The bad cop has always been a staple of crime movies. There's rarely a gangster film without bad cops being involved since it would be tough to build a criminal enterprise if every cop was doing his/her job. As the saying goes, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." The bad cop film is a great way to look at this from entry level. Easy access to drugs, money, guns, and the legal authority to use force are not easily handled by everyone. We expect a gangster to abuse his power, but it's much more terrifying when the people sworn to protect the public decide to play the gangster part. Typically in bad cop films, the corruption is contagious and the police "brotherhood." ensures that even the good cops keep quiet or face the consequences, the Internal Affairs Dept. being a bigger enemy than any criminal.
We all take notice of corruption, and police brutality when we see it in the news, as an unpleasant reminder that perhaps we're not as safe as we'd like to think. Suspect police behavior makes the headlines when it happens. Every time it makes us all take notice. Sometimes we can make light of it, like the pepper spraying cop recently making his way around the internet. Sometimes it's too serious for that, as in the Rodney King footage, or the Amadou Diallo shooting. It's not always a cop trying to get rich either, sometimes it's as simple as a guy authorized to use lethal force making a bad judgement call. Anyone can make a mistake, but a cop's mistakes have big consequences for those he's sworn to protect.
For this list, I haven't included the "loose cannon" cop who is arguably an overeager good guy out to put bad guys away (Dirty Harry, Bullitt, etc.) The cops here are those whose interest in public service extends no further than how it can serve them. Of course there are many I didn't mention. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.
For trailers and more on these films stop by the Criminal Movies Facebook page.
We all take notice of corruption, and police brutality when we see it in the news, as an unpleasant reminder that perhaps we're not as safe as we'd like to think. Suspect police behavior makes the headlines when it happens. Every time it makes us all take notice. Sometimes we can make light of it, like the pepper spraying cop recently making his way around the internet. Sometimes it's too serious for that, as in the Rodney King footage, or the Amadou Diallo shooting. It's not always a cop trying to get rich either, sometimes it's as simple as a guy authorized to use lethal force making a bad judgement call. Anyone can make a mistake, but a cop's mistakes have big consequences for those he's sworn to protect.
For this list, I haven't included the "loose cannon" cop who is arguably an overeager good guy out to put bad guys away (Dirty Harry, Bullitt, etc.) The cops here are those whose interest in public service extends no further than how it can serve them. Of course there are many I didn't mention. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.
For trailers and more on these films stop by the Criminal Movies Facebook page.
10.Dark Blue
In the wake of the Rodney King beating, days before the trial, Detective Eldon Perry, a corrupt racist cop shows rookie cop Bobbie Keough (Scott Speedman) the ropes. Perry's career is threated by Assistant Chief Holland (Ving Rhames) who is threatening to bring Eldon down, although all the other cops are content to stay out of his way. Perry and Keough pursue a pair of killers, although on finding the real killers, they're told to pin it on another pair, as their commanding officer another corrupt cop, JackVan Meter (Brendan Gleeson) gives the real killers an alibi. Perry and Keough comply, and at Perry's urging Keough kills one of their fall guys, which leaves the rookie cop troubled. Van Meter arranges for Perry to meet with the killers, although he's told he's going to meet and kill a witness. Van Meter informs the killers, and plans on them killing Perry to ensure he stays quiet. Keough has confessed the killing to his lover Sgt. Williamson, (Michael Michelle) and they head for the same address to intercept Perry. At the same time the acquittals of the officers in the King beating happens, causing riots to break out while they're on the way. Perry ultimately has to decide what he stands for and what it's worth as his behavior ends up costing a lot more than he'd realized. A fantastic performance from Kurt Russell, and an interesting look at hopefully changing times.
9.To Live and Die in L.A.
