Cop Land (1997)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

James Mangold

Writer (WGA):

James Mangold (written by)

Release Date:

15 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

No One Is Above The Law.

Plot:

The sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community populated by New York City policeman slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Police | New York | Corruption | Internal Affairs

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Sheriff Freddy Heflin
Harvey Keitel	...	Ray Donlan
Ray Liotta	...	Gary 'Figgsy' Figgis
Robert De Niro	...	Lt. Moe Tilden
Peter Berg	...	Joey Randone
Janeane Garofalo	...	Deputy Cindy Betts
Robert Patrick	...	Jack Rucker
Michael Rapaport	...	Murray 'Superboy' Babitch
Annabella Sciorra	...	Liz Randone
Noah Emmerich	...	Deputy Bill Geisler
Cathy Moriarty	...	Rose Donlan
John Spencer	...	Leo Crasky
Frank Vincent	...	PDA President Vincent Lassaro
Malik Yoba	...	Detective Carson
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Frank LaGunda
Edie Falco	...	Berta
Victor Williams	...	Russell (as Victor L. Williams)
Paul Calderon	...	Hector the Medic
John Doman	...	Lassaro's Aide
Deborah Harry	...	Delores
Vincent Laresca	...	Medic #2
Oliver Solomon	...	Black Man
Terri Towns	...	Black Woman
David Butler	...	Thin Cop
Brad Beyer	...	Young Cop
Charles Dumas	...	TV Cyril Johns
John Johnson	...	News Anchor
Frank Pellegrino	...	Mayor Farelli
Robert John Burke	...	Officer B
John Ventimiglia	...	Officer V
Terry Serpico	...	Tony
Method Man	...	Shondel
Sean Cullen	...	Other Cop
Paul Herman	...	Game Operator
Mel Gorham	...	Monica Lopez
Graciela Lecube	...	Spanish Woman
Chris Conte	...	Gordon
Anthony Citro	...	Young Freddy Heflin
Alexandra Adi	...	Young Liz Randone
Mark Casella	...	Fireman
Timothy Stickney	...	Window Yeller
Father William Kalaidjian	...	Police Chaplain
Sean Runnette	...	L.A. Detective
Michael Gaston	...	L.A. Detective
Ben Ellerin	...	Little Kid with Gordon
David Díaz	...	Funeral Reporter
Tracy O. Emory	...	News Video Camea Operator
Robert W. Castle	...	Chaplan at Joey's Funeral (as Robert Castle)
Bruce Altman	...	Counselor Burt Handel
Carly Fordham	...	Liz's Daughter
Tony Giorgio	...	Ceremonial Officer
Kevin O'Sullivan	...	Head Pall Bearer / Flag Holder
Louis D'Alto	...	Exiting Cop
Sylvia Kahn	...	Deli Lady
Ronn Munro	...	Chief of Police
John Henry	...	Officer in Alleyway
Richard Lisi	...	'Charley', Officer in Alleyway
Hans Moody	...	Sergeant in Alleyway
Garry Pastore	...	Johnny B, Core Cop
Tony Sirico	...	Toy Torillo
Peter Wise	...	Plaza Cop #1
P.J. Brown	...	Plaza Cop #2
Manuel Corrado	...	Plaza Cop #3
Jeffrey H. Kaufman	...	Plaza Cop #4 (as Jeffrey Kaufman)
Europe Harmon	...	Plaza Cop #5
Rene Ojeda	...	Plaza Cop #6
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
S. Michael Bellomo	...	Cop (uncredited)
Christopher Del Gaudio	...	Cop at Funeral (uncredited)
Adrian Lee	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Floyd Resnick	...	NYPD Sergeant (uncredited)
Geraldo Rivera	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
James Mangold

Writing credits (WGA)
James Mangold		(written by)

Produced by
Christopher Goode	....	associate producer
Cathy Konrad	....	producer
Richard Miller	....	associate producer
Kerry Orent	....	co-producer
Meryl Poster	....	executive producer
Ezra Swerdlow	....	producer
Kevin King Templeton	....	associate producer (as kevin king)
Bob Weinstein	....	executive producer
Harvey Weinstein	....	executive producer
Cary Woods	....	producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
Eric Alan Edwards		(as Eric Edwards)

Film Editing by
Craig McKay

Casting by
Gayle Keller
Todd M. Thaler		(as Todd Thaler)

