There’s probably no other profession as glorified by Hollywood as a police officer, detective, FBI agent, or inspector. And though we all understand that the reality of these occupations isn’t all that exciting (okay, they do have their unbelievable stories and blood-curdling tales), the way they are portrayed in the movies gives any thrill-seeker satisfaction. There’s the factor of a mystery (often in the form of a heinous crime), the constant danger stepping on our protagonist’s heels, and action that often defies any and all human abilities. The more unbelievable the action is, the better! Also, as with any profession, there’s a fair share of humor that’s so very often unique and unexpected. So, if you are looking for just the right movie that checks all the criteria above, you’ve come to the right place. Just a few scrolls below, you’ll find a very thorough list of cop movies that aren’t just grim and action-filled but also hilariously funny.
There are a few genre classics from the ‘70s and the ‘80s, but we also didn’t forget to include the most recent movies that have been freshly released to the screens. Of course, there are also iconic action movie actors like Jackie Chan and Bruce Willis. Still, if you’re looking for some more unexpected performances, there’s also one starring Beyonce Knowles. With such diversity, you’ll definitely be able to pick a cop movie that caters to your taste the best! So, check the list below, read the descriptions here to help you choose, and pick your next favorite movie. Don’t forget which of these movies is your number 1, and share this article with your friends!
#1 Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 buddy cop comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. And, although the Brits aren’t the ones to boast about their traditions in making cop movies, this one is not even a tiny bit lesser than those Hollywood-made ones. Since it’s a ‘buddy cop movie,’ you already know that a dynamic duo will rule the screen with their (mis)adventures and their hilariously limping action scenes. Hot Fuzz is one tough cookie—it’s satirical, full of parody, and hilariously funny.
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#2 Rush Hour
A movie from 1988, Rush Hour follows a duo of mismatched police officers played by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The not-so-dynamic pair are on a mission to save an abducted Chinese diplomat’s daughter, and, of course, it’s exactly the beginning of their hilarious adventures. While Rush Hour is indeed an enjoyably funny movie, the action sequences are also worthy to note. And how could they not be when it’s starring Jackie Chan!
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#3 Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is the movie that shot Eddie Murphy right into the stratosphere of international stardom. Released in 1984, it was an immediate blockbuster, garnering very favorable reviews and claiming one nomination after the other. It follows one Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), a street-smart Detroit cop who visits Beverly Hills to solve the murder of his best friend. And, as a good action-comedy should be, most of the laughs come from unexpected action sequences, employing a myriad of unexpected props. And, of course, Eddie Murphy. Beverly Hills Cop is truly a classy choice of the genre; a good place to start your journey getting to know cop movies.
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#4 21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street is a 2012 buddy cop film based on the ‘80s TV series of the same name. Just like in the series, the film follows two policemen played here by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as they are assigned to go undercover. And if you tend to associate “going undercover” with the seedy underbelly of our society, this dynamic duo is set to infiltrate a high school to stop the spreading of a new synthetic drug. Some premise! In 21 Jump Street, you’ll find loads of nutty humor, nice use of teen movie tropes, and a great wave of nostalgia for the ‘80s.
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#5 Police Academy
Now for some classics—The Police Academy. For those who have somehow missed it, it was released in 1984 and has cemented its title as an iconic police comedy since. It follows the lives of a band of misfit police recruits undergoing their training at an unnamed police academy. And each of them, even the higher-ups, is a character of their own—from scaredy-cat to human sound machine and actual police material—each weirder (or more hilarious) than the last. Of course, Police Academy has its fair share of action; it’s a cop movie, after all. So, if you’re ready for some nostalgia and for some quality original jokes, give Police Academy a try.
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#6 The Other Guys
The Other Guys, a 2010 movie, is probably one of the most clever parodies of the buddy cop genre. Of course, the movie’s success is lent to it by the glorious performances of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg and their undeniable comical chemistry, but it also displays loads of witty humor and big laughs. Besides being funny, it’s also quite thrilling, as there’s a satisfying amount of over-the-top action sequences to quench your thirst for action. And, as The Other Guys’ plot is full of unbelievable surprises, we won’t even bother to talk you through the plot—it might accidentally spoil some fun!
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#7 The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad!
The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad! is a 1988 crime comedy film starring the legendary Leslie Nielsen. And you know what, his name indicates a good old, classy (yet definitely not stiff) humor. What’s more exciting is that along with him, you get to see such personalities as Priscilla Presley and O.J. Simpson starring in this comedy. This is a piece filled with slapstick comedy, and there’s also plenty of visual and verbal gags and puns – and we love us some quality puns! Of course, since it is a cop movie, there’s also a crime to solve, hilarious action sequences, and camaraderie of officers.
