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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: ~Chopper~ on February 09, 2004, 04:45:46 PM



Title: Best Cop Films
Post by: ~Chopper~ on February 09, 2004, 04:45:46 PM
The cop film is a genre that never seems to die. Here's a list of what are some of the best cop films in my opinion.

 The "A" list:

1. Prince of the City - Directed by Sidney Lumet, my personnal fave of the genre. Based on true events.

2. Narc - Gritty portrait of Detroit narcotics work. Ray Liotta and Jason Patric are excellent in it. Overall a well-made film.

3. Serpico - flat-out classic. Al Pacino plays Frank Serpico who helped expose police corruption in 70's,  New York. Based on true events.

4. the Silence of the Lambs - maybe not about the typical "cop" life, but a good portrait of the darker side of law enforcement.

5. the Shield (TV series) - badass show, great storyline.

6. the French Connection - no way a PC film by today's standards. But great action and realistic characters.

7. Donnie Brasco - Like Silence of the Lambs, deals with the FBI side of things. Good example of how a man's work can overcome him.

 on the B-list, can't think of anything (?). Any other inputs?


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Brother Ragnarok on February 09, 2004, 05:33:02 PM
You mean Walking Tall and Final Justice didn't make your list!?  Go ahead on, it's your move.

Brother R



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Johnny Z on February 09, 2004, 05:58:31 PM
Definitely the best series on tv is The Shield, hands down.
Donnie Brasco is a must see.

Can't disagree with you on any of them.

B-movie side (had to throw it in)

Psycho Cop 2



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Ash on February 09, 2004, 07:32:23 PM
I choose a more recent film....Training Day

Now that was a riveting movie!


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: The Burgomaster on February 09, 2004, 09:27:11 PM
In no particular order:

* SERPICO

* THE FRENCH CONNECTION

* BULLITT

* THE ONION FIELD

* L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

* THE NEW CENTURIONS (just an okay movie, but one of my guilty pleasures)

* DIRTY HARRY (although, it's not as realistic as the above movies)

Not really cop movies, but similar:

* SHAFT

* TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.

As for some of the others named in this thread:

* WALKING TALL (very watchable . . . I've seen it many times . . . I think of this as more of a "good old boy" movie than a cop movie . . . but it is definitely about a cop!)

* PRINCE OF THE CITY (very similar to SERPICO . . . but Treat Williams is certainly no Al Pacino)

* NARC (didn't really like it . . . too much like an episode of a marginal TV series)

* TRAINING DAY (I liked it a lot, but I can't put it in the same category as stuff like SERPICO and THE FRENCH CONNECTION)



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: raj on February 09, 2004, 09:32:13 PM
Good choices, for the ones I've seen (Serpico, French Connex, Donnie Brasco)  I'd add in High Noon (he was a sheriff) and 48 Hours.

Any good bad movies that are cop films?


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ~Chopper~ on February 10, 2004, 08:42:06 AM
Never seen either, although I know Walking Tall has achieved a sort of cult status over the years. They're also remaking it with the wrestler "the rock," it looks like one stinker!


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ~Chopper~ on February 10, 2004, 08:43:16 AM
HAHA, yes Psycho Cop. I can't believe i still haven't seen any of these. Is part 2 the best as far as delivering the "goods?"


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ~Chopper~ on February 10, 2004, 08:46:00 AM
a lot of people complained about Training Day because they said it was "unrealisitic", but i enjoyed it though. it might not be as realistic as a lot of other cops films, (but then again is Sperico realistic compaired to today's streets?), but a fun and entertaining movie nevertheless.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ~Chopper~ on February 10, 2004, 08:48:06 AM
"Any good bad movies that are cop films?"
That's the same things I was wondering, but other than Shaft and Psycho cop 2 which Johny Z recommended, I really can't think of many.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Johnny Z on February 10, 2004, 03:24:04 PM
I cannot find a copy of Psycho Cop 1, if anyone knows where I can get one, would appreciate it. PC2 was hilarious! Lots of the great stuff B movies are made of:

drugs
gratuitous sex (lots and lots)
blood
gore
violence



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Johnny Z on February 10, 2004, 03:38:47 PM
I don't mean this to be politically incorrect, so forgive me. But the sheriff that Walking Tall was based on was white as a sheet, Rock playing him doesn't translate. That alone will make the movie stink in my opinion.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Chopper on February 10, 2004, 03:58:04 PM
very true. i see where you're coming from. i also heard that the sheriff that Walking Tall was based off of was an obnoxous, drunk, slob, that no one in the town liked. i guess they have to "bend" the truth a lot in movies.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Johnny Z on February 10, 2004, 05:14:51 PM
Here is the link to his official site:

http://www.sheriffbufordpusser.com/



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 10, 2004, 06:06:22 PM
There used to be a small Police and Fire museum in Pigeon Forge, TN (right outside Gatlinburg) that had the remains of the car he was killed in...pretty wild.

