Alarme fatale

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.

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.

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.

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]