Top 250 Movies Like Southland
Protect. Serve. Survive.
A list of the best movies similar to Southland. If you liked Southland then you may also like: 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown, 2 Days in the Valley, Until Death, Vice Academy Part 3, Wrong Cops and many more great movies featured on this list.
A raw and authentic look into the Los Angeles crime scene, going far inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families. The show centers on four main characters: Officer John Cooper, a seasoned cop who will have to prove himself again after recovering from surgery; Officer Ben Sherman, who still has much to learn after recently completing his training rotation; Detective Lydia Adams, whose unending caseload hits closer to home; and Sammy Bryant, a former detective who decided to go back to being a uniform cop after the traumatic death of his partner.
2 Days in the Valley
In a sleepy bedroom community of LA's San Fernando Valley, the murder of a professional athlete by two hit men sets into motion a chain of events that puts the mundane lives of a dozen residents on a collision course. This clever tale tells the story of two hit men, a mistress, a nurse, a vindictive ex-wife, a wealthy art dealer and his lovelorn assistant, a suicidal writer and his dog, and a bitter cop and his partner.
Until Death
Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.
Vice Academy Part 3
Two sisters in the Vice Academy try to thwart the crime wave wrought by escaped convict Malathion, who got her name after being exposed to toxic chemicals. An honest new recruit does such a good job at arresting Malathion's gang that the sisters are taken off active duty. To get their jobs back, they try to tarnish the new girl's reputation.
Wrong Cops
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
When the incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
The Narrow Margin
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a tense train ride.
National Security
Earl Montgomery, a bombastic police academy reject, and Hank Rafferty, a disgraced, mild-mannered cop, can't seem to escape each other. They met on opposite sides of the law during a routine traffic stop that escalated out of control; now as lowly security guards they're thrown together to bust a smuggling operation.
The New Centurions
An idealistic rookie cop joins the LAPD to make ends meet while finishing law school, and is indoctrinated by a seasoned veteran. As time goes on, he loses his ambitions and family as police work becomes his entire life.
The Night Stalker
A tough homicide cop is assigned to track down a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes.
No Man's Land
A rookie cop goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of car thieves led by smooth and charming Ted. The rookie becomes too involved and starts to enjoy the thrill and lifestyle of the game, and becomes romanticly involved with the leaders sister.
Rush Hour
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
Alex Cross
After Washington DC detective Alex Cross is told that a family member has been murdered, he vows to track down the killer. He soon discovers that she was not his first victim and that things are not what they seem.
Assault on Precinct 13
On New Year's Eve, inside a police station that's about to be closed for good, officer Jake Roenick must cobble together a force made up cops and criminals to save themselves from a mob looking to kill mobster Marion Bishop.
Beverly Hills Cop
A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Black & White
Chris O'Brien, devote Catholic and rookie cop with LAPD, is assigned to partner with the hard-edged, street-smart Nora Hugosian. A serial killer is loose, and all the victims are low-life guys whom Nora has dealt with. So, when the tire tracks of a police car are found at a murder scene, she's the prime suspect of internal affairs investigator Simon Hertzel...
The Blue Knight
Bumper Morgan is a veteran Los Angeles Police Department street cop. He is due to retire after 20 years on the job, but is not letting up on the criminal element on his beat.
Blue Streak
Miles Logan is a jewel thief who just hit the big time by stealing a huge diamond. However, after two years in jail, he comes to find out that he hid the diamond in a police building that was being built at the time of the robbery. In an attempt to regain his diamond, he poses as an LAPD detective.
The Bone Collector
Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme – formerly the department's top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed 'The Bone Collector'. The murderer's special signature is to leave tantalizing clues based on the grim remains of his crimes.
Carry On Constable
With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck the operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station. They all have to prove themselves or else they'll be out of a job and Sergeant Wilkins will be transferred. Sub-plots include romances between Wilkins and Moon, Constable and Passworthy.
Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story
Story of attractive cop Laurencia Bembenek, who, in 1982, was sentenced to prison for killing her husband's ex-wife in Milwaukee, WI.
City of Lies
Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case -- the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur -- but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies.
Lethal Weapon
Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.
S.W.A.T.
Hondo Harrelson recruits Jim Street to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay and single mom Chris Sanchez. The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.
