but when I looked it up, it seems to be something of a fan theory more than something they actually intended.