Richard Chance (William Peterson) is a secret service agent known for his risk taking. He and his partner are after master counterfeiter Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe), but Hart is killed while investigating him. Chance is assigned a new partner, John Vukovich (John Pankow) who quickly learns that Chance will risk everything to take down Masters and avenge his partner. Going undercover the partners get a meeting with Masters who agrees to print some counterfeit bills for them if they can give him a deposit of $30,000.00. They agree, although this is far more than they can produce through the Department. Chance suggests robbing a criminal named Ling. Ling, however is an undercover FBI agent, and the robbery gets him killed, forcing Chance and Vukovich to stage a drastic escape from the cops. Vukovich is advised by attorney Bob Grimes (Dean Stockwell) to testify against Chance, but he refuses. They pay Masters the deposit and things head quickly downhill, as Masters knows a lot more than they thought, leading to some tough situations for both Chance and Vukovich. Fast paced and high stakes, full of great performances and one of the best chase scenes out there.
8. Romeo is Bleeding
(Full Review Here)
Jack Grimaldi (Gary Oldman) is a cop taking money from the mob for revealing the locations of police protected witnesses. He lives a quiet normal life with his wife, Natalie (Annabella Sciorra) while also supporting a mistress, Sheri (Juliette Lewis). THings are shaken up for Jack when a tip he gives the mob about assassin Mona DiMarkov (Lena Olin) doesn't pay off. Jack is then assigned the task of killing Mona himself. Mona however has other ideas and pays Jack not to kill her but help fake her death. Jack agrees since she's paying him more and the strange and hostile romantic relationship between them leads to many complications for Jack. Jack is soon frantic to stay alive as all of his bad choices catch up with him. Jack's twisted character is the perfect role for Gary Oldman. This is one of his best.
7. L.A. Confidential
(Full Review Here)
In 1950's L.A., mob boss Mickey Cohen is arrested for tax evasion, leaving all the rackets he'd controlled open leading to a series of murders in Cohen's organization. Officer Edmund Exley, (Guy Pearce) a politically minded cop, on his first night in Homicide gets a call about a homicide at the Nite Owl Diner. Capt. Dudley Smith arrives on the scene and takes command telling Exley he can be second in charge. Officer Bud White, a cop known for his brutal tactics despises Exley for getting his former partner Stensland fired by testifying against him. Capt. Smith uses Bud to beat information out of suspects. Both White and Exley sense something wrong about the Nite Owl case. Their individual investigations lead them each to a ring of call girls surgically altered to look like movie stars, and specifically, call girl Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) a Veronica Lake look alike. Exley enlists the aid of "Hollywood" Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) a cop in bed with a gossip magazine, who also has a troubling murder case that doesn't add up. The three cops investigate and come to the conclusion that the problem is in their police department. Exley and White are manipulated into nearly killing each other, before joining forces to confront the real killer. A great look at how corruption takes over a city and its Police Force.
6. Touch of Evil
(Full Review Here)
Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) the honeymooning Mexican head of the Pan American Narcotics Commission, witnessing a car bomb blow up in the border town, Los Robles. Although out of his country, he suspects the bomb was planted in Mexico and offers his help. This quickly puts him at odds with Capt. Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) the lead US detective who is used to running things his own way. Vargas' wife falls into the hands of the Grandi family, who carry a major grudge against Vargas. When Vargas finds that Quinlan planted evidence to make an arrest, he looks for support to take on Quinlan, using his own partner against him. When the plot is discovered, Quinlan goes over the edge, shooting his partner and attempting to shoot Vargas, except that his partner is just alive enough to shoot him back. After the showdown, we learn that Quinlan's hunch which lead to his planting evidence, and Vargas had dismissed, was right. Welles was simply magnificent in this role.
5.Cop Land
(Full Review Here)
Freddy Heflin (Sylvester Stallone) always wanted to be a cop, but due to hearing loss from a daring underwater rescue when he was younger, he can't pass the physical. He ends up settling for the next best thing, the Sheriff's position in Garrison, NJ. Garrison is the Cop Land of the title, a town where Officer Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel) has set up shady real estate deals (via mob connections) for his fellow NYC officers. Meek Freddy is faced with evidence of Ray using his connections to cover up a murder, as well as all of Ray's men whose futures depend on helping Ray. Urged on by Internal Affairs officer, Moe Tilden (Robert DeNiro) and his only real friend in Garrison Officer Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta) Freddy must determine how important it is to do the right thing. Sylvester Stallone proves here that he's capable of some real acting. He couldn't have asked for a better supporting cast either.
