everything you have heard about this movie is true.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Being a lifelong Joseph Wambaugh fan (I have read almost every book he's written), I was anxious to buy a DVD of the ' Choirboys', one of my favorite books ... I have read that Wambaugh hated the movie so much, he sued to have his name removed from it's credits ... I understand perfectly ... This is, without a doubt, the WORST film ever made ... it easily stands up to the very worst of cinema history ... forget 'Attack of the Giant Tomatoes', or 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', etc., they are masterpieces compared to this turd ! ... Total waste of time and money ... a decent cast, wasted on a pathetic mess ... the acting is beyond amateurish ... Randy Quaid, a joke of an actor anyway, portrayed the WORST drunk scene ever attempted ... even the sound is terrible, with many portions sounding like they were dubbed in during a bad hangover ... check out the 'laughing fit' scene of Burt Young's scene, it sounds as though a cackling old bag-lady was hired to do the scene ... btw, Young gave the only a decent performance, evidence of his skill as an actor ... I'm finished, this mess has already gotten more attention than it deserves ...

I wish they still made movies like this. By that I mean one that has some sympathy for the adult male of the species. This group of cops is varied in their attitudes , some bigoted, some liberal, some in the middle; just like civilians and real cops. The first part of the movie shows a lot of vice work and dated but funny comic routines, at a time when a single mother and a baby were not always inserted into every story. These cops go about arresting gays and prostitutes before laws and attitudes had changed. The film was made in 1977, and for those too young to have lived it I am sure there are many cringe inducing scenes. One important and anachronistic episode shows an S&M hooker being caught physically abusing one of the police officer friends. The cops friend handles the hooker roughly , mad that she hurt his friend, and warns her to get lost.If this film were made today, the hooker would be a single mother with a heart of gold, and the cop would be sneered at for being in this position to begin with. It was refreshing to see a movie with some sympathy for an adult male character, before the Hollywood mantra became "women can do whatever they want, men don't matter." Later in the film one of the cops with PTSD gets himself in trouble when he over reacts, and his friends try to cover for him. I have seen some younger viewers write that they were offended by the blue code of silence. I wonder if they would have been as offended if the perpetrator were a single mother and the victim was a man. I doubt it.

I first saw this film over a decade ago and recalling from what I saw of it to be an abysmally lame and foul film. I then decided to have a second look a couple of years ago to see whether my initial reaction was correct and, if anything, I was too kind to it.This is as bad a film as I've ever seen. It's not just because the film has gutter-level humour and is relentlessly crude. It's not just because it's technically inept and cheap, with 'outside' scenes obviously filmed on interior sets. And it's not just because a good cast and director is wasted on such a filthy, demeaning film.Above all, what makes this film so wretched is the inherent dishonesty of this film, that it's an 'anti-establishment' film in the style of MASH. The notion is totally absurd when the subject of the film is one of the central pillars of the establishment in society - the police force. This is why their 'rebellious' behaviour is mainly targeted at the oppressed like homosexuals.Genuinely 'anti-establishment' films of this era had the heroes attack the privileged, elitist echelons of the college scene (Animal House) or the armed forces (MASH). 'The Choirboys' is the direct opposite and a completely repellent 'establishment' film.

My TV guide gave this movie 3 ticks (out of 4) and described it as a "gritty police thriller". They should be sued! The ONLY reason i stayed watching was that I couldn't believe how truly awful this film is, from start to finish. There's no plot and all the characters are unrealistic. Even James Woods and Robert Webber never seemed like real cops. It doesn't fit into any 'genre', except terrible. The 1970s sexism and the Japanese-American character (playing a racial stereotype) are plain embarrassing. I'm sure that all the actors involved in this rubbish (particularly James Woods) must cringe at every mention of it. To be avoided at all costs.