Police Academy

It turns out that the mayor of a city is wanting to have a better Police force and so opens up a more spaces in the Police Academy so that more people may apply. It turns out that the new applicants are a bunch of losers, wackos, and other various people that just don't fit in.

The whole film is very funny. The characters are normal but very different making them look like complete misfits against each other. But the show is stolen by G.W. Bailey who plays the mean but brilliant Lieutenant Harris.

The movie is a very funny and promising film that is lots of fun. ****

I won't go into the details much of Police Academy, because it's quite simple and everyone should know it by now. The PA series has been around for 20 years now and we know the drill. The PA series is what it is. It's silly, totally ridiculous, but harmless fluff for clean viewing. I am not gonna write how dumb it is or how cheap it is. Why?. We already know this. Everyone knows this and has for 20 years. Writing about it just to blast it and all that and how stupid it is is kind of redundant. Uh, really?. There has never been any question, doubt, or any misconception about what these films are or like. People know what they are and they know what they are going to get when they rushed to the theater to see it or watch it now. They obviously liked the way it was and the simple, mindless fun it delivered, because if they didn't, then the movies would not of been as successful or popular as they were, or had so many made. I definitley know many scholary people who enjoy movies like this because they are fun and innocent and let you have a fun side. It's alright to like PA and any of it's sequels.

Yep, this is the one that started it all. The right one to blame. "Police Academy" - never duplicated, countlessly imitated.

But before you go throwing any stones...this one is funny.

Yep, believe it or not, its joke success ratio is amazingly high. Is it because it's R-rated? That's a lot of it, but it also has a good pedigree.

Director/co-writer Wilson also created TV's "WKRP in Cincinnati", Israel and Proft have written "Bachelor Party" and some other funny stuff you may have heard of (they had a hand in the "Naked Gun" films).

And the cast, in this instance, is fresh! Guttenberg has seldom been better, nor has Cattrall (well, maybe except for "Porky's"), Gaynes, Bailey, Smith, Winslow or Easterbrook. There are a handful of good lines, more good scenes here than in any four of the sequels you can name and plenty more opportunity for good old raunchy "Animal House"-style guffaws.

You don't believe me? Think about the scene with the hooker (Spelvin) in the speaker's podium. Then think about the punch line ("Good speech."). You see? Ah, memories.

Take it from a hard-bitten veteran of the series. This is as good as it gets. You want to see a funny movie about cops? Register at your local "Police Academy".

Six stars, plus a star more for Guttenberg's final scene. Classic.

Police Academy (1984) was the first of many films from this series. Since this was the 80's and this film was very successful there was only one alternative, milk the cash cow until it was dry. Like most of these films, the first one is the best and most creative of the bunch. The film follows a bunch of losers and outcasts who join the local police academy for various reasons. The main character is Mahoney (played by Steve Guttenberg) a man with a shady past who enrolls in the academy as an alternative punishment for a previous criminal act. He becomes the motley crew's leader and representative.

This movie made Guttenberg a star and it started a film series that would live on D.T.V. and make the producers a lot of money. It also gave people jobs and made others into minor stars. I found this movie to be very entertaining. If you're into juvenile humor and a bunch of cheap laughs, then I recommend this movie. Others need not apply. Followed by six sequels!!

Recommended for some laughs and low brow humor. Hey, it's one of the essentials.

xxx

Coincidentally Police Academy was released the same year as Nightmare on Elm Street. Anyway, I saw Police Academy in a packed cinema when it was first released, and the cinema burst into laughter big time. For those watching Police Academy on VHS, DVD or streaming, would you get the same laughs, I don't know I guess. Still, Police Academy is a classic although the sequels not so much.