Marty Michaels

Everyone loves a good cop movie, from Police Academy to Magnum Force, movies about cops are, for the most part, more popular than cops themselves, so with that in mind let’s take a look at the top ten movie cops. Onward!

10. OFFICER BUD WHITE from L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

The most feared man in the LAPD and as ruthless as they come, Wendell “Bud” White is a gorilla of a man on a violent and self righteous quest against men who abuse women after witnessing his father beat his mother to death. As well as this crusade against wife beaters, he also has a vendetta against fellow officer Ed Exley who testified against Bud’s former partner and had him removed from the force. One of those characters who’s an asshole that you can’t help but like, the Bud White of the movie ain’t got shit on the Bud White of the book. Check it out if you haven’t already.

9. SHERIFF FREDDIE HEFLIN from COP LAND

Quiet, unassuming, hard of hearing and with limited authority, Freddie Heflin is, to quote a character in the movie, “the sherrif of Cop Land.” Masterfully played by Sylvester Stallone (one of the most underrated actors of his generation), Heflin finds his quiet little town invaded by corrupt NYPD and decides to take matters into his own hands. By the end of the film, Freddie has gone from passive and easy going to a shotgun toting avenger, wiping out the corrupt policemen that have taken control of his town. In a film that also stars Scorsese alumni Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel, Frank Vincent and Cathy Moriarty, Stallone makes Freddie seem less like a character in a movie and more like a real person, outshining his co stars and in some cases acting circles around them.

8. INSPECTOR JAQUES CLOUSEAU from THE PINK PANTHER

The first comedy cop on the list, Inspector Clouseau of the French Sûreté, the Peter Sellars version of course, bumbles his way to number eight. Created by Blake Edwards as a relativley minor character in the swinging sixties comedy The Pink Panther and proving so popular that he starred in a spin-off series of movies starting with 1964′s A Shot In The Dark. In 1968′s Inspector Clouseau, he was played by Alan Arkin who exaggerated some of the more over the top aspects of the character and when Sellars returned to the role he took what Arkin had done and turned the volume up to eleven making an already funny character one of the most hilarious characters in movie history.

7. CHIEF MARTIN BRODY from JAWS

The only man worth calling in a giant fish related emergency, Chief Brody (Roy Schieder) is the chief of police in the quaint and quiet little seaside town of Amity Island by day, but by night he heads out on the Orca in search of Carcharodon Carcharias. A former NYPD police officer, Brody moves is family to Amity where he deals with traffic violations and local karate clubs breaking fences until the day a twenty five foot shark decides to mosey on by and eat some tourists. Heading out with a sharkologist (I made that word up) and a shark hunter to find and kill the shark, Brody ends up clinging to the mast of a sinking ship and firing wildly at the shark. His reputation as shark killer extraordinaire was sealed in Jaws 2 when another shark shows up in Amity and is roasted by Brody. After that a memo went out around the shark world warning them to give Amity a wide bearth.

6. DETECTIVE AXEL FOLEY from BEVERLY HILLS COP

Remember when Eddie Murphy used to be funny? Before Pluto Nash, before the fat suits, before Mel B, there was a time fondly remembered by those fortunate enough to have lived through it when Eddie Murphy made movies like Delirious, Raw, Trading Places, Coming to America and, of course, Beverly Hills Cop. A former small time hoodlum who joins the Detroit PD after reforming, Axel F goes to Beverly Hills, California to investigate the murder of his friend. Hilarity and some pretty kick ass action ensue. Interestingly, the part of Axel was originally offered to Mickey Roarke and Sylvester Stallone before Eddie Murphy.

5. SERGEANT MARTIN RIGGS from LETHAL WEAPON

Putting aside my utter hatred for Mel Gibson for just a moment, even I have to admit that Lethal Weapon is a freakin’ awesome movie partly due to Gibson’s performance as former special forces operative Sgt. Martin Riggs of the LAPD. Depressed and suicidal after the death of his wife, Riggs is teamed with Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) to rescue Murtaugh’s daughter from her drug lord kidnappers. Gunning down perps with his Berretta 92, the awesomeness of Martin Riggs almost makes up for the anti semitism and holocaust denial and Jesus porn that has come since. Almost, but not quite.

4. INSPECTOR NICHOLAS ANGEL from HOT FUZZ

The only UK cop to make the list, Simon Pegg’s London supercop Nicholas Angel is our fourth greatest movie cop. Angel is sent to the sleepy village of Sandford, a crime free haven after making his fellow London cops “look bad” but, of course, Sandford turns out to be the tip of a criminal iceberg headed up by none other than James Bond himself, Timothy Dalton. Paired up with Nick Frost’s PC Danny Butterman and filled with the kind of blue fury that only an all night Bad Boys II/Point Break session can inspire in a man, Angel and Butterman take to the streets, armed to the eye teeth and ready to turn the streets of Sandford into a raging river of blood. All for the greater good, of course. The greater good.

3. ROBOCOP from ROBOCOP

Part man, part machine, all cop and all awesome, Robocop was formerly Detroit PD officer Alex Murphy and the straightest cop on four continents until a a bust went wrong and he was brutally murdered. Transformed into a crimebusting cyborg by Omni Consumer Products and dubbed RoboCop, Murphy takes to the streets like the anti-Terminator, kicking ass and taking names – but all by the book, of course. Wether he’s cruising the streets of new Detroit in his badass 1985 Ford Taurus and taking out criminals with his super-badass Auto-9, if he tells you to come quietly or there will be… trouble, it’s in your best intrests to do as he says.

2. DETECTIVE JOHN McCLANE from DIE HARD

A man who, according to the original Die Hard trailer, “doesn’t want to be a hero, but doesn’t have a choice,” John McClane is a chain smoker, is two steps away from being an alcoholic and who’s marriage is constantly on the rocks. But does that stop him being an utter, utter badass? No it does not. Wether he’s stopping Alan Rickman stealing a bunch of bearer bonds or preventing Jeremy Irons from nabbing half the gold in the Federal Reserve, McClane is the kind of guy you would want to have your back in a tight spot. It’s fitting that the McClane movies are called Die Hard because despite being an everyman, McClane is seemingly unkillable, stopping at nothing to take down badguys with a cheeky grin and a hearty cry of “yippi-ki-yay, motherfucker.”

1. INSPECTOR HARRY CALLAHAN from DIRTY HARRY

Do ya feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk? The greatest movie cop of all time armed with the greatest movie weapon of all time and spitting out some of the greatest movie catchprhases of all time, “Dirty” Harry Callahan played by the king of the badasses Clint Eastwood is the guy the mayor of San Fransico turns to whenever he needs something done yesterday. With little or no regard for the more formal rules of policework, Callahan is the ultimate antihero, shooting his way through the red tape bullshit to take out perps with extreme prejudice. After all, this is the man who when seeing a naked man chase a woman with a gun in one hand and his dick in the other, he “figures he’s not out collecting for the Red Cross.” Thinking of breaking the law in the fine city of San Fransico? Go ahead… make his day.

So, once again, there you have it, the ultimate list of movie cops. Think Cadet Carey Mahoney should’ve made the list? Think that Burnett and Lowrey deserve a place? Or maybe you’re coming from way out of left field and think the T-1000 should’ve been there? Thoughts, comments, cheers and jeers below. End transmission.

Tags: cops, movies, top ten