Police Academy 4 - And now it's all about

Movie
German title	Police Academy 4 - And now it's all about
Original title	Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1987
length	approx. 88 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Jim Drake
script	Gene Quintano
production	Paul Maslansky
music	Robert Folk
camera	Robert Saad
cut	David Rawlins
occupation
see Police Academy figures such as Sharon Stone : Claire Mattson Brian Backer : Arnie David Spade : Kyle Derek McGrath : Butterworth Billie Bird : Mrs. Lois Feldman Corinne Bohrer : Laura
chronology
←  Predecessor Police Academy 3 -… and nobody can stop it Successor  → Police Academy 5 - Mission Miami Beach

Police Academy 4 - And now it's going is an American feature film from 1987. It is the fourth film in the Police Academy series. Actually, it should be filmed immediately after its predecessor. However, this had to be postponed because the director Jerry Paris had passed away.

action

GW Bailey returns in his role as Thaddeus Harris from the fourth part

Last seen on the series: Steve Guttenberg as Carey Mahoney

In the fourth part for the first time together in front of the camera: GW Bailey, David Graf and Lance Kinsey (from left to right)

A meeting takes place in the Academy , at which Commandant Lassard, the well-known main characters, his new program Citizens on Patrol , BGP for short ("Citizens on Patrol", COP for short, as an acronym of the colloquial word for 'police officer'; see Cop ), which aims to improve the relationship between the police and the population and guide citizens to actively fight crime. The mayor and governor support the program. Lassard is even supposed to present it at an international police seminar in England .

During a meeting with Police Chief Commissioner Hurst, the district manager Captain Harris expresses objections to the program, since it also endangers the jobs of the police officers. Hurst points out that the governor thinks the program is an excellent idea, and as long as it does, he and Harris agree.

Meanwhile, advertising for the program begins. Despite the sometimes weird advertising methods, a number of participants come to register. Among them is the heavyweight Tommy "House" Conklin , who turns out to be an old friend of Hightower.

Involuntarily, the two skateboarders Arnie and Kyle take part. They caused trouble while skateboarding in a shopping center, whereupon they were stopped and arrested by Sergeant Copeland and other police officers from Harris' area. The trial is going badly for Arnie and Kyle as the judge himself was at the mall. When the verdict was announced, there was a scuffle between the defendants and their lawyer Butterworth. Mahoney manages to convince the judge to send Arnie and Kyle to BGP. The journalist Claire Mattson in the audience then accompanies BGP as a reporter. Butterworth becomes a participant in the program.

Another participant is the feisty old lady Mrs. Feldman, who lives in the retirement home and has a weakness for everything military that inspires Tackleberry .

The program cadets line up, and Commandant Lassard greets them effusively. Since he has to go to the international police conference, Commissioner Hurst has appointed a temporary director for the program. It is Harris, who immediately makes it clear that he thinks neither of Lassard's people nor of the program. Harris therefore meets with little sympathy and is the victim of numerous pranks as a result. Mahoney begins flirting with Mattson, and participant Laura and Zed also develop a romance.

The training includes shooting training and water rescue, among other things. Soon, however, Arnie, Kyle and Tommy are no longer motivated because they feel ready. The police then frighten them at night in order to convince them otherwise.

Commissioner Hurst appears at the international police conference in England to invite the representatives of the other countries on behalf of the mayor to examine BGP on site. The next day, the participants in the program start working on the streets. Mrs. Feldman is about to observe a gang that deals in stolen goods . Your attempt to arrest someone ends up with only one undercover policeman arrested instead and three months of police work in vain. The program is then temporarily interrupted.

At the same time, the foreign police representatives arrive. Harris shows them a typical police station, but when Procter plays the prisoners game " Simon says ", he lets himself be tricked and helps all prisoners to escape. The inmates lock all police officers in the cells. However, Mrs. Feldman observed the mass outbreak and immediately alerted the Academy. Lassard's men recapture one by one and free the foreign police officers.

The final section of the chase takes place in hot air balloons and double-deckers . The foreign police officers are enthusiastic. They want to thank Mahoney, but he flies away with Claire Mattson in a balloon with a Police Academy logo, and the two toast the Academy.

properties

It is the last film with Steve Guttenberg alias Carey Mahoney and at the same time the last one that has not made it onto the IMDb's list of the worst films of all time in the recent past. However, it does worse than any of its predecessors.

particularities

Although the film was produced in direct succession to its predecessors, it is characterized by a number of special features.

• Thaddeus Harris returns as an internal police opponent, with which he has his first appearance since the first film. His character is one of the few who can be seen from here through to the seventh film.
• For the first time, part of the film (albeit a short one) takes place outside the city.
• In the other films there is hardly any music besides the famous Police Academy melody. This is not the case here - various pieces of music are presented on a comparatively large scale.
• It is unusual that there is no parade at the end. This is otherwise only the case in the second film.

Inconsistencies

The story of the film shows some inconsistencies, which is mainly due to the fact that the film has been significantly shortened for the theatrical version. For American television, however, there was a somewhat longer version. Shortening films is common, but with Police Academy 4 it also meant that relevant parts of the plot were completely lost.

