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Our take
Police Academy is a broad 1980s comedy about a chaotic class of police recruits. Crude sex jokes, brief nudity gags, pranks, and dated insults are frequent, while guns move from training to a late riot. Swearing includes one f-word and several milder terms. We put it at around 13 and up, with a parent nearby to discuss the body jokes and casual treatment of firearms.
Uplifting themes
People who were told they do not belong still try to do the job together. Loyalty among the odd ones out is the warm bit. The path there is still cheating, pranks, and chaos A few cadets grow into looking after each other when the street gets ugly. The instructors are mostly blowhards. Take the teamwork, leave the badge-as-joke attitude
Story (may spoil tone)
New rules enforced by the Lady Mayoress mean that sex, weight, height and intelligence need no longer be a factor for joining the Police Force. This opens the floodgates for all and sundry to enter the Police Academy, much to the chagrin of the instructors. Not everyone is there through choice, though. Social misfit Mahoney has been forced to sign up as the only alternative to a jail sentence and it doesn't take long before he falls foul of the boorish Lieutenant Harris. But before long, Mahoney realises that he is enjoying being a police cadet and decides he wants to stay... while Harris decides he wants Mahoney out!
Details
Violence Training covers firearms, then a street riot puts real guns in nervous…
Training covers firearms, then a street riot puts real guns in nervous hands. A standoff ends with someone told to throw the weapon over a ledge. Most of it is slapstick, but the bullets are not imaginary
Language The s-word and milder swearing recur through drills and pranks. One f-w…
The s-word and milder swearing recur through drills and pranks. One f-word appears late, alongside crude insults
Sex / nudity The comedy leans on sexual talk, kissing, and 80s nudity gags around ba…
The comedy leans on sexual talk, kissing, and 80s nudity gags around barracks and dates. A line about screwing someone's brains out is played as a joke. Parents who skip crude sex farces will want this off the list
Drugs / alcohol Cigarettes get offered, and sake is explained as a kind of wine. Drinki…
Cigarettes get offered, and sake is explained as a kind of wine. Drinking and smoking sit in the social jokes, not as a habit plot. Nobody walks viewers through getting high
Bullying / discrimination A lieutenant tries to force a cadet out, and recruits trade gay-panic a…
A lieutenant tries to force a cadet out, and recruits trade gay-panic and body jokes. The film treats much of this as comedy, but the insults have aged badly
Gore / death / weapons Handguns are a training topic and then a riot prop, with a cocking soun…
Handguns are a training topic and then a riot prop, with a cocking sound in the standoff. A father killed in war is mentioned in passing. You do not get wound detail. The weapons are still right there
Dangerous behaviour Cadets discuss stealing a car and pull disruptive pranks. Their casual…
Cadets discuss stealing a car and pull disruptive pranks. Their casual handling of firearms becomes more concerning when a riot begins
Eating disorders / body image The open-door academy jokes about weight, height, and looks as if those…
The open-door academy jokes about weight, height, and looks as if those were the old filters. Cadets get mocked for their bodies in the same breath as the plot celebrates misfits. It can sting if your kid already hears that at school
Flashing lights We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
We have not confirmed whether this version contains flashing lights.
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Talk after watching
- The academy drops the old entry rules so anyone can join. What should actually matter if you give someone a badge?
- Pranks get the instructors off the cadets' backs. When does a joke stop being funny and start being cruel?
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Police Academy
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