# Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
**Police Academy 6: City Under Siege** is a 1989 American comedy film, the sixth installment of the Police Academy franchise, directed by [Peter Bonerz](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-bonerz) and starring [Bubba Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/bubba-smith), David Graf, and [Michael Winslow](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-winslow) as police officers pursuing a gang of robbers in the fictional Wilson Heights district[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). It was released by Warner Bros. on 10 March 1989, runs 84 minutes, and carries a PG rating[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). Critics received it poorly: it holds a 0% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 9 reviews and a Metascore of 16 on Metacritic[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/police_academy_6_city_under_siege) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 10 March 1989 (United States), Warner Bros., PG, 84 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography) |
| Director / writer | Peter Bonerz; screenplay by Stephen J. Curwick; producer Paul Maslansky[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography) |
| Budget | $12 million, $1 million less than the previous installment[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography) |
| Box office | $11,567,217 gross in the US and Canada; opening weekend $4,032,480 at 1,627 theaters[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098105/) |
| Critical reception | 0% Tomatometer (9 reviews); Metascore 16, with 6 of 8 reviews negative[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/police_academy_6_city_under_siege) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/) |
| Franchise position | Sixth of seven theatrical Police Academy films (1984–1994)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
A string of high-stakes robberies committed by the same three crooks has hit businesses in the city's Wilson Heights neighborhood, and business in the district is suffering. Officials suspect a leak within the local police precinct, so the Governor sends in a team led by Commandant Eric Lassard ([George Gaynes](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-gaynes)) to stop the gang, over the dismay of Captain Thaddeus Harris (G.W. Bailey), who runs the precinct and dislikes the arriving officers[5](https://www.ratingraph.com/index.php/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-ratings-51494/). The team consists of Nick Lassard (Matt McCoy), Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), Eugene Tackleberry ([David Graf](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-graf)), Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow), Debbie Callahan ([Leslie Easterbrook](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslie-easterbrook)), Laverne Hooks (Marion Ramsey), and Douglas Fackler (Bruce Mahler)[5](https://www.ratingraph.com/index.php/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-ratings-51494/). The stakes rise when Commandant Lassard is accused of being the mastermind behind the robberies, and the team must clear his name[5](https://www.ratingraph.com/index.php/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-ratings-51494/). Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the premise as clownish police officers on the lookout for "a three-ring circus of thieves"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/police_academy_6_city_under_siege).
### Place in the franchise
The film was the sixth of seven theatrical entries in the series, following *Police Academy* (1984) through *Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach* (1988); a seventh installment, *Police Academy 7: Mission to Russia*, was released in 1994[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). The franchise also spanned an animated television series of sixty-five episodes in 1988–1989 and a syndicated live-action series, *Police Academy: The Series*, of twenty-six episodes in 1997–1998[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography).
## Production
The project was announced in September 1987 under the title Police Academy 6: Operation [Glasnost](https://www.edgepedia.org/glasnost), with producer Paul Maslansky intending to shoot in the Soviet Union; he was unable to convince Warner Bros. to allow it, and the film was shot in Los Angeles instead[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on 24 October 1988, with some filming at The Burbank Studios[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). The budget was $12 million, $1 million less than the fifth film's[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography).
[Marion Ramsey](https://www.edgepedia.org/marion-ramsey), Leslie Easterbrook, Lance Kinsey, George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, Bubba Smith, George R. Robertson, and David Graf reprised their roles from *Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography). [Steve Guttenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-guttenberg) and [Bobcat Goldthwait](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobcat-goldthwait), leads of the earlier films, had left the series after the fourth installment[6](https://www.deseret.com/1989/4/3/20088413/film-review-police-academy-6-city-under-siege/). The crew included cinematographer Charles Rosher, Jr., editor Hubert C. De La Bouillerie, production designer Tho E. Azzari, and composer Robert Folk[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/).
## Box office
The film opened at $4.0 million from 1,627 theaters, ranking second for the weekend behind *Lean on Me*[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-14-ca-387-story.html). That opening was down nearly 35% from the equivalent opening weekend of *Police Academy 5* a year earlier, prompting the Los Angeles Times to ask whether the series, which had by then grossed half a billion dollars internationally, was losing audience appeal[7](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-14-ca-387-story.html). Total gross in the United States and Canada was $11,567,217, against the $12 million budget[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098105/). The Numbers records the opening weekend as 34.9% of the total gross, with a 100% domestic share, meaning the film earned essentially nothing outside the United States and Canada[8](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Police-Academy-6-City-Under-Siege).
## Reception
Critical response was overwhelmingly negative. On Rotten Tomatoes all 9 surveyed reviews are rotten, averaging 2.60/10, while 25,000+ audience ratings give it 29%[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/police_academy_6_city_under_siege). Metacritic's Metascore is 16, based on 8 reviews of which 6 were negative and 2 mixed[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/).
**Recurring criticisms.** Reviewers targeted the recycled humor. The New York Times' Richard Bernstein granted that there were some witty moments, such as Proctor (Lance Kinsey) washing a window with a squeaky rubber squeegee while Harris (G.W. Bailey) eavesdropped through it with a stethoscope, but wrote that most of the film, "from the flying billiard balls to the exploding cigars," showed things seen before[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/). Variety noted that director Bonerz and writer Curwick both came from television sitcoms, and that the film seemed to cry out for a laugh track[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/). The Washington Post's Richard Harrington wrote that the humor "vacillates between the soporific and the moronic"[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/), and the Los Angeles Times' Chris Willman called the 84 minutes "an endless living death"[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/).
A few critics found positives. [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) praised Charles Rosher, Jr.'s cinematography and Robert Folk's soundtrack as high production values wasted on a slow-paced, silly film[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/). Time Out called the film "surely the nadir of the rehash genre" but singled out one moment, a rap whose dubbed backing music runs in a different time signature from the vocals, as the only arresting moment in the film[9](https://www.timeout.com/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-1).
## References
1. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58234-POLICE-ACADEMY-6--CITY-UNDER-SIEGE?cxt=filmography)
2. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/police_academy_6_city_under_siege)
3. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/police-academy-6-city-under-siege/critic-reviews/)
4. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098105/)
5. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989) ratings, Rating Graph](https://www.ratingraph.com/index.php/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-ratings-51494/)
6. [Film review: Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, Deseret News (April 3, 1989)](https://www.deseret.com/1989/4/3/20088413/film-review-police-academy-6-city-under-siege/)
7. ['Police Academy' Slowing Down?, Los Angeles Times (March 14, 1989)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-14-ca-387-story.html)
8. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Police-Academy-6-City-Under-Siege)
9. [Police Academy 6: City Under Siege review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/police-academy-6-city-under-siege-1)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released before 1990*
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