4.Narc
(Full Review Here)
Undercover Narcotics officer Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) rejoins the police force after suspension due to a messy shooting. Teamed with the brutal Henry Oaks (Ray Liotta) in order to investigate the murder of Oaks former partner, Michael Calvess. While Oaks clearly cared about his partner, his methods of investigation draw suspicion from Tellis (and Internal Affairs) until Tellis is forced to confront Oaks corruption head on in order to save two drug dealers. Oaks is threatening to kill the dealers unless they confess to the murder, and Tellis can't go along with that. Things are not as simple as Tellis assumed. Oaks' manipulation of the case turns out to have deep and personal motives, his intended ends not being as sinister as the means he used. A magnificent and nuanced performance from Liotta. Narc is a dark movie, about how difficult it is for damaged people to figure out the right thing to do.
3.Leon: The Professional
(Full Review Here)
Gary Oldman gives a terrifying performance as Stansfield, a Rogue psychopathic DEA agent who runs his territory like the Mafia, controlling drugs and cash without mercy. He thinks nothing of murdering an entirely family including a toddler in order to exert his authority. Supremely, ruthless, resourceful and intelligent, he inspires fear in everyone. He misses a member of the family he intended to murder when young Mathilde (Natalie Portman) is reluctantly hidden by her neighbor, Leon (Jean Reno) a gifted hired killer. Mathilde is determined to avenge her little brother and Leon agrees to help her do so, setting events in motion which lead to Stansfield and Leon's catastrophic face off. This is Oldman completely unhinged. The role reversal works well, cop as bad guy, assassin as the hero.
2.Training Day
Det. Alonzo Harris, (Denzel Washington) a weathered undercover narcotics officer is paired up with Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) a naive recruit serving his first day undercover. Hoyt is quickly uncomfortable with Harris' brutal methods, which have little to do with law enforcement and more to do with making money fast to pay off a million dollar debt to some mobsters. Hoyt questions Harris' methods but learns that Harris has made sure that he is an accessory in the murder of a retired cop. Hoyt narrowly escapes an arrangement Harris made to have him murdered, thanks, unexpectedly, to a good deed he had committed earlier. Hoyt chases Harris, who finds his neighborhood support is less than he thought it was, and that his enemies are as brutal as he is. Denzel Washington gives us one of his most memorable characters, so much so, that we're amazed if Ethan Hawke's character gets through it.
1.Bad Lieutenant
Harvey Keitel gives a truly amazing performance here as the Lieutenant, a man who is as much a junkie as a cop. He seems to be ticking off every vice on a checklist. Deeply in debt to a dangerous bookie, and living every moment in turmoil, he continually turns to heroin and prostitutes. The Lieutenant relies on his police position to keep him safe from consequences, not realizing that cop or no, some powerful figures will only tolerate so much. He's as bad a Catholic as he is a cop, but realizes he does hold some things sacred when faced with investigating the brutal rape of a nun. He reaches a sort of epiphany while trying to comprehend the nun's forgiveness of her attackers. This doesn't eliminate the consequences of his lifestyle, but for a man as miserable as he is, some consequences could almost be seen as a favor.