Lethal Weapon 2
In the opening chase, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh stumble across a trunk full of Krugerrands. They follow the trail to a South African diplomat who's using his immunity to conceal a smuggling operation. When he plants a bomb under Murtaugh's toilet, the action explodes!
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran, brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks and his rookie partner take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
Lethal Weapon 4
Officers Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh of the Los Angeles Police Department must stop a dangerous crime lord from China from getting his brother out of jail.
The Enforcer
Dirty Harry Callahan returns again, this time saddled with a rookie female partner. Together, they must stop a terrorist group consisting of angry Vietnam veterans.
Sleepless
Undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who has got a lot of enemies, is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters get T, Downs’ teenage son. In one sleepless night, he will have to rescue his son T (whom they got), evade an internal affairs investigation and bring the kidnappers to justice.
Double Jeopardy
Marc Hill is the attorney for Emmet Devrey, a real estate developer with a past, who is being blackmailed by his former partner Sam Baggett. When Sam's unfaithful wife Marge cooks up a scheme with her used car salesman lover Jeff Calder to bilk both Devrey and her alcoholic husband, Sam is killed and Devrey is accused of the crime. Mark is called to prove his employers innocence.
Red Sun Rising
Thomas Hoshino (Willson) is a tough Japanese detective, who lost his partner by a deadly Yakuza killer Jaho (Lew). He tracks down the killer and his master to Los Angeles, where he teams up with Det. Karen Ryder (Farrell). Soon they discover that Yakuza prepares a gang war and weapon smuggling. Hoshino must find a way to defeat the killer who posses mystical ninja powers.
Air Patrol
L.A. detective Sgt. Castle and his two partners investigate the theft of a valuable Fragonard painting by a thief who pilots a helicopter.
Crown Vic
One memorable night in the life of veteran patrol officer Ray Mandel and his trainee, ambitious rookie cop Nick Holland in the LAPD's Olympic Division. With two cop killers on the loose and hunting for more targets, Mandel and Holland must contend with a city about to boil over, as well as Jack VanZandt, an unhinged rogue cop out for payback running wild in their patrol zone.
Heat
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
Danger One
While transporting a dying man to the hospital, two paramedics find a million dollars in cash sewn into his clothing. When the man dies, they decide to keep it, setting them on a path for a hellish night of violence and mayhem.
Training Day
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Hollywood Homicide
Joe Gavilan and his new partner K. C. Calden, are detectives on the beat in Tinseltown. Neither one of them really wants to be a cop, Gavilan moonlights as a real estate broker, and Calden is an aspiring actor moonlighting as a yoga instructor. When the two are assigned a big case they must work out whether they want to solve the case or follow their hearts.
Gang Related
Two corrupt cops have a successful, seemingly perfect money making scheme- they sell drugs that they seize from dealers, kill the dealers, and blame the crimes on street gangs. Their scheme is going along smoothly until they kill an undercover DEA agent posing as a dealer, and then try to cover-up their crime.
Detective Story
Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod, leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
End of Watch
Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
Follow Me Quietly
1949 thriller about the hunt for a serial killer known as "the Judge" who kills his victims on rainy nights.
A Gnome Named Gnorm
A young Los Angeles police officer and a mysterious gnome become unlikely partners as they track a killer. When a sting operation goes awry, officer Casey is blamed for the murder of his colleague and Gnorm the gnome is the only witness.
Chaos
In Seattle, detective Quentin Conners is unfairly suspended and his partner Jason York leaves the police force after a tragic shooting on Pearl Street Bridge, when the hostage and the criminal die. During a bank heist with a hostage situation, Conners is assigned in charge of the operation with the rookie Shane Dekker as his partner. The thieves, lead by Lorenz, apparently do not steal a penny from the bank. While chasing the gangsters, the police team disclose that they planted a virus in the system, stealing one billion dollars from the different accounts, using the principle of the Chaos Theory. Further, they find that Lorenz is killing his accomplices.
Direct Action
Frank Gannon, a veteran cop, is being hunted by his fellow police officers after they learned he has betrayed the brotherhood and exposed to the feds wide scale corruption of the LAPD. He has one day left to prove his case and survive.
