| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol |  | |
Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol
A new batch of civilian volunteers joins the new Citizens on Patrol program, but Captain Harris is determined to see it fail.
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
Price: $7.92
 Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol
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| User Reviews |  | The last in a great tradition.
rating: 4
I am sad to see so many of the reviewers here are not even giving this movie or the other's in the series a fair chance. I'm not saying only fans should be allowed to review this series or anythign to that degree, but if you didn't watch the films in chronological order, then its sort of rough comparing them against one another. I grew up with these movie's when I was very young and I have nothing but fond memories of PA 1-4. PA 1 is and always will be the best in the series for its freshness. It is only natural that the same jokes over and over will wear you down as a series drags on *big nod towards the Austen Powers series* but does that make it a HORRIBLE movie? Cmon...
...Citizens on Patrol marked the last in the series for Guttenberg and, rightfully so, the last that really was a good attempt at trying to match the level of humor in the original. Bobcat actually added a lot to this one in particular, "LOOK OUT FOR THE PLANE!!! Oh the humanity..." <---always has me rolling on the floor during the port-o-potty scene. I can honestly say I dislike 5-7 in the series very much, possibly 7 being the only legitimate contender of the three, which isn't saying much.
Bottom line: If you enjoyed PA 1, 2, or 3, you will enjoy 4, but do NOT, I repeat DO NOT go anywhere near 5, and view 6 and 7 only if you really desire to do so.
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Working And Training, Training And Working
rating: 4
It was pretty obvious at Police Academy 3 that the series really had nowhere to go. Part 4 slams that point home rather well. There is absolutely nothing original here. Lassard has a new Citizens On Patrol program which allows normal citizens to do police work. Basically it's like being trained as a police officer but without a gun. It seems like a silly idea to me, and really isn't much different from the open door policy of the first film. However, the writers needed some excuse to get folks back at the academy for more of the same training sequences, pranks and gags. Harris returns, and is determined to see the program fail in fear that it will put policemen out of a job. He also now has Proctor as his right hand man. The usual assortment of gags are played on Harris at every turn-armpit deodorant swapped with Mace, super glue on megaphone mouthpiece, etc. The highlight though is Harris and Proctor being tricked into going to the Blue Oyster Bar under the impression it's a restaurant with the best salad bar in town. Sadly this is the last we ever see of the Blue Oyster Bar in the series.
The original crew is still here, and returning are Sweetchuck and Zed who get quite a bit more screen time. Fackler's absent, but that's okay coz I never liked Fackler-he never seemed like a team player to me, plus he wasn't funny. Nagato shows up in the final minutes of the film, and Kirkland and her family have a cameo appearance. Copeland also has a few scenes early on. I'd have to say that this movie crams the most Police Academy characters into it. Newbies include an old lady who has the same passion for firearms as Tackleberry, a love interest for Zed, two skateboarding kids, one of them played by David Spade(and yes, he was still the same irritating weasely jerk back then), and a huge(in width, not height) friend of Hightower's named House. Sharon Stone has a small and pointless role as Mahoney's new love interest. Speaking of which, this is Mahoney's last film.
Yup, it's all the same ol, same ol. Like the other films, in the final 20 minutes our gang has to deal with a real crime resulting in a chase sequence(in planes and hot air balloons ). This time it's a jailbreak caused mostly by Proctor's stupidity(how did this ever ever become a cop?). Strangely, Hightower and Hooks seem to just disappear from the film about half way through.
Though it's very by-the-numbers and seems to be trying too hard for laughs(Really, how many times does Michael Winslow feel he has to do that Kung Fu gag of his?), I actually like this one the most next to the first film. I do actually find a lot of stuff here funny. Maybe it's because this one was shown on HBO a lot, and I more or less grew up with it, so it holds a kind of sentimental value with me, hence the four star rating. In reality it's probably a two and a half or three star movie. Either way, if you choose to watch it, I'm quite sure you know what you're getting into. Catchy theme song too!!
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Best In The Series...
rating: 4
This really was the best movie of the series, next to Police Academy 2:Citizens On Patrol. I think the transfer to dvd was pretty good on all of these movies, the only complaint I have is that 4 and 5 are Full Screen. Why couldn't they release it in Widescreen along with the rest of em?
Oh well. I give it a 4 out of 5. If it was in Widescreen I would give it a 5. I definitely recommend this if you love the comedies of the 80s.
