Customer Reviews

Dragnet

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dragnet was released in the summer of 1987.
I first saw this movie when a friend brought the movie over and I was doubled over in laughter from beginning to end.
The film was basically a send-up of the original dramatic series but with set in 1987 and non-stop comedy from beginning to end.
Dan Aykroyd plays Joe Friday's nephew Joe Friday to perfection and Tom Hanks was classic as his hip new partner Pep Streebek whom loved living dangerously.
Friday's stiff upper lip and insensitive persona and Streebek's free-spirited, care-free persona clash from smoking to how to operate high speed chases, food tastes and everything in between.
The two head PAGAN villians Emil Muzz(played by Jack O Halloran) and Reverend Jonathan Wurley(played with perfection by Christopher Plummer) are the funniest villians I have seen on film.
Key moments in this movie are when Friday and Streebek first take a trip to the zoo(Friday says the missing lion's mane will cause kids not to see a lion again and Streebek responds "Kids, it'll grow back" and kids respond with cheers), when they go to the Bait mansion(parodying Playboy), then when they meet Enid Borden, then when Friday and Streebeck chasing Emil Muzz(alot of humorous dialogue that ensues between Aykroyd and Hanks), go undercover to the PAGAN meeting, Friday's arresting of Wurley at The Brown Derby and then the ending battle with PAGAN.
I don't know why people pan this film, this is a classic and one of few movies I can watch start to finish without hitting skip scene or fast forward.
Recommended for those open to give film a chance and not for those who either are not fans or those who have a vendetta against me and counters my review for no reason!

Any fan of Dan Akroyd's or Tom Hank's style comedy will love it. Anyone that likes movies like "Beverly Hills Cop", "Police Academy", or "Naked Gun" should like it. Even fans of serious police movies or shows will probably get a kick out of it.

Joe Friday, played by Dan Akroyd, is serious about his work, even if his partner Pep Streebek, played by Tom Hanks, is not. Akroyd does a great job of emulating the original Dragnet Friday's inflections and no nonsense style. A cameo by Harry Morgan is fitting since he played in the original TV show.

The duo must uncover the leadership and plans of a satanic cult that is playing havoc with the city of Los Angeles. In their search they encounter a smut magazine king, a religious leader, the mayor, and a bevy of pin-up girls. Several sight gags and Akroyd's performance make this DVD worth owning.

Not much in the extras department. It would have been better if it included a making of feature and/or commentary by Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks. I would have given it four stars then.

Anyone who doesn't like this movie is suffering from the mind-altering effects of the pseudohallogenic compound Cyanigin (inside joke: get it?). With Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Christopher Plummer, (don't forget Dabney Coleman!), this movie offers a fun-filled romp through a Playboyesque mansion, a "Milk. Fresh, wholesome milk." factory, and a part of Los Angeles where it's best not to stand on the street corner at 10pm on a school night whistling.

Seriously, though, this is a fun movie. While Aykroyd isn't up to par given his previous role as Dr. Raymond Stanz (late of Columbia University) in Ghostbusters ("Does this pole still work?"), he's much better than in some of his others: The Couch Trip, Sneakers, etc.

Christopher Plummer is genius, as always.

For all you law students, this movie offers a good lesson on the First Amendment, with the whole pornography/book burning thing.

This movie is as good the first time you see it or the third or fourth. Tom Hanks and Dan Aykyrod are hilarious in their own unique way. You will never regret purchasing this movie.

whether you are a fan of the original Dragnet series or not, this is a fun movie --- in the same way Airplane spoofed Airport, this film gives a comedic twist to the most serious situation.
Dan Akroyd is wonderfully dry, yet soulful, while Tom Hanks is outrageous, but with a heart.

"Dragnet" is one of those movies I never got sick of as a kid, although it did take some growing up for me to get some of the more adult jokes ("Oh thank God...vibrator repair??"). Today, I still enjoy the hilarious banter between Dan Aykroyd as clean-cut Joe Friday, and Tom Hanks as "hipster freebird cop" Pep Streebeck. While Aykroyd has always been a comic genius, I think Hanks' slapstick talent has been underrated due to his super dramatic success. He was very funny in this film and other 80s films like "Big" and "The Money Pit."

The reason I don't give "Dragnet" five stars is the story problem. About halfway through, this movie becomes a sappy mess of a love story/kidnapping plot. It shifts focus from Friday and Streebeck trailing a bevy of PAGAN incidents to Joe trying to save the virgin Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul) from the evil Reverend Jonathan Whirley (played with slime by Christopher Plummer). The romance between Joe and Connie is dull, namely because Paul can't act her way out of a paper bag in this film. But Streebeck's antics without his partner, and Plummer's grinchy grin as he attempts dastardly deeds, save the second half from total destruction.

I believe "Dragnet" is not the dud that most critics make it out to be. It has some very funny moments and some witty dialogue. But it doesn't tie the comedy and drama/action together very well. In a way, it's almost like two different movies. One is fantastic and entertaining, while the other is a bit boring.

