Police Academy (1984) User Reviews

Revenge of the 80's: The franchise film!

[Captain_Couth · 8/10 · 9 January 2005]

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

Put your mind in neutral and be entertained!

[johnfos · 7/10 · 14 July 2005]

This is a great movie for relaxing after a hard day at work. It's sheer escapism and good-humoured fun that only requires the watcher to put their mind in neutral, rest their feet, and not think too much.

A lot of the gags are not very original; we've seen most of them before in some other form. But the basic premise of a Police Academy full of misfits provides a novel context.

I've only seen this first movie of the series and don't really have plans to see any of the others. Can't believe they've made ssssssssooooo many sequels.

Too much Police Academy could certainly wear a bit thin, but first time around it's sheer good fun.

The whole cinema burst into laughter throughout

[safenoe · 8/10 · 28 October 2021]

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.

Up the "Academy"...

[Mister-6 · 7/10 · 9 February 2000]

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.

Made Itself Famous for just being stupid!!!

[Robert_duder · 7/10 · 30 October 2005]

I just read someone elses review on here and it was brief and to the point and made a lot of sense. Police Academy is just harmless fun. Is it stupid?? Oh my yes!! Cheap, dumb, pointless, low budget?? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Does any of that matter?? Not when it comes to the Police Academy. I mean you gotta give it some credit for spawning no less than 6 sequels!!! This is the film that started it all and for whatever odd reason you will find it will endear itself to you when it's all over. Something has to be said for the fact that it was made for just over 4 million dollars and grossed well over 100 million world wide. That pays for as many ridiculous pointless sequels as they want.

The plot and premise is actually pretty good....the mayor lifts any and all restrictions on police academy recruits enabling people of all shapes, sizes, skills, and intelligence to join the academy. On top of that Carey Mahoney gets himself into trouble with the police and is forced to join the academy for training and he can't quit or he'll go to jail...but he can get thrown out, or try anyways. Police Academy really only works because of the characters. It's not even really the actors because let's face it the acting is campy as hell but the characters are so outlandish they are memorable. Steve Guttenberg who was really at the height of his career plays the wise cracking, prank pulling Carey Mahoney. His sarcasm, wit, and caring for his fellow cadets make him a great hero to the film. He probably does the best job in the film of acting which isn't saying all that much but the film is not about acting, it's about comedic timing and Guttenberg does a good job. I won't go over the entire cast but rather just the ones who the film kinda used as main characters. G.W. Bailey is the perfect protagonist to the film. He's mean, and you love to hate him and he's the perfect balance to Mahoney's character. Their characters are fun to watch square off. Bubba Smith as the larger than life Moses Hightower, is quiet but funny in his own way and his size brings him a lot of great funny moments. Donovan Scott is great too as the underdog, overweight, made fun of guy who you wanna see kick some butt and he does. David Graf, Michael Winslow, Bruce Mahler, and Marion Ramsey all play some diverse and funny characters each one with their own schtick and shortcomings. You'd think with all these characters it would be too much but they are all used in small doses to keep the comedy rolling and it works pretty well. George Gaynes plays Cmndt. Eric Lassard, the rather unintelligent, aging, senile leader of the Academy. His role is kind of a cult classic and he does have some great moments and he adds a touch of class to the cast.

Director Hugh Wilson hasn't really done a whole bunch before or after Police Academy, nothing that stands out anyways, but he did put together this great cast and made a really stupid movie that people seem to love. As I watched it I couldn't help but think how incredibly dumb it all was but then something would happen to really make me chuckle and when it was done I realized that for some strange reason, I liked it. It just has a little something and I think it's the cast and the way the movie is put together, it absolutely doesn't take itself too seriously. If you're looking for an eighties comedy that has everything you would expect then Police Academy is the one to look for. 7/10

Very funny

[chrisjgray2000 · 2 July 2002]

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. ****

Bloody Good Fun

[mjw2305 · 7/10 · 28 January 2005]

A Group of Wannabe's and a Doesn't Wannabe, Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) Join the Police Academy in the hope of becoming respected members of the Police Force.

