50 Coolest Movie Cops

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By published

Best of the boys in blue

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Infernal Affairs (2002)

The Cool Cop: Chan Wing-yan

Coolest Moment: In the blinding sun, undercover cop Chan finally confronts Inspector Lau Kin Ming and attempts to clear his name.

If He'd Been From Blighty: He’d probably be played by Michael Sheen or something.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

The Cool Cop: Detective Hal Slocumb

Coolest Moment: Slocumb can’t help but laugh at how pathetic Thelma’s husband is. “I’m sorry, it’s just you're standing in pizza.” We all love a cop with a superior sense of humour.

If He'd Been From Blighty: He wouldn’t catch Thelma’s husband standing in pizza, but fish and chips.

The Fugitive (1993)

The Cool Cop: Deputy Samuel Gerard

Coolest Moment: “What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard target search,” Gerard orders as he rallies the troupes for a scout mission.

If He'd Been From Blighty: His orders would be accompanied by military trumpets and a few well-rehearsed foot-stamps/salutes.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

The Cool Cop: Axel Foley

Coolest Moment: Axel’s cigarette smuggling bust goes wrong when uniformed police show up, and he’s caught in the back of the cigarette truck as some wiseguy puts the pedal to the metal.

If He'd Been From Blighty: It'd be a royal wedding plate smuggling operation he'd be busting up.

Zodiac (2007)

The Cool Cop: SFPD Inspector David Toschi

Coolest Moment: “Jesus. Squirrels.” Toschi makes a surprising discovery in a fridge-freezer. Aside from that, Toschi also shows he’s an opened minded chap by letting a newspaper cartoonist help with the case when he shows an aptitude for puzzles.

If He'd Been From Blighty: Well, he wouldn’t be investigating the Zodiac killer at all, for a start...

Narc (2002)

The Cool Cop: Officer Nick Tellis

Coolest Moment: Tellis chases a drug dealer through Detroit, relentlessly pursuing him even when the druggie injects an innocent bystander and takes a child hostage. It all ends in tragedy, though, when Tellis accidentally shoots a pregnant woman while aiming for the dealer.

If He'd Been From Blighty: He wouldn't have bothered running, he'd have jumped onto the nearest London bus.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

The Cool Cop: Detective Sergeant Martin Riggs

Coolest Moment: During a tense sniper incident, Riggs shows off his cool (not to mention his crazy) in desperate situations by walking straight into the line of fire and popping the sniper full of led.

If He'd Been From Blighty: Nobody would consider him a suicidal alcoholic – all British blokes enjoy a drink, dontcha know?

The Untouchables (1987)

The Cool Cop: Jim Malone

Coolest Moment: Malone intimidates a bookkeeper by grabbing a dead man and shooting him in the mouth. That’ll teach him.

If He'd Been From Blighty: He practically is.

The Other Guys (2010)

The Cool Cops: Detectives Chris Danson and P.K. Highsmith

Coolest Moment: “Aim for the bushes.” Danson and Highsmith show how fearless they are (and also fearsomely stupid) when they launch themselves off the top of a building after crims who’re getting away. It doesn’t end well .

If They’d Been From Blighty: They’d have met their maker after plunging from the top of the Gherkin.

Joshua Winning

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.