Máquina Quase Mortífera

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.

Back in the 80's and 90's spoofs were good. Airplane, the Naked Guns, the various Lampoons were all cool. Now the spoofs are all vulgar and tasteless.

Loaded Weapon 1's primary material is Lethal Weapon. The two stars: Colt (Estevez) and Luger (Jackson) are supposed to be Riggs and Murtaugh. But like most spoofs they interwove other cop classics from the time: Basic Instinct and Silence of the Lambs.

The jokes are silly, some of them are run ons but that's what you expect. If we could only return to the era of good satires.

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...

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.

This isn't Airplane!, The Man With Two Brains, , or any number of classic slapsticks, but it is up there, and it is funny. While it has its slow times, it still manages to make you laugh. Great one liners, and wonderful acting make it a solid and worthy buy. Everytime you watch it, you will find yet another smart-ass, sarcastic reply, an offbeat joke or an obscure parody. Loaded Weapon 1 hits and for 90% of the time doesn't miss. It honestly doesn't get enough credit.