There's a problem, they are with out doubt the worst bunch of wannabe's the police academy has ever seen and Carey just can't wait to get kicked out, only being there because it was the only way he could avoid jail.

Some Truly Funny Moments and lots of memorable characters, this film is a bloody good romp, that should be enjoyed by most people.

Too bad the sequels generally sucked big time!

7/10

Guilty pleasure!

[LeRoyMarko · 6/10 · 5 April 2003]

I don't know what got to me. This evening, I went to the video store and got this one. I first saw it back in the 80's. Now let's not go nuts and call this the best comedy of all times. But it's still a pretty decent one (or indecent if you prefer!). The movie is generally funny, the characters are likable, and it's filmed in Toronto! I was surprised to realize that with the first scene showing the Toronto skyline. Some scenes are very funny, especially the one with George Gaynes (Commandant Lassard). Ah! the podium scene! So funny! Pea-brain humor, but good pea-brain humor!

Out of 100, I gave it 71. That's good for ** out of ****.

Seen in Toronto, on April 5th, 2003.

A classic of 80's

[kurciasbezdalas · 10/10 · 11 October 2008]

I don't understand why this movie has such a low rating on IMDb (right now it's 6.1, that isn't so bad but this movie deserves more). It's a classic comedy which is still funny even after 20 years. It always elate me. Jokes are pretty simple and even innocent compared to nowadays movies but that's probably what's good about this film because it's funny to watch to whole family. You'll fall in love with a characters and this movie itself so much that every time you'll hear a theme of Police Academy it will make you smile. If you haven't watched it yet you definitely have to do it because they don't make this kind of movies anymore.

Classic comedy that's still funny

[amb6287 · 7/10 · 12 September 2005]

This movie is one of the best comedies of the 80s. It's a great ensemble comedy in the tradition of Caddyshack. Steve Guttenberg is hilarious and Michael Winslow's "human sound machine" abilities are amazing. The movie features a sexy Kim Cattrall long before "Sex and the City" and a fantastic cast of supporting characters.

Yes, it's a bit silly, but everyone needs to be silly sometimes. Some material may be inappropriate for small children, but Policy Academy is a must-see for older kids and adults who like to laugh.

The sequels go downhill and are more of the same, but #2 and #3 are still worth renting.

Offensively bad, unfunny comedy (spoilers)

[Jim Griffin · 4/10 · 2 January 2001]

So many things to complain about, and with only a thousand words...

When Police Academy was first released, the audience was issued with 2D glasses so they could see the characters in all their glory. This group of cardboard cut-out non-entities are perhaps the main flaw in a deeply flawed movie. Imagine how this puerile rubbish was pitched: People what shouldn't be in the police actually do be in the police. There's one man who does be cocky, another man what does make noises, a fat man whose belly is big, a woman what does speak quietly, a big man what is tall, a man who is clumsy and does wear glasses, a man who sleeps with lots of female women, a woman what is manly, and a man what is nasty. It would be generous to call these people one-note characters; they could barely make up a note between them. This bunch of stereotypes provide jokes and plot twists that can be guessed from the moment they first appear on screen; the only surprise in the movie comes in learning that it wasn't written by a twelve-year-old.

Steve Guttenberg's Mahoney is supposed to be cocky and charming, but is instead just a charmless, smarmy nothing. His character arc is sophisticated; he moves from being a cocky, anti-authority figure, to being a cocky, anti-authority figure in a police uniform. And he's not the only one to undergo such development. The woman who speaks quietly learns to shout; the fat guy who can't do self-defence beats up some innocent people; the slut settles down; the butch woman learns to love; the clumsy weed does something slightly unclumsy; the guy who makes noises learns to carry on making noises; the guy who loves guns continues to love guns; and the big tall guy stays at about the same height. Okay, so those last few weren't allowed to explore the depths of their characters quite so completely. A true loss to the world of cinema.

With characters as feeble as these, the movie can at least be saved by some great jokes. Which makes it more of a shame that there aren't any.