Production Design by
Lester Cohen

Art Direction by
Wing Lee

Set Decoration by
Karin Wiesel

Costume Design by
Ellen Lutter

Makeup Department
Joseph Coscia	....	hair stylist: Mr. Stallone (as Joe Coscia)
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup artist: Sylvester Stallone
Judi Goodman	....	hair stylist
Lori Hicks	....	makeup artist
Steven Lawrence	....	makeup artist
Francesca Paris	....	key hair stylist
Michele Paris	....	key makeup artist (as Michele Paris-Catanzarite)
Jay McClennen	....	key prosthetics (uncredited)

Production Management
Anthony Gore	....	post-production supervisor (director's cut)
Jake Myers	....	unit production manager
Andrew Zolot	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marlene Arvan	....	additional second second assistant director
Roger M. Bobb	....	dga trainee
Vebe Borge	....	first assistant director
Amy Lynn	....	second second assistant director
Rebecca Strickland	....	second assistant director: underwater unit, Los Angeles
Christopher Swartout	....	second assistant director
Henry Alex Rubin	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Julia Barraclough	....	charge scenic
Sandy Hamilton	....	property master
Nicholas Lundy	....	assistant art director
Charles E. McCarry	....	assistant art director
Michael Parmelee	....	on-set dresser
Addison Pettit	....	graphic designer
Jeffrey Rollins	....	set dresser
Amy Safhay	....	greensperson
Rosalie Russino	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Steven J. Balzarini	....	cable person
Ron Bochar	....	sound effects designer
Joseph Bonn	....	assistant sound editor
Allan Byer	....	sound
Kam Chan	....	foley editor
Benjamin Cheah	....	sound effects editor
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Dustin DuPilka	....	assistant foley artist
Chris Fielder	....	transfer assistant
Howell Gibbens	....	sound editor
Lewis Goldstein	....	sound effects editor
Kenton Jakub	....	adr editor
Frank Kern	....	foley editor
Julie Lindner	....	first assistant sound editor (as Julie Linder)
Adam Lipsius	....	assistant sound editor
Kimberly R. McCord	....	assistant sound editor (as Kimberly McCord)
Linda Murphy	....	boom operator
Glenfield Payne	....	sound effects editor
Mike Poppleton	....	apprentice sound editor
Bruce Pross	....	foley artist
Bruce Pross	....	foley supervisor
Jacob Ribicoff	....	sound editor
Fred Rosenberg	....	dialogue editor
Jac Rubenstein	....	foley editor
Reilly Steele	....	sound re-recording mixer
Philip Stockton	....	supervising sound editor (as Phil Stockton)
Steven Ticknor	....	sound mixer
Steven Visscher	....	foley editor (as Steve Visscher)
Magdaline Volaitis	....	dialogue editor
Deborah Wallach	....	group adr editor
Allan Zaleski	....	apprentice sound editor
James Marchione	....	adr recordist (uncredited)
Nicholas Renbeck	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)
Wyatt Sprague	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Wilfred Caban	....	special effects supervisor
Art Cantin	....	special effects technician: underwater unit, Los Angeles
Greg Gootsan	....	effects assistant/swing
Lee Howard	....	special effects foreman
Craig Markey	....	production supervisor: Los Angeles underwater effects unit

Visual Effects by
Randall Balsmeyer	....	visual effects supervisor
Kathy Kelehan	....	visual effects producer
Daniel Leung	....	digital compositing supervisor
Matt McDonald	....	3D animator
Matt McDonald	....	digital artist
Eric Person	....	digital compositor
Janos Pilenyi	....	opticals (as Janos O. Pilenyi)

