Police Academy (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
by Hugh Wilson
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Actor: Bubba Smith, G. W. Bailey, Kim Cattrall, Michael Winslow, Steve GuttenbergDirector: Hugh Wilson
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Hugh Wilson
Producer: Paul Maslansky
Writer: Pat Proft
Writer: Neal Israel
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Police Academy (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
DVD Review: First and only good movie in the series
Summary: 5 Stars
On March 4 of this year, the newly elected mayor announced that she was changing the hiring practices of the city's police force. No longer would height, weight, sex, education, or physical strength be used to keep new recruits out of the Metropolitan Police Academy. Hundreds of people who never dreamed of becoming police officers signed up immediately. Naturally, the police completely freaked. -opening prologue of Police Academy.
OK, so this is dated in terms of style and the chauvinism rampant in 80's comedies, but seeing it again for the first time in nearly twenty years brought back some nostalgic memories. Granted, it's not an all-time classic, but hey, at least it's not as raunchy as American Pie.
Diehards of the old school like academy chief and Lieutenant Thaddeus Harris work on a plan to make things tough for the new recruits, not by throwing them out but to make their training so miserable, they'll quit on their own accord. Harris handpicks a Mutt-and-Jeff pair (both with crewcuts, no less) named Copeland and Blankes to help him weed out the scumbuckets, dirtbags, or whatever unpleasant name he has for the other recruits. Yes, they'll learn about firearms, local laws, police procedure, and many many other things. Well, it's mainly the first and last that happen in this classic 80's comedy.
Then again, they were up against the likes of Carey Mahoney, the Monsignor Larvelle Jones, the suave lounge lizard George Martine, Leslie Barbara, Doug Fackler, and Tackleberry. Mahoney is the main character and he's at the Academy as part of a deal with his friend Captain Reed, of a choice between the academy or the lockup for another minor offense. And he can't quit as part of the deal-hence he tries to get himself kicked out by his antics. For the most part, the main victim is Lieutenant Harris. The funniest moment involves Harris, a borrowed motorcycle, a parked car, and Harris flying into the air towards the rear end of a horse. To which Mahoney says, "Someone call a veterinarian!" Basically, some of the plot involves Mahoney pulling a prank on Harris, and either being called to Harris's office or being forced to do punitive exercises supervised by Harris or his handpicked student squad leaders, Copeland and Blankes. However, Mahoney plays a real nasty and funny trick on those two involving the innocuously named Blue Oyster Bar. And as for Commandant Lassard, that involves a funny moment at a podium.
Larvelle Jones has to be my favourite character here. He has an uncanny gift for sound effects, and when he and Mahoney first meet at the police station waiting room, he demonstrates his ability by imitating a machine gun. Another one has him imitating the squishing sounds shoes make as the inspecting officer walks past the row of recruits on the academy lawn.
Mahoney's roommate, Tackleberry, is a gung-ho type who wouldn't be out of place in Vietnam. Call him a more comic version of Animal Mother in Full Metal Jacket. He has guns that blow the heads off the firing range targets and his funniest moment involves the firearms drill, where he goes nuts. When he says, "It's time this cop met the public," watch out!
But there are others. Laverne Hooks, a short gentle black with a shy, timid voice, Doug Fackler, whose specialty is slapstick, mainly being clumsy at someone else's expense, Lesley Barbara, a chubby white guy and another timid soul, and Hightower, a quiet, towering black man who seems most likely to succeed, except for one thing that he needs help. And this is one of Kim Cattrall's early films. She plays Karen Thompson, Mahoney's love interest, at least when he's not asking her to bare her thighs.
Steve Guttenberg (Mahoney), Michael Winslow (Jones), and David Graf (Tackleberry) boost this comedy, as does G.W. Bailey (Harris). But the others are good too. This is the best of the seven movie series. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.
Description of Police Academy (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
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