Hollywood’s fascination with law enforcement knows no bounds. Whether it’s a Wild West sheriff, a hardboiled detective on the trail of a serial killer, or a space cop stalking robotic criminals, the cop movie format lends itself to pretty much any genre or tone. This versatility is why cop movies remain a staple of the film industry.
One timeless form of cop movie is the glossy action-comedy, as typified by the new Netflix movie, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. It sees Eddie Murphy returning to one of his star-making roles some 30 years after he last donned the badge. Murphy plays Axel Foley, a sharp-tongued Detroit cop who once again applies his unorthodox street-smart style to get to the bottom of a conspiracy in sunny California. It’s a blast of pure nostalgia for a certain kind of cop movie, though Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Taylour Paige join the returning cast to keep things fresh.
All of which got us to thinking about the greatest cop movies of all time. Given the aforementioned genre-spanning scope we’re dealing with, this was a daunting list to compile. We’ve narrowed it down to films that either feature iconic fictional lawmen and women (just like Beverly Hills Cop), or that have something to say about law enforcement itself. Which of these cop movies is your favorite?
Often lauded as the greatest action movie ever made, and sometimes even the greatest Christmas movie ever made, Die Hard is also an absolutely fabulous cop movie. Rough and ready New York detective John McClane (Bruce Willis, of course) finds himself neck deep in trouble when he visits his estranged wife in her swanky LA office on the eve of a deadly heist. There’s even a pinch of buddy movie magic when McClane secures radio support from local beat cop Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson).
The whole archetype of the trigger-happy law enforcer may have its roots in the classic western, but in 1971 Dirty Harry gave it a ‘modern’ face and thus spawned a new sub-genre of reactionary cop movies. Clint Eastwood plays the titular Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan, whose taciturn nature and preference for an overpowered Smith & Wesson Model 29 pistol makes him the bane of San Francisco’s criminal fraternity. When a psychopathic sniper starts killing innocents and making ransom demands, Harry sets to work.
Michael Mann’s epic 1995 crime thriller Heat may run to almost three hours, but its central premise can be boiled down to a very simple phrase: super cop vs master criminal. The former is played by Al Pacino, all wide-eyed swagger and unpredictable cadence. The latter is played by Robert DeNiro in full measured intensity mode. The beauty of Mann’s film, aside from it featuring at least two all-time great scenes, is that you still won’t be sure who you should have been rooting for as the end credits roll.
Seven stands as a perfect illustration of the genre-straddling potential of the cop movie. It’s part police procedural, part dark thriller, and part ghoulish horror flick, as well as being an early calling card for director David Fincher’s grimy signature style. The movie starts out with the classic cop movie set-up of a wily vet (Morgan Freeman) and a hot-headed rookie (Brad Pitt) hot on the trail of a serial killer (Kevin Spacey), but it rapidly descends into altogether darker and more twisted territory.
Here’s the movie that introduced us to wise-cracking Detroit cop Axel Foley, played in inimitable style by Eddie Murphy. At the outset of the film, Murphy’s character goes rogue in California following his friend’s murder. It’s tempting to call Beverly Hills Cop ‘classic fish-out-of-water stuff’, except for the fact Murphy’s ‘fish’ is never in anything other than complete control of the situation, with a ready supply of both quips and cunning.
Started my career in Automotive Journalism in 2015. Even though I'm a pharmacist, hanging around cars all the time has created a passion for the automotive industry since day 1.
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