Stunts
Danny Aiello III	....	stunts
Bill Anagnos	....	stunts
Harold Baines	....	stunts
Howard 'Stick' Baines	....	stunts (as Howard "Sticks" Baines)
Scott Blake	....	stunts
Michael Broughton	....	stunts
Peter Bucossi	....	stunts
Al Cerullo	....	stunts
Ashley Cusato	....	stunts (as Ashley Love Cusato)
Mark Dillahunt	....	stunts
Norman Douglass	....	stunts (as Norman Douglas)
Andy Duppin	....	stunts
Roy Farfel	....	stunts
Donald John Hewitt	....	stunts (as Don J. Hewitt)
Don Hewitt	....	stunts
Jery Hewitt	....	stunt coordinator
Scott Hubbell	....	stunt coordinator: underwater unit
Kris A. Jeffrey	....	stunts
Jalil Jay Lynch	....	stunts
John McLaughlin	....	stunts
John Patrick McLaughlin	....	stunts
Joe Orbach	....	stunts
Janet Paparazzo	....	stunts
Andy Redmond	....	stunts
Floyd Resnick	....	stunts
Michael Russo	....	stunts
Keith Siglinger	....	stunts
Derrick Simmons	....	stunts
Anthony Sinopoli	....	stunt double
Manny Siverio	....	stunts
Mark De Alessandro	....	stunt double: Sylvester Stallone (uncredited)
Scott Hubbell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Wayne Baker	....	first assistant camera: underwater scenes
Michael Berg	....	gaffer
Renzo Spirit Buffalo	....	assistant camera
Phil Cohen	....	Steadicam assistant
Michael Gallart	....	best boy
Douglas C. Hart	....	first assistant Steadicam
Timothy Healy	....	electrician
Pedro Hernández	....	best boy grip
Lukasz Jogalla	....	camera operator
Susa Kohlstedt	....	assistant camera
Rick Marroquin	....	grip
Gary Martone	....	key grip
David Norris	....	camera operator: Wescam camera
John L. Oates	....	electrician
Patrick Quinn	....	assistant camera
Rick Raphael	....	Steadicam operator
Pete Romano	....	underwater director of photography
Richard Rutkowski	....	first assistant camera
Mark Schwentner	....	electrician
Dustin Smith	....	dolly grip
Igor Sunara	....	director of photography: second unit
Eric Swanek	....	Steadicam assistant
Carl A. Vidnic	....	lighting technician: underwater scenes
Franz Yeich	....	grip
Laela Kilbourn	....	additional assistant camera (uncredited)
Robert Lau	....	additional first assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Kristine Bulakowski	....	extras casting: in-house
Meredith Jacobson	....	extras casting
Gayle Keller	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lynne Maureen Curtis	....	wardrobe supervisor
Estella Marie	....	seamstress
Roseann Milano	....	wardrobe supervisor
Karen Koula Sossiadis	....	wardrobe production assistant
Kim Wilcox	....	assistant costume designer (1996)

Editorial Department
Naomi Geraghty	....	associate editor
Mark Ginsberg	....	color timer
Tim Heyen	....	negative cutter (director's cut)
May Kuckro	....	assistant editor
Joe Landauer	....	apprentice editor
Mark Nowicki	....	colorist (director's cut)
Deirdre Slevin	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
David Carbonara	....	music editor
Jennifer L. Dunnington	....	second assistant music editor (as Jennifer Dunnington)
Vic Fraser	....	music preparation
Ann Kline	....	music coordinator (as Ann Karlin)
Michelle Kuznetsky	....	music supervisor
Kevin Mahonchak	....	music preparation
Mary Ramos	....	music supervisor
Nicole Ruffine	....	assistant music editor
Howard Shore	....	conductor
Howard Shore	....	orchestrator
Ryan Shore	....	music preparation
John Moses	....	musician (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Fred Forster	....	picture car wrangler (as Fred Foster)
Glenn Knowlton	....	transportation captain
Jerry McSpirit	....	picture car wrangler
Adam Pinkstaff	....	driver
Leo Stefanos	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Randall Balsmeyer	....	title designer
Craig Bankey	....	unit publicist
Lyda Blank	....	location manager
Richard Bronskill	....	auricle operator
Betty Chin	....	production coordinator
Craig Collins	....	dive assistant: underwater unit, Los Angeles
Eddy Collyns	....	location manager
Robert Cotnoir	....	synclavier programmer
John 'JR' Craigmile	....	assistant accountant
Valerie Desjardins	....	daily script
Jean-Michel Dissard	....	set production assistant
Caylah Eddleblute	....	assistant visual consultant (as Caylah Eddle Blute)
John Fedynich	....	location assistant
Cliff Fuller	....	office production assistant (as Clifton Fuller)
Bill Garvey	....	unit assistant
Anthony Gigante	....	production assistant
Terry Ham	....	production assistant
Dan Huber	....	unit production assistant
Steve Joyner	....	underwater visual consultant
Keegan Martin	....	production assistant
Chip Matheson	....	dive assistant: underwater unit, Los Angeles
Steve McAuliff	....	animal wrangler
Kevin Milligan	....	production assistant
Margaret R. Montagnino	....	office production assistant (as Meg Montagnino)
Danielle Montalbano	....	production assistant
Stuart Nicolai	....	unit assistant
Wayne Petrucelli	....	security coordinator: New York
Wendy Lee Roberts	....	script supervisor
Ron Rogers	....	production assistant
Tom Ross	....	assistant location manager
Katryna Samut-Tagliaferro	....	production assistant
Andrew Saxe	....	location manager: second unit
Susan D. Schultz	....	food stylist
Lizzie Schwartz	....	assistant: Mr. Woods
Michael L. Walker	....	set production assistant
Rick Washburn	....	weapons coordinator
Michael Albanese	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Chadbyrne R. Dickens	....	assistant to producer (uncredited)
Bill Timoney	....	adr voice group (uncredited)

