“Love For The Badge Part 2”: Top 20 Greatest Cop Movies Ever.
This time around we’re gonna dig into what I, and many others consider the greatest cop movies of all time. Action, danger, witty humor, snappy remarks, and plenty of buddy cop bromance that action junkies can’t get enough of. These films represent the best the genre has to offer in my opinion. One thing: In order to limit this list to twenty, for the movies that are a franchise the first film listed represents them all. And hereeeee we go!
20. Detective Story. 1951.
Based on the beloved play, this 1951 film is all about one single day in the 21st Precinct squad room, assorted characters form a backdrop for the troubles of hard-nosed Detective Jim McLeod played by the legendary Kirk Douglas. The film went on to be nominated for for Academy Awards. The film took a more gritty, realistic and darker look at the lives of police detectives than what had been seen before. It eventually inspired Danny Arnold to create the classic cop sitcom Barney Miller in 1975.
19. Stakeout. 1987.
This hit action comedy was the number 1 film for weeks when it was released in 1987. Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez make a great team as two cops staking out the girlfriend of an escaped convict. The film is both a buddy comedy and a romantic comedy, and it’s a fun ride from beginning to end.
18. Heat. 1995.
With an iconic cast that put Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, Ted Levine, Mykelti Williamson, Richard Lawson, Hank Azaria, Amy Brennaman etc. all together, Heat couldn’t have possibly missed. A classic crime film directed by the crime king himself, Michael Mann, Heat became a 90’s classic. The film is most famous for two specific scenes: The diner scene that for the first time in film history put DeNiro and Pacino together onscreen and the amazing shootout between the cops and DeNiro’s Neal McCauley’s crew.
17.Blue Streak. 1999.
Martin Lawrence struck gold once again with 1999’s classic cop comedy Blue Streak. Martin plays a jewel thief impersonating a cop to get to the diamond he stole that he hid in a building that became a police station. A great story, funny script, well put together cast and Martin Lawrence doing what he does best makes this a worthy spiritual cousin to Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop.
16. Out of Time. 2003.
A underappreciated crime thriller starring the always perfect Denzel Washington along with the gorgeous Sanaa Lathan and Eva Mendez and Superman himself, Dean Cain. The film is a great cop thriller that delves into the mess that Chief Matt Whitlock (Denzel) got himself into trying to help his married lover(Lathan). Gripping, funny, romantic, and has several great twists and turns, Out of Time is a cop film that deserves far more recognition.
15. Robocop. 1987.
The 1987 sci-fi action thriller Robocop took the world by storm and changed the game for both the police film genre and the action genre. Boasting a great cast that included Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, Kurtwood Smith and Ronny Cox, Robocop became a sensation for the 1980’s.
14. Speed. 1994.
Known at the time as “Die Hard on a Bus”, Speed became a classic 90’s action film on its own merit. Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels and Dennis Hopper, Speed put the SWAT Bomb Squad Unit into the spotlight for the first time in an action film and continues to thrill us many years later.
13. Fallen. 1998.
This super underrated Denzel classic took the cop thriller and blended it with horror and fantasy. Denzel was also given an amazing supporting cast in John Goodman, James Gandolfini and Donald Sutherland. The film’s dark nature gave us a naturally dark and ambitious ending which perhaps kept it from becoming a mainstream hit, but it was worth it for the punch it packed.
12. Rush Hour. 1998.
One of the most beloved and unique buddy cop movies ever made, Rush Hour brought Jackie Chan to America and made Chris Tucker a superstar. The most unlikely of duos, Chan and Tucker together became iconic and had made this movie as well as the sequel timeless films to enjoy.
11. Bad Boys. 1995.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence came together to make one heck of a badass cop team in Bad Boys. Wildly funny and hardcore action packed, Bad Boys is still one of Michael Bay’s best efforts as well as a major highlight in both of the film careers of both Smith and Lawrence. The two following sequels were also entertaining and well done, but nothing tops the first Bad Boys in terms of the perfect blend of comedy, drama and hardcore action. Sidenote: Martin Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett was showcased best in this first movie compared to the two sequels. This was Martin Lawrence at his peak.
