Most underrated buddy cop movies

Everyone knows about the lovable Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, Jack Walsh and Jonathan Mardukas, Axel Foley, Billy Rosewood and Taggart (okay, this is kind of a cheat since they are three), Jack Cates and Reggie Hammond...

But other duos either fall under the radar or get slammed by lots of people. Which ones do you think don't get the cred they deserve?

I thought Red Heat was actually pretty enjoyable, but does anyone else think so? The first Rush Hour was good too, in a funny way.

Does The Enforcer count as a cop buddy movie, or does it not, since one of the cop's is a woman?

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The Nighthawks (1981) duo of Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams.

These are some of my favorites.

Turner & Hooch



This classic dog comedy starring Tom Hanks is possibly one of the most charming movies ever made. Tom Hanks is hilarious as the frustrated dog owner Turner, but I'd lie if I didn't say that Hooch stole the show from him sometimes. He's positively adorable!

The Rookie



Okay, so it's clichéd. So it has a weirdly disturbing rape sequence which is shrugged off in the very next scene. But one thing it succeeds at is being a ton of fun. Clint and Charlie Sheen has such natural chemistry together despite being completely different types of actors, and it has one of my favorite lines I've heard from a comedy:

"It's not just a job! It's a ****ing ADVENTURE!"

Renegades



The plot is all over the place, and seems to go in any random direction it wants to at times, but there's one big reason to check it out: Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips in another movie together. In Young Guns Lou Diamond Phillips was by far the most serious one of the cast, but here his deadpan persona is used for great comedic effect. There's an amusing cultural clash as well, where Buster gets constantly annoyed and confused by Hank's unusual methods, but later finds out of course he's a very loyal friend when you really need him.

Damn, John-Connor, leave some for the rest of us.

The gender's irrelevant, it's just a genre dominated by male-male pairings so it's easy to assume that that's a requirement. If anything, I would contest The Enforcer simply because I don't really consider any of the Dirty Harry movies to be "buddy cop" movies, though it arguably comes the closest.

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Space Cop...one is a cop from the past frozen and dethawed the other is from the future sent back in time to do something...fight aliens or whatever.

It's the closest relationship of them all, that's for sure.

Dragnet

The Nice Guys

I can't believe people hated this movie so much. It's not the best work they've ever done, but it's pure RLM through and through. From the playfully goofy humor, being a parody and a loving homage at the same time, to the intentionally bad effects. There were complaints that Rich Evans and Mike Stoklasa were miscast, but I think they're talented enough to successfully play against type. You get Rich Evans being overly serious while saying completely ridiculous things, and Mike gets to be enhinged and mocks the common trope of the protagonist having an annoying sidekick tagging along. It's an all right watch!

Also, can you still call it a buddy cop movie if neither of the characters are actual law enforcement agents? I'm thinking of films like The Last Boy Scout and The Nice Guys where the protagonists are private detectives that don't work for the police.

Didn't do well at the box office and was dissed by the critics. Not sure any of our mofos liked it, but this was just a fun film- lots of humor, well paced, and a nice romance. Enjoyed the interactions between old school
Harrison 's cop and Cali hippie Josh's cop. Also, lots of great cameos- Smokey Robinson as a cabbie is worth the price of admission for me. There's been many a rewatch from this mofo fan.

I also really liked Hollywood Homicide and not sure why so many people hated it. I tried to show it to a friend, but he said he just couldn't take it anymore after 30 minutes. I thought it was pretty good, and Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett had really good chemistry together I thought.

Even Ebert and Roeper both gave it thumps up as well.

Another good one is Shakedown (1988), but does it count if only one of them is a cop though, and the other one is a lawyer, even though the lawyer is in on all the same action with him?



Sorry I didn't mean for the poster to appear so huge on here

I think it would count if only one of the two is a cop. Like I said before, if neither of them are cops then is it really a buddy cop film?

Yeah I don't think of neither of them were cops, then it wouldn't count. I don't think The Last Boy Scout would count, but it is certainly a buddy movie for sure.

The Enforcer is a tough one, cause I think it counts, even though it's a Dirty Harry, but on other hand, it's a Dirty Harry movie, and not a stand alone cop buddy movie, so not sure.