Recommend a cop movie

[Big Orange]

I'm not even gonna ask why his car spontaneously exploded!

He was driving a time bomb out of the police station because there was no time for the bomb squad, not that it makes it any less stupid as all fuck.

Seriously, Horatio Caine is fucking ridiculous and I love him for it. He's way awesomer than Lt. Dan or Grissom.

No way, CSI's Captain Jim Brass would eat that foppish poser (who looks like a old Rick Astley) for breakfast.

[Durandal]

I would very highly recommend putting The Shield. It's one of the most consistently excellent TV shows I've ever seen. I can't think of a weak episode.

[CorSec]

It's not a cop movie but the protagonist is a Holmesian detective. Zero Effect is a pretty good Bill Pullman vehicle. As a bonus Ben Stiller isn't annoying at all.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

[Shroom Man 777]

I just saw Street Kings and it was pretty alright for a movie about crooked cops and all that. Keanu Reeves is better when he isn't the only "bigshot" in the film, since when he does that (ala the Matrix sequels), it's pretty LAEM. In this one, he's paired with cool cats like Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie, and the film ends up being pretty good 'cause of it.

[Big Orange]

Another great cop movie with Keanu Reeves is Point Break (which was taken the piss out of in Hot Fuzz, alongside Bad Boys II).

[CaptainChewbacca]

I also liked Red Heat and Raw Deal, both have a good mix of action and humor.

[Phantasee]

I just saw Street Kings and it was pretty alright for a movie about crooked cops and all that. Keanu Reeves is better when he isn't the only "bigshot" in the film, since when he does that (ala the Matrix sequels), it's pretty LAEM. In this one, he's paired with cool cats like Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie, and the film ends up being pretty good 'cause of it.

I finally got around to watching it last night, and yes, it's awesome. It's a good movie in that Keanu Reeves is a killer cop, and Hugh Laurie is an Internal Affairs dude (I thought he was a doctor at first, hilarious!).

[Patrick Degan]

Here's another one: Gorky Park (1982) —William Hurt is a Soviet police detective tracking several vicious murders which took place in Moscow and his trail leads him to a fur-smuggling ring run by Lee Marvin. Excellent film and a good murder mystery. Includes Brian Dennehey in a good supporting role as a New York police detective on Marvin's trail.

[Darth Wong]

Not technically a movie, but I recently got hooked on the TV show NCIS for some reason, although I don't really like the times it tries to be "24" instead of a criminal investigation show (especially since one of those attempts led to the killing of one of my favourite characters). As is often the case with most TV shows, the early seasons are better.

I guess I just like the way the show is virtually devoid of the pseudo-legal bullshit that permeates other shows like "Law and Order", where every single fucking case goes like this:

Step 1: Cops build bulletproof case against defendant.
Step 2: The judge always throws out a key piece of evidence. You can set your clock by it.
Step 3: The team has to find some other way to convict the defendant.

Occasionally, they might mix up the formula by having them get a plea bargain they're unhappy with or having the criminal get off, which leads to all kinds of sombre music. Oooohhh.

That's why I like NCIS. No courtroom shit.

[Death from the Sea]

Soylent Green could also be considered a cop movie, just older...

[Big Orange]

Here's another one: Gorky Park (1982) —William Hurt is a Soviet police detective tracking several vicious murders which took place in Moscow and his trail leads him to a fur-smuggling ring run by Lee Marvin. Excellent film and a good murder mystery. Includes Brian Dennehey in a good supporting role as a New York police detective on Marvin's trail.

I've read the original book years ago and of course it is superior to the movie, although Stas Bush may laugh at it like he laughs at Tom Clancy hack thrillers featuring Russians. Another similar cop story set in an oppressive regime was Fatherland by Robert Harris, which could also be classified as dystopian sci-fi too, since it is set in a victorious 1960s Third Reich (also made into a weak TV movie starring Roy Batty).

While it is primarily to do with a hitman, I can also recommend Collateral and it features a likeable street smart LAPD officer. NCIS is not quite a patch on CSI, but I really like David McCallum and Pauley Perrette, even if their roles in most episodes are comparatively small.

The only courtroom drama I had any time for was Shark fronted by James Woods and Seven of Nine, but despite netting more viewers than L&O on it's worst evenings and understandably getting disrupted by the Writer's Strike, the geniuses at CBS decided to cancel it.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

The Taking of Pelham 123 is one of the best and most overlooked crime thrillers out there.

[Raptor]

NCIS is terrible. My Dad likes it. Everyone else hates it. Abby is by far one of the worst characters ever on TV. She's supposed to be some kind of computer genius, yet acts like she's 15, which works for 5 minutes (well it never worked). Every other episode is a terrorist plot, does NCIS even investigate terrorists, even if their in the Navy? Its not the idea of a less than serious crime show thats good, its the fact that I hate the characters and plotlines.

