Police Academy 3: Back in Training

"Mahoney must think he's as dumb as we are."

Commandant Lassard (Gaynes) asks his favorite candidates to return to the police academy as instructors.  The academy is competing against Commandant Mauser's (Metrano) academy to determine which academy will remain open.  Lassard brings back Sergeant Carey Mahoney (Guttenberg), Sergeant Moses Hightower (Smith), Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry (Graf), Sergeant Larvell Jones (Winslow), Sergeant Laverne Hooks (Ramsey), and Sergeant Douglas Fackler (Mahler) to assist Lieutenant Debbie Callahan (Easterbrook) with training the new recruits.

The new recruits include former delinquent Cadet Zed (Goldthwait), nerdy Cadet Sweetchuck (Kazurinsky), Tackleberry's brother-in-law Cadet Kirkland (Paris), Japanese-exchange Cadet Nogata (Tochi), and Fackler's wife Cadet Violet Fackler (Debralee Scott).

Mauser and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Proctor (Kinsey), hire Sergeant Copeland (Thomson) and Sergeant Blanks (von Hoffman) to be their spies and sabotage Lassard.  Can Mahoney and team stay one step ahead of Mauser and save the academy?


The third of 7 films in Police Academy franchise: Police Academy in 1984, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment in 1985, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol in 1987, Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach in 1988, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege in 1989, and Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow in 1994.  There were also 2 television shows (one live action and one animated).

The Good:
The beloved characters from prior films, including Carl Sweetchuck and Zed from the 2nd film, are back and up to their usual behavior.  I enjoyed Sweetchuck and Zed more in this film, and I was happy to see Leslie Easterbrook's Lieutenant Callahan return.

The Bad:
Art Metrano's Commandant Mauser is a decent foil to our heroes, but I still miss G.W. Bailey.  This film has the most named characters, there are about 21 returning characters, and it short-changes the stories of some of the characters.

Other Comments:
-This was Metrano's final film in the series.  Bailey returned for the rest of the series, aided by Lance Kinsey's Proctor.
-The villain at the end of the film, was also a villain in the original Police Academy movie.
-The movie ending jet ski chase is a nice mix of an extended action scene, broad comedy, and impressive stunt work.

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) 1986 minutes
Director: Jerry Paris
Starring: Steve Guttenberg as Sergeant Carey Mahoney
Bubba Smith as Sergeant Moses Hightower
David Graf as Sergeant Eugene Tackleberry
Michael Winslow as Sergeant Larvell Jones
Marion Ramsey as Sergeant Laverne Hooks
Leslie Easterbrook as Lieutenant Debbie Callahan
Bruce Mahler as Sergeant Douglas Fackler
George Gaynes as Commandant Eric Lassard
Art Metrano as Commandant Mauser
Lance Kinsey as Lieutenant Proctor
Scott Thomson as Sergeant Chad Copeland
Brant von Hoffman as Sergeant Kyle Blanks
Bobcat Goldthwait as Cadet Zed
Tim Kazurinsky as Cadet Sweetchuck
Brian Tochi as Cadet Tomoko Nogata
Andrew Paris as Cadet Bud Kirkland