Police Academy (film)
| Police Academy | |
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 Police Academy movie poster |
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| Directed by | Hugh Wilson |
| Produced by | Paul Maslansky |
| Written by | Neal Israel Pat Proft Hugh Wilson |
| Starring | Steve Guttenberg Kim Cattrall G.W. Bailey Bubba Smith Donovan Scott George Gaynes Andrew Rubin David Graf Leslie Easterbrook Debralee Scott Michael Winslow Bruce Mahler Ted Ross Scott Thomson Marion Ramsey |
| Music by | Robert Folk |
| Cinematography | Michael D. Margulies |
| Editing by | Robert Brown Zach Staenberg |
| Distributed by | The Ladd Company Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 23, 1984 |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4,500,000 |
| Gross revenue | $81,198,894 |
| Followed by | Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Police Academy is a 1984 comedy crime film starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall and G.W. Bailey. It was directed by Hugh Wilson and written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft and Hugh Wilson. It was a hit film that grossed approximately $146 million worldwide, spawning six sequels.
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Taglines
- The new police recruits. Call them slobs. Call them jerks. Call them gross. ...Just don't call them when you're in trouble.
- What an Institution!
- Be a police officer. All you do is join the force.
- When THEY hit the streets, even the bad guys die laughing.
Plot
A new mayor has announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. Not everyone in the police force is happy about the new changes. The main character, Carey Mahoney, is a repeat offender who is forced to join the police academy as an alternative to jail, a proposal by the officer who has been lenient on Mahoney due to knowing his father. Mahoney reluctantly agrees to this and decides that he will get himself thrown out. However, the chief of police, outraged by the mayor's lowered requirements decides that the new cadets should be forced to quit rather than being thrown out. Lieutenant Harris, who trains the cadets, agrees with the plan and employs tactics to make their lives as miserable as possible so that they do in fact quit. Mahoney tries many schemes to get thrown out but it never happens and he cannot quit because that would mean prison so he cannot get out of the academy.
While in the academy, Mahoney befriends fellow cadet Moses Hightower (played by former pro football great Bubba Smith), a quiet giant of a man, after helping him prepare for the critical driving test. After passing, Hightower is very thankful to Mahoney. Unfortunately, Hightower gets himself thrown out of the academy because of an incident, when a fellow cadet is racially insulted, in which he lifts and turns over a police car with the hated cadet Copeland inside.
Soon later, Mahoney gets involved in a lunchroom brawl caused by Copeland and Blankes, and takes the blame for throwing the first punch, which finally gives Lt. Harris the green light to expel his most despised cadet. Before Mahoney actually leaves the premises, however, a major riot breaks out downtown. The resulting police emergency forces the cadets into real action for the first time. During the riot, a tough outlaw manages to steal two cadet revolvers (one from Copeland and the other from Cadet Blankes). The outlaw grabs and disarms Lt. Harris by surprise, taking the officer to the roof of a nearby building as a hostage. Mahoney, despite his past troubles with Harris, dodges gunfire and climbs to the roof in a rescue attempt. This attempt fails and Mahoney is taken as a second hostage. Just as both hostages are about to be killed, it is none other than Hightower who suddenly appears on the rooftop in civilian clothes. The former cadet, who was working at a nearby florist just minutes earlier and left his shop due to the riot, manages to convince the hostage taker he is on his side. When asking who the hostage taker should shoot first, Hightower points at Harris, before knocking the hostage taker out with a massive punch, thus rescuing Mahoney and Harris just in time.
Mahoney and Hightower both graduate from the academy along with the other passing cadets, and both receive the academy's highest commendation ever bestowed upon a cadet for their rescue of Lt. Harris and capture of his kidnapper.
Cast
- Steve Guttenberg - Cadet Carey Mahoney
- Kim Cattrall - Cadet Karen Thompson
- G.W. Bailey - Lt. Thaddeus Harris
- Bubba Smith - Cadet Moses Hightower
- Donovan Scott - Cadet Leslie Barbara
- George Gaynes - Cmndt. Eric Lassard
- Michael Winslow - Cadet Larvell Jones
- Andrew Rubin - Cadet George Martin
- David Graf - Cadet Eugene Tackleberry
- Leslie Easterbrook - Sgt. Debbie Callahan
- Bruce Mahler - Cadet Douglas Fackler
- Ted Ross - Capt. Reed
- Scott Thomson - Cadet Chad Copeland
- Brant von Hoffman - Cadet Kyle Blankes
- Marion Ramsey - Cadet Laverne Hooks
- Ed O'Neill - supply clerk
Reception
With a total of $81,198,894 in 1,587 theaters it was the sixth biggest grossing film in the US in 1984 only behind The Karate Kid, Gremlins, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop. The movie was also a financial success worldwide grossing approximately $146 million making it the 488/9 biggest grossing film of all time. Although it was a commercial success, it did get some criticism. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that "It's really something. It's so bad, maybe you should pool your money and draw straws and send one of the guys off to rent it so that in the future, whenever you think you're sitting through a bad comedy, he could shake his head, and chuckle tolerantly, and explain that you don't know what bad is" January 1 1984.
Home video release
- Police Academy VHS (1984) The original theatrical version of the film released in 1984. In Europe was released on VHS as Police Academy: What An Institution!
- Police Academy: 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD (1984) DVD was released around the world in 2004. Special features include a "Making of" documentary, Audio Commentary by the cast and the original theatrical trailer.
- Police Academy: The Complete Collection DVD [1984-1994]: This DVD collection is a seven disc boxset which included all seven Police Academy movies released between 1984 and 1994. In the US boxset, all of the movies are presented in 1.85:1 widescreen format but on the region two DVDs. Police Academy 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 are in 1.85:1 widescreen, Police Academy 4 and 5 are in 1.33:1 fullscreen. All of the movies have multi-language subtitles and their own retrospective featurettes.
See also
External links
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Police Academy
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| Films: Police Academy | 2: Their First Assignment | 3: Back in Training | 4: Citizens on Patrol | 5: Assignment Miami Beach | 6: City Under Siege | Mission to Moscow | 8 (TBA) | |||
| Characters: List of Main Characters | Eric Lassard | Moses Hightower | |||
| Related: Animated TV series | Police Academy: The Series | Police Academy Stunt Show | Blue Oyster Bar | |||
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