Top Cop Movies... My 50 Best...
by wesleydelaney86 | created - 11 Mar 2011 | updated - 02 Aug 2017 | PublicThe best ever made. In order.
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1. Heat (1995)
R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight
Votes: 719,709 | Gross: $67.44M
2. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,799,859 | Gross: $100.13M
3. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 134,865 | Gross: $29.80M
4. Q&A (1990)
R | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Patrick O'Neal
Votes: 7,007 | Gross: $11.21M
5. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
NC-17 | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Brian McElroy, Frank Acciarito, Peggy Gormley
Votes: 47,940 | Gross: $2.00M
6. Manhunter (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 80,964 | Gross: $8.62M
7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,548,865 | Gross: $130.74M
8. Zodiac (2007)
R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards
Votes: 598,626 | Gross: $33.08M
9. The Departed (2006)
R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Votes: 1,422,822 | Gross: $132.38M
10. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
Votes: 273,145 | Gross: $50.00M
11. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,749 | Gross: $15.63M
12. Rush (1991)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two small-town Texas cops go undercover to catch a major drug dealer and are sucked into the drug culture, compromising their assignment.
Director: Lili Fini Zanuck | Stars: Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sam Elliott, Max Perlich
Votes: 9,898 | Gross: $7.24M
13. Narc (2002)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When the trail goes cold on a murder investigation of a policeman, an undercover narcotics officer is lured back to the force to help solve the case.
Director: Joe Carnahan | Stars: Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Chi McBride, Dan Leis
Votes: 43,089 | Gross: $10.46M
14. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 726,953 | Gross: $24.61M
15. The Onion Field (1979)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama
An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson
Votes: 5,764 | Gross: $9.89M
16. Mississippi Burning (1988)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif
Votes: 111,095 | Gross: $34.60M
17. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant
Votes: 83,589 | Gross: $24.38M
18. Dirty Harry (1971)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.
Directors: Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni
Votes: 168,348 | Gross: $35.90M
19. Fallen (1998)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution, the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 92,651 | Gross: $25.19M
20. Sea of Love (1989)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker
Votes: 44,914 | Gross: $58.57M
21. Insomnia (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan
Votes: 319,260 | Gross: $67.36M
22. Traffic (2000)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas
Votes: 219,797 | Gross: $124.12M
23. Collateral (2004)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Votes: 433,266 | Gross: $101.01M
24. Cop Land (1997)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro
Votes: 106,429 | Gross: $44.89M
25. The Usual Suspects (1995)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sole survivor of a pier shoot-out tells the story of how a notorious criminal influenced the events that began with five criminals meeting in a seemingly random police lineup.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 1,145,861 | Gross: $23.34M
26. Mystic River (2003)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum
Votes: 485,980 | Gross: $90.14M
27. Clockers (1995)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Young drug pushers in the projects of Brooklyn live hard dangerous lives, trapped between their drug bosses and the detectives out to stop them.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer
Votes: 23,536 | Gross: $13.04M
28. Bullitt (1968)
M/PG | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A nonconformist San Francisco cop is determined to find the underworld kingpin who killed the witness under his protection.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon
Votes: 75,863 | Gross: $42.30M
29. L.A. Confidential (1997)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Votes: 618,041 | Gross: $64.62M
30. Point Break (1991)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
Votes: 202,403 | Gross: $43.22M
31. Red Dragon (2002)
R | 124 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer. Aiding him is imprisoned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel
Votes: 290,996 | Gross: $93.15M
32. The Bone Collector (1999)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker
Votes: 185,051 | Gross: $66.52M
33. American Gangster (2007)
R | 157 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin
Votes: 452,667 | Gross: $130.16M
34. Miami Vice (2006)
R | 132 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Based on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li, Naomie Harris
Votes: 123,783 | Gross: $63.45M
35. JFK (1991)
R | 189 min | Drama, History, Thriller
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau
Votes: 169,975 | Gross: $70.41M
36. The Untouchables (1987)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 330,913 | Gross: $76.27M
37. Public Enemies (2009)
R | 140 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, Christian Stolte, Jason Clarke
Votes: 318,688 | Gross: $97.10M
38. Hannibal (2001)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Living in exile, Dr. Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling, and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta
Votes: 293,270 | Gross: $165.09M
39. One False Move (1991)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
Director: Carl Franklin | Stars: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach
Votes: 13,991 | Gross: $1.54M
40. Training Day (2001)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A rookie cop spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger
Votes: 473,062 | Gross: $76.63M
41. End of Watch (2012)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.
Director: David Ayer | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera
Votes: 269,187 | Gross: $41.00M
42. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,836 | Gross: $2.49M
43. Mulholland Falls (1996)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri
Votes: 18,992 | Gross: $11.50M
44. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
R | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
John McClane and a Harlem store owner are targeted by German terrorist Simon in New York City, where he plans to rob the Federal Reserve Building.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Greene
Votes: 408,289 | Gross: $100.01M
45. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
R | 116 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, Jane Leeves, Cherise Bates
Votes: 39,376 | Gross: $17.31M
46. Colors (1988)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.
Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks
Votes: 29,834 | Gross: $46.62M
47. 15 Minutes (2001)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A homicide detective and a fire marshal must stop a pair of murderers who commit videotaped crimes to become media darlings.
Director: John Herzfeld | Stars: Robert De Niro, Edward Burns, Kelsey Grammer, Avery Brooks
Votes: 51,942 | Gross: $24.40M
48. The Negotiator (1998)
R | 140 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, a skilled police negotiator accused of corruption and murder takes hostages in a government office to gain the time he needs to find the truth.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin
Votes: 155,009 | Gross: $44.48M
49. The Fugitive (1993)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt led by a seasoned U.S. Marshal.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore
Votes: 318,805 | Gross: $183.88M
50. In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders (1988 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 92 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Florida 1985: A series of brutal robberies and murders keeps the F.B.I busy. Although all crimes seem to be comitted by the same group, they can't hunt them down. The experienced officer ... See full summary »
Director: Dick Lowry | Stars: Ronny Cox, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Gross, Doug Sheehan
Votes: 1,074
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