Cops 
| |
| Genre | Action-comedy, thriller, satire |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Nathan Kelly |
| Produced by | Louis McCain |
| Screenplay by | Nathan Kelly Louis McCain |
| Cast | William Harris Matt Richards Sarah Williams Phil Martinez |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey C. Scott |
| Music | Edward Hannis |
| Production company | LMC Production Co., Ltd. |
| Distributor | Transbaum Films |
| Runtime | 103 minutes |
| Budget | $1.1 million |
| Box office | $4.6 million |
| Release date | May 17, 1998 |
Cops is a 1998 Lovian satirical action comedy film written and directed by Nathan Kelly and produced by Louis McCain. It concerns two Lovian cops kicked out from the Noble City Police who must try to stop a band of terrorists who are trying to build a nuclear bomb in the Noble City sewer system. The film marked Kelly's feature film debut as director, who until then was only known as a comedian and television screenwriter.
An offbeat and irreverent send-off of police procedural shows and films, namely popular American imports such as Law and Order and Miami Vice, Cops received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics but was an audience favorite upon its release in May 1998, earning nearly $5 million at the end of its theatrical run against a budget of $1.1 million. The surprise box office success of the film spurred the production of three sequels: Cops II (2004), Cops III (2010) and Cops IV (2012); and the series as a whole has gained a cult following over the years.
Plot[]
John Reeves (William Harris) is a Noble City cop, who earned a reputation for being "Noble City's Most Reckless Driver". Reeves hides in a dump truck after suspecting a trucker tried to rob the Bank of Noble City. He got some units to follow the trucker, causing him to crash into a gas station. Reeves escapes unharmed, but the trucker is seriously injured. The police captain (Phil Martinez) expels him from the Noble City police force. Reeves gets so angry, he swears at the captain. The captain notices and arrests him.
Connor Alexander (Matt Richards) is a popular, but aggressive Lovian cop who is friends with the captain. He gets arrested for drunk driving and too is expelled from the Force. Reeves befriends Alexander as their cells are right next to each other. At night, Reeves grabs a metal wire he found tied around the cell bars and tries to grab the keys off the security guard. Successful, Reeves opens both his, and Alexander's cell. They both step out and step into a laser beam. The alarm goes off and they escape. They jump into a police car and ride to their apartments.
The next day, Reeves watches a news report on the TV, that a band of terrorists from an unknown country called the "X" (Richard Downson, Will Kennedy, Paul and Jason Matthews) are trying to build a nuclear bomb. Seemingly uninterested, he goes to Noble Beach with his girlfriend Lisa (Sarah Williams), only to have the beach attacked by the terrorists. They escape unharmed. Their car then crashes into a ditch, so John and Lisa walk to Noble City on foot. They stay for the night at Alexander's apartment, which features a widescreen TV, a Jacuzzi and other luxuries. Reeves becomes jealous and a violent, but comedic fight begins between the two. Reeves bites Alexander in the leg and Alexander tries to fight his way from Reeves. They both manage to push the fight to the limit and fall out the window, and land in a garbage pile, three floors below. They're not seriously injured, but Lisa begins to get annoyed at Reeves.
2 hours later, in the hospital, Alexander is shown to be in severe shock from the fall and is not allowed out from the hospital for a few days. Reeves tries to apologize but Alexander manages to slap him a couple of times (again shown in a comedic manner). Reeves then eventually gives up and leaves with Lisa, who becomes more impatient with him and his antics, finally dumping him. She hops into a taxi, which leaves into the distance. Suddenly, as Reeves walks across the highway, a car with explosives crashes into a tree behind him, causing it to explode. Reeves is sent flying and some blood can be seen on the highway (not from Reeves, but the drivers). Suddenly, the driver wakes up and starts chasing Reeves. They run on top of some cars before Reeves steals a Ford Mondeo. Reeves knocks down and kills the guy chasing him and rushes to Noble City, smashing into some cars before crashing into the opposite side of the freeway.
Almost a week later, Alexander gets suspended from hospital by his wife, Nicole (Alexandra Wilson) and some friends. Reeves tries to apologize to Alexander, for the sake of his relationship with Lisa and for his friendship with Alexander. Alexander reluctantly forgives him and they go to find Lisa. Problems begin developing in Noble City as the terrorist group murders a local cop who refuses to give them his gun. As they continue building the nuke, Reeves and Alexander become suspicious of what is going on and they decide to find the terrorists.