The most off-putting thing about this feeble, laugh-free movie is its attitude towards homosexuality. Whenever this subject comes up, the innocent tone is lost completely. When a dog tries to mate with a man's leg he is called a `queer'; when some cadets are sent to a gay bar they find themselves forced to dance and smooch with a threatening bunch of men cloned from half of Village People; the Commandant, who had thought Mahoney was gay because of a particularly puerile gag earlier in the movie, sees him kissing a woman and says `now that's more like it.' Remember, viewers: these people are to be feared, a moral that suggests this script was written in 1954 and took thirty years to get the green light. Another darker moment, as out of place as a decent joke, is when one cadet calls the quiet-speaking black woman `a chicaboo'. Hightower, the big black guy (he's big, geddit?) walks up to the racist cadet and the car he's sitting in, and turns the car onto its roof. He gets thrown out of the academy. That's Hightower, not the racist guy. These scenes reveal a darker and inappropriate side to the movie, which take it from unfunny pap to offensive plop.

Inexplicably making tons and tons of money, Police Academy was followed by six sequels, a TV adaptation, and a short-lived animated series. Together, they made more than three people laugh.

This shows that movies can be stupid and funny at the same time.

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 29 September 2005]

Okay, so "Police Academy" is probably the ultimate manifestation of the word "witless". But it doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is: nice, silly fun. The plot basically has a series of goof-off misfits enrolling in the police force and turning it topsy-turvy. Steve Guttenberg, as Cadet Carey Mahoney, may have to remember this as his peak in movies, and he does a pretty good job here.

Anyway, the movie is pretty much an excuse to be silly. And they do just that. With hilarious one-liners and one gag after another, you won't be disappointed. Of course, I advise you not to watch it if you're the type who only wants to see "important" movies.

Affirmative Action For Idiots

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 27 December 2008]

Police Academy and the subsequent films in the series is a guilty pleasure of mine. The films are puerile, vapid, stupid, gross beyond belief and I laugh my Glutteus Maximus off at them. So apparently did a large part of the American movie going public.

The premise for the film is right at the beginning off screen narration where it is explained to the audience that a mayor's executive order in a quaint metropolitan area has said that the police academy will not discriminate on any grounds. Apparently that also includes intelligence as well. So we find that a whole lot of people are now applying to be cops.

What a class they are too. They're headed by Steve Guttenberg who is given a choice by another police captain friendly to his late father who is concerned about Guttenberg's lack of direction in life. We've also got Kim Cattrall the rich débutante who's just bored with her life, David Graf who takes the gun/penis dichotomy to the extreme, Bubba Smith the peaceful florist, Bruce Mahler the henpecked husband, and little Marion Ramsey who has voice projection problems and my favorite Michael Winslow the human sound effect machine.

Of course we have to have a villain and in this case and in a few subsequent episodes it's G.W. Bailey better known to today's audience as Lieutenant Provenza in Kyra Sedgwick's squad in The Closer. He will stop at nothing to run this group off the police force and they, especially Guttenberg, will stop at nothing to goof on him.

Another favorite is George Gaynes the absolutely clueless commandant of the Police Academy. What that man can do with the word 'many.'

Confession is good so embrace your inner grossness that allows you to enjoy the Police Academy series.

Comedy Classic a Bit Rough Around the Edges

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 28 October 2017]

Police Academy seems like one of those movies where a screenwriter thought of one good joke and decided to write an entire movie around it. Unfortunately this isn't the correct way to write a screenplay.

Don't get me wrong, this movie does have its moments. This one's filled with about 1,000 jokes so at least a few of them are going to stick. And if you can look past all the casual racism, sexism, and homophobia, this movie probably has some charm to it, which I guess is why it spawned so many sequels. Watching this in 2017 had me cringing at a few of the jokes and words used. Different era I guess...

The best part about this movie is the memorable characters. The plot is flimsy at best so these actors are the only thing keeping this movie afloat. Guttenburg and the gang are all one dimensional characters with some type of odd character trait played for laughs but for the most part this works to an extend. All the "good cops" played their parts well. I can easily see these characters getting old sequel after sequel however.

