Best Cop Films

[ulthar]

raj wrote:
>
> Any good bad movies that are cop films?

What about Maniac Cop?  That was pretty bad.

[The Burgomaster]

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.

[ulthar]

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??

[JohnL]

My favorites are probably the Dirty Harry and Lethal Weapon movies. I know they're not very realistic, but they're entertaining.

[Deej]

 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!!!

[ulthar]

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.

[Deej]

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.

[SPCFranks]

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

[Chopper]

LoL! Cop Rock, I can't believe you remembered that Deej! You deserve a medal for remembering something as awful as that.

[ulthar]

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.

[Chopper]

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.

[ulthar]

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.

[I luv dolma]

Showdown in Little Tokyo and Tango & Cash were two great flicks.

[Eirik]

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.

[Deej]

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.