Product Details

• Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan, Alexandra Paul
• Directors: Tom Mankiewicz
• Writers: Dan Aykroyd, Tom Mankiewicz, Alan Zweibel, Jack Webb
• Producers: Bernie Brillstein, David Permut, Don Zepfel
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 12, 1992
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301300394
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,553 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The line between parody and tribute can be hard to draw, but any marginally hip baby boomer who ever watched Jack Webb's straight-laced Detective Joe Friday caught a glimmer of the comedic vein waiting to be mined beneath Dragnet's gritty Los Angeles streets. In 1987 moviegoers had yet to be crushed under the weight of the 1990s TV remake mania, and Dragnet comes off as fresh and funny. Dan Aykroyd plays Joe Friday, the straight-arrow nephew of Webb's iconic cop. This part was made for him (in fact, he's given top writing credit), and under his steely exterior you can tell he's having a ball delivering those rapid-fire recitations of regulations and deadpan expressions of moral outrage. Tom Hanks plays Pep Streebek, the laissez-faire narco agent who is Friday's new partner. Their assignment: bust the Pagans, a wild-and-woolly gang of dope fiends, deadbeats, and beatniks behind a bewildering array of bizarre robberies. Hilarity ensues. Friday and Streebek outfox a corrupt televangelist (Christopher Plummer), bicker over chili dogs and cigarettes, alternately revile and fawn over a porn millionaire (Dabney Coleman), wrestle a 30-foot-long anaconda, and rescue the virgin Connie Swail--the only girl capable of stealing Friday's heart. --Grant Balfour

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the funniest movies I have ever seen despite the fact people hate this movie, January 17, 2006

By 

Blah "Blah" (Blah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragnet (1987) (DVD)

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!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is the City of Los Angeles..., September 30, 2003

By 

C. A. Luster "The Rook" (Burke, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dragnet (1987) (DVD)

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.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, funny, funny, February 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dragnet (1987) (DVD)

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.