Conclusion: An okay comedy that's a bit rough around the edges. Not something you should go out of your way to see but you could do worse.

Harmless Fun

[barrybgb · 8 April 2004]

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.

A highlighted example of comedy for the time!

[SPZMaxinema · 7/10 · 29 September 2022]

My dad always liked watching this movie when it came on t.v. And I thought I would check it out myself and I was decently glad that I did! Some of the stuff in this movie doesn't really hold up anymore with the kind of jokes that were made and the kinds of things that can be said, but I can definitely see why this was well regarded for the time that it came out! I liked how a lot of the characters were made unique and how their archs played out. There was a good amount of subtle humor that worked too (how the commandant looked briefly under the podium before he gave his final speech, etc). The guy who ran the drills and lessons acted well too!

Not that bad!!!!!

[PIST-OFF · 7/10 · 14 July 1999]

Police Academy ain't Bridge On The River Kwai but it ain't The Mighty Morphine Power Rangers movie either. It's low brow humor fits in perfectly with the era of film that gave us The Jerk, Porkys, Revenge Of The Nerds, Animal House, and Caddyshack. I agree that this first one is judged unfairly because of it's unfunny and numerous predecessors. Imagine if Animal House would have had seven sequels, and if the star, John Belushi was only in the first four. People would sing an entirely diffrent tune then. After the third PA these movies were horrible but even part six is more tolerable then Beaches or The Joy Luck Club. The first one is fine in my book.

Really Fun and Funny

[jack_o_hasanov_imdb · 7/10 · 10 July 2022]

This movie and series did not interest me, but I decided to watch it and I liked it very much. It was really fun and funny. When I was a kid, there was a Turkish series adapted from this movie and it was a very bad series, it was stopped after a few episodes. Maybe that's why it didn't interest me. But I admit, I had a lot of fun and it was funny. Not taking itself seriously, absurdities, interesting characters made the movie even better. Yes, it's not a good movie, but it's not a bad movie either. I had fun and loved it. I will also watch the sequels.

First of the successful series with ordinary trappings , jokes , antics , chases and funny scenes .

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 19 June 2023]

The original Police Academy (1984) , there's humor , thrills , pursuits , action and abundant diversion and subsequently , following run-of-the-mill sequels . The ever-beaming Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenburg) is an easy-going man who has repeatedly gotten himself in trouble with the law when standing up to arrogance and he's always at the centre of the things. Mahoney is forced to join the police academy as an alternative to jail and he falls love with fellow recruit Karen Thompson (Kim Cattrall). While sneering Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris (G. W. Bailey) is the arrogant and thick-headed officer who trains the cadets along with Sgt. Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) , being commanded by Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) to accomplish a training for new recruits . Mahoney becomes friends with a group of misfit fellow cadets ; the sound-mimicking wizard Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow) ; the gun-obsessed Eugene Tackleberry (David Graf), and especially Moses Hightower (tree-like black Bubba Smith), a giant of a man who uses to be a florist . From the beginning, they were a breed apart !. They were raw , inept, blunderheaded civilians who signed up for the Police Academy ! . The misfit Police Academy forming a special but bumbling team of recruits !. Then, the bumblers in blue took to the streets to confront a crime wave !. And somehow refrained from waving back . Now the lovable lunkheads with the fun-track minds are at it again. Now that's the kind of school people can trust, the kind of school whose grads fight crime with slapstick instead of nightsticks. Be a cop. All you do is join the farce. When These guys hit the streets, even the crooks die laughing! Be a police officer. All you do is join the farce. The new law-enforcement recruits. Call them slobs. Call them jerks. Call them gross. Just don't call them when you're in trouble. What an institution! Those goofy oddballs in blue are going to tangle with the pinhead punkers. Take off with the original cast as they take to the streets and the skies to fight crime . On land, on sea, or in the air, no place is safe from them! Assignment: new recruits . Objective: Laughs. Hold everything! The cadets are training for an all new adventure ! The Law Enfarcement Saga Continues!. Run for cover!. A Completely Arresting Comedy Hit!. An open-and-shut case of nonstop laughter !.

