When they’re not helping little old ladies cross the streets or buried under mountains of paperwork, movie cops are some of the best there are at kicking butt. Often armed with little more than a badge, gun, and a witty one-liner, these guys take down everything from gangsters, murderers, cyber criminals, to unstoppable cyborg men (because movies).
And while some cops are depicted as corrupt or lazy, the officers in this list are up at the crack of dawn and don’t sleep until their city is safe. They never take bribes, and they always get their man in the end.
But what determines the order of greatness? Is it their character? Their tenacity? Is it the duplicity and evil of the bad guy they take down? Is it the attention to paperwork? Is it near-superhuman skills and marksmanship? C’mon, it’s the movies… it’s ALL THAT STUFF!! (Maybe not the paperwork)
Here are the 20 Best Cops In Movie History.
20. Jack Traven – Speed
Speed is the movie that changed event movies for the ‘90s. Unlike the ‘80s where tentpole movies were led by a big name, with the movie itself being secondary, Speed went back to the era of High-Concept filmmaking. Star power was out; big questions were in - What if a bus had a bomb that went off if it slowed down? What if a volcano was underneath L.A.? What if aliens attacked?
And while Speed is famous for its three set pieces, the Elevator, the Bus, The Train, it works due to the walking testament to adrenaline that is Keanu Reeves. While Keanu is an action legend now thanks to Neo and John Wick, back then he was the guy from Bill and Ted who only had Point Break to suggest he could carry an action movie. But Keanu’s Jack Traven was the ultimate distillation of action cops up to that point. He’s got the lone wolf vibe of John McClaine, the best cranky best buddy of Martin Riggs, and the sheer tenacity of Harry Callahan.
Whether it’s coming up with creative solutions (shoot the hostage), applying cop psychology (figuring out that the bad guy is going to blow the elevator anyway) or working to determine a way to defuse the bomb, Jack Traven actually combines the balls-to-the-wall action of ‘80s cop movies with the more tech-savvy (those throat mikes!!) cops we know now.
19. Elliot Ness - The Untouchables
Based on the real-life Elliot Ness’ work to take down the criminal Al Capone, The Untouchables tells the story of a small group of incorruptible cops who worked against the bootlegging industry during prohibition.
Ness (Kevin Costner) is an outsider; he lacks the knowledge of how Chicago works initially and struggles to overcome the attitude of the local police force, many of whom are either drinking alcohol, or on Capone’s payroll. Eventually, he builds a team of veterans, rookies, and book-keepers to fight Capone, and runs the risk of breaking his professional code of ethics in the process.
Initially idealistic, he’s told that getting the job done in Chicago means abondoning his principles. Ness eventually goes against everything he believes in to take down the powerful mobster, including murder to avenge the death of one of his men.
After Capone’s downfall, Ness is told that prohibition is likely to be repealed. When asked what he’ll do, he replies “I’ll take a drink.” And he certainly looks like he’ll need it.
18. Vincent Hanna - Heat
Few cops in movies have an easy time, but Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is one who has lost almost everything. His relentless pursuit of arch-rival and master thief Neil MacCauley (Robert DeNiro) has cost him his family, who essentially hate him for being absent, and respect from his fellow officers, who see his single-mindedness as weakness.
Vincent and Neil are incredibly similar, with each having poor personal lives and a dedication to their chosen professions that borders on the obsessive. It’s only when Neil breaks the most sacred rule his criminal mentor drilled into him - never have anything in your life that you can’t walk away from in 30 seconds flat - that Vincent finally has leverage over his life-long foe.
It’s fair to say that Heat doesn’t feature Pacino’s strongest performance, but his Vincent Hanna is a complex character who is given far greater depth due to Pacino’s stellar screen presence.
17. Frank Bullitt - Bullitt / David Toshi - Zodiac
The movie Bullitt is largely ed for the chase scene between the 1968 Ford Mustang GT and the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T around the streets of San Francisco with Steve McQueen’s Mustang eventually emerging victorious. However, the movie pays close attention to detail, especially police procedure making McQueen’s performance far more realistic than it’s given credit for.
Before filming, Steve McQueen spent time working with real-life SFPD detective David Toshi, who would later become famous himself for being one of the lead investigators of the Zodiac killer and played by Mark Ruffalo in the movie Zodiac. McQueen not only learned about police procedure, he copied Toshi’s mannerisms and his signature quick-draw holster for added authenticity.
One of the few movies to fully show the protagonist follow clues, fight against political interference, as well as have full-tilt action thrown in, Bullitt is a staple of modern cinema ad director David Yates’ finest work. As for Frank Bullitt himself, like the real-life David Toshi, he’s left at the end wondering if all the pain is worth it.
16. John McClaine- Die Hard
There are some, many in fact, that would probably rather see Die Hard’s John McClaine (Bruce Willis) sitting at the head of this list. And while yes, he is a near-indestructible super-cop who seems to be able to dodge more bullets than Neo, he loses some points for doing very little actual police work in his 5 outings.
In the first movie, he’s a one-man anti-terror squad as he hunts down the bad guys one by one, barefoot and in a sweaty vest, until only super-suave ‘80s bad guy Hans Gruber remains. The fact that there’s little in the way of police work on show is down to the many first-drafts that Die Hard went through. At one time, it was pitched as a sequel to Commando with Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix pulled out of retirement. Schwarzenegger ed, so the project was re-worked into an original feature, which Schwarzenegger again ed on to make Predator.
