National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Gene Quintano

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Ireland, William Shatner, & many cameos that I won’t spoil

From: New Line Cinema

File this under the category of “films I haven’t viewed since I was a kid”; this is MANY years ago-more than I’d like to admit. I didn’t love the picture as a kid but I still remember liking it. Turns out, that opinion still holds and this is neither the funniest thing with the National Lampoon label put on it nor is it as funny as The Naked Gun pictures… but it’s still good overall.

Quite plainly, it is a spoof of the first three Lethal Weapon films w/ scenes based on films that were big deals at the time-The Silence of the Lambs & Basic Instinct. The main villain (played by Shatner w/ tremendous mustache) is named General Mortars and Kathy Ireland, Miss Demeanor. Despite those names, the movie is not that juvenile. There are many famous faces, mostly appearing in one scene cameos. A particular cameo I won’t spoil is one of the few moments from the picture that always stuck in my mind; another was the parody of Basic Instinct.

To reiterate, it’s not the top of the heap when it comes to the genre; it’s no Airplane! However, if you are familiar with the Lethal Weapon franchise and wish to see it (& other buddy cop pictures) poked fun at, you may find this as good of a time as I did. For certain, nostalgia made me delighted to see Emilio Estevez & Samuel L. Jackson as the leads, along with Jon Lovitz as the recurring Not Leo Getz & Tim Curry.

As National Lampoon has always had a dicey success rate in the world of motion pictures-nevermind how they became truly dire after the 90’s-and spoof movies had a parallel decline in the 2000’s, I’m happy to enjoy a picture that is more amusing than hilarious. Some background gags/puns not focused on is one example of something that appeals to my tastes. There are peculiar moments like them spoofing Wayne’s World for some reason but overall, it was a relief that this journey back to my childhood was not a miserable or disappointing one.