Anyone know if that museum/the car is still there?



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 10, 2004, 06:08:50 PM
raj wrote:
>
> Any good bad movies that are cop films?

What about Maniac Cop?  That was pretty bad.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: The Burgomaster on February 10, 2004, 06:11:48 PM
I have seen the original WALKING TALL many times.  It is one of those movies that I watch at least once every couple of years.  I was excited when I heard they were making a remake.  Then I saw the trailer, which looks terrible.  It looks like they updated the story to appeal to a younger crowd and turned it into a slick "music video look" movie.  I will probably still see it in the theater, but I'm already disappointed.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 10, 2004, 06:11:56 PM
The Black Marble was an interesting cop movie - an old drunk cop investigates a dog kidnapping (Harry Dean Stanton as the bad guy).

The Onion Field (Burgo Mentioned) is kinda intense in its way ... and a true story.

And how could we leave off Robocop??



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: JohnL on February 11, 2004, 01:15:09 AM
My favorites are probably the Dirty Harry and Lethal Weapon movies. I know they're not very realistic, but they're entertaining.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Deej on February 11, 2004, 01:27:02 AM
 LA Confidential is the best cop film ever. Gritty and hard edged, and you leave the movie fealing a little dirty.

As far as TV. A few years ago there was a TV show called HIGH INCIDENT, that IMO, captured what it was like to be a patrol officer. Of course there was alot more drama involved, and if you're involved in a shootout every other week, you're probably doing something wrong. But otherwise, it was enjoyable, and reasonably accurate. Of course, I don't think it even lasted a whole season.

Oh yeah...COP ROCK!!!



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 11, 2004, 02:12:22 AM
Deej wrote:

> As far as TV. A few years ago there was a TV show called HIGH
> INCIDENT, that IMO, captured what it was like to be a patrol
> officer.

I really liked that show.  I thought was as close as I seen to 'realistic' on tv cop shows.

The first few seasons of Hill Street Blues were pretty good, too.  Before it became a soap opera.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Deej on February 11, 2004, 05:32:12 AM
ulthar wrote:

> Deej wrote:
>
> > As far as TV. A few years ago there was a TV show called HIGH
> > INCIDENT, that IMO, captured what it was like to be a patrol
> > officer.
>
> I really liked that show.  I thought was as close as I seen to
> 'realistic' on tv cop shows.

You mentioned in an earlier thread that you'd been a PO for a couple of years. So, you're well aquainted with the mundane and monotonous aspect of working patrol.

Shows like TJ Hooker never really covered that bit, which really makes up a huge part of the work day.  Don't know about you, but I have yet to ride on the hood of a car. Cleaning puke off of your seat covers  and mediating a dispute over  cab fare doesn't make for edge-of-your seat viewing

 Another good one, more recently, was 10-8. It was fairly dead-on, with allowances for dramatic interludes. I think it got canned too. I don't remember Hill Street that well, I was about 8 when it premiered, and it wasn't action-packed enough for me then, I do remember the guy who growled like a dog though, always thought he was cool.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: SPCFranks on February 11, 2004, 07:15:36 AM
I don't think anyone mentioned SWAT or the Recruit.... I mean those are two movies to the extremes... but thats why they are movies... oh yeah almost forgot Copland... lol      Narc is my favorite cop oriented movie.   And is noone going to mention the good ol' Andy Griffith show and Barney's one bullet.... lol



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Chopper on February 11, 2004, 08:44:39 AM
LoL! Cop Rock, I can't believe you remembered that Deej! You deserve a medal for remembering something as awful as that.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 11, 2004, 05:41:35 PM
Deej wrote:

> Don't know about
> you, but I have yet to ride on the hood of a car. Cleaning puke
> off of your seat covers  and mediating a dispute over  cab fare
> doesn't make for edge-of-your seat viewing
>

Hehe...yeah, I did not ride on the hood of a car at all.  Nor did I shoot 5 bad buys EVERY WEEK.  (Actually, I did not shoot anybody, as I believe most cops can say).

One of my favorite kinds of call was the 4am domestic dispute over who actually should get to use the remote control for the tv.  Or, the 9-11 "need police" then hang up, only to arrive to find that Billy Bob was mad at his sister about what she fixed for dinner.

Once was sitting on a perimeter after an armed robbery and got called off to answer a business alarm (right at opening time)....got there AGAINST rush hour traffic, only to find the employees standing around giggling.   They thought it would be cute to time how long it took us to get there.  First thing I did after getting back in my car was to radio the Lt and tell him "you might get a complaint from these folks."  When I told him what I said, he said he would have done the same thing.