Under Cover
A cop goes undercover in a South Carolina high school. With the help of a local narcotics officer, he investigates the drug ring responsible for another cop's death.
American Rampage
Ex-San Francisco vice cop Samantha Roarke and Hollywood homicide detective Ryan Hayes team up to investigate an international drug cartel in Los Angeles, leading them to an ex-CIA operative turned drug kingpin who's organizing a heroin distribution center in the city.
The Big Chase
A policeman (Glenn Langan) with a pregnant wife (Adele Jergens) winds up chasing a payroll thief (Lon Chaney Jr.) into Mexico by helicopter.
Internal Affairs
Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in any number of dubious or downright criminal activities. He is also devious, a womaniser, and a clever manipulator, and he starts to turn his attention on Avila.
Muzzle
LAPD K-9 officer Jake Rosser has just witnessed the shocking murder of his dedicated partner by a mysterious assailant. As he investigates the shooter’s identity, he uncovers a vast conspiracy that has a chokehold on the city in this thrilling journey through the tangled streets of Los Angeles and the corrupt bureaucracy of the LAPD.
Coldfire
The "Coldfire" is a lethal new designer-drug with destructive capabilities. Its origins are unknown...and its effects are irreversible. This drug promises the "ultimate high." However, what does the user acquire instead? The ultimate way to die... The main purpose of the "Coldfire" drug is to help the enemy cripple the United States. An epidemic is imminent if the use of this drug spreads everywhere... Entering the scene are Nick and Jake Edwards two audacious police officers. They may lack age, but they certainly have attitude. These Generation-X cops hope to show some of the veteran members of the police force a trick or to. These two officers will be working with a company of experienced pros including the seasoned Lars and the short-tempered Dix. Their assignment is to track down who or what is responsible for the distribution of this virulent drug substance... Written by David Choi
The Seven Five
Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of '80s Brooklyn.
Private Hell 36
In New York, a bank robbery of $300,000 goes unsolved for a year, until some of the marked bills are found in a Los Angeles drugstore theft. Police detectives Cal Bruner and Jack Farnham investigate and are led from the drugstore to a nightclub, where singer Lili is another recipient of a stolen bill. With Lili's help, the partners track down the remaining money, but both Lili and Frank are dismayed when Cal decides he wants to keep part of it.
Last Shift
Rookie police officer Jessica Loren has been assigned the last shift at a closing police station and must wait for a hazmat crew to collect biomedical evidence. Ordered not to leave the station under any circumstances, Jessica comes to learn that it's more than just an outdated station, it's home to the ultimate embodiment of evil and his devoted bloodthirsty followers. Jessica is left to fend for herself in the Devil's playground.
He Walked by Night
This film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a resourceful criminal who shoots and kills a cop.
Hustle
The body of teenager Gloria Hollinger is found dead on a Los Angeles beach, and Lt. Phil Gaines is in charge of the investigation. Gaines learns that the girl, a stripper and prostitute, committed suicide, but he ignores the connection between her and a powerful mob lawyer, Leo Sellers. Hollinger's father, however, is not satisfied with Gaines's results, and attempts to investigate the case on his own.
Partners
Benson is a police detective. After a series of murders in the Gay community he is ordered to go undercover with a gay police clerk named Kerwin as his partner. In order to be noticed they have to be flamboyant enough to attract attention which Benson finds rather disturbing. Can an uptight heterosexual and a mousey homosexual form a meaningful relationship?
Scanner Cop
Sam Staziak, a rookie cop with the Los Angeles Police Department, is also a 'scanner' (psionic). When a string of murders begins to decimate the police department, Sam faces sensory overload and possible insanity as he uses his powers to hunt the man responsible for the killings.
Scanner Cop II
A policeman with telepathic powers uses his abilities to battle against an adversary with the dangerous ability to drain the life force from his foes.
Blue Steel
Megan Turner, a rookie NYC cop, foils an armed robbery on her first day and then engages in a cat-and-mouse game with one of the witnesses who becomes obsessed with her.
The Son of No One
A rookie cop is assigned to the 118 Precinct in the same district where he grew up. The Precinct Captain starts receiving letters about two unsolved murders that happened many years ago in the housing projects when the rookie cop was just a kid. These letters bring back bad memories and old secrets that begin to threaten his career and break up his family.
