National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

Overview

The Lethal Weapon series and the rest of the buddy-cop genre receives the parody treatment in this low-brow comedy. Emilio Estevez stars as Jack Colt, the Mel Gibson-like loose cannon, while Samuel L. Jackson assumes the Danny Glover role as Wes Luger, his exasperated partner. Together, Colt and Luger investigate the murder of Luger's former partner (Whoopi Goldberg) and discover a criminal conspiracy led by the nefarious General Mortars (William Shatner). Hoping to mimic the success of the Naked Gun films, director Gene Quintano (of Police Academy 4 fame) loaded the film with broad visual gags, deadpan slapstick, and gratuitous parodies of The Silence of the Lambs, Basic Instinct, and other movies. The attempt to mimic successful parodies proved ineffective, however, as critics and viewers alike found the parody stale and the juvenile humor dreary.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/08/2009
UPC:	0794043135521
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:22:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Emilio Estevez	Jack Colt
Samuel L. Jackson	Wes Luger
Jon Lovitz	Becker
Tim Curry	Jigsaw
Kathy Ireland	Destiny Demeanor
William Shatner	Gen. Mortars
Joyce Brothers	Coroner
F. Murray Abraham	Harold Leacher
James Doohan	Scotty
Charlie Sheen	Valet
Denis Leary	Mike McCracken
Corey Feldman	Young Cop
Phil Hartman	Comic Cop
Whoopi Goldberg	Sgt. York
Bruce Willis	Man Whose House Is Attacked,Armanied Cop
Frank McRae	Captain Doyle
Dhiru Shah	Translator
Gokul	Hindu
Tom Bruggeman	Mini-Mart Punk
Danny Castle	Mini-Mart Punk
Lance Kinsey	Irv
Bill Nunn	Police Photographer
Lin Shaye	Witness,Actor
Vito Scotti	Tailor
Charles Napier	Interrogator
Ken Ober	Dooley
Lauren Abels	Police Psychiatrist
Richard Moll	Prison Attendant
Beverly Johnson	Doris Luger
Mary Lynn Naggie	Cindy
Suzie Hardy	Cindy
Ferne Cassel	Actor
Karman Kruschke	Cindy
J.T. Walsh	Desk Clerk
Erik Estrada	Himself
Richard Lewis	Actor
Larry Wilcox	Himself
Denise Richards	Cindy
Jake Johannsen	Drug Dealer
Sherry Bilsing	Cookie Receptionist
Allyce Beasley	Spinach Destiny
Hank Cheyne	Stormtrooper
Michael Castner	Michael Castner
J.P. Hubbell	Megaphone Cop
Paul Gleason	Actor
Rick Ducommun	Actor
Robert Folk	Composer

Technical Credits

Gene Quintano

Don Holley

Gene Quintano	Director,Screenwriter
Suzanne Todd	Producer
Don Holley	Screenwriter
Howard Klein	Executive Producer
Charles Picerni	Stunts
Michel Roy	Executive Producer
Erwin Stoff	Executive Producer
David Willis	Producer
Ferne Cassel	Casting
Chuck Picerni Jr.	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

The object in the parody racket is to get to the ripe subject matter before somebody else does. Loaded Weapon 1 fails in that effort, but it's not a fatal flaw. From its titular joke involving sequel numerals, which was first done by the Naked Gun movies, to yet another Basic Instinct send-up, Loaded Weapon 1 is pretty much all been there, done that. Even the buddy cop genre overlaps with the detective genre skewered in The Naked Gun, with similar jokes involving yellow crime scene tape and the chalk outlines around dead bodies. That said, it keeps up enough of a rapid-fire pace to please those who consider any parody a worthwhile 90 minutes of willful cheekiness. It's also fun to watch how many stars believed in this project -- beyond the appealing leads, there are cameos ranging from Bruce Willis to Corey Feldman to F. Murray Abraham to Denis Leary. The good sportsmanship is occasionally rewarded with good jokes -- such as Whoopi Goldberg politely clarifying directions to the home of the man she's just snitched on, even after the villain has already shot her -- but not enough to rise to the level of the better Jim Abrahams-Jerry Zucker spoofs. If this is supposed to be a joke-a-minute film, there's a genuinely amusing one about every five. However, 20 percent is not considered a high success rate in most enterprises.