Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

grantscharoff Unforgettable characters, wonderful acting, great script, funny lines - it's all there. As a child in the 1980s, I used to watch this film dozens of times. And I still enjoy it. The sequels are pointless. You don't need them. Simply have a couple of hours and open your heart for this one. You will love it for a lifetime!

Idiot-Deluxe 1984's Police Academy was great in it's day and 32 years later the movie still feels fresh and full of vitality. Sadly it's ONLY the first entry in the series that has held up over the years and that's largely due to the films risqué sense of humour, being more adult or "mature" in nature. I've seen this film dozens of times over the years and always get a kick out it.It's funny to think that this movies success (or the entire series for that matter) largely hinges upon the presence of a perennial B-Lister like Steve Guttenberg, but it's true - it just doesn't seem like a Police Academy movie without Officer Mahoney. For the uninitiated Police Academy is a rousing comedy, that comes loaded with many funny and memorable characters and it was the starting point for a long-running and prolific series of movies throughout the 80's and into the early 90's. But it's this one, the first one, if memory serves me correctly, is the only one that's actually true to it's title - it being the only one that takes place largely at a "police academy". And it's here, at the beginning, where the comedy is most focused and is at it's most effective.Centering largely around Cadet/Officer Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) who plays a good-for-nothing punk that's constantly in trouble with the law, as he drifts from one low-paying job to another. Eventually he's pressured into going to the police academy or prison, unenthused by either choice, he chooses the academy, once there he's intent on getting thrown out later that very same day "Be out of here by three". He proceeds to cause mischief where ever he goes and with every chance he gets - and there are many. Because after all, that's really half the show - Mahnoney's shenanigans on campus. In fact his handiwork becomes so well known to others, that you hear lines like "Mahoney... it's gotta be Mahoney". He's constantly at odds with his superiors's and one in particular: Lituentant Harris, who is by far the most combustible and vocal of the academy's training core and it's between them that many of the movies funniest exchanges happen. I'd say the best of which would have to be the accident involving the dirt-bike and horse's ass - Riotous! Truly a classic film moment - or better yet the scene that immediately follows, which is a hilarious continuation of that scene.Having recently seen it yet again, I can attest to the films seemingly timeless quality and it's irrepressible comedic charm. Director Hugh Wilson did a great job with getting the most out of his cast and the films comic sensibilities still manage to shine brightly after all these years. Police Academy, the first in the series, the one that literally "started it all" remains a top-tier comedy and one of the very best of the 80's - a decade that easily had more notable comedies than any other (I could make a list but don't feel that it's necessary).Sadly it's -only- with the first Police Academy movie that the magic is alive and vital - the rest were obviously tamed-down for younger audiences - and it's a real shame they went with that direction.I can't help but think how awesome it would have been for Eddie Deezen to have been one of the new cadet's, definitely a missed opportunity..... but anyway's - Long Live The Great Mahoney!

Leofwine_draca A lot of criticism has been levelled at the POLICE ACADEMY franchise over the years, but I've never thought the films were all that bad. They've dated, yes, but their mix of slapstick goof and the occasionally raunchy gag is a good one, and this first instalment in particular feels fresh and invigorating. I reckon POLICE ACADEMY is the closest that America ever got to having their own CARRY ON series.Anyway, this is a typical early '80s production, about a bunch of new recruits and their hapless taskmasters, and the inevitable adventures and mistakes they end up making along the way. It's similar to the likes of STRIPES but far funnier. Steve Guttenberg holds everything together back when he was popular, contributing a likable everyman charm, but it's the supporting characters who really shine here. Bubba Smith's Hightower is a fan favourite, but I particularly enjoyed David Graf, whose voice box is worth its weight in gold.The well-judged performances continue in the form of G.W. Bailey's delightfully frustrated antagonist, Lieutenant Harris, and George Gaynes's hilariously befuddled Lassard; that classic podium gag involving the latter is still the highlight of the entire franchise for many people, including me.

OllieSuave-007 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-