They don't show stuff like that on the tv shows....

As far as TV shows, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Law and Order (and variants).  I kinda enjoy that show, partly because it does NOT glamorize the detective work; it shows it mostly as the leg work and book-keeping it can be, but it still serves a big purpose.  Don't particularly like the SVU version all that much, though.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Chopper on February 12, 2004, 11:17:06 AM
I've thought about going into police work before. It seems like the public doesn't know the realities of it like you do. Movies and TV do a good job of making it look glamouras and exciting, but I guess it depends on where you are a cop at also. I'm sure a chicago cop witnesses way more violent cases than an alabama cop does.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: ulthar on February 12, 2004, 05:33:53 PM
Chopper wrote:

 I'm sure
> a chicago cop witnesses way more violent cases than an alabama
> cop does.

Well, I'd say "sort of."  The theory is department size is based on the need, so in theory, a single given cop in a large department should see about the same as a single given cop in a smaller one.

I worked for a City of about 50,000, then transferred to the County Sherriff's office.  Saturday nights at either department were hoppin, especially if a shift was short a few officers (as they always are, for vacations, court time, etc).  We had times that everybody on the shift was on a call, and the dispatchers were holding enough other calls for everybody to answer two more.  Our patrol shifts were 13, counting supervisors.

I worked Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics, so I got exposed to a lot of the violent stuff by the nature of my position.  I had times of three days without sleep due to the load....shootings, murders, armed robberies and rapes.  So, even in a small department, you *can* get busy.  I've worked stone-cold whodunnit murders where a body was dumped in the woods to mailbox vandalism.  I think you see the whole spectrum whereever you work.

By best advice if you are considering going into Law Enforcement (or even if not, and you just want to learn more about what it is *really * like ) is to find a department nearby that allows civilian ride-alongs (many do nowadays).  I had an intern working with me one year, and she grew up in the town...but she could not believe the stuff we talked about around the office.  She did not realize that that much stuff went on in 'her town.'  I suggested she ride with an officer, and set it up (with someone I knew would give her a good exposure without being goofy about it).  When next I saw her, she just said "wow, I had no idea."

Good Luck.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: I luv dolma on February 13, 2004, 05:21:58 PM
Showdown in Little Tokyo and Tango & Cash were two great flicks.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Eirik on February 13, 2004, 06:26:02 PM
I have to agree with LA Confidential - It was a great movie and it was based on some very real history that explains a lot about the culture the LAPD is working hard to live down and erradicate.

How about WORST cop movie: SUPERFUZZ!  This piece of garbage was on HBO for like a month back in 1982 or so and man was it bad.  It was about a Miami beat cop that something happened to (toxic waste related maybe, but the memory is fuzzy here, no pun intended) that gave him super speed and strength.  He was a blonde haired blue-eyed version of Christopher Lambert, had a real cheesey euro-accent.  Ernest Borgnine may also have been in it.  I think the cop's name was "Speed" but I don't know why I remember that.  This movie was one awful picture, and definitely worth a review on this site.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Deej on February 13, 2004, 07:00:30 PM
Eirik wrote:

>
> How about WORST cop movie: SUPERFUZZ!  This piece of garbage
> was on HBO for like a month back in 1982 or so and man was it
> bad.  It was about a Miami beat cop that something happened to
> (toxic waste related maybe, but the memory is fuzzy here, no
> pun intended) that gave him super speed and strength.  He was a
> blonde haired blue-eyed version of Christopher Lambert, had a
> real cheesey euro-accent.  

I remember this one. When you're 7 it's hysterical, after that...just sad. Not Terrence Hill's best work.



Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Eirik on February 13, 2004, 07:55:41 PM
"I remember this one. When you're 7 it's hysterical, after that...just sad. Not Terrence Hill's best work."

I was laid up with more than a few broken bones the month this was on HBO and as a form of revenge, my little brothers and sisters (yes, I was the oldest and I was a prick) would turn it on and run away with the remote control when Superfuzz came on.  I think I actually cried a couple of times.


Title: Re: Best Cop Films
Post by: Deej on February 14, 2004, 07:37:47 PM
The Big Heat(1953)- Totally forgot about this one. Tough, brutal, B&W crime flick from the 50's. Glenn Ford, whom I usually dislike, Gloria Grahame(queen of the Gun-Molls) and Lee Marvin(meanest mother f**ker ever).

Ford plays a cop who, as usual, fights corrupt officials and the mob. Marvin is the evil button-man, Grahame....well, she's the obligatory whore w/ heart of gold. Ford is all quiet anger and pent up aggresion in this flick. Why is he angry? 'Cause the mob blew his frikkin' wife up!!! Grahame is sultry, tough, hot as hell. Marvin is just plain mean, what he does to poor Gloria...oy!