Con el arma a punto

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.

As several others have pointed out - this is not a very good film. However, it's still pretty darn funny. It's a B-version spoof film, but I still laughed more than on average.

When you don't have terribly gifted writers and/or actors you have to rely on throwing in as many jokes as possible in order to try and get more laughs. And a surprising amount of them are actually very funny (albeit extremely silly, and stupid).

Favourite bit: when Estevez and Jackson are driving in their car and suddenly realize they're being followed - by two guys wearing ski masks, sitting in the backseat of the car.

If you know what you're getting yourself into, Loaded Weapon is an underrated little gem. If nothing else, it's fun to see Sam L. Jackson before he became a "serious" actor. [7/10]

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)

I am glad my fellow reviewers (some of them) also found this movie enjoyable. It was silly at times but never insulting and the large cast helps greatly. Of particular interest is cameos by Erik Estrada, Dr. Joyce Brothers and Bill Nunn. Even Kathy Ireland manages to be funny! Its not the Marx Brothers or "Some Like it Hot", but for what it is, I liked it a lot.