Funny and very cheerful film filled with action-packed , thrills , hilarious set-pieces, tongue-in-cheek , amusement and lots of humor with a numerous group of policemen : Mahoney, Hightower, Tackleberry, Jones, Hooks and Callahan, all led by the befuddled but unbowed Cmdt. Lassard. The Police Academy regulars, from meathead Mahoney to the others impeccably inept cops go in action to answer law enforcement's most uproarious role call . The premise is simple and plain , as a botcher squadron from the known police force is assigned to train rookie newcomers and subsequently to undertake a confrontation to dangerous gangs . Director delivers a professional work with interest enough , his knack of getting the most out of characters and situations without ever going over the top makes for some very big laughs . The jokes and frolics come as thick and fast , hit and miss as usual and it is done in good spirit if not always in good taste . Fun picture with accent on sight gags , and humour that stems from the diverting roles established in other movies . The sympathetic cast formed by the motley band of misfits giving charming interpretation , while causing confusion , laughs and chaos . Showing up habitual actors in the popular series, such as : Steve Guttenberg as the constant prankster Mahoney, Bubba Smith as the hunk Sgt Hightower , David Graf as gun-lover Sgt. Tackleberry , Michael Winslow as Sgt. Jones , Marion Ramsey as shy Sgt. Hooks , Leslie Easterbrook as busty Lt. Callahan . It contains an attractive and lively score by Robert Folk , series' regular , including the classic leitmotif . As well as atmospheric and appropriate cinematography by Michael D. Margulies . The motion picture was uneven and professionally directed by Hugh Wilson . Director Wilson probably knows you could write storyline and role developments for him , but that doesn't stop him doing the best he can with this material.

The series produced by Paul Maslansky , being based on the characters written by Neal Israel and Pat Proft , they focused on a storyline involving those roles to get attraction to the young audience. Their knack of getting the most our of roles and situations without ever going the top makes for some big laughs , The episodes of the Police Academy is as follows : Police Academy 1984 by Hugh Wilson . And various sequels with usual ingredients , mayhem, giggles , entertainment and lots of fun. Police Academy 1984 . Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment 1985 by Jerry Paris , James Signorelli . Police Academy 3: Back in Training 1987 by Jerry Paris . Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol 1987 by Jim Drake . Police Academy : Assignment Miami Beach 1988 by Alan Myerson. Police Academy 6: City Under Siege 1989 by Peter Bornerz . Police Academy: Mission to Moscow 1994 by Alan Metter . And Police Academy the series 1997/1998 , 26 episodes by Neal Israel, Paul Maslansky, Pat Proft .

It's still riotously funny.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 16 January 2020]

I was obsessed with this film in my childhood, and having re-watched it today, I still see why I loved it.

The premise is funny, and the jokes have all been done before and after, the humour comes from this wonderful bunch of characters, there are some really funny lines, but they're all charming and outrageously funny. It's well made, and still holds up well. The first was the best, although two and three were fun, five was dire.

Kim Cattrall was wonderful as Karen, but the real star was Steve Guttenberg, everyone over the cheeky and handsome Mahoney, he was great as the focal character. Lassard also, comedy gold.

Favourite scenes always involved those with Lieutenant Harris, particularly with Hooks.

A wonderful film that brings back childhood memories, love it. 9/10

A Good Movie...

[Quinn-5 · 7/10 · 16 February 1999]

"Police Academy" has some good lines and great bits, no doubt about it. In fact, G.W. Bailey's Lt. Harris is one of my all-time favorite comedic villains, and his clashes with Steve Guttenberg's Carey Mahoney are just pure fun. The completely unbelievable rioters towards the end (the hundreds of low income urban white guys on a rioting rampage) exhibit some bad casting, but what film is without fault? Besides, this is a slapstick comedy of the 80's era. And c'mon, Robert Folk's marches for this film (heard most prominently at the beginning) should be considered one of Hollywood's most enjoyable themes in the world of movie scoring.