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#8 Let’s Be Cops
Let’s Be Cops, a 2015 buddy cop action comedy, follows two struggling underdogs played by Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. as they hoax their way into the ranks of the L.A. police department. Naturally, it all starts as an innocent joke, but the duo is soon swirling in the action as they continue the hoax. And though there are a million ways for such an impersonation game to turn very wrong, these play-pretend cops come out of it better than expected. But, to see where this game of cops took them, you’ll have to watch the movie!
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#9 Rush Hour 2
In Rush Hour 2, we once again get to meet the same characters as in its 1998 predecessor, played by the same dynamic duo of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. This time the two of them go on a vacation to Hong Kong, but where’s the fun in that for us, the viewers? Well, soon, their idyllic getaway is thwarted by a murder of two U.S. customs officers, right there for our heroes to solve. But, of course, it’s not some huge misunderstanding, but rather the work of a Triad mafia lord. And, although the premise sounds kind of grim, the jokes are aplenty!
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#10 Super Troopers
Super Troopers is a 2001 comedy movie written by and starring the Broken Lizard comedy company (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske). The movie centers around a band of absolutely no good state troopers patrolling a 50-mile stretch of a Vermont highway. And though the troopers are quite shoddy in their work and spend most of the time pranking drivers and each other, they still manage to solve a pretty big drug-related crime. And there’s a sweet comedic plot twist right at the end!
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#11 Turner & Hooch
Turner & Hooch is a 1989 cop comedy starring Tom Hanks and Beasley the Dog as Turner and Hooch. Turner is a police investigator that loses his partner in a shoot-out and gains the ownership of his dog Hooch. And although their relationship is as rocky as Boulder, Colorado, the pair eventually form an invincible team. Hooch is also responsible for finding a wife for Turner, but let’s leave some intrigue as to how and what’s at the end. And, although some of the critics deemed this movie to be a particularly silly one, we do think that Hanks paired with a canine co-star is one of the greatest things ever.
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#12 Kindergarten Cop
Kindergarten Cop is a 1990 action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here, he takes up the role of John Kimble, a police detective, taking an undercover job posing as a kindergarten teacher. His aim is to catch a drug dealer before he can get to his ex-wife and son. Soon enough, it turns out that this tough police force officer is very fond of kids and teaching, considering switching up his career to become an educator. Will he succeed, or will the encounter with the drug lord change his fate once more? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself!
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#13 Ride Along
Missed some thriller-comedies? No problem, have a look at 2014’s Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. The film follows a high school security guard who has to prove he’s worthy of dating a police officer’s sister. Well, he does, but not necessarily in the way he has envisioned. What starts as a ‘fun’ ride-along to a police operation soon ends… You’ll have to see how it ends, but we promise you that it’s not even close to boring or expected!
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#14 National Security
National Security is a 2003 buddy cop action comedy starring Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn. It’s a story of two flunked-out would-be cops who are quite bitter about their situation. In hopes to better it, the two of them solve a pretty nasty murder mystery (although they don’t really have the authority to do so), which grants back their positions as police officers. Although the critics were pretty skeptical of this movie, saying that the jokes are stale and the plot moldy, the audience’s voice begged to differ.
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#15 Bad Boys
Bad Boys is the 1995 directorial debut of one of the now-biggest directors in Hollywood, Michael Bay. It stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as two Miami detectives whose lives are full of action, shoot-outs, girls, and crime. And, of course, you definitely know the title song for this movie, don’t you? If not, it’s the legendary Bad Boys by Will Smith; check it out! And though the movie gained kind of lukewarm reviews, the audience liked it, turning Bad Boys into a successful franchise.
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#16 Ride Along 2
Ride Along 2 is, you guessed it, a thriller-comedy sequel to 2014’s Ride Along, starring the same dynamic duo consisting of Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. There are even more shoot-outs, even more explosions, and even more kooky jokes this time. And although the critics say that it lacks originality compared to its predecessor, it’s nevertheless a highly entertaining piece of the buddy cop movie genre.
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#17 White Chicks
White Chicks, the 2004 comedy, is as controversial as a movie can get. It stars Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans as two black FBI agents who have to go undercover to solve a crime. So what’s the controversy here, you ask? Well, their disguise is two white chicks, meaning full-on whiteface, bleached hair, skimpy skirts, and all the other nasty tropes. The movie is so silly that it has been nominated for the Worst Movie of the year at the Razzies awards, but you know how it goes with these movies – some time passes, and they become cult classics. And that’s exactly what happened with White Chicks; while it’s a rather stupid movie, it nevertheless gained loyal fans.
