Great Cop Movies: From Coast to Coast

[J. L. Abramo]

The release of Gravesend this month got me thinking about some of my favorite police movies set in New York City and Los Angeles...depicting both good cops and bad cops.

Here is a short list.

(Listed chronologically, with year of release and director.  Some of the great novelists, non-fiction writers and screenwriters are named in parentheses.)

New York

The French Connection (1971) William Friedkin (Robin Moore)

Serpico (1973) Sidney Lumey (Peter Maas)

Prince of the City (1981) Sidney Lumet (Robert Daley)

State of Grace (1990) Phil Joanou

Q&A (1990) Sidney Lumet

Clockers (1995) Spike Lee (Richard Price)

Cop Land (1997) James Mangold

American Gangster (2007) Ridley Scott

Los Angeles

The New Centurions (1972) Richard Fleischer (Joseph Wambaugh)

The Onion Field (1979) Harold Becker (Joseph Wambaugh)

Colors (1988) Dennis Hopper

Internal Affairs (1990) Mike Figgis

Heat (1995) Michael Mann

L. A. Confidential (1997) Curtis Hanson (James Ellroy)

Training Day (2001) Antoine Fuqua (David Ayer)

Street Kings (2008) David Ayer

 

I am sure there are many other favorites out there...and I am always looking to hear about a great cops and robbers film I may have missed.