Customer Reviews

Police Academy 5 - Assignment Miami Beach

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

A film by Alan Myerson

"Police Academy 5" is a disappointment. Sure, it is a Police Academy movie, so we know it is light slapstick humor, but this one is not nearly as good as any of the previous Police Academy movies. This fifth film is subtitled "Assignment Miami Beach" and this means that some of our favorite officers will be returning and heading south to Florida.

I'll try to sum this up as succinctly as possible, as the plot to this movie isn't terribly important (or well done, for that matter). Plot point 1: Captain Harris (G.W. Bailey) is after the job of Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes). Lassard has reached the mandatory retirement age, and Harris is going to make sure that Lassard retires. Meanwhile, Lassard is headed down to Florida to receive the award of "Police Officer of the Decade", and he wants his favorite recruits (now officers) to come with him. This brings Hightower (Bubba Smith), Tackleberry (David Graf), Jones (Michael Winslow), Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) and the soft-voiced Hooks (Marion Ramsey) to Florida. Meanwhile, there is a robbery of a stash of diamonds from a museum (it seems), and due to a mix up at the airport, Lassard unknowingly switches bags with the thief. The thief will stop at nothing to get the diamonds back. Hilarity is supposed to ensue.

Unfortunately, hilarity does not ensue. For a fan of the Police Academy movies, the fifth installment is somewhat cute and friendly and easy going (perfect for kids, really), but it is lacking some of the heart and humor of the earlier films in the series. This one only has a PG rating, compared to the R of the first film, so it is plain that this has turned into a family friendly series. Part of the problem with this movie is the lack of Officer Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), who left the series after the fourth movie. While these have always been ensemble movies, Mahoney has been something of the heart and the closest thing to a "main character" that the Police Academy movies had. He is replaced by Lassard's nephew, Nick Lassard (Matt McCoy). Nick Lassard is a police officer in Miami and, like Mahoney, is a friendly, smart-aleck, womanizer. He just isn't as likeable as Mahoney was (as hard as McCoy tries), and feels like a poor replacement for Mahoney (who isn't even mentioned in the movie). Nick has a love interest, also a cop, in Kate (Janet Jones, better known as Wayne Gretzky's wife).

Overall, "Police Academy 5" feels flat, and much less funny than the earlier (though still silly) Police Academy movies. It may be cheap entertainment, but it's just not well made cheap entertainment.

-Joe Sherry

I liked the Police Academy movies and I agree with the reviewers who wrote that they though the first four Police Academy movies are the best. This movie was okay and had some amusing scenes but suffered from the loss of Steve Guttenberg as Mahoney.

Yes sequels never compare to the first however I found this movie close to home(literally) and funny,not hilarious.
I like Ruben Rabasa(barely seen in this),where is the japanese guy?

Some say the first Police Academy was the best in the series. Some say the first two Police Academy movies were the best in the series. However, most people I know have said that Police Academy 5 was the first flop in the series and here are some reasons why. First of all, any sequel in a series of films that is direct to video is most likely not as good as it's previous sequels. Second, Carrey Mahoney (Steve Guttenburg) is very much missed in this movie. Third, G.W. Bailey does not do as good of a job playing Captain Harris in this film as he did in Police Academy 1 & 4. Fourth, I realize that the plots in the Police Academy moives are not supposed to be taken seriously. However, the plot for Police Academy 5 was just not interesting in the least. Sure, it was a good idea to have Police Academy 5 take place in Miami Beach but everything else pretty much fails for the movie. Skip this one if you haven't already seen it and watch Police Academy 6.

It is still very funny,even if Steve Guttenberg isn't in i

Many movie critics say that "Police Academy 5" is a TURKEY, but in my opininon, it is a real improvement over the not-knowing-where-it-was-going "Police Academy 4". "- Assignment: Miami Beach" has some funny (indeed, absolutely ridiculously unbelievable) moments and is probably to many people one of the best of the series. The movies reached their high point with the hilarious "Police Academy 6" (1989), but the whole hilarity of the series was destroyed with 1994's embarassing "Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow". "Police Academy 5" is great... buy it!

best comedy after police academ

Not that it matters but Police Academy 5 was not direct to video because I saw it in theaters... The first direct to video movie in the series was "Mission to Moscow" which is the worst movie in the series period.

But anyway this movie isn't bad sure it's the first without Steve G in the driver seat as Carey Mahoney but hey he wanted to move onto other things, and so he went on to do the three men and a baby movies, and then vanished from the face of the earth.

But as for this movie I enjoyed all the Police Academy movies except the Mission to Moscow movie, and yes while part 5 isn't as great as the first 4 movies it does hold up well enough today I saw it not long ago and still enjoyed watching it.

The whole cast was fine in it as usual and the addition of Nick Lassard to the cast was well placed I'd like to see him continue the series as the new Cmndt. Nick Lassard if they couldn't get Steve back I would still like to see more of the Nick Lassard character because he was good in his two movies.

RIP David Graf (1950-2001)

Very pleased with the quality of this dvd. Used products are generally not in very good condition. Will continue to buy from this seller in the future.

At this point in the Police Academy Series they have literally played all their cards in the joke department and have literally gotten repetitive and formulaic. So why not at this point put all your money on the villain which is exactly what Assignment Miami Beach does. Rene Auberjonois steals every single scene he is in and overshadows just about everyone else in the movie with his antics. For those who are bit more contemporary this is Odo from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. That's right. Odo is HILARIOUS! I remember Rene from Benson but I never remembered him in PA: 5 and after rewatching this I never remember him being this funny. If it wasn't for Rene's strengths as an actor, PA 5 would have been an utter failure. PA 5 may be ringing the last drops out of an exhausted franchise but at least Rene is strong enough to make those final drops worth anyone's while.