POLICE ACADEMY 4: CITIZENS ON PATROL

US, 1987, 83 minutes, Colour.
Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Leslie Esterbrook, G.W. Bailey, George Gaynes, Sharon Stone.
Directed by Jim Drake.

Police Academy 4 is a sequel for those who enjoyed the earlier three films. It takes the familiar characters, much as a television series does, and puts them in circumstances which reflect how we enjoyed them in the earlier films. The material is watered down for a general audience.

One can see the popularity of various members of the cast by the amount of time given to them in this film: Bobcat Goldthwaite (One Crazy Summer, Burglar) is given quite an amount of attention. Michael Winslow with his noises is also prominent. George Gaynes, so popular in Tootsie, starred in the popular series Punky Brewster. Steve Gutenberg is still the star.

G. W. Bailey and Lance Kinsey bear the brunt of all tile jokes as they did in previous films.

The original slant in this film is a focus on a development of Neighbourhood Watch, Citizens on Patrol. A feisty elderly lady, Mrs Fielding, almost steals the show.

In the spirit of the other three.