Norman Stansfield is a powerful DEA Agent with a personal drug problem and a lucrative business based on the drugs he should be getting off the street. He has an uncontrollable temper and no tolerance for betrayal or any risk to his established position. When Stansfield kills a man for not having his money, (after discussing why Beethoven with him) he also decides to kill the whole family. He misses one the kids though, the young girl Mathilde (Natalie Portman) who is taken in by top class hit man Leon (Jean Reno) Mathilde doesn't care about her abusive father, but wants Stansfied to pay for killing her baby brother. She enlists Leon's help, but can't resist trying for Stansfield herself, only to discover, he's more formidable and twisted than she could've imagined. He effortlessly confronts her in a restroom and asks her if she likes life. When she says Yes he tells her, "That's good, because I take no pleasure in taking life if it's from a person who doesn't care about it." Mathilde doesn't have a chance, and despite Leon rescuing her from the DEA office, Stansfield is obsessed with killing Mathilde to tie up his loose ends. He sets his sights on Leon, showing how truly formidable he really is. After Leon dismantles everyone sent after him, Stansfield shoots him in the back. However, he doesn't plan for Leon being willing to give his life to save Mathilde, blowing himself up as Stansfield gloats, and fulfilling his contract with Mathilde. Stansfield is as evil as they come, thinking nothing of shooting children or innocents in cold blood if it furthers his goals.
Nurse Ratched is very comfortable as the emotionless head nurse of a mental institution. She calmly revokes necessities from patients in order to keep things orderly. She easily terrifies all of the patients, who know better than to cross her. That changes when McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) has himself admitted in a scheme to get out of serving jail time. He seems to take pleasure in challenging any rules, especially hers. More troubling to her is the fact that McMurphy inspires the other patients to stand up to her authority. Her low key manipulation quickly turns more brutal. She abuses the patients and McMurphy flagrantly in any way necessary to crush their spirits. McMurphy is as chaotic as she is orderly, and their clash has severe consequences. In a meeting with the institution head staff, she agrees that while McMurphy is sane, she will keep him there anyway to ensure that he's punished for challenging her. She doesn't blink at the thought of subjecting him to shock therapy. In a pivotal moment she brutally humiliates weak minded Billy Bibbitt to the point where he kills himself. Even this doesn't cause her to show an ounce of emotion, and McMurphy finally loses his temper, choking and almost killing Nurse Ratched (which does change her expression briefly) McMurphy is rewarded with a lobotomy, becoming a vegetable until his friend Chief mercifully suffocates him and escapes, leaving Nurse Ratched (in a neck brace) and the Institution behind. 
Patrick Bateman works on Wall Street as an investment banker and obsessing with his rich like minded associates about nearly invisible differences in business cards and other status markers. Facial cleansing masks and workout routines do nothing to quell his sense that he's empty inside. His emptiness and drive to be noticed lead him to take up murder as a new hobby. In Bateman's world, he is indistinguishable from his associates which bothers his need to be noticed. He kills the homeless, prostitutes (after fulfilling a sexual fantasy which is mostly watching himself have sex in a mirror) and rival, Paul Allen, who had a nicer business card than him. His murders frequently involve him lecturing on the differences in Huey Lewis and Phil Collins albums, as if to educate his victims before they die. Ultimately his murders are about getting attention, but in his world this is a useless goal. Visiting an apartment where he kept bodies, he finds everything completely cleaned to avoid stigma which might complicate sale or rental. His murders are mixed with hallucinations, and everything colored by his insanity. His complete confession left on his lawyer's answering machine doesn't solve anything, as he insists that he just saw Paul Allen, revealing that Allen was as indistinguishable as Bateman, leaving him just as shallow and unfulfilled as ever.
Dr. Christian Szell was a dentist at Auschwitz, ruthless and skilled in torture. He would bargain with his victims for the gold in their teeth and their fortunes, preferring diamonds. Fleeing Germany with his brother to avoid being charged with war crimes, he hides out for years until learning his brother, en route to claim their diamonds from a safety deposit box, has been killed in an accident. Szell's brother was being watched by secret government agencies, most notably by Henry "Doc" Levy, who hopes that the accident will bring Christian Szell out of hiding, which it does. Szell arrives remarkably well informed and quickly kills Doc, before turning his attention to Doc's younger brother, Babe (Dustin Hoffman.) We learn that Szell has everything under control. He's in collusion with Doc's boss Janeway, who has used Szell to inform on other Nazi criminals. Janeway delivers Babe to Szell, and Babe discovers that his recent girlfriend Elsa, was working for Szell. Although Babe knows very little, Dr. Szell uses his dentistry to make sure, drilling into the nerves of Babe's healthy teeth and demanding "Is it safe?" repeatedly, referring to retrieving the diamonds, which Babe knows little about. Szell is as comforting with cutting a man's throat with a knife in his coat sleeve as he is with dental torture, but ultimately, his greed is his downfall. Babe turns the tables and tells Szell he can keep as many diamonds as he can swallow, which Szell attempts, before Babe dumps them down some scaffolding. Szell goes after them, losing his footing and finding his own blade.
