Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol

The misfit Police Academy (1984) is now graduated and Commandant Eric Lassard (George Gaynes) comes up with a bold idea: to recruit eager civilians to lend a hand in crushing crime, in the COP program , creating a special but bumbling team to accomplish the most dangerous assignments . As our police officer friends (Steve Guttenberg : Mahoney, Bubba Smith : Hightower , Michael Winslow : Jones , David Graf : Tackleberry , Tim Kazurinsky : Sweetchuck, Leslie Easterbrook : Callahan, Marion Ramsey : Hooks , Lance Kinsey : Proctor, Bobcat Goldthwait : Zed ) are assigned to train a group of civilian volunteers to fight crime once again plaguing the streets. While Captain Thaddeus Harris (G. W. Bailey) , is bent on sabotaging the operation, having ulterior motives . So Captain Harris wants to take over Lassard's job, and the reason for Harris is determined to see the COP program fail. But it's Harris and his right hand man Proctor who mess up by unintentionally allowing every inmate at the precinct 19 jail to geataway . Take off with the original cast... and some new civilian recruits as they take to the streets and the skies to fight crime . On land, on sea, or in the air, no place is safe from them! Captain Harris is about to lose his trousers and his mind again! Assignment: new recruits . Objective: Laughs. Hold everything! The cadets are training for an all new adventure !

Amusing , funny and very cheerful film filled with action-packed , thrills , hilarious set-pieces, tongue-in-cheek and lots of humor .The premise is simple and plain , as a misfit , botcher squadron from the known police force are called to train another more and more bumbling team and subsequently to undertake hard and risked missions . In this entry a group of botcher citizens are assembled to carry out risked missions and to find some escaped prisoners . Director delivers a professional work but with no much interest , his knack of getting the most out of characters and situations without ever going over the top making for some very big laughs . This production pays tribute to previous films , taking parts here and there , and repeating former sketches. The jokes and frolics come as thick and fast , hit and miss as usual and it is done in good spirit if not always in good taste . Nice picture with accent on sight gags , and humour that stems from the diverting roles established in other movies . The sympathetic cast formed by the motley band of misfits gives fun interpretation creating confusion , laughs and mayhem. Appearing habitual actors in the popular series, such as Seve Guttenberg as Mahoney, Bubba Smith as Hightower , Michael Winslow , David Graf , Tim Kazurinsky and adding a newcomer : Sharon Stone. It contains an attractive and thrilling score by Robert Folk , series' regular , including the classic leitmotif . As well as atmospheric and appropriate cinematography by Robert Saad . The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Jim Drake.

The series based on the chracters written by Neal Israel and Pat Proft are the following ones : Police Academy 1984 by Hugh Wilson . Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment 1985 by Jerry Paris , James Signorelli . Police Academy 3: Back in Training 1987 by Jerry Paris . Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol 1987 by Jim Drake . Police Academy : Assignment Miami Beach 1988 by Alan Myerson. Police Academy 6: City Under Siege 1989 by Peter Bornerz . Police Academy: Mission to Moscow 1994 by Alan Metter . And Police Academy the series 1997/1998 , 26 episodes by Neal Israel, Paul Maslansky, Pat Proft .

So I watched Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol last night, the one thing I really noticed here on IMDb is that the ratings just keep going down after each movie. But I still wanted to see them and judge for myself, I loved the first Police Academy, the second and third are cheesy, but they were fun still. Now onto Citizens on Patrol, I honestly liked this film, I know it was cheesy and cliché, but with G.W. Baily back in his game, you can't go wrong. Again, one of the things that surprised me is that they've been able to get the same cast back over and over again, we also have two of my new favorite characters: Zed and Sweetchuck. It was great to have the old gang back together, even if the movie needed a little work, they still made the movie very enjoyable.