However, what should've been a ruby in director Hugh Wilson's crown as one of his earliest movie-making achievements, the film losses a lot of its charm with the knowledge of the bastard children it would go on to spawn. The "Police Academy" sequels have become somewhat notorious as being the very essense of what makes a bad sequel really bad. Each one became gradually poorer in writing and casting, especially in writing. Each one demonstrates the true desperateness of the cast as the more employable actors left (well, more employable ACTOR, if he can even be called that: Steve Guttenberg). In each sequel, the supporting cast for the most part return, like glutoness, yet starving, stray dogs. Like a drunk vagrant dancing and singing for quarters, Tackleberry is still the big crazy guy who likes guns, Jones the whacky black guy who makes sounds, and Callhan, the chick with the big breasts. And by the way, Groundhog Dave is one of those cast members, I think....hs words read like the back cover of Police Academy 6....

Wasn't impressed by it.

[OllieSuave-007 · 4/10 · 17 February 2015]

The Policy Academy Trilogy is one of the most memorable cinema work in the 1980s, so, I naturally was hoping that the first movie in the franchise would be a good one.

This first movie, about a group of good-hearted but incompetent misfits who enter the police academy after the city's mayor allowed for virtually any one to apply, was just one gag after the other, with little or no plot. The excessive sexual innuendos were over the top and the movie takes a very long time to gain any steam. You might get a few chuckles here and there from the ongoing jokes, but you probably won't mind much excitement or thrills in the action-less plot.

The acting, though, was as good as it can be in the film, with Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey and George Gaynes being the highlight of the show. David Graf's Tackberry character was a little too overzealous and Andrew Rubin's oversexed George Martin character was a turn-off.

If you would like to watch the Police Academy movies, stick with the sequels, particularly Parts Two and Three.

Grade D-

"I'm trapped here?" "Oh yes, we all are!"

[Anonymous_Maxine · 8/10 · 8 March 2008]

There is a pretty good documentary included with the DVD collection in which it is revealed that producer Paul Maslansky got the idea for the whole premise of Police Academy when he was working on Hot Stuff in the late 1970s. Evidently there was a police force in charge of crowd control during the making of that movie that was, ah, interestingly diverse to the point that it caught Maslansky's attention and inspired him to approach a sergeant and ask him why there were so many gym class drop-outs on the force. The sergeant replied that they had a fair employment policy in place that compelled them to accept any applicant who took an interest in becoming an officer, but then with a wink he explained that they could flunk out whoever they wanted after three weeks. Instantly, a light bulb popped on above Maslansky's head.

Do you see what this means? Police Academy is based on a true story!!

In response to public discontent as a result of a crime wave that has been sweeping the city, the Mayor puts in place a new rule forcing the Police Department to accept any new applicant regardless of age, height, weight, sex, background, attitude, religion, nationality, IQ, criminal history, or SAT score, which causes the police academy to be bombarded with societal aberrations the likes of which would surely cause the public more concern than the criminals causing the crime wave in the first place.

No nonsense Police Chief Henry Hurst is immediately and thoroughly appalled at the new ruling as he watches the dregs of society flood his beloved police academy, while Commandant Lassard sits in his chair and cheerfully allows the curious developments of life to happen around him as they will. Most of the recruits that become central to the story are honest people who really want to be police officers, except for Casey Mahoney (Steve Guttenburg, in a career-making-and-then-breaking role), who is forced into the academy as an alternative to jail.

How could anyone at any time ever be offered the choice of becoming a police officer or going to jail? Watch the movie and you'll find out, but it doesn't really matter. It has to do with Mahoney having a powerful father, but the point is that Mahoney is a smart-ass who has not a scrap of respect for authority and who is determined to get himself booted out of the academy before lunch on the first day. The academy is equally happy to be rid of him, but for circumstances beyond either of their controls, this is not an option. It's a preposterous situation, but you have to admire it's simplicity and effectiveness in paving the way for a whole movie full of slapstick hilarity.