Thanks
Jeffrey Bass	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Kimberly Berman	....	special thanks (director's cut) (as Kim Berman)
Matthew Gore	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Jim Hardy	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Cathy Konrad	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Ray Liotta	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Tom McCarthy Jr.	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Shannon McIntosh	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Jeremy Miller	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Joe Rangel	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Arnold Rifkin	....	thanks
Scott Sapire	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Elizabeth Speckman	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Sylvester Stallone	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Bob Weinstein	....	special thanks (director's cut)
Harvey Weinstein	....	special thanks (director's cut)

Production Companies

• Miramax Films
• Woods Entertainment
• Across the River Productions

Distributors

• Miramax Films (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Pictures (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment AB (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Laurenfilm (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment AB (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)
• RCV Film Distribution (1997) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1997) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (1998) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (1998) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Shochiku-Fuji Company (1998) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Showgate (1999) (Japan) (DVD)
• VCL Communications (199?) (Germany) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Balsmeyer and Everett (digital compositing)
• Wildgrass Productions (special effects: underwater unit, Los Angeles)

Other Companies

• All Saints Church  music recorded at (as All Saints Church, Tooting, England)
• Animal Actors  animals provided by
• Balsmeyer and Everett  title design
• C-5  sound post-production (as C5, Inc.)
• C5  post-production sound services
• Cineric  opticals
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints (as Deluxe)
• High Technology Video (HTV)  special thanks (director's cut)
• J.G. Films  negative cutting
• J/KAM Digital  special thanks (director's cut)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra  music performed by
• Milan Records  soundtrack
• Movie Movers  star trailers
• Movie Movers  transportation
• Panavision  camera dollies (as Panavision New York)
• Panavision  cameras (as Panavision New York)
• Sound One  post-production facility
• Speakeasy  adr voice casting
• Technicolor  color
• Wescam USA  wescam provided by

Also Known As:

CopLand (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, strong language and brief nudity. (also collector's series)

Runtime:

104 min | USA:116 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #35498) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | South Korea:12 | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Mexico:B | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Cliffside Park, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

All the actors in the film worked for scale due to the film's budget.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the first scene on the George Washington Bridge, he is driving from New York to New Jersey, but it was filmed going the opposite direction. Going into the city, you enter the yellow tunnel first.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Moe Tilden: [narrating] Every precinct has its cop bar - a private club - all blue. For the 3-7 it was the Four Aces, just across the river.

Movie Connections:

References "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Burnin' for You

Well played, if unlikely thriller

Freddie Heflin is a sheriff in a New Jersey suburb mainly populated by NYPD cops seeking a break from the big city. Freddie lives in awe of the cops, unable to join due to deafness in one ear. However he is forced to confront Donlan and his colleagues when an IA officer Tilden begins to investigate the killing of two unarmed black men by, and subsequent suicide of Donlan's nephew Murray Babitch.

This `independent' thriller boast a deep cast and certainly had a lot to shout about in the run up to it's release. The problem is with the actual story that the film has to work with. The start is exciting with Babitch's killing of two black motorists but it is also quite stretched. Similarly the denouncement is exciting but is quite easy to see it coming. However the middle section is good, as it relies on the characters and the actors to develop the story - although there is probably too much history to squeeze into a short time.

Stallone proves that he can act, being excellent in a particularly unglamorous role, carrying extra weight for the part and looking like he took lessons from De Niro. The rest of the cast would find it hard to be bad - De Niro and Harvey Keitel rekindle their Scorsese partnership and both are good here. Liotta, Rapaport, Patrick and Sciorra are all excellent in smaller roles. Even small roles are played by heavyweights - Emmerich, Moriarty, Spencer, Vincent and Garofalo (who only seems to have 2 scenes!)

Overall the film benefits from a fantastic cast but needed a much stronger plot to justify the depth of the performances.