Scuola di polizia 4: Cittadini in... guardia

Why is this movie rated so low? I admit that it is the fourth in the series and that is getting pretty ridiculous but this one has many memorable moments in it. Also where else can you go see Sharon Stone, David Spade, and a speacial appearance by a young kid at the time named Tony Hawke. No where else can you get so many people in one of their first movies. It is also still highly entertaining and causes me to laugh often. This is where you should stop watching the series however b/c they lose Steve Guttenburg and he is the only reason the series kept on for as long as it did. So don't give this a low score. Help it get out of the lowest 100 where other real horrible films belong.

I'll admit, I enjoyed these "Police Academy" movies back in the eighties. Honestly, I really only have seen the first two in the theatre. The third one I saw on cable TV. Now that I've bought the box set on DVD, I can honestly say that it is at this 4th sequel of the "Police Academy" films, that they really should have stopped right here. A lot of the humor is predictable and (most annoyingly) often repeated. For example, Winslow (Larvell Jones), was doing his silly "karate man" humor excessively though many of the "Police Academy" films. If he only did this in one film, the humorous impact would have been cherished more. The first three "Police Academy" films are the best. Taking this predictable slapstick into four more follow-up films (with totally forgettable stories, was just a bit too much.) On a positive note, "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol" starred Corinne Bohrer as Laura. What a gorgeous blonde babe she is! And also, I'll have to admit that on the documentaries of the making of the "Police Academy" films, Leslie Easterbrook is still quite an attractive looking woman. Marian Ramsey still looks good, too.

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.

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

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.