The second movie does feature actual police work, albeit briefly, as John McClaine realises something is off and tries to alert the authorities. They fail to listen, and he uses the fingerprints of the first terrorists he kills to begin to unravel the plot. From there, it’s back to crawling through air ducts and getting hurt (a lot).
While Bruce Willis excels at the sardonic wit, and humorous luddite tendencies, in five movies he doesn’t make a single arrest. But still, in a terrorist showdown, there’s nobody you’d rather have at your back.
15. RoboCop – RoboCop
By the standards of any sane society, Robocop is a terrible policeman. He’s brutal, uncaring, and has little empathy. But Robocop doesn’t exist in a sane world, he lives in the brutal dystopia of the future world of Old Detroit. In Paul Verhoven’s deeply satirical world, Robocop makes perfect sense. In a perversion of Isaac Asimov’s three laws to ensure robots obey a strict moral code, Robocop has three prime directives: Serve The Public Trust, Protect The Innocent, Uphold The Law. While these seem benign, they do leave Robocop with a surprising amount of latitude when it comes to dealing with criminals as his version of justice is often extremely brutal. But then, he lives in a brutal world.
Formerly Alex Murphy, a devoted catholic father with a strong sense of justice, the man that became Robocop was ideally suited to be the perfect cop due to his psychological profile. After his brutal death at the hands of a criminal gang, he is resurrected in a cyborg form by his amoral employers, O.
After regaining his memories, he hunts down those who robbed him of his life and eventually tries to arrest the mastermind behind his downfall, the corrupt O executive Dick Jones. Thanks to Dick being fired, thereby freeing Robocop from the hidden fourth directive preventing him from harming or arresting an O executive, Robocop finally avenges himself and begins using his original name once more.
14. Harry Callahan - Dirty Harry
In many ways, "Dirty" Harry Callahan is a terrible cop. He blatantly flouts procedure in favour of lone-wolf tactics which often result in the deaths of those around him. Harry is the template for the anti-hero that would become popular in the 1970s, he’s disrespectful and has little time for the bureaucracy that poorly serves the law as he dispenses his own, often twisted, sense of justice and morality.
Harry often makes a situation worse by escalating it to the point where the use of lethal force is justified. On occasion, he even tortures criminals in order to gain further information, and at least once killed an unarmed man who was surrendering. While generally observing the law, he has allowed a criminal to go free after he realizes that she is killing her rapists, who had been unpunished, feeling that her retribution against them was morally justified. Despite the high turnover of Harry’s partners (many die or transfer quickly) he does have the respect of many of his peers for doing the dirty jobs that nobody else wants to do.
Despite his flagrant disregard for the rules of police work, Harry always gets his man.
13. Axel Foley - Beverly Hills Cop
Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop series is one of the most street-smart cops but also one of the most skilled investigators. While he bends the rules on occasion, he is keen to observe proper procedure for instance, when it comes to probable cause so as not to jeopardise his investigation. His smart mouth, and tendency to avoid the truth when dealing with his superiors causes him a great deal of trouble and he is often in a jam even he finds it hard to talk his way out of. But, given his success, his superiors often look the other way so long as the arrests stick.
The role was originally far less chatty, and far more brutal. But when original lead Sylvester Stallone walked and the role was re-written for Eddie Murphy the tone shifted significantly. Murphy ad-libbed many of his lines and his legendary comic timing created an iconic on-screen cop.
12. Marge Gunderson - Fargo
Often considered to be one of the finest crime-movies of all time, Fargo succeeds for many reasons, not least of which is s McDormand as Chief of Police Marge Gunderson. Her performance quite rightly won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Marge is almost stereotypically Minnesota nice, in that she displays perfect manners and is always friendly, even when interrogating bad guys. She’s sweet, but also fiercely intelligent when it comes to her police work, often the first to pick up clues that others have overlooked. Beyond her job, she’s also a devoted wife and expectant mother.
Unlike many cops on this list, Marge manages to bring in her quarry alive. After finding Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) feeding Carl’s (Steve Buscemi) body into a wood chipper, she manages to shoot him in the leg and arrests him before casually going back to her devoted husband with whom she looks forward to the birth of their child in a few months’ time.
11. Ed Tom Bell - No Country For Old Men
There’s a reason Tommy Lee Jones is going to appear on this list a lot. He’s, in many ways, the definitive cop. He can say more with a disapproving glance, or a world-weary stare than most actors can manage with an hour of screen time. But more than that, he’s just got that hard-bitten Texas rancher thing down, maybe because he’s a real-life Texas rancher type. Either way, he’s pretty great.
Ed Tom Bell himself is a man out of his era. He questions whether his form of law enforcement, and his personal aptitude for it, are still relevant in the modern world. But he’s much more than a redneck sheriff in a hick town in a hick county. In a hick state. He’s a fully-rounded character. His sense of responsibility and duty are rock-solid, partially due to his status as a local hero due to his actions in the second world war.
Although Bell chooses to retire at the end of the movie, having failed to bring the antagonist to justice, it’s the choice to live in peace with his wife and accept his life that makes him so great. His morals, never corrupted even when faced with an ever-increasing level of violence in the world, mean he can rest easy.