Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Combat Academy , 25 Jun 2006
Again this was a film that I bought to try to recapture some of my youth
(unsuccessfully I may add) as it was one that I watched several times as an
impressionable kid in the 80's.
To be perfectly frank the film is pretty terrible, it's badly written, badly
filmed, some of the acting is definitely suspect and it was far too far similar to
other films released about the same era. Mind you when the film has the same director as the more well known Police Academy series, then this probably isn't that surprising. That all said I do genuinely believe this film has a charm and even an innocence that many of the other 80's brat pack high school type movies failed to capture.
Max Mendelsson is the smart talking wise-guy who along with his geek side-kick Perry Barnett terrorises his high school and his town with a long series of
practical jokes and pranks. Finally exasperated by it all the High School principle suspends the two jokers only for the pair to then fall foul of the town's judicial system. Putting in place a new incentive to clear up juvenile wrongdoers the judge
has no hesitation in sending the pair to complete their year of school in the local
military academy, Kirkland Military School.
For the first time in his life Max is totally out of his depth in the strict and
rigid regime at Kirkland but that doesn't stop his embarking on yet a new series
of misdemeanours and mischief (where does he get all the farmyard animals from?). This is much to the dismay of top cadet Maj Biff Woods and his father the camp commandant Gen Woods. Shy and stuttering Perry has something else going on in his life as he has fallen head over heels for pretty cadet Mary Beth. So all we need to find out is whether the guys will survive their year of square bashing, drilling and inspections and who will win the war games against the squad of visiting Russian soldiers.
As you'd expect from the same director that brought us the Police Academy
series the film isn't too be taken too seriously. There are no surprises here with
the plot of course, Max becomes the hero whilst never totally circuming to military life and Perry gets the girl. Biff gets taught a lesson in humility and everyone
lives happily every after.
The film is full of familiar faces and indeed was made with a number of top US TV series stars of the time. Keith Gordon who plays Max may be familiar to viewers from the film adaptation of Stephen King's Christine whilst of course the most familiar face is that of a very young George Clooney as Biff. To be fair Keith Gordon does a pretty good job of carrying the film as the main character and he is perfectly watchable. There's a couple of howling performances besides him, but hey, were you really watching the film for the acting?
The bit I like best about the film is that it's brave enough to introduce a very untypical love interest story line in a genre of film full of beautiful people. Dana Hill (who watchers may remember from national Lampoon's European Vacation) is the unconventional looking love interest of Max and a sweeter and more innocent teenage first love would be hard to find.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A "must" of the 1980's :), 15 Jan 2006
Good memories...that's what comes to my mind when I talk about this movie. Famous sentences: everyone know them by heart althought few do realize that they come from this rather unknown TV movie.It is not always completely silly: some moment are rather serious, and there are typically american "peace and love lessons" about friendship, family, and "avoiding at all cost to let a conflict turn you into the stupid soldier, who attacks first and think afterwards". Yet, it is mainly a funny movie, a good way to spend one hour and half.
The backgound (diplomatic struggle Us-Ussr) is getting old fashioned but nevertheless, this movie is worth watching.
I saw it in the 1980's, and I am glad I recorded it then. It has never been seen on french TV afterwards. I searched for the DVD in France, but no way to find it. That's a shame. =/ I finally found it. If you've never watched it, give it a try!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Combat Academy, 26 Feb 2003
Take a galaxy of top-name comedians, add the director of Bachelor Party, throw in a military academy and what do you get? You get Combat Academy - the funniest solution to U.S./Soviet relations seince Krushchev! Keith Gordon and Wally Ward play, respectively, a wise-cracking hipster and borderline nerd who live only to play practical jokes. To atone for their wildly comical sins, they are sent to Kirkland Military Academy, a.k.a. Combat Academy. And once they get there, you'll have a hard time wiping that smile off your face soldier! George Clooney makes an appearence. Good stuff !!
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