Awhile later, they're both shot down by tranquilizer guns and abducted. Alexander wakes up and warns Reeves. They both wake up and find they're trapped in a flooding room, strapped to chairs. Lisa is found to be abducted as well. She manages to rip free of the ropes and grab a knife off the terrorists. As they try to fight her, she cuts their hands with the blades and runs to get the cops off the chairs. The terrorists abruptly go and activate the finished nuke. The timer reads 15:00:00 and starts ticking. The ropes manage to snap and they manage to escape. Around three minutes later, they find the nearest elevator, which takes a long time to get to the surface. They get in it. After a minute, it becomes stuck. They rush out of it and try and find a staircase as there is no other elevator in the underground base. The terrorists manage to find the group. They find themselves cornered. Lisa manages to accidentally press the button of a tannoy, which plays a catchy dance pop song. The terrorists, along with Reeves and Alexander start comically dancing. Lisa grabs a rifle lying on the floor and shoots the terrorists, allowing the group to escape. The timer is at 0:13:96 and Reeves smashes the window and parachutes towards the nuke, with his pocket knife. He cuts into the wiring and manages to disconnect it. The bomb stops working and he tries to return to their floor. Once they find the staircase, they're confronted by another large group of terrorists and Lisa realises she has no ammunition left. They're forced to fistfight the terrorists. While Alexander beats them up, they escape. Alexander then jumps over the railing onto another stairwell and runs upwards. An unstable brick wall is lying on top of the stairwell. Just as the terrorists start to move, Alexander pushes the brick wall down onto them, setting a massive chain reaction which destroys the entire base. A brick falls against a power generator, smashing it, and sending a massive bolt of electricity through the base, which causes the computers to explode and send bolts of electricity onto the disactivated nuke, causing it to explode. Luckily, the base is so deep underground, that it only explodes. A slight earthquake is felt in Noble City, but people think its nothing. The group escapes, with the terrorists dead.
The film ends with John Reeves proposing to Lisa, and they get married shortly after. Both Reeves and Alexander get their jobs back, and Reeves earns the captain's respect.
Cast[]
- William Harris - Officer John Reeves
- Matt Richards - Officer Connor Johnson
- Sarah Williams - Lisa Kennedy
- Phil Martinez - Cpt. Richard Tanner
Production[]
Filming[]
Filming began in January 1997 and lasted until March 1997.
Special effects[]
Various filmmaking techniques were used to accentuate the action, including slow motion when Reeves’ car drives over a ramp and crashes into a car transporter; and forced perspective to make the miniature city sets appear life-sized. The car was launched into a parked transporter using an air cannon, and the resulting explosion was filmed from different angles with three different cameras; Harris’ stunt double, filmed jumping from a height in front of a blue screen, was then matted into the shot using digital compositing to create the image of Reeves jumping out of the car at the last second.
The film used a wide range of special effects to depict the carnage, notably highly detailed miniature sets depicting locations across Noble City targeted by the terrorists and numerous practical car crashes; 67 cars obtained from local junkyards were destroyed for the production, with many more badly damaged by pyrotechnics and other special effects. Miniatures were also used for the effect of an exploding nuclear bomb. Owing to budgetary constraints most effects were practical but some CGI augmentation was used in more complicated scenes.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Released on May 17, 1998, Cops was a major box office success in Lovia, grossing approximately $3.2 million at the end of its theatrical run. The film also received a limited release in Brunant that ran from October 1998 to March 1999, thus bringing its total gross up to $4.6 million.
Home video[]
The film was released on VHS in January 1999 and on DVD in March 2000 by Lovian Home Video,
Critical reception[]
Although successful at the box office Cops received mixed to negative reviews from the reviewing press, who praised the humor and action sequences but criticized the “ridiculous” plot and “unlikable” lead protagonists. Writing for the Noble City Times, film and television critic Jacob Darrow derided the film’s concept, remarking that this was “the kind of movie I would’ve said my dad worked on in fourth grade when I was busy trying to impress all my friends at school in any way possible, not something I would make as a self-respecting filmmaker—comedian or not.” Cops currently has a score of 47% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 67 reviews.