Part of me did want to see the first 'Police Academy' film for a while now, but the bad reputations of the sequels and that the style of humour 'Police Academy' has has been done really badly elsewhere that it did admittedly put me off.

Seeing all the films recently, for curiosity and giving the benefit of the doubt, while the sequels are really not good on the most part the original 'Police Academy' is and is rightly considered the best of the series. 'Police Academy' is never going to be one of my favourite films, and won't be in my list of favourite comedies any time soon, but, taking it for what it is and what it set out to do, it entertained for most of the just over an hour and a half running time.

It is a bit hit and miss in places, not all the jokes work (most do though),due to going a little too heavily on the childish and cheap low-brow factors. That said, nothing is distasteful at least, nothing makes you want to gag or make you go to the bathroom and throw up copiously (which is more than can be said for stuff like 'Freddy Got Fingered' and the worst of Adam Sandler).

'Police Academy's' story is rather thin, with less eventful parts leaving some rather draggy stretches, and gets a bit silly. Kim Catrall does a good job being sexy and sassy but she is given little to do and the film didn't seem to know what to do with her.

However, 'Police Academy' is competently made visually, not stunning but hardly cheap. The setting looks good too and is well utilised. The soundtrack is catchy and infectious, fitting the tone perfectly.

While it has been said that not everything in the humour works, most of it does, the crudeness is mostly not overdone and the silliness is mostly endearing. Much of the dialogue is hilarious and there are set pieces that raise at least a couple of big belly laughs, the highlights being the speech scene (absolutely hilarious and to me the single best and funniest scene of the whole 'Police Academy' series) and the scenes with Copeland and Blankes.

Steve Guttenberg seems to be really enjoying himself, and is a fun and amiable presence. Easy to see why his role here made him a star at the time, even if somewhat briefly. George Gaynes is a hoot and GW Bailey is suitably hard nosed, which provides some entertaining conflict. Everyone else is fine too.

Overall, good fun film that never tries to be more than it is and knows what it wants to be. Hit and miss perhaps, but when it hits man isn't it entertaining. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Police Academy and the subsequent films in the series is a guilty pleasure of mine. The films are puerile, vapid, stupid, gross beyond belief and I laugh my Glutteus Maximus off at them. So apparently did a large part of the American movie going public.

The premise for the film is right at the beginning off screen narration where it is explained to the audience that a mayor's executive order in a quaint metropolitan area has said that the police academy will not discriminate on any grounds. Apparently that also includes intelligence as well. So we find that a whole lot of people are now applying to be cops.

What a class they are too. They're headed by Steve Guttenberg who is given a choice by another police captain friendly to his late father who is concerned about Guttenberg's lack of direction in life. We've also got Kim Cattrall the rich débutante who's just bored with her life, David Graf who takes the gun/penis dichotomy to the extreme, Bubba Smith the peaceful florist, Bruce Mahler the henpecked husband, and little Marion Ramsey who has voice projection problems and my favorite Michael Winslow the human sound effect machine.

Of course we have to have a villain and in this case and in a few subsequent episodes it's G.W. Bailey better known to today's audience as Lieutenant Provenza in Kyra Sedgwick's squad in The Closer. He will stop at nothing to run this group off the police force and they, especially Guttenberg, will stop at nothing to goof on him.

Another favorite is George Gaynes the absolutely clueless commandant of the Police Academy. What that man can do with the word 'many.'

Confession is good so embrace your inner grossness that allows you to enjoy the Police Academy series.

A lot of criticism has been levelled at the POLICE ACADEMY franchise over the years, but I've never thought the films were all that bad. They've dated, yes, but their mix of slapstick goof and the occasionally raunchy gag is a good one, and this first instalment in particular feels fresh and invigorating. I reckon POLICE ACADEMY is the closest that America ever got to having their own CARRY ON series.

Anyway, this is a typical early '80s production, about a bunch of new recruits and their hapless taskmasters, and the inevitable adventures and mistakes they end up making along the way. It's similar to the likes of STRIPES but far funnier. Steve Guttenberg holds everything together back when he was popular, contributing a likable everyman charm, but it's the supporting characters who really shine here. Bubba Smith's Hightower is a fan favourite, but I particularly enjoyed David Graf, whose voice box is worth its weight in gold.

The well-judged performances continue in the form of G.W. Bailey's delightfully frustrated antagonist, Lieutenant Harris, and George Gaynes's hilariously befuddled Lassard; that classic podium gag involving the latter is still the highlight of the entire franchise for many people, including me.