Don't expect a glitsy DVD with bucketloads of special features. I guess Universal reserves those special editions for "higher caliber" films. But enjoy the laughs anyway. Key moments: Friday and Streebeck go undercover, the officers meet Enid Borden, a trip to the zoo, chasing Emil Muzz, and a visit to the Bait Magazine mansion.

With all due respect to the legend Jack Webb and the television series that spawned this movie, the not-always-easy-to-achieve comic chemistry in this movie makes it a delightful diversion, and a must for the home viewing collection. SNL veteran Dan Akroyd does the deadpan Friday with consummate skill, and the rookie Tom Hanks is a fox with great timing and an unbelievable career in his future.

I love this movie!! I never get tired of watching it, and crack up whenever I do.Aykroyd and Hanks make a great team, total opposites, Hanks being the footloose, funny one, and Aykroyd playing the straight, by the book cop. Their antics are so funny you forget the bizarre plot, plus the references the series are well placed as well. What more can I say? Its hilarious, watch and you will crack up.

Nearly twenty-five years ago, actors Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks teamed up with witty director-screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz to wildly update the late Jack Webb's classic TV police melodrama, "Dragnet," into a contemporary action-comedy (a police buddy picture, if you will). By carrying over Sgt. Joe Friday's straight-laced, deadpan persona from the 1950's and 1960's and mixing it up with some inspired 1980's frat boy humor, the end result is a mostly hilarious romp that deserves re-discovery by a new generation.

It is 1987, as the late Joe Friday's namesake nephew (Dan Aykroyd) is a veteran police detective sitting at the same desk at HQ that his uncle once occupied. In a nostalgic nod to the original version's legacy, Harry Morgan returns as Bill Gannon, now promoted to captain and is the new Friday's long-suffering boss. With Joe's long-time partner off to Ukiah, CA, to start a goat farm, he is assigned a new partner, the free-wheeling Pep Streebek (Tom Hanks), who, as Friday puts it, is about to have "his wings clipped" under Friday's no-nonsense supervision. Their first case is to tackle a mysterious satanic cult known as P.A.G.A.N., whose string of bizarre robberies inevitably sets up a showdown between Friday and one of his own heroes, the morally uprighteous Rev. Jonathan Whirley (Christopher Plummer).

Backed by a solid supporting cast including Alexandra Paul (as the virgin Connie Swail), Dabney Coleman (as soft-core porno tycoon Jerry Caesar), and Elizabeth Ashley (as the scheming Police Commissioner Kirkpatrick), Aykroyd and Hanks have literally a blast together chasing down P.A.G.A.N. lead thug Emil Muz (Jack O'Halloran) and friends before moving on to the big shoot-out finale & chase sequence starting at Caesar's Playboy Mansion-like estate in Beverly Hills. As Streebek happily announces amidst the gunfire, "Thank God, it's Friday!"

All in all, this parody is hardly an all-time comedy classic, but it is still far, far better than the usually pitiful "Police Academy" franchise from the same era. With its sincere homage to Jack Webb's beloved series, the 1987 incarnation of "Dragnet" is simply top-notch for its genre right up there with another TV-inspired spoof, "The Naked Gun" starring Leslie Nielsen, which debuted the following year. The terrific, tongue-in-cheek dialogue (a trademark of the late Mankiewicz) showcases Aykroyd and Hanks in top form, especially the howler of a joke in the film's last few seconds. The surprisingly coherent plot stays on track most of the time, including a double-cross between two unlikely co-conspirators, Caesar and Whirley. The acting talents of Dabney Coleman and Christopher Plummer are excellent here making their "unholy" alliance quite believable. While Tom Hanks generally steals the show as the wisecracking Det. Streebek, Dan Aykroyd deserves considerable credit for concocting a likeable, new persona for the intrepid Sgt. Joe Friday character without betraying Jack Webb's original interpretation.

With that in mind, I cheerfully recommend "Dragnet" as a great choice for action-comedy fans. And that's just the facts, Ma'am.

Rating: 8.5/10 (definitely for ages 13 and up for occasional profanity and various sexual inferences).

P.S. The minimal DVD special features are just routine (including an obligatory trailer). It would have been a hoot to see again the "City of Crime" music video that Aykroyd and Hanks sang and performed in to promote the film's release.

I did not expect this film to be as funny as it is. The general plot of an evil minister seeking money is not new, but Aykroyd does a splended job caricaturing Joe Friday of Dragnet and Hanks does a terrific performance as his partner. Aykroyd repeats many of Friday's behaviors often, but the script is written so well that one does not become tired of them, in fact they are repeatedly funny, as Jack Benny's jokes are. The writers usually find a way to tie them together. Examples are how Friday's maternal grandmother is named Monday. Also the final line of the film about Friday's girl friend pulls a lot of the earlier jokes together. Harry Morgan was a great straight man in the film. The only bad part of the film was Plummer's acting. I did not like his giggles. They were unnecessary, silly, and not funny.