Classic Cop Action

There is something about going to the movies and seeing a big screen action film that hits all the right buttons - great hero(es) and villain(s), a solid script, plausible if not slightly far fetched stunts that activate the viewer's adrenal glands so that you walk out feeling completely pumped and potentially bulletproof.

For me, Die Hard, was the first film that really gave me that sensation. This was probably coupled by the fact that I snuck away with a friend to the 9pm session in the first run of the film on the pretence I was attending a school dance. I was filled with the nervous adrenaline that comes from an act of defiance and the risk of being caught before I entered the door of the cinema. Unfortunately we were found out having returned to the dance after my friend's dad had arrived early to pick her up. Knowing it wasn't going to be long before my parents discovered my deception, I came clean about the evenings events only to be told by my dad that he would have driven us to the cinema and picked us up after the film had ended. It makes me wonder whether I would have enjoyed Die Hard any less. I'd like to think not as I believe it is, to this day, one of the greatest cop action movies of all time.

Special mention should also be made to Beverly Hills Cop. This was the first "adult" film that I saw at the cinema without my parents. Most of the children in my class at school descended on the local cinema for the 11.20am session. This was back when cinemas had a short film, intermission and then the feature so going to the cinema was a real event compared to today. Being almost our entire primary school class unsupervised, the short film screening gave us the opportunity to play up to such an extent that the usher confronted our tribe of back-row bandits and dispersed us randomly in groups of no more than three throughout the cinema. The thing is, our intention was always to watch the feature film and so scattering us at random may appeared to have settled us down but I believe we would have quietened down anyway once the film had started.

Beverly Hills Cop was great and the sequel is almost as good as the first one. Outside of the Casio keyboard 80s soundtrack, both movies have held up quite well.

Other films in this genre that haven't lost their impact especially with the development and perfection of special effects are Speed (kids, if you are wondering why your mum thinks Keanu Reeves is hot - watch this movie - it will explain a lot), Lethal Weapon 2 (a rare occasion where the sequel is better than the original), Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, Heat, Infernal Affairs and Hard Boiled.  All of these films work really well on a big screen so if you have a friend with a media room/home theatre, this is the place to watch them and the more people the merrier.

I haven't seen White House Down yet so I haven't added it to the list. What about you? Any Classic cop action films that you think I have missed? Let me know.