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#18 Big Momma’s House
Big Momma’s House is a 2000 crime comedy film starring Martin Lawrence. And yes, he’s an undercover FBI agent, trying to solve a crime. Yes, he’s posing as the drug lord’s ex-girlfriend’s granny. Yes, she’s supposedly very old and loves her granddaughter perhaps a bit too much. But, since it’s not actually the granny, it’s Martin Lawrence as Malcolm Turner as Hattie Mae “Big Momma” Pierce. And though critics praised Lawrence’s engaging performance, they also seem to have thought that it was a one-joke movie. But the joke is good, so it’s all okay!
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#19 Hobbs & Shaw
Hobbs & Shaw is a 2019 action-comedy movie that is a direct spin-off of the Fast & Furious franchise. It takes place right after 2017’s The Fate Of The Furious with Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson reprising their roles of Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs. Here’s the story – Hobbs, Shaw, and his sister team up to battle a cybernetically enhanced terrorist (played by Idris Elba) threatening the world with a deadly virus. And although by now we know all about deadly viruses, there’s definitely more to learn about cyber-human villains. And for that, of course, you’ll have to watch Hobbs & Shaw.
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#20 48 Hrs.
48 Hrs. is a 1982 buddy cop film starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in his debut movie role. Here they play a cop and a convict, respectively, teaming up to catch two cop killers. The movie’s title refers to the amount of time they have to solve this heinous crime. Not only is 48 Hrs. a thoroughly funny and thrilling film, but it is also named as a pioneer of the buddy cop movie genre. Stellar performances and the original plot made this flick into an instant blockbuster, heavily praised by critics.
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#21 Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II is the 2003 sequel of the movie by the same name (minus the ‘II’) also directed by Michael Bay and starring the duo of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith that we’ve already met. Here, they again try to unravel the Miami drug flow web, which causes them to fall into the center of the action. Like its predecessor, Bad Boys II garnered generally negative reviews from critics (one of them even gave the movie a half a star out of four) but was favorably met by the audiences, even topping the profits of the first installment in the series!
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#22 Miss Congeniality
Miss Congeniality is a 2000 comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, starring Sandra Bullock. Bullock takes up the role of Gracie – a tomboy FBI agent sent to go undercover as a contestant at a Miss United States beauty pageant when a terrorist threatens to bomb it. Though it is a quite stereotypical fish-out-of-water story, Sandra’s charm totally evens it out.
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#23 Stuber
Stuber is a 2019 buddy cop action comedy starring Kumail Nanjiani (an Uber driver named Stu in the movie) and Dave Bautista (a cop on a hot trail for a vicious murderer). Stu, being a diligent and perfectionist Uber driver, takes Vic, Dave Bautista’s character, on a wild ride all over L.A. with him trying to capture a villainous criminal on the loose. Besides plentiful action, there are also the narratives of love and pit bulls. The leading duo shares a nice comedic synchronization and charisma, however different their characters are. Which, of course, makes Stuber all the more fun!
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#24 Shaft
The 2019 Shaft is the fifth installation in this series that started in the early ’70s. Here you can meet the original detective Shaft, his son, also John Shaft (played by Samuel L. Jackson), and even the youngest spawn of the Shaft dynasty—J. J. Shaft. And though the 2019 Shaft has seemingly nothing to do with the original from 1971 (except the characters’ names and one recurring actor), it is still quite nice as a stand-alone cop movie. Filled with action, some cool-as-a-cucumber humor, and great acting, Shaft keeps its promise to solve even the meanest of crimes.
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#25 Blue Streak
Blue Streak is a 1999 buddy cop movie starring comedy stars galore, like Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, and Dave Chapelle. Here, Lawrence plays Miles, a jewel thief set to retrieve a diamond he has left at a police station. To do that, he disguises himself as a police officer, and wouldn’t you know it, gets paired with a real detective solving burglaries. Not only does Blue Streak don a pretty original plot, it has its fair share of quality laughs, and its soundtrack also went platinum. All the good signs of a nicely entertaining movie!
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#26 Rush Hour 3
Rush Hour 3 is the third stint of the series, with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker gracing our screens for the very last time as a duo. It’s still the mysteries of the Chinese triads, but this time the action is set in Paris, and you’ll definitely get to see the beauty of this amazing city. Although Rush Hour 3 might not be a magnificent stand-alone movie, it will be a great addition to any fan’s videography. And if three movies aren’t enough to satiate your hunger for the dynamic duo, another sequel is in the talks (though there’s no specific information as to how and when).
