Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Police Academy: What an Institution! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 20, 2018

Hugh Wilson's "Police Academy" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment UK. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; making of featurette; and archival audio commentary with director Hugh Wilson, producer Paul Maslansky, and actors Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Leslie Easterbrook, and Michael Winslow. In English, with optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German SDH, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

A different kind of establishment, eh?

I don’t know anyone that has ever argued that Police Academy is a great comedy. People agree that it is a very silly film, and some like the silliness and some don’t. That’s just the truth. I enjoy its silliness because it is delivered without a filter but also without the extreme crudeness that turkeys like Dumb and Dumber promote. It takes a lot of skill to make crude jokes that are funny and the overwhelming majority of the actors that do this kind of comedy simply aren’t good enough. The guys that did Police Academy were smart enough not to go down the same path that the ‘creative’ team behind Dumb and Dumber did, or they just did not have the guts to be as bold ten years earlier. Whatever the real reason might have been, it certainly made it easier for people like me to enjoy Police Academy.

The plot is actually decent. A brilliant mind convinces top government brass that it would be a terrific idea if all minimum physical requirements are removed so that anyone can join the police force. Soon after, a motley crew of clueless amateurs and nutjobs arrive at the police academy and begin training for a supposedly limited number of vacancies. The only one that is there against his wish is Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), a handsome troublemaker who has been offered a choice between spending time in jail and paying for his sins by becoming a cop and he has chosen wisely. The remaining wannabe cops include the obsessed with guns Tackleberry (David Graff), the awkwardly mellow Leslie Barbara (Donovan Scott), the quiet giant Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), the gorgeous and single Karen Thompson (Kim Cattrall), the brilliant impersonator Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow), the clumsy and almost unbearably goofy Doug Fackler (Bruce Mahler), and the brittle and easily intimidated Laverne Hooks (Marion Ramsey). Of course the folks running the academy immediately recognize that the ‘new recruits’ are a total joke, so they task Lt. Harris (G.W. Bailey) and his assistant Sgt. Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) to make their life so difficult that they would voluntarily quit.

Hugh Wilson, who passed away last month, directed Police Academy from a script by Neal Israel and Pat Proft, the creative duo behind the very entertaining Bachelor Party. The quality of the writing is something of a mixed bag, though, and while Wilson does some neat things to give the film a nice flow sometimes the jokes just completely miss their target. Thankfully, the actors quickly move on to the next segment and continue to have as much fun as possible. It is basically what saves the film and makes it enjoyable -- it is silly and uneven, but it has that ‘well-what-the-heck-let’s-just–finish-the-damn-thing-while-having-as-much-fun-as-we-can’ attitude, and when it is as authentic as it is here, it sort of makes the silliness look charming. At least this is how I see it, and why I don’t mind revising the film every once in a while.

Last month, a local radio station did a small piece on Wilson and in it they mentioned the rest of the cast members that are no longer with us. It was just awful to hear that in recent years we have lost so many of the people that made this film.

*Police Academy is available as a single-disc release and as part of this seven-disc box set that Warner Bros. produced in 2013.

Police Academy: What an Institution! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hugh Wilson's Police Academy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older but quite healthy remaster. Obviously, delineation and density are not optimal -- and these will undoubtedly the two areas where a future 4K remaster will offer notable improvements -- but are very much in the range that I like to see on older masters. Also, some encoding optimizations would have been great to eliminate a few of the light artifacts that try to sneak in, but even on a larger screen the visuals remain quite good. A few of the darker sequences exhibit light black crush, but again the limitations of the master are not distracting. Color balance is very good, though this is another area where stability and saturation improvements can be made. Overall image stability is very good. Lastly, there are no distracting age-related imperfections. All in all, while there is room for improvement, this is certainly a fine organic presentation of the film. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release: Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Police Academy: What an Institution! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are six standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit), German: Dolby Digital 1.0, Japanese: Dolby Digital 1.0, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 1.0, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1.0 (Spain), and Spanish: Dolby Digital 1.0. Optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German SDH, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. Depth is consistently pleasing, clarity is great, and there is a proper range of dynamic nuances for an '80s film. If the film and the audio are fully remastered i the future, I honestly do not expect any sizeable improvements. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in our review.

Police Academy: What an Institution! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Police Academy. In English, not subtitled. (3 min.).

• Behind Academy Doors: Secret Files Revealed - this archival featurette focuses on the production history of Police Academy. Included in it are clips from interviews with director Hugh Wilson, producer Paul Maslansky, Steve Guttenberg, and Bubba Smith, amongst others. In English, with optional English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. (31 min.).

• Commentary - this lovely archival audio commentary features director Hugh Wilson, producer Paul Maslansky, and actors Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Leslie Easterbrook, and Michael Winslow. The commentary previously appeared on Warner's 2004 DVD release of Police Academy.

Police Academy: What an Institution! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was stuck in traffic last month when I heard on the radio that director Hugh Wilson had passed away. The guy on the radio then mentioned Police Academy and all the other people that made the film with director Wilson that are no longer with us. It was awful. You know, Police Academy is not exactly a masterpiece, but as far as I am concerned it is one of those silly films with a great attitude that made the '80s such a special decade. In the United States this film is not yet out on Blu-ray, but this single-disc release as well as this seven-disc box set are Region-Free. If you enjoy revisiting Police Academy from time to time, pick up a copy for your library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.