[Stark]

NCIS is terrible. My Dad likes it. Everyone else hates it. Abby is by far one of the worst characters ever on TV. She's supposed to be some kind of computer genius, yet acts like she's 15, which works for 5 minutes (well it never worked). Every other episode is a terrorist plot, does NCIS even investigate terrorists, even if their in the Navy? Its not the idea of a less than serious crime show thats good, its the fact that I hate the characters and plotlines.

However, if you're going to watch crime drama from the US, it's certainly superior to the spinoff brigades of CSI, Law and Order, etc. My parents watch it too, but when I'm over I don't notice nearly as much pretentious moralising claptrap, however much it's a formala-driven crime drama.

[Agent Fisher]

NCIS is terrible. My Dad likes it. Everyone else hates it. Abby is by far one of the worst characters ever on TV. She's supposed to be some kind of computer genius, yet acts like she's 15, which works for 5 minutes (well it never worked). Every other episode is a terrorist plot, does NCIS even investigate terrorists, even if their in the Navy? Its not the idea of a less than serious crime show thats good, its the fact that I hate the characters and plotlines.

Actually, yes, NCIS deals with terrorists and other threats against the navy. They were the ones that investigated the USS Cole and they handle any sort of terrorism related to the Navy. They also handle counter-intelligence.

As for Abby, well, I like Abby. And she's a forensic lab tech.

[Crazedwraith]

The Negotiator staring Kevin Spacey and Sam L Jackson. A bit iffy on your rules, Sam and Kevin are the good guys and are cops but the bad guys are also cops and Sam goes rogue and takes hostages to try and get to the bottom of thinks.

It is a pretty swell movie though.

[Darth Quorthon]

Well, I didn't see it mentioned yet, so I'll go with Narc from 2002, starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. It's about a couple of narcotics officers trying to track down the murderer of one of their own. I enjoyed it, and while some of the more graphic scenes might put some people off, they're nothing you can't handle if you make it through Robocop or The Departed.

Another one I liked was Dark Blue from 2003, starring Kurt Russell and Ving Rhames.

[Big Orange]

And even though it has been ripped to shreads in another thread, No Country For Old Men is worth a shot, since a burned out town sheriff is the main character.

[Jade Falcon]

However, if you're going to watch crime drama from the US, it's certainly superior to the spinoff brigades of CSI, Law and Order, etc. My parents watch it too, but when I'm over I don't notice nearly as much pretentious moralising claptrap, however much it's a formala-driven crime drama.

I don't mind the Law and Order franchise, CSI has got tired, I rarely watch CSI:NY, and don't even get me started on David Caruso in Miami who I think his only piece of 'acting' is either taking off, or putting on his sunglasses and pulling back his jacket to show his badge and gun.

[Pulp Hero]

I've tried watching NCIS, but I can't enjoy it. All the characters are so damn dry. All the Marines and Seamen that get interviewed/minor characters act like goddamn robots. Its like the writers only had access to manuals and regulations when writing the characters (the customs and such appear mostly correct) but have never actually interacted with anyone in the military.

Plus the characters of "dedicated Hispanic guy from tough background" and "young white retard who tried to cover up a crime but came clean in the end" getting grating after a while.

The "Perry Mason" style of questioning (ask the same question over and over until suspect cracks) is hilarious.

Plus the show just looks cheap- I can put my finger on exactly why, but the backgrounds always jump out at me as crappy soundstages.

[Erik von Nein]

And even though it has been ripped to shreads in another thread, No Country For Old Men is worth a shot, since a burned out town sheriff is the main character.

What? No he isn't. He's a sideline character, like the main guy's wife. The story revolves around the guy who goes to the desert until 10 minutes from the end.

[Lord Pounder]

Quite a few of the movies I'd recommend have been mentioned. I can't second Training Day enough I do believe it was Denzil's first villain roles and he owned the show.

Another recommendation I've not seen is Falling Down. One of Michael Douglas's best performances in my opinion and one hell of a movie. I consider it a cop movie because as well as the Douglas story line we have the excellent Robert Duvall as the cop investigating.

[JLTucker]

I was browsing through the channel guide on TV and I saw that Se7en is currently on. So I will recommend that film. It's Fincher's best work.

[Darth Nostril]

Quite a few of the movies I'd recommend have been mentioned. I can't second Training Day enough I do believe it was Denzil's first villain roles and he owned the show.

Must get around to watching that dvd.

Another recommendation I've not seen is Falling Down. One of Michael Douglas's best performances in my opinion and one hell of a movie. I consider it a cop movie because as well as the Douglas story line we have the excellent Robert Duvall as the cop investigating.

Seconded, Duvall is excellent in this.

[Count Chocula]

I recommend Blue Thunder - good commentary/morality play on police militarization and abuse of power. Plus, it has Roy Scheider. Plus, it has a nude woman hooking her heels behind her head!

I hereby nominate Dead Bang as the ne plus ultra worst of the genre. Don Johnson goes from Miami Vice ultra-cool to alcoholic cop uber-lame, with some of the worst plot and acting I've seen. It makes Nash Bridges look like genius.