Max spends eight years in prison, for a rape which he committed. He blames attorney Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) for his sentence, and spends his prison time learning all about the law in order to use it to torture Bowden once he's free. Cady quickly makes his presence known to Bowden obviously watching him and his family, while being careful not to break any laws. Out of legal options Bowden arranges for some thugs to beat up Max and scare him off. Max however, easily gives them a beating and knowing Bowden is behind it, threatens to use the knowledge to have Bowden disbarred. Cady makes a special point of paying attention to Bowden's daughter. Cady delights in the tension he creates, making Bowden struggle with his own principles, as the law can't help him at all. Mitchum puts a charming public face on his evil, until he's finally ready to finish his plan. He delivers excruciating tension and torment, not hiding his intentions from Bowden, as watching him squirm for as long as possible is Max's idea of fun.
The epitome of the "black hat" as villain in the Western movie. Frank is established very early in a scene where his gang kills an entire family, the McBains, except for a little boy, who comes out of the house just afterwards. Rather than leave it to his men, Frank himself puts a bullet in the child himself. The now dead McBain's wife soon arrives however, ruining Frank's attempt to put the land up for grabs. We find that Frank is working for the wealthy Morton, who needs the land to continue his railroad. Morton is not pleased at the murder, only asking Frank to scare the McBains. A stranger nicknamed "Harmonica" (Charles Bronson)begins interfering with Frank's plans. Harmonica kills some of Frank's men, but later saves Frank's life. He obviously has business with Frank which he won't reveal except "at the point of dying." a proposition Frank agrees to accept. In one of the most riveting showdowns on film, mostly comprised of Bronson and Fonda's eyes in close up, we see that many years ago, Frank hung Harmonica's older brother from an arch in the middle of the desert, propping Harmonica underneath him with a harmonica in his mouth, so that when his strength gave out, he would assist in hanging his own brother. After the showdown Frank gets the Harmonica back.
Mickey and Mallory play by their own rules, killing for amusement as much as any practical purpose. Devoted only to each other, they're perfectly happy taking on the whole world. The fact that they can't get along doesn't alter their plans at all. Both of of them start out as badly damaged goods, and their first activity as a couple is killing Mallory's family, including her grotesquely abusive father.Their reckless and showy behavior gets them imprisoned and also makes them celebrities celebrated by the media and the public. They're not easily stopped however using a sleazy tabloid true crime show reporter, Wayne Gale, they reunite in a bloody prison escape, which shows that there is a life form that's lower than they are. We're left with the chilling thought that the two sociopaths Mickey and Mallory are retiring in order to raise a family.
John Doe is a killer with convictions. He doesn't particularly care about attention or even his own life, as much as he cares about sending a message. He begins a gruesome killing spree, staging murders to illustrate the seven deadly sins; gluttony, pride, greed, lust, sloth, envy and wrath. The gluttony killing, for example, is a man forced to eat until his stomach burst, and Sloth was chained to his bed for a year. John Doe appears completely unremarkable,but sees his actions as carrying out a holy mission. Two police detectives, Somerset (Morgan Freeman) the jaded veteran and Mills (Brad Pitt) the idealistic young achiever out to make a name for himself, are charged to find the killer. Unable to catch Doe, they're surprised when he turns himself in with two murders still undetected. They agree to take Doe out into the desert at the promise of information. Doe reveals that he himself is going to be an object lesson as he was guilty of "Envy," towards Mill's relationship with his pretty young wife, who. he claims, he has already paid a visit. Strangely, a delivery truck pulls up at their location with a package for Mills. When he realizes that the package is his wife's head, he can't help but assist Doe in his plan, executing him and providing the illustration of "Wrath."
