Advantages: Somewhat funny
Disadvantages: Deplorable from start to finish

...Hugh Wilson's POLICE ACADEMY was released in 1984, an auspicious debut that would spawn six self-glorified money-making sequels, one every year for the next six years and two television series spin-offs. Although film critics hate anything to do with this long-running franchise there is an army of fans somewhere who made this first film one of the biggest hits of the eighties, the lingering question, therefore, being whether the film that started it all is a good film on it own footing. A crime wave is sweeping through a city and the answer, according to its newly-elected mayor, is to drastically reduce the requirements for entering the police academy, the unrestrictive result being every unemployed bum and loser ends up training to become a police officer. A criminal is even given the choice to join the force as an alternative... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great if you like the series.
Disadvantages: Pathetic if you hate the series.

...The first Police Academy was watchable. Not great, but a nice new idea. The sequel was OK. The next sequel was looking a bit worn. And so on and so. Im sure you've seen the pattern emerging here. So what could of possibly drove producers to want to make a 7th Police Academy movie. So what made this film so bad then? Could it of been the pathetic script. Or how about the same old characters doing the same old weary tricks that they do in every scene of every one of the series. Some movies are made to be sequelised again and again, and will always stay popular (e.g. Star Trek, James Bond etc.)...but this certainly should be laid to rest.... Read review

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Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: Nothing

...Hey fellow Ciaoers. You know me best for my film reviews and I love to do them. I'm on a film streak at the moment with one of my "it makes me laugh" films. Seeing as it makes me happy, I thought I'd do a review on it! It's a golden-oldie and it's called: POLICE ACADEMY ***ACTORS AND ACTRESSES*** Steve Guttenberg - Zeus and Roxanne, 3 Men and a Little Lady, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead Kim Cattrall - Sex and The City, Crossroads, Ice Princess G.W. Bailey - Scorcher, Jesus, Soloman Bubba Smith - Fist of Honor, Holy Matrimony, My Samurai George Gaynes - Stepmonster, The Crucible, The Fantastic Four Andrew Rubin - Tell Me That You Love Me, Roughnecks, Sunnyside David Graf (Now sadly deceased) - The Brady Bunch Movie, Rules of Engagement, The Cactus Kid Michael Winslow - Crimebusters, Buy & Cell, Gremlins Bruce... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lighthearted, better than the previous one.
Disadvantages: Don't like slapstick, feels like a kids cartoon.

...86. Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow (1994) I was really expecting to loathe this film. The sort of film that relies on kicking a grown man in the knackers for it best laughs. It's actually just a fairly average, lightweight comedy, trying to cater for the remaining fans of the series, but failing to grab the wider audience. I've seen all the Police Academy films, and they do get worse with every installment, with this one being the exception. Part 6 (City Under Siege) was utter garbage, and so Mission to Moscow is a minor improvement on it. The plot kicks off as some of our Police Academy regulars are invited to Russia to help investigate the Russian Mafia. Soon things centre around a computer game, funded by the Russian Mafia, simply called 'The Game'. It's highly addictive, and why are the Mafia behind it? It's a pretty... Read review

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Advantages: Pretty funny if you like slapstick humour, has bonus features
Disadvantages: Too much of a muchness, generally pretty expensive

...This is a complete collection boxset that contains all 7 of the original Police Academy movies. They vary in classification, with the original movie being 15 rated, the sequel and the 4th film is 12 rated and the others (the 3rd, 6th & 7th movies) being PG. That being the case, im sure kids (about 7 or 8 years or older) would find the PG ones pretty funny. I saw these movies when I was younger and remembered getting a good laugh from them, hence why I bought it. I've got to say, im not overly convinced that its worth shelling out the money for the complete collection, the reason being that in my eyes alot of the movies are very similar and the jokes/humour re-hashed, with alot of repeated situations and so on. The movies date mainly from the 1980s, with the original film dating from 1984 and the last, 'Mission to Moscow' being... Read review

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Advantages: Tackleberry on the rifle range
Disadvantages: Sequels 4-6

...Police Academy is one of those movies you feel extremely guilty about.Why? Well it's stupid,corny and at times even ridiculously phony. Yet the film seems to have gathered a type of cult following and you can see that by noticing that there were six sequels made to this film. How do I know? Well as a kid this was my favorite film and I went to every film religiously. Now I'm all grown up and I can't watch most of the series anymore without groaning. This first film though and the two after it are the exceptions to the rules. Are they all corny? Of course. That doesn't stop me from liking them though. The plot is simple: The mayor has decided that in this day and age of crime she would remove all limitations on entering into the police academy. Now anyone who wants to can be a cop. Of course most of the faculty of the police academy... Read review

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Advantages: read review
Disadvantages: read review

...starts to punch his tall son for fun to show his guest the physical strength of his son. But he doesn’t want to play around and finally hits his father unexpectedly so hard that he falls down. This might not sound particularly funny, but seeing it onscreen I laughed and it was really the only time I laughed. Near the end, I also had a light smile on my face, when seeing father and son punching each other on the wedding of Tacklebrry. But the rest of the time I was waiting for some of those silly slapstick scenes or stupid, naive jokes of the first entry into this series of extremely light, bland, uninspired and unoriginal comedies about a Police Academy full of fools who annoy and bore the people rather than “save and protect” them. However, this first sequel in a unfortunately long, long line of sequels has... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Pure 80's teenage pulp
Disadvantages: Distinctly dodgey editing and acting at times

...Again this was a film that I bought to try to recapture some of my youth (unsuccessfully I may add) as it was one that I watched several times as an impressionable kid in the 80's. To be perfectly frank the film is pretty terrible, it's badly written, badly filmed, some of the acting is definitely suspect and it was far too far similar to other films released about the same era. Mind you when the film has the same director as the more well known Police Academy series, then this probably isn't that surprising. That all said I do genuinely believe this film has a charm and even an innocence that many of the other 80's brat pack high school type movies failed to capture. Max Mendelsson is the smart talking wise-guy who along with his geek side-kick Perry Barnett terrorises his high school and his town with a long series of practical... Read review

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...in the world simultaneously. I’m talking about POLICE ACADEMY, a failed attempt of a spoof in the tradition of the ZAZ-movies, but without their brilliance in gag delivery. I’m talking about the film which ultimately destroyed the career of talented, but underused second lead Steve Guttenberg. I’