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#27 Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a 2009 comedy film starring Kevin James as a mall security guard, Paul Blart. Paul Blart is a single dad, clinging to his job of patrolling a mall on a Segway, only to find himself amidst a heist and on the verge of becoming a hero. And not only does he become one, but he also finds love along the way and happily marries. And although the jokes in the movie are quite silly and simplistic, it’s a pretty entertaining movie nonetheless.
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#28 Another 48 Hrs.
Another 48 Hrs is a 1990 buddy cop movie and a sequel to 1982’s 48 Hrs. Here we get to see Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy reprising their roles of a San Francisco police officer and a newly released convict. It might not be the best movie and somewhat a commercial flop, but hey, it’s still Eddie Murphy, and you just know that it will be funny.
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#29 Cop Out
Cop Out is an action-comedy movie released in 2010. Here, Hollywood’s action hero Bruce Willis and comedian Tracy Morgan play a pair of veteran NYPD officers. Their mission is to find an uber-rare, mint-condition baseball card stolen by a memorabilia-obsessed and very blood-thirsty gangster. Though buddy cop movie cliches are used plentifully in Cop Out, there’s nothing wrong with familiarity, right?
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#30 The Pink Panther
2006’s The Pink Panther marks the tenth entry in this franchise. Here the role of the legendary inspector Jacques Clouseau is given to Steve Martin, who makes it his own by demonstrating his undoubtedly massive comedic talent. There’s also a nice bonus, too—a role by Beyonce Knowles, and who could resist the queen’s charms? Of course, there’s definitely a diamond to be retrieved, some sudden deaths, and a decent amount of action sequences all topped off by quality humor. Although the critics had some pretty scalding remarks for the movie, it nevertheless became the highest-grossing installment in the Pink Panther franchise.
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#31 Zootopia
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#32 Dragnet
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#33 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
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#34 Beverly Hills Cop II
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#35 A Shot In The Dark
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#36 Dudley Do-Right
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#37 Beverly Hills Cop III
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#38 Tango & Cash
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#39 Showtime
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#40 The Nice Guys
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#41 Lethal Weapon
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#42 Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol
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#43 Midnight Run
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#44 Running Scared
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#45 The Hard Way
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#46 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
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#47 Chips
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#48 Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous
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#49 Reno 911!: Miami
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#50 R.I.P.D.
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#51 Bad Boys For Life
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#52 Bad Company
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#53 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
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#54 Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
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#55 Police Academy 3: Back In Training
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#56 Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach
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#57 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
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#58 Police Academy: Mission To Moscow
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#59 Lethal Weapon 2
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#60 Die Hard With A Vengeance
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#61 Lethal Weapon 3
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#62 Lethal Weapon 4
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#63 Loaded Weapon 1
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#64 The Heat
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#65 The Guard
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#66 Supercop
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#67 22 Jump Street
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#68 Cops And Robbersons
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#69 Crime Busters
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#70 Codename: Jackal
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#71 Flatfoot In Hong Kong
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#72 Bon Cop, Bad Cop
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#73 Bright
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#74 Training Day
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#75 Hot Pursuit
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#76 Spenser Confidential
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#77 K-9
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#78 Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)
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#79 Kuffs
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#80 The Pink Panther 2
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#81 Another Stakeout
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#82 Murder Mystery
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#83 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
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#84 The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell Of Fear
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#85 Piedone D’egitto
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#86 Fatal Beauty
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#87 Jerry Cotton
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#88 Father And Guns 2
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#89 Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2
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#90 Skiptrace
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#91 Wrong Cops: Chapter 1
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#92 Inspired Guns
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#93 Dancer And The Dame
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#94 Oversize Cops
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#95 Cop Secret
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#96 War On Everyone
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#97 Starsky & Hutch
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#98 End Of Watch
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#99 Big Momma’s House 2
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#100 Cop & ½
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#101 Super Troopers 2
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#102 Bulletproof
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#103 Miami Vice
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#104 Wolfcop
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#105 The Knock Out Cop
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#106 Vampire In Brooklyn
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#107 Made In America
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#108 Flashback
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#109 Beer For My Horses
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#110 Another Wolfcop
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#111 Cop And A Half: New Recruit
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#112 The Last Boy Scout
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#113 Witless Protection
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#114 Top Dog
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#115 Vice Academy
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#116 Vice Academy Part 2
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#117 Exit Wounds
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#118 The Animal
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#119 Double Whammy
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#120 Mindhorn
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#121 Enter The Fat Dragon
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#122 Survival Skills
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#123 Bulletproof 2
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#124 Coffee And Kareem
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#125 Kindergarten Cop 2
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#126 Vice Academy 5
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#127 Blart: Mall Cop 2
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