mark.waltz While their guns may not be man d and their police academy days long over, the similarities go way beyond the Los Angeles setting. There must be parallels of L.A. out there somewhere to explain the different heads of the various L.A.P.D. heads, in this case the breathy Elizabeth Ashley who has her hands full with detectives Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks. Ackroyd plays the nephew of the late Sgt. Joe Friday as evidenced by a picture of Jack Webb on his desk while his boss is none other than Harry Morgan, repeating his role from the second T.V. version. The case is a lot more complex, almost to the point of absurdity, and while there are laughs there, they aren't in regards to the Indiana Jones style rip-off plot.While the laughs are there, the plot takes some eye-rolling to tolerate. Then, there's that cast supporting Ackroyd, Hanks and Morgan: in addition to Ashley, there's Dabney Coleman as a Hugh Hefner like girlie magazine owner, Alexandra Paul as the virginal damsel in distress, and Christopher Plummer as numero uno villain, a la Ricardo Montalban and Robert Goulet in the first two "Naked Gun" movies. "You've got balls as big as church bells", Coleman tells Plummer in a lisping southern accent, just an example of the Shakespearean dialog. Plummer is forced to speak in diabolical tones that remind me of Dr. Smith from "Lost in Space" while Ashley is forced to dress like a drag queen funeral crasher while coming off as the Leona Helmsley of law enforcement.Ackroyd is amusing with his Jack Webb impression while Hanks seems to be playing a white version of Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop". The two leads briefly loose the film to the hysterically funny Kathleen Freeman who will have you in hysterics as a foul mouthed witness. Veteran soap and stage actress Lenka Peterson, as Ackroyd's grandmother, is simply beautiful in her brief appearance, reminding me of Gloria Stuart ("Titanic"). Sometimes this seems to struggle for real laughs, resorting to typical '80s T&A to get word of mouth going. Having seen this in its theatrical run, I recall that I found it somewhat tedious even then, the immaturity level even mind-boggling to me at 24 years old. If this was a representation of what real L.A. police were like, that city would have been in ashes after the riots.

HelenMary Dragnet is one of those films from the 80s that you just love. It's laugh out loud funny, and the jokes - mainly the deadpan stuff - never get old. So many of the lines are incredibly familiar, and like films like Top Gun, Princess Bride, Dirty Dancing many people can quote you large chunks of the script. Dan Aykroyd is brilliant as the policing by numbers monologue play by the books guy; similar role to his character in Gross Pointe Blank and there's a little of the Blues Brothers in there too. His comedic genius is playing everything so straight against Tom Hanks' enjoyable over the top, very physical slapstick sort of comedy. Together they are comedy genius both against the foil of Christopher Plummer playing a rather similar bad-guy-but-charming character to a lot of his films - Pink Panther (whichever one it was), Dreamscape etc. Some of the best lines come from Harry Morgan (famed for M*A*S*H) as their Captain.Saddled together as an unlikely pair of partners in the Police Hanks and Aykroyd stumble upon a LA-wide conspiracy involving a prominent man of the church and the Police Commissioner and a group calling themselves PAGANs - people against goodness and normalcy - and there's Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul) the hapless virgin who will be sacrificed in on of the PAGAN's rituals... and Friday and Streebeck (Aykroyd and Hanks) have to get to the bottom of it. Hilarious police procedural, witty one liners, unforgettable scenes, great stunts and car chases and great performances make up this 80s remake and homage to the original 60s series. It's not aged that well and is a little clichéd in terms of 80s films but that is the charm. Love this film - it always really makes me smile.

edwagreen Dan Aykroyd does an hilarious take-off of the late Jack Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday in this 1987 film. With that straight face along with everything being straight by the book, Aykroyd is fabulous here. He is equally matched with a perfect foil partner in a very youthful Tom Hanks.The premise may not be all that funny but there are hilarious chase scenes and wonderful performances by Christopher Plummer, as a priest, who is really a maniacal thief along with Dabney Coleman and Elizabeth Ashley, the latter a crooked Police Lady Commissioner.Friday finds love and finally breaks down somewhat from his rigidity. Plummer's line when asked about a wonderful military force is to say: "Who the Israeli's?"Even the anti-climatic ending will not bother you here.

sddavis63 It's Saturday, November 6. 9:21 a.m. I've just watched "Dragnet."A lot of old television shows have been made into movies. Most of them, frankly, have been disappointments. I have to say that the movie version of "Dragnet" is one of the better ones. Based on the cast, it should be. I'm not sure you could do any better than casting Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks in the lead roles, respectively, of Sgt. Joe Friday (supposedly the great-nephew of the Joe Friday from the series) and Tom Hanks as his new partner Pep Streebek. Both played their roles perfectly. Aykroyd was a great satirical take on Jack Webb's character, and Hanks was the perfect balance. The supporting cast - with names like Christopher Plummer and Dabney Coleman and Harry Morgan (reprising his character of Gannon from a 1969 "Dragnet" movie, who's now the police captain) - also made this worth watching.The story has Friday and Streebek investigating some type of pagan cult that's been causing havoc on the streets of the city. Their undercover encounter with the cult at one of its gatherings was hilarious. Overall, mind you, this isn't an outrageously funny movie. It's more humorous than anything, with appeal mostly to those who've seen the original series. If you've never seen the original series a lot of the subtle humour (which revolves around Aykroyd's parody of Webb's character) will be lost. However, for those who do know the original series, it's a fun nostalgia trip with a good cast.