Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Fantastic!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

When police funding is cut, the Governor announces he must close one of the academies. To make it fair, the two police academies must compete against each other to stay in operation. Mauser persuades two officers in Lassard's academy to better his odds, but things don't quite turn out as expected. Police Academy 3: Back in Training recruits the fun team for another 3rd adventure and boy what an adventure plus the hilarious and insane dude from the 2nd one Zed is now an officer himself and he is just freaking funny as hell. The laughs are once again hysterical and the movie is just as good as the previous 2 entries in the Series and definitely not a 5.3 kind of comedy as IMDb listed it.

And then there were three. Steve Guttenberg said "no" to being in this or any other sequels that may follow, a good choice. Quickly rushed into production to capitalize on the successful first films. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. This is probably the worst of the sequels, with nothing to laugh at. By this film the series became even more unwatchable and somehow even more redundant. It's the kind of film that tries to show that a small story can be much more meaningful than a larger one -- and fails.

The Governor is closing one of the city's two police academies. Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Tackleberry (David Graf), Jones (Michael Winslow), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), and Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) return to the academy to help Lassard (George Gaynes) train the new recruits and fend off Mauser (Art Metrano) who runs the other academy.The good thing this time around is that they've returned to the academy. The gang is together again. Mauser being at the other academy is a minor obstacle. Half the fun of the series is to play pranks on Mauser. There are still pranks but it's more difficult to set it up naturally. The gang's hijinx is getting a little tired. Bobcat Goldthwait as a cadet is great. There are some good and some bad in this movie. It's a mix bag.

Police Academy films are a weakness of mine, they are stupid, vapid, idiotic and funny as all hell. I do so love these characters and they are in top form as the goofball graduates from the first Academy come back to save their alma mater.It seems that budget constraints have forced Governor Ed Nelson to close one of the two Police Academies. The first one is run by clueless Commandant Lassard as played by George Gaynes. The second is a discipline factory run by the nemesis of the graduates from the second Police Academy movie, Sergeant Mauser, played with relish by Art Metrano now a commandant of that Academy.So a contest is to be held to see which one stays open and our regulars, Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey, David Graf, and Leslie Esterbrook go back to help the captain they made life hell for as cadets.When you think about it, are the Police Academy movies any different than the classic Keystone Kops? A lot of the same gags are used and a lot more of them that could never have been got away with back in those days. But the idea is the same, an irreverence for law enforcement in the funniest way.These are not films to write elegant tomes about, they are films to laugh whatever part of your anatomy off you want.