Plainview is above all things an opportunist. Even while breaking his leg mining for silver, he doesn't pass up the opportunity to collect and sell what he's mined before draggining himself off to find help. Plainview's main motivation is to become wealthy and soon turns to oil, rather than silver. When one of Plainview's worker's dies in an accident, Plainview takes the man's infant son, referred to as H.W., and passes him off as his own, eventually making his "son" his partner, in order to present himself as a "family" oriented businessman. Plainview is given a tip about an oil rich property by a travelling man named Paul Sunday. He visits the property pretending to be quail hunting, in a ploy to make an offer for a low price. His plan is slightly disrupted by Paul's twin brother Eli, a religious scam artist in waiting, who wants money to build a church. Eli and Plainview have an immediate animosity towards each other, Plainview refusing to pray with Eli despite insistence. Plainview agrees to $5,000 down and $5,000 when the property produces. A drilling explosion costs H.W. his hearing, rather than accompany his child to get help. H.W. is sent away with an employee as his condition makes him less useful than he was before. Plainview has several oil wells working, but when Eli demands the final payment Plainview beats him and smears him with mud, pointing out his supposed faith healing abilities have done nothing for H.W. A man shows up claiming to be a brother. He's initially embraced by Plainview, but when he discovers the man is a fraud, Plainview kills him without hesitation. Plainview succeeds in becoming quite wealthy, although he trusts no one and becomes completely isolated from the world. WHen H.W. shows up as an adult, asking to be released from their partnership, Plainview shows the depths of his spitefulness, revealing that H.W. was never his real son, taunting him as "a bastard in a basket." Eli Sunday also comes to visit, in order to offer Plainview the chance to obtain a property, that had been unobtainable for years. Plainview reveals that the property doesn't matter anymore, and demands Eli admit he's "a false prophet" Eli complies hoping for money, but Plainview can't resist beating him to death with a bowling pin. Plainview is a man who starts out as driven, but sacrifices everything good about himself to achieve more. As he tells his fake brother. "I want no one else to succeed " Daniel Day Lewis makes Plainview's madness terrifying.
Quite a few actors have played the Joker, the character himself having a much longer history from Batman comic books. Completely insane, yet incredibly intelligent, he stands out from other Batman villains in that his motivation is not profit, but simply destruction and chaos, making him impossible to appease or truly stop, short of killing him. Jack Nicholson played him very well and entertainingly in the Batman film starring Michael Keaton, but Heath Ledger played the role much darker, showing a glimpse of true and unimaginably dangerous insanity, which is not the conventional and popular version of evil as the opposite of good. Ledger's Joker is an avatar of pain and destruction, fully realized by his role in the destruction of Harvey Dent, an idealistic figure, who is the goodness that inspires people to battle their own cynicism. The twisting of Harvey Dent into the villain Two Face paints the Joker as a figure truly beyond motive based understanding. Credit means nothing to him, he simply enjoys destroying anything he can. The more meaningful it is to others, the more thrill he takes in it's demise. Win or lose don't even matter to him, so much as the act itself. In the Dark Knight, he successfully makes Batman a supporting character in his own story. 
What Happens
A fierce and efficient killer, and also a family man, most notably a father. Michael Sullivan is a loyal employee, happy to be a "breadwinner." When an act of stupidity from his boss's son kills his family however, he can't let it go, even if he has to anger Al Capone's whole organization to get his revenge. Going on the run, he has a unique opportunity to bond with the son he has left, hopefully teaching him in the process not to go the same way he did. He was a great hit man but he was also more than that as his son relates: 