• The intention of Tackleberry's father-in-law Max Kirkland to also participate in BGP leads in one scene to a dispute, the outcome of which remains open. This storyline will not be pursued any further.
• Attorney Butterworth, who initially represents skateboarders Arnie and Kyle, later appears as a participant in BGP.This is not explained in the film as a scene in which he is recruited by Mahoney and Jones was cut out.
• The BGP participants hardly appear in the last third of the film. In this part almost only the well-known main characters can be seen.
• Nowhere is it explained what kind of work the citizens should do under the program.
• It is not explained why the politically wanted program should be led by a captain who is an opponent of it.
• Mahoney's hooking up with the journalist Mattson is only pursued occasionally. This is also because a scene lasting several minutes where the two get closer in Mattson's house fell victim to the scissors.
• Towards the end of the film, when Sweetchuck and Zed fall from the plane, you can see the airfield from their perspective. There the blue and yellow machine of Mahoney and Mattson and the red machine of the fugitive criminals on the left side of the picture are already on the ground again, although both machines land shortly afterwards in the film.

Trivia

• GW Bailey and Lance Kinsey, who played Harris and Proctor, only met minutes before their first scene together. It was the balloon crash over a raging river. Within a short time the two actors became friends.
• GW Bailey was hired again at the last minute, the script was originally designed for Mauser. The reason for the exchange was that Mauser actor Art Metrano sustained a back injury when he fell from a ladder and was therefore unable to turn.
• The scene in which Proctor lands in a football stadium was filmed at Orange Bowl Stadium . In order to have a full stadium, the producers of the film had been given a few minutes before the start of a game. The spectators were less enthusiastic and shouted that he should get off the field. This offended Lance Kinsey, the actor in Proctor, because he was really looking forward to this scene.
• The ship on which Larvell Jones and Nogata battle the ninjas is a replica of a 1789 battleship that was named Rattlesnake . The ship was recreated by a family in three years of self-employment.

criticism

The film was received significantly worse than its predecessor. It is indicative of this that the IMDb rating of 5.0 out of 10 possible points (as of December 30, 2019) is worse and the film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for the worst film music. All previous films could win a gold screen , but this one not. The film was reviewed by 20 critics on Rotten Tomatoes , none of whom rated the film positively, which is why the film has a rating of zero percent (as of December 30, 2019).

"Slapstick with non-stop gags of highly questionable quality."

- Lexicon of international film

people

For the last time the main characters appear in almost full cast. An era ends with this film: the character of Carey Mahoney, who played a central role in the first films and was also popular, can be seen for the last time. Most of the second generation characters also make their final appearances here: Zed and Sweetchuck, as well as the Kirkland family (with the exception of Max), all of whom were introduced in the second film. Nogata, who appeared in the third part, also has his last appearance here. Captain Thaddeus Harris returns as an antagonist , probably also because Art Metrano alias Mauser was no longer available due to a serious accident. He will continue to play this role for the rest of the series.

The only new character who will be reunited later is Tommy "House" Conklin.

Despite the general weaknesses of this film, there are notable names on the cast list:

• Sharon Stone plays Claire Mattson , a journalist who covers the BGP program and begins a relationship with Mahoney. Their appearances have been shortened so that you only see them in places. So the slow rapprochement with Mahoney as well as Harris' attempts to influence her in her journalistic work fell under the table and do not appear in the film.
• Tony Hawk can be seen as a skateboarder.

The following people also appear in the film:

• Arnie ( Brian Backer ): He is one of two skateboarders sentenced to participate in the program.
• Kyle ( David Spade ): He's the other skateboarder in the program. It was David Spade's first film role.
• Butterworth ( Derek McGrath ): A sleazy lawyer who gives everyone his business card to get as many cases as possible. He's representing Arnie and Kyle. The viewer is not told why he can be seen as a participant in BGP towards the end of the film. The corresponding scene where he is recruited by Mahoney and Jones was cut out of the final version. There you can also see that he has numerous affairs with married women and is therefore threatened by their husbands.
• Mrs. Lois Feldman ( Billie Bird ): Like Tackleberry, the feisty old lady has a soft spot for weapons and everything military. She also participates in the BGP program. Billie Bird is an exception in the series because she appears twice but plays different characters. In the sixth film she appears again as Mrs. Stanwyck.
• Laura ( Corinne Bohrer ): She is a BGP participant and falls in love with Zed.
• Zack ( Randall "Tex" Cobb ): He's the leader of the escaped prisoners. In a scene that was cut out in the final version of the film, you can see that he was originally arrested by Sweetchuck for stealing a woman's handbag.

Web links

• Police Academy 4 - And now it's around in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Police Academy 4 - And now it's around at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
• Police Academy 4 - And now it's around at Metacritic (English)
• Police Academy 4 - And now it's all about the online film database
• Police Academy 4 - And now it's all about the German dubbing file
• Comparison of edited versions BBFC PG - FSK 6 of Police Academy 4 - And now it's around at Schnittberichte.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Police Academy 4 - And now it's around in the Internet Movie Database (English)
2. ↑ Police Academy 4 - And now it's around at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
3. ↑ Police Academy 4 - And now it's all about the lexicon of international film