Movie Info
Movie Name: Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
Studio: Warner Bros.
Genre(s): Comedy/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): March 10, 1989
MPAA Rating: PG
They’re back (and shrinking by the movie)
A gang of robbers led by Ace (Garrit Graham) has been plaguing the city. Captain Harris (G.W. Bailey) finds his new assignment overrun by Lassard (George Gaynes) and his team when they are called in as a special task force to try to stop the city crime. Unfortunately, someone within the force could be feeding the Wilson Heights Gang their information and the cadets from Police Academy must find the true criminal before it is too late!
Directed by Peter Bonerz, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege is a action-comedy. Following Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach in 1988, the film was released to negative reviews and received less positive returns than previous entries.
I might have seen this movie in the theater…by this point in the world of Police Academy, all the movies kind of blend together. It is hard to even talk about this movie in the fact that it is borderline spoof without being a spoof (like The Naked Gun). The movie is honestly just a weird blend of things that show how far off the rails the series had fallen.
Gotta have a rap scene
The series tone has just gotten weird. If you watch Police Academy, it is a goofy, screwball raunchy comedy. As the series progressed, the movies became kid friendly and more and more surreal. This entry actually has a super-villain mastermind working from behind a backlit curtain…with a perfect mask that is ripped off in Mission: Impossible/Scooby-Doo fashion. The humor is lacking and an outright spoof would be better.
The cast is not what it was, but this entry feels a bit more evenly balanced than the last film. It still feels like the star focus has been shifted to George Gaynes’ bumbling vs. G. W. Bailey, but the officers have more to do. This features the last appearance of Hooks (Marion Ramsey), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Proctor (Lance Kinsey), Nick Lassard (Matt McCoy), Commissioner Hurst (George R. Robertson), and the return (and final appearance) of Fackler (Bruce Mahler). The movie suffers from “he’s obviously the villain” syndrome from Kenneth Mars. It also has small roles by Billie Bird and the film premiere of Smallville (and NXIVM member) Alison Mack along with an early appearance of Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris.
Hightower vs. Ox…I wonder who will win?
The movie is as cheap looking. It is a comedy and it is meant to be cheap, but it feels like the makers went above and beyond to cut the budget. Many of the joke are sight gags and they aren’t funny either.
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege is only for those trying to watch the whole series. It is mundane, unfunny, and pales in comparison to the early entries (which you can argue aren’t that great without nostalgia figured in). The movie isn’t good, but it possibly is better than the final entry in the series. Police Academy 6: City Under Siege was followed by Police Academy: Mission to Moscow in 1994.
Related Links:
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
