The new police recruits. Call them slobs. Call them jerks. Call them gross. Just don't call them when you're in trouble.
New rules enforced by the Lady Mayoress mean that sex, weight, height and intelligence need no longer be a factor for joining the Police Force. This opens the floodgates for all and sundry to enter the Police Academy, much to the chagrin of the instructors. Not everyone is there through choice, though. Social misfit Mahoney has been forced to sign up as the only alternative to a jail sentence and it doesn't take long before he falls foul of the boorish Lieutenant Harris. But before long, Mahoney realises that he is enjoying being a police cadet and decides he wants to stay... while Harris decides he wants Mahoney out!
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Character
Comic, classical in form, effortless and unpretentious.
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- effortlessdemanding
- unpretentiousprestige
- warmbleak
Who loves it, who doesn't
22 profiled raters. Loved most by The Sinceres; disliked most by The Prestige Hunters.
Where do you stand?
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“Is Steve Guttenberg the best thing in Police Academy?”
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“Has Police Academy aged badly?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- r96skon TMDB · Mar 20256/10
<em>'Police Academy'</em> is proper lacklustre. I didn't find any of it amusing, even so I can usually see why a film may actually work for others - not here. Given I've heard of this franchise, I assume folk enjoy these so I am a tad surprised. To me, it's just all a rather limp effort. The characters have one joke associated to them (e.g. tall man, quiet woman, wannabe war guy etc.) and it's just repeated numerous times throughout the movie; it doesn't get any funnier. How many times do they play the theme song, btw? It is catchy to be fair, but damn. Michael Winslow is the only plus that I have for this. I wasn't aware of him until this very moment, those voice sounds are outrageously brilliant; even had me questioning if they were dubbed over sound effects. Awesome talent! Of the rest of the cast, Donovan Scott is the 'best' (?). I found lead Steve Guttenberg to be more annoying than anything else, shame we never got Bruce Willis instead; he auditioned for the role, so I read. Elsewhere, Kim Cattrall is underused; interesting to see her <em>'Mannequin'</em> co-star G. W. Bailey in this though, he is OK. Despite everything, in the end when the credits rolled around I didn't hold
Read the whole review on TMDB - Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Sep 20227/10
**A comedy landmark.** I have no doubt that this film inaugurates what was one of the comic franchises that most marked the 80s and 90s. I remember that, until the dawn of the new century, films from this franchise were a regular presence on TV channels, and they still make routine appearances on movie or comedy channels. Unlike many other film works from this era, I feel they are aging well and haven't fallen by the wayside. The script helped a lot, because it was very well written, considering that it is a light film and does not lack great depth: after a municipal decision to open police training courses to all those who wanted to, regardless of physical, mental and psychological requirements, the Police Academy was swamped by the most inept aspirants. Now, there will be a declared effort to get them to give up, and one of them is prevented from doing so, no matter how much he wants to. If I'm told that the film's script is quite simple and that it's not exactly good, I would surely agree. However, it served perfectly for the intended effect and held up well to the film and the successive jokes that were happening. Many of them are predictable, many are overly sexual, but many o
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Cast
- Steve GuttenbergCarey Mahoney
- Kim CattrallKaren Thompson
- G.W. BaileyLieutenant Harris
- Bubba SmithMoses Hightower
- Donovan ScottLeslie Barbara
- George GaynesCommandant Lassard
- Andrew RubinGeorge Martin
- David GrafTackleberry
- Leslie EasterbrookSergeant Callahan
- Michael WinslowLarvell Jones
Crew
- Hugh WilsonDirector
- Neal IsraelScreenplay
- Hugh WilsonScreenplay
- Pat ProftScreenplay
- Michael D. MarguliesDirector of Photography
- Robert FolkOriginal Music Composer
- Zach StaenbergEditor
- Robert BrownEditor
- Paul MaslanskyProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
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Both comic, classical in form, effortless.
National Lampoon's Vacation 198386% alikeBoth comic, classical in form, effortless.
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Saved by the Bell 202087% alikeTelevision · Both comic, classical in form, effortless.
Dave the Barbarian 200481% alikeTelevision · Both comic, effortless, classical in form.
Often watched with
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