National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)

Credits / Details

66%
Overall Rating

Ranked #2,028
...out of 13,194 movies

Genres: Absurd Comedy Comedy Parody / Spoof Police Comedy Slapstick

Connections: National Lampoon

In the wake of his former partner's gruesome murder, the experienced LAPD Detective, Wes Luger, finds himself following a faint trail of crumbs, in the last, and most important, case of his career. Now, to catch the elusive killer, Wes reluctantly teams up with Jack Colt, a grieving loner and loose cannon, and no movie franchise is safe--including Lethal Weapon, Dirty Harry, Die Hard, and The Silence of the Lambs. Before long, the seductively cryptic owner of the Wilderness Girls Cookie factory, Miss Demeanor, becomes embroiled in a dangerous criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the nefarious Vietnam War veteran, General Mortars, and the bullets start flying. Can the mismatched duo thwart ruthless Mortars' master plan? Do they deserve a sequel? --IMDb

Review by bluemeanie
Added: November 20, 2008

Long before Emilio Estevez become an A-list director with "Bobby" and shortly before Samuel L. Jackson would burst into super stardom with "Pulp Fiction" came "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1", the last film to bare the National Lampoons name without shame and disgrace. The film is a spoof and a parody of buddy cop films and thrillers, sticking to the same outlandish formula that worked for "Airplane!", "Hot Shots!" and the rest of those films that just needed to end in exclamation marks. I remember seeing this film when I was 11-years-old. It is just as funny to me now as it was back then. It is one of my favorite comedies.

The film stars as Emilio Estevez as Sgt. Jack Colt, a gun happy police officer despondent with his life and always on the search for his former partner, Claire. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Sgt. Wes Luger, a 'by the book' officer who is searching for who killed his former partner (Whoopi Goldberg). The film follows the two men as the try and find the film's antagonist, General Mortars (William Shatner), who is working with the Wilderness Girls of American to smuggle cocaine into innocent looking cookies. Tim Curry co-stars as Shatner's Austrian henchman, Kathy Ireland as Destiny Demeanor, Colt's love interest; and Frank McRae as the screaming captain. And in one hell of a hilarious turn -- the esteemed F. Murray Abraham as a Hannibal Lecter knock-off.

This film is just goofy fun. It tries so hard and most of what it tries actually works. I loved watching all of the many, many cameos in the film: Bruce Willis, Phil Hartman, Corey Feldman, Erik Estrada, Dr. Joyce Brothers, James Doohan, Richard Moll, Denis Leary, Charlie Sheen, J.T. Walsh, Paul Gleason -- to name a few. Some of the best gags in the film work because Estevez takes such a deadpan position with his delivery. Like his brother, Estevez knows how to make this kind of material work. The same can be said for Jackson, who really shows just how great he is with slapstick comedy. I especially loved his Head and Shoulders commercial.

Not everyone is going to love this film as much as I did and do. It's probably an acquired taste. Some of the humor is just downright stupid -- as when Samuel L. Jackson gives Jon Lovitz a matchbook and says, "Well these matches say you're lying" -- only to have Lovitz open them up and find the words "You're Lying" written on them. That's a lot of what this film goes for. But if you loved "Airplane!" and "Hot Shots!" and all those others film that ended with an exclamation mark, you will probably love "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1". It's the last good film to come out of the National Lampoons name. 9/10.

#1: Farley - added 11/22/2008, 06:01 PM
Ahh, I loved this film when I was younger. I really need to watch it again. Good movie to just sit back and enjoy a night of laughs.

#2: Vash - added 11/23/2008, 07:51 PM
wow dude, the fact that you even reviewed this erases the entire hating you because you're an idiot thing. this movie is a seriously underrated classic - a childhood favourite of mine, to say the least. i must have watched this movie a hundred times as a kid, and rewatched it recently with my dad and brother. "what the hell do you expect? your foot's on fire!" too many lines. pretty much everything william shatner says is gold, and the entire opening scene, from the crushing of the pipe to whoopi goldberg's death... brilliant. i love you for reviewing this.

#3: Nirrad - added 12/02/2008, 12:44 PM
Awesome movie, I watched it again with a few friends a ffew days ago. I was basically laughing the entire time. 9/10