Sgt. Joe Friday (Aykroyd) is back in action and this time he's after more than just to solve a crime - he wants "just the laughs, ma'am". This time Sgt. Friday has a partner that is just as funny as he is Det. Pep Streebek (Hanks).Dragnet has a great story and quite a few great jokes in it. This movie is not a spoof of the original TV series Dragnet, instead it is a movie based on the TV show but with the added element of good comedy.If you enjoyed the movie Dragnet then you might like other crazy cops (or spies) type of films such as "Spies Like Us", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", "Police Academy" "Turner and Hooch" or "The Naked Gun".9/10

Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Alexandra Paul, Harry Morgan and Dabney Coleman star in this 1987 action-comedy update of the TV series. This takes place in L.A. where we meet square cop, Joe Friday (Aykroyd) who is the nephew of his late uncle, Joe (Jack Webb). Soon, Joe meets new and wild partner, Pep Streebeck (Hanks) and they investigate a series of crimes committed by members of a cult known as P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness And Normalcy. Plummer plays corrupt priest, Jonathan Whirley who is behind it, Paul (Christine) plays Connie Swail, a virgin Whirley tries to sacrifice, Morgan reprises his role as Bill Gannon who is now police captain and Coleman (9 to 5) plays Bait magazine mogul, Jerry Caesar who is basically like Playboy mogul, Hugh Hefner. Joe also finds romance with Connie while on the case. I've always liked this film and think it's underrated. Aykroyd & Hanks are great in it and together. I recommend this.

Dragnet is directed by Tom Mankiewicz and he also co-writes the screenplay with Dan Aykroyd and Alan Zweibel. It stars Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan and Alexandra Paul. Music is by Ira Newborn and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti.A parody and homage to the much loved TV show of the same name from the 60s, Dragnet works hard to bring 1980s chic to the formula but ultimately has to rely on the two stars to keep its head above water. Plot pitches Aykroyd and Hanks together as mismatched cops trying to decipher the nefarious workings of cult outfit PAGAN (People Against Goodness And Normalcy).Aykroyd's Sgt. Joe Friday is a by the book copper with a stick up his backside, Hanks' Det. Pep Streebeck is the unconventional sloth who doesn't mind fracturing laws to get a result. Naturally Friday will have to loosen up for the plot machinations to work, so enter Connie Swail (Paul) as the love interest who smooths Friday's rough edges. Plummer is scraping the bottom of the barrel but seems to be having fun doing so, and Morgan just looks bemused.Thankfully the script is ripe with dialogue tailor made for Aykroyd, ensuring his fans get good value out of the picture. The pairing of Hanks and Aykroyd is a good one, their polar opposite dynamics spicy, and many lines become ever quotable. The action sequences aren't up to much, the direction equally so, while the soundtrack is just plane bad. So for enjoyment purpose it's best just to buy into Aykroyd's deadpan take on the Joe Friday character and kinda ignore the rest. It has moments, but the material isn't worthy of being stretched to over an hour and forty minutes of film. 6/10

I thought most of the good laughs were in the first 20 minutes, then the film bogged down by chases (in and out of cars) that were too long and our "heroes" getting in too much trouble with their bosses when they really hadn't been fouling things up.I loved the Dragnet TV series of the 60s I grew up with--except for the episodes that were too preachy and didn't have enough detective work. I have seen many episodes of the 50s Dragnet and these were like the good ones from the 60s.To base a comedy movie on the characters from the series seems like a good idea. Tom Hanks did a good job with his character. Dan Ackroyd certainly nailed down the Joe Friday character in a comical way. It was fun to see Harry Morgan reprising his role from the series, now with a promotion. It was too bad he wasn't given much to do except be a cranky boss.The stereotype character of the religious leader being the bad guy was hackneyed before this film was made. If Martians learned our language and then sent for all U.S. films made between 1975 and today, they would be dead certain that almost anyone addressed as "father, reverend, etc." is an evil person, or an absolute idiot, because that is the way they are almost always portrayed in almost all films during these years, except when their role is minuscule.Here, there's a crooked politician working with the evil minister. Why stop with one stereotype when you can exploit two or more? I thought the film had some good laugh lines, particularly near the beginning. If they had the two cops interviewing more regular people and criminals, which is what the original series primarily featured, it could have been a much better movie.Where it went downhill was all the pointless "action" scenes that lacked true drama because we knew they weren't going to get killed. These scenes seemed to last forever, too.It's a decent movie with more laughs than lots of comedies, but it sure could have been so much better.