Cop Land (1997)

I remember being underwhelmed by the movie. Surprised everyone here is so high on it. Maybe I was in a bad mood at the time or something.
 
Love the movie, both cuts. Amazing cast. The name Murray "Superboy" Babitch has always stuck in my head for whatever reason.
Plus this....


You blew it!
 
This was a great movie.
 
@BisexualMMA, I was just about to make a Cop Land thread and then decided to run a search just in case. And I see that you beat me to the punch.

I just finished this one. I had always heard it was good but had never actually sat down and watched it.

This was a really interesting cop drama. I've of course seen dirty cop movies, but not one quite like this. And Jesus Christ, like you said in the OP, just look at the talent involved. Stallone was clearly deadset here on proving that he's a goddamn ACTOR and be pulled it off. De Niro is also great and reminded me of how good he can he when he really puts effort into it. Even fucking Janeane Garofalo in a role that seemed like the farthest thing from anything she'd even attempt was good.

Stallone's probably the MVP here, but the other performance that really stood out for me was Ray Liotta's. Holy SHIT was he awesome in this.

Really, every performance is good across the board. It's the exact opposite of phoning it in.

The film also felt old school to me. Not old school like 1997, but old school like the kind of movie that would have been made in the 70s and early 80s. Even the look of the film hearkened back to an earlier era. You just don't see a lot of gritty crime dramas quite like this anymore.

The best scene was the shootout at the end. That shit was so well-staged.

I was surprised to look this one up and see that it only had a 72% on RT and a 64 on Metacritic. This movie strikes me as the type that would be a critical darling.

James Mangold seems to be one of the more unsung directors working today. Cop Land is very good, Girl Interrupted is a solid film, Walk The Line is fucking incredible, 3:10 to Yuma was good, The Wolverine and Logan were both solid comic book films. . . You don't hear his name thrown around too much in film discussions, though.

It's a shame this film only made $44 million at the box office. On just a $15 million budget that's a solid take, but it deserved to do better than that.

8/10
 
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frank-stallone.jpg
 
Tango & cash
Over the top

....enough said.
 
Scared the fish poo out of me.
 
You had me at Don La Fontaine's trailer voice "In the city of New York...".
 
I actually grew up right around that area that Stallone's characters is suppose to be a cop in. Even though no town looks like the town that is shown. I was waiting for them to do a movie scene featuring the GWB, but I hoping it be upper level. I actually never even drove on the lower level before that movie came out.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
@BisexualMMA, I was just about to make a Cop Land thread and then decided to run a search just in case. And I see that you beat me to the punch.

I just finished this one. I had always heard it was good but had never actually sat down and watched it.

This was a really interesting cop drama. I've of course seen dirty cop movies, but not one quite like this. And Jesus Christ, like you said in the OP, just look at the talent involved. Stallone was clearly deadset here on proving that he's a goddamn ACTOR and be pulled it off. De Niro is also great and reminded me of how good he can he when he really puts effort into it. Even fucking Janeane Garofalo in a role that seemed like the farthest thing from anything she'd even attempt was good.

Stallone's probably the MVP here, but the other performance that really stood out for me was Ray Liotta's. Holy SHIT was he awesome in this.

Really, every performance is good across the board. It's the exact opposite of phoning it in.

The film also felt old school to me. Not old school like 1997, but old school like the kind of movie that would have been made in the 70s and early 80s. Even the look of the film hearkened back to an earlier era. You just don't see a lot of gritty crime dramas quite like this anymore.

The best scene was the shootout at the end. That shit was so well-staged.

I was surprised to look this one up and see that it only had a 72% on RT and a 64 on Metacritic. This movie strikes me as the type that would be a critical darling.

James Mangold seems to be one of the more unsung directors working today. Cop Land is very good, Girl Interrupted is a solid film, Walk The Line is fucking incredible, 3:10 to Yuma was good, The Wolverine and Logan were both solid comic book films. . . You don't hear his name thrown around too much in film discussions, though.

It's a shame this film only made $44 million at the box office. On just a $15 million budget that's a solid take, but it deserved to do better than that.

8/10
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a legit 70s movie. It feels like Joe Spinell or John Cazale could walk on screen anytime.
 
BisexualMMA said:
It presently sits at a slightly insulting 6.9 on IMDB. I think it would be safe to call this Stallone's best performance not in a Rocky or Rambo film, and an Oscar nomination for him wouldn't have been out of place.

Back when he was making $20M per movie, he made this one for $30K payment if I recall, just to get it made. He also stopped exercising and began pigging out to become a character that didn't seem physically imposing or terribly capable.

Also has one of the most underrated ensemble casts...well ever. Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, Cathy Moriarty, Annabella Sciorra, Peter Berg, Frank Vincent, Michael Rapaport, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Noah Emmerich, Ray Liotta, John Spencer, Edie Falco, Blondie's Debbie Harry and Method Man, among others.



It deserved better, critically and commercially.
Click to expand...


That movie was awful. It had some great star power, but it was a weak story.

The whole idea that they would hatch a plan to fake that cops death is totally nonsensical. It was an extreme measure. And then they threw a party with him at it? Dumb premise for a movie.
 
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