The rest of the relevant cast provide the springboard from which six sequels sprouted in subsequent years. Indeed, the plots of the movies run a distant second to who is back for each subsequent movie. Moses Hightower is a towering black man who became tired of being a florist, of all things, and decided to become a cop. His counterpart is Cadet Hooks, a mousy black woman with the voice of a stretched balloon who, among other things, must learn to speak with authority. Larvell Jones comes from a background similar to Mahoney's in a lot of ways but is better known for his ability to imitate the sound of almost anything (this was also a career-making-and-breaking role for Michael Winslow). Then there are Tackleberry, the trigger-happy but hilarious gun fanatic, Karen Thompson, the attractive cadet played by Kim Cattrall who provides a welcome distraction for Mahoney, the overweight and perfectly named Leslie Barbara (a man), and Doug Fackler, a priceless geek who is prone to cause accidents that don't affect himself. And overseeing them all is the delightfully creepy Lieutenant Harris, who is determined that they shall all fail miserably.

This should seem like an exceedingly easy task, but as they say, never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers!

The first movie in the Police Academy saga follows little more than the adventures of the recruits described above as they work their way through the police academy. There is a delightful competition between Lieutenant Harris, who treats his job with deadly seriousness as needed to ensure his own advancement, and the rest of the recruits, with Commandant Lassard popping up occasionally to fulfill the duties of a man clearly more interested in goldfish than law enforcement, but it's impossible not to love the guy.

Speaking of which, Lassard is the, umm, "victim" of one of the movie's more childish and unamusing jokes. I am not sure how successful the joke was when the movie was first released (I was 5 years old at the time and can't remember my initial reaction), but it is an unfortunate representative of much of the rest of the movie.

Police Academy is a milestone in the evolution of the cheesy comedy, there are no two ways about that, but the comedy in the movie has, ah, not dated well. Modern audiences will find not a single genuinely funny moment in the entire movie, but it would be madness to say that this means the movie isn't any fun.

I remember when I was a kid I used to drive my brother nuts because I always wanted to watch Police Academy movies over and over again, but at some point I lost interest, and didn't gain interest again until about a week ago when I stumbled across the Police Academy DVD collection. But for an amusing trip to the comedy of the past, you can hardly do better. Grab a couple beers, bring your buddies over, and relish the comedy of your childhood. There were never any Academy Awards in mind, but I'm willing to bet that you can't watch this movie without having a little fun

A plea for fair judgement

[Kinitawowi · 7/10 · 17 May 1999]

I feel that this is unjustly treated by the masses. The mistake many people seem to be making with this series of films is to judge them all together and average them all out, so by the time you get to the 7th, it's got so poor that the average is dropped right down.

To all who read this review, I must ask that this not be done. Judge each film in it's own right. Then you will be able to appreciate these examples of fine comedy. This, the first, is by far and away the best. Maybe this is because I'm doing what I tried to prevent others from doing, I don't know. Or maybe it's just because the film is a great laugh.

Each of the other six films are perfectly watchable in their own right. Try not to consider the other films when you watch each new one, this way you should be able to appreciate the later ones a bit more.

Watch ONLY if you Like Slapstick Movies!

[jbartelone · 4/10 · 12 September 2007]

Police Academy is what it is, one of the many teen slapstick farce comedies of the 80's that spawned much of the screwball shenanigans that still exists today in these types of movies. It doesn't offer much in the way of story lines, plot, or premise. However, it can still be fun IF (and this is an important if,) you like slapstick comedy.

It's nothing more than a bunch of immature cadets going through basic training at a Police Academy mixed in with the typical college sophomore humor of sex jokes and situations while trying to say to the audience, "Let's see how many moronic elements we can get out of a low-budget comedy to make high school or young college kids say, "hahahaha, this is funny." However, Police Academy's biggest problem is that it's not quality comedy in any way, shape or form. There ARE a few funny situations, but nothing that is memorable or hasn't been done 100 times before in these types of movies. The film also suffers from the lack of any big stars to make it appealing even to the audience that it is trying to reach.

If you are under 20, and like screwball comedy, Police Academy is a one or two shot viewing when there is nothing else on or when the video store is out of the movies you want to see and you find this in a bargain bin somewhere. For other viewers, this is a movie to avoid.