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This movie tried so hard to be funny, but it still failed at so many levels
rating: 3
I really enjoyed the Police Academy movies when they came out in the eighties. The cast was fantastic because everyone had their own unique personalities. But, I really think that they should have stopped making these sequels after Police Academy Three: Back in Training, because all the humor started to really be repetitive and boring. That's too bad too because this movie "Police Acamedy 4: Citizens on Patrol, really did gather together quite an impressive cast of stars. Most of the original cast, plus we got Sharon Stone, David Spade, Brian Backer (from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"), and a cast of professional skateboarders, and we got a wonderful display of hot air balloons, and classic antique two passenger airplanes. It seems like it worked with a huge budget, but this comedy was so unfunny, I really don't know if I can ever sit through it again. I can certainly see why Steve Guttenberg (Mahoney) decided to not come back and participate in the three following (destined to fail) follow-up films of more Police Academy.
I bought the box set of all seven Police Academy films and quickly got rid of the last three after I watched them. They were so bad. Easily forgettable stories with an absolutely unfunny script. The only reason that I kept this Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, is because it has an actress that I fell in love with the first time I saw her. Corrine Bohrer, who plays Laura, and who has a strange attraction to Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait) in the film. When I saw her thick head of blonde hair flopping around, I was mesmerized. Since then, I've learned that Corrine Bohrer ended up being more of a cast extra on regular TV. That's too bad because she is so gorgeous.
Anyway, I'll keep this fourth Police Academy DVD only because of Corrine Bohrer, but I still love the first three because the humor was still fresh and new, and they actually had tangible stories that kept me interested.
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This had a lot of potential
rating: 3
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol isn't a bad film; it's just uneven and underdeveloped. And even though none of the previous three films were masterpieces, exactly--although for my money, Police Academy 2 comes pretty close to that designation--Police Academy 4 is something of a letdown in context.
I just finished writing my review for Death Wish 3 (1985). In that review, I also referenced Aliens (1986). I mention this here because writer Gene Quintano and director Jim Drake take a similar approach to those films in breaking the Police Academy template--they broaden the character scope, introducing a virtual army of protagonists. That move is the main source of the problems here, but it's also the main source of a mostly untapped potential for a great film.
The idea is that Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) is initiating a program to train citizens in basic police skills and procedures, so that they can help crack down on crime. As just a trivial example of how Police Academy 4 is underdeveloped, the program is "Citizens on Patrol", so that the acronym is C.O.P.--you can't get a much thinner pun than that.
Of course, there are bigger problems. Quintano and Drake fill some of their time with 1980s trends--like a long skateboarding scene (featuring a very young David Spade and skateboarding by an just as young Tony Hawk). There's some good skateboarding there, but it doesn't exactly fit a Police Academy film. Much of the first hour is filled with jokes based around core Police Academy characters' personalities, as in the previous three films, but whereas the material was fresh if underdeveloped in Police Academy 1, quick-witted and breakneck-paced in Police Academy 2, and more sequentially gag-oriented and slightly hit and miss in Police Academy 3, here it is too often a bit flat and stale. There are some funny bits, of course, but in light of the multilayered quick delivery and nonstop gags of some previous films, settling in as a rehashing underachiever on this end isn't going to entail success.
Mixed in with this standard material is the introduction of the C.O.P. program and its characters. Many of the new characters are good, but Drake is comfortable to let the film be a slow cooker, far too slow for where he eventually goes with it. While it's slow cooking, he treats the C.O.P. characters as an expanded core Police Academy cast--which is okay, because they all have their quirks just like Mahoney, Hightower, Tackleberry et al do, and those need to be established.
But here's the problem. In the final 20 - 30 minutes of the film, Drake does something very different for a Police Academy film and clever for this plot. He breaks the settings wide open, sets all his characters in chaotic motion, and achieves a madcap misadventure feel ala It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). What a great idea! But why did it take almost an hour to get there in a film that's just over 80 minutes long? The C.O.P. program and the new characters should have been introduced in 20 - 25 minutes tops, and the madcap misadventure stuff should have been developed far more so that it built momentum over the next 70 or 80 minutes. That would have made this an excellent film instead of a cursorily enjoyable one, because the last 25 minutes are good, with quite a few flashes of greatness.
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Police Academy 4 - Citizens on Patrol
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