The Police Academy is given a new assignment, there is a new program called C.O.P., Citizens on Patrol, taking regular people off the streets and turning them into cops. Mahony has taken a few misfit punks off the street and made them join, there's an old lady, there's the average or less then average people in the program as well. But Captain Harris hates this program and will do anything to shut it down, but when there is a jail outbreak, he may just have to rely on the C.O.P. program to help him out.

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol has it's good laughs here and there. I always love to watch the jokes the gang plays on someone, my favorite this time was how they super glued the mega phone onto Harris's lips. I would recommend this if you are looking for a couple laughs, I think people are bing a little too harsh on these films. They're the Police Academy sequels, they're light hearted and fun, they're meant to just relax and laugh for a bit at the stupid stuff. But I did feel like this is the weakest I have seen so far out of the sequels, it could have had more laughs, but it is worth the watch.

5/10

Indeed, that is the question many were asking in 1987, as the series soon turned into too much of a not so good thing. Sadly, it was only going to get worse from here. I've tried no less than three times to sit through Mission To Moscow, and it is just impossible. About the only reason to bother with episodes three through six is so you can see the final episode where Cast Member X decided they'd had enough. Or when Event Number X that was referenced in a sequel took place.

Another big problem with PA4 (and boy, there are many) is the change in target audience. Sure, episodes 1 through 3 could be enjoyed by children with two digits in their age, but the primary audience was adults who didn't have very high standards. Unfortunately, someone in the film studio must have decided that the writers have to please everybody, and so they watered down the humour as far as they could without getting a G rating. That, more than anything, is what hurts Police Academy sequels 4 onwards.

Steve Guttenberg must have taken one look at the finished product and wondered why he didn't quit about three films ago. Bob Goldthwait picks up the slack in terms of comedy, but his act is also watered down a tad too far, ditching any vocal expression of his character in favour of shouting and screaming at anyone and everyone. Which might work for a comedy about mental patients who have been neglected by the system for too long, but not when your character is meant to be a police officer. But then again, the whole premise is built on a notoriously shaky ground.

Every Police Academy film has at least one celebrity (other than George Gaynes) who wishes they had never appeared in the film. Sharon Stone gets her turn her, and despite what they say about her appearance in everything after Basic Instinct, at least she looks capable of acting. But amongst this lot, I'm sure a dead goldfish would appear to be emoting effectively.

Overall, PA4 gets a 2 out of ten from me. It stands as a good relic of what happens when you try to appeal to everyone, and it does have some genuinely funny moments, but it just cannot hold a candle to its predecessors, especially the first.

Ok, I the first three Police Academy movies were all quite good. I had a vague memory that part 4 is still somehwat good. But when watching it again, I was surprised that most that happens in the movie had been forgotten completely. I mean, the previous films felt very familiar with all the legendary jokes that seem unforgettable. This movie had also some good jokes but...I think it is more forgettable. It starts promising, introducing new interesting characters. But towards the end the plot (if there was much of it in the first place) disappears and the movie becomes quite random.

Pros: Harris from the first film is back. He's a great opposing force, better than Mauser from parts 2-3. This is also the first time Harris and Proctor work together. Harris shouting "Proctor!" is classic. Also nice to see more of Zed. The best new character is Mrs. Feldman, the old lady who has Tackleberry's attitude.

Overall it's not a very solid movie but it does have some good comedy moments. Recommended only for fans of the earlier films.

I certainly laughed a bit more than I did with the previous sequels. Once again it's all a bit overcrowded, with characters from the previous 3 outings now being mixed together. Bailey is a welcome return as the antagonist, but he is joined by the sidekick of the last two films' villain. This kind of works, as we get the best of both worlds. On top of this we are also given new characters, everyday citizens wanting to help out. This looks interesting at first, with David Spade and a skateboarding buddy forced into the program, but they are soon lost in the background. An entertaining airborne finale is rather impressive as well. So, with Bailey back, and this being Guttenberg's last, this may be a good stopping point for most viewers that made it this far.