10. Metro. 1997.
I know most of you are probably tired of me constantly propping up this sorely underrated and overlooked classic Eddie Murphy film, but… I’m not going to stop. Metro is definitely one of Eddie Murphy’s all time best films and I won’t stop shouting it ’til everyone knows it! A great action comedy, romance, thriller, drama film that melded all those tones surprisingly well. A great cop movie that explores the life and job of Negotiator extrordinaire Scott Roper.
9. Se7en. 1995.
So much has been said about Se7en that I can’t possibly do anymore justice to so I’ll just say this: This beloved and iconic horror\thriller film took the genre to a whole other level and made Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman even more iconic than they already were beforehand. The camraderie and differences between Detectives Somerset and Mills made for captivating viewing and expertly explored the different viewpoints and styles of how two different cops go about police work.
8. Training Day. 2001.
The film that earned Denzel his first Best Actor Oscar is perhaps the most raw, bold and deadly cutthroat police centric film ever made. Denzel and Ethan Hawke both put in work on their characters and their performances and director Antoine Fuqoua did excellent work exploring the dark and corrupt side of police work and the balance of good and evil.
7. In The Heat of The Night. 1967.
The classic 1967 film made huge waves back then with its visceral look into racism while also crafting a great mystery and giving us the first iteration of the iconic cop duo Tibbs and Gillespie. Thrilling, compelling and thoroughly entertaining, In The Heat of The Night is a true classic and certainly one of Poitier’s top films of his career.
6. 48 Hrs. 1982.
Practically the daddy of the modern Buddy Cop movie and a pioneer of the action-comedy drama, 48 Hrs is still a monumental achievement of director Walter Hill, Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. The film is ballsy with its edgy display of humor, language and subject matter. The pairing of then newcomer Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte made one of the all time best onscreen duos in film history.
5. Beverly Hills Cop. 1984.
Eddie Murphy was on a roll in the 80’s and after 48 Hrs he fell upon gold with both Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop. Just like 48 Hrs, Beverly Hills Cop was a pioneer of the action-comedy genre, though was even funnier and even more successful than 48 Hrs. Axl Foley became an icon and will perhaps always be Eddie Murphy’s most recognizable and beloved character. Beverly Hills Cop is to this day one of the best film comedies ever made and will continue to influence action comedies for another 38 years.
4. Lethal Weapon. 1987.
The duo of all cop duos, Danny Glover and Mel Gibson along with Shane Black’s script and Richard Donner’s direction all together made Lethal Weapon a seminal buddy cop movie that redefined the action movie genre for the 80s and 90s. Blending badass action, heart, character development and hints of fun saxophone music, Lethal Weapon and its sequels are as good as it gets.
3. Dirty Harry. 1973.
Clint Eastwood’s iconic character and film is as gritty and as violent as a crime thriller can get and we all love it for that. Harry Callahan is as brutal as it gets, but sometimes that’s necessary for the kind of scum roaming around San-Fransisco. The film has spawned quite a few oft quoted and iconic phrases and moments. No doubt, Eastwood will always be known as Dirty Harry for the rest of time.
2. The French Connection. 1971.
More Dirty Harry than Dirty Harry, Gene Hackman’s Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle is one of the greatest flawed anti-heros brought to the silver screen. Based off of the real life French Connection case, the film delves into the harsh realities of the case and the detectives working it. An entertaining and captivating chase film, The French Connection helped redefine the cop\crime thriller.
- The Negotiator. 1998.
Just like Metro, I will shout from the rooftops how amazing a film The Negotiator is. In my opinion it’s one of the all time best crime thrillers ever made and it’s deserving of my choice for the number 1 cop movie. It’s a perfect mystery thriller with a perfect ensemble cast across the board. Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in particular may have never been better before or since The Negotiator. A very intense story dealing with the framing of an innocent cop by other cops hits home I’m sure for a lot of real life Danny Romans. A must see for any fan of the cop movie genre or the action\thriller genre.
Bonus: The Marcus-Nelson Murders. 1973.
This was a fantastic television film\pilot that introduced the world to Telly Savalas’ Lt. Theo Kojak. A very gritty and brutally honest film dealing with a topic so real and so visceral that it leaves you feeling just as angry and lost as Kojak is by the end of the film. An A+ television cop movie.
Link to Love For The Badge Part 1: Greatest Cop Shows: