Loaded Weapon 1

Another offering from National Lampoon, this time a mock-up of the classic Lethal Weapon series. Amusingly, they're not the only victims of parody here. Wayne's World, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Basic Instinct, Chips, Silence Of The Lambs and several others have been incorporated into this wildly hilarious (loosely used term) collage of moments. Obviously, not to be taken seriously and only recommended if you're not expecting a movie that offers a deep-dwelling plot. But it's totally for you if you're into a belly-laugh or two. Samuel L. Jackson's performance is laudable and so is co-star's Emilio Estevez. There are countless cameos by many Hollywood stars and all seem to make the movie a little more entertaining in their own typical way. Definitley worth a rent...

After watching this movie for an umpteen number of times, the gags have run a bit dry, but I remember first seeing it and I could not stop laughing. The cast is full of grade A celebrities, including Sam Jackson before he really hit big. There are some classic gags. It's all done very low-brow, but in a way that had me rolling with laughter. Go see it! You'll have a great time!

My score: 8 (out of 10)

This is a spoof of the Lethal Weapon movies, along with Basic Instinct, Silence Of The Lambs and a few other crime movies. It's pretty tame profanity-wise, but this spoof is no "family fare," that's for sure. It's also pretty darn funny.

There are a lot of verbal and sight gags, cheap shots and sleazy comments, impossible to catch them all in one viewing. That's maybe the only negative: too many sex jokes which is why this is rated PG-13 (and could easily be "R"). Emilo Estavez, Samuel J. Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Tim Curry and William Shatner all show their comedic talents, as does supermodel Kathy Ireland.

All-in-all, a fun 80 minutes, especially when you are familiar with all the movies they are making fun of in this film.

Now this is more like it for a NATIONAL LAMPOON film: LOADED WEAPON 1 is a great and affectionate spoof of the movies that takes the LETHAL WEAPON franchise as its main inspiration. It has plenty in common with Leslie Nielsen's NAKED GUN films, with a scattershot approach providing plenty of laughs, a lot of them obvious, a lot of them surreal, many of them relying on cameo appearances for effect.

Emilio Estevez plays a maverick cop, clearly modelled on Mel Gibson's Riggs, while Samuel L. Jackson gives a stand-out performance as a retiring cop modelled on Danny Glover's Murtaugh. They're involved in a storyline involving over-the-top cocaine smugglers Tim Curry and William Shatner, and there are hundreds of gags packed into a slender running time. If you're a fan of HOT SHOTS et al then this is the film for you.

And I'm still getting over those endless cameos. Bruce Willis is the best and most unexpected one, but watch out for the likes of Corey Feldman, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlie Sheen, Erik Estrada, Paul Gleason, and many, many others making unexpected and welcome appearances. This is probably the best film for cameos that I can think of.

When Sgt Billy York is murdered because she found out too much in relation to drug smuggling, Sgt's Colt and Luger are put on the case. Colt is a psychotic burnt out cop and Luger is 48 hours away from retirement and not looking to get killed for anyone. They investigate and find a sinister plot by General Mortars to bake cocaine into cookies and get girl scouts to distribute it.

All spoofs run the risk of being very hit and miss. The best ones (Airplane, Naked Gun) simply have more hits than misses and keep the gags none stop. Here the ratio is slightly more hits than misses, but not by much. The plot is irrelevant, suffice to say that, as well as spoofing buddy cop movies, it also has specific spoofs that work reasonably well (although the Basic Instinct one has lost a bit with time). The film manages to have a slow start but still be funny, even if many of the jokes you will know from other films of the genre). I love these silly spoofs so I was laughing but if you're not really a fan of spoofs then you might struggle with this one.

The cast is pretty good and is crammed with so many famous cameos I wondered how they did it! Jackson was looking for a bit of variety after several acclaimed roles with Spike Lee and he found it; he shows a good comic touch and he delivers his lines really well - I doubt he'd do this type of film now though. Estevez spoofs Mel Gibson really well and he too isn't afraid to send himself up. Lovitz is almost as annoying as Joe Pesci and does a good impression, while Ireland is nice to look despite not having that many laughs and the fact that she cannot act for sh*t. Curry and Shatner ham it up something awful to good effect and are funny. The sheer volume of cameos (of quality) is amazing and almost all of them bring laughs. Charlie Sheen, JT Walsh, F Abraham Murray, Denis Leary, Phil Hartman, Bruce Willis, Whoopi Goldberg (although she'll appear in a window these days), Paul Gleason, Joyce Brothers and a blink and you'll miss him Christopher Lambert - very impressive line up really!

Overall this is not one of the best spoof around but it does stand out as one of the strongest of the National Lampoon series (especially nowadays!). It is very hit and miss but the majority are hits and they come fast enough to cover the gaps. Silly references or silly dialogue delivered straight - it made me laugh and that's why I've seen it several times. Not great but funny, and all you probably want when you sit down to watch it.