Get That Man
Life gets complicated for a taxi driver when it's discovered that he's the spitting image of the murdered heir to a fortune.
The Right to Love: An American Family
Chronicling one story of courage born out of the highly mediatized and controversial Prop 8 2008 election results in California. A Californian married gay couple and their two adopted children fight back against discrimination, ignorance and hate through home videos posted on their YouTube channel, Gay Family Values. As they pursue their American Dream, the opposing political, social and religious opinions that pervade society attempt to strip it from them.
One False Move
Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.
Relentless
Two Los Angeles police detectives, cynical veteran Malloy and cocky rookie Dietz, hunt for a serial killer, an ex-cop named Taylor, whom randomly chooses his victims from a phone directory.
The Glass Shield
J.J. is a rookie in the Sheriff's Department and the first black officer at that station. Racial tensions run high in the department as some of J.J.'s fellow officers resent his presence. His only real friend is the other new trooper, the first female officer to work there, who also suffers similar discrimination in the otherwise all-white male work environment. When J.J. becomes increasingly aware of police corruption during the murder trial of Teddy Woods, whom he helped to arrest, he faces difficult decisions and puts himself into grave personal danger in the service of justice.
The Gardener
After her partner mysteriously disappears, Detective Kelly Jones is lead to a nursery that seems to hold many secrets.
Tiger Claws II
Released five years after the first installment, Tiger Claws II finds Yeung's martial arts serial killer, Chong, busted out of jail by a team of heavies in the employ of gangster Dai Lo Fu and whisked across the country to San Fransisco's Chinatown. When NYC cop Tarek Richards learns of a rash of recent killings using Chong's distinctive M.O.— a claw-like mark across the face of the victim— he contacts his old partner, Linda Masterson, who is now living in L.A., for help. But Chong, as it turns out, has nothing to do with the murders. He's just being used by crime kingpin Lo Fu, who needs to combine his energy with Chong's to open some sort of time portal to provide vital supplies for the ancient Shaolin monks. In truth, though, Lo Fu greedily plans to use the portal to smuggle heavy modern artillery back and rule Qing Dynasty-era China himself.
The Kill Reflex
Williamson plays a cop called 'Soda Cracker', whose partner was killed in a mysterious assassination. He is convinced that the murder was committed by his old enemy, Ivan Moss, played by Bo Svenson. Despite threats from the mob and from the police department, he vows to continue his mission to find the persons responsible for the assassination. Maud Adams plays his new police woman partner, who falls in love with him during their investigations. 'Soda Cracker' also has to deal with the fact that many of the police officers on the squad may be corrupt, and tries to break down the criminal network whilst finding evidence against Ivan Moss.
Midnight Witness
Renegade cops are videotaped murdering a motorist and the witnesses are in danger of being their next victims.
L.A. Bounty
Mayor candidate Mike Rhodes is kidnapped in his own home outside of Los Angeles by unknown, masked terrorists. His wife Kelly barely survives the attempted murder on her, and is able to identify one of the kidnappers. She's placed on the police's protection list while the investigation is ongoing. Ruger, a tough and merciless bounty hunter is out on the streets avenging her partner's death. With Kelly as her bait, Ruger starts a dangerous game to bring Cavanough, a crazed crime kingpin behind the kidnapping, out of hiding.
Sudden Danger
Detective Andy Doyle suspects that a suicide is actually a murder. He suspects the victim's son, Wallace who is blind and he pursues him until he gets to the truth.
Tales of the Grim Sleeper
When Lonnie Franklin Jr. was arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 2010 as the suspected murderer of a string of young black women, police hailed it as the culmination of 20 years of investigations. Four years later documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield took his camera to the alleged killer’s neighborhood for another view.
Dragnet
Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the original 1950s "Dragnet" radio show and TV show (which also had it's own movie in 1954, from the same creative team). However, the pilot wasn't actually aired until 1969. In this feature-length entry, Sgt. Joe Friday is called back from vacation to work with his partner, Officer Bill Gannon, on a missing persons case. Two amateur female models and a young war widow have vanished, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In the course of tracking down Johnson and the young ladies, the detectives wind up with two different descriptions of the suspect, one of which closely resembles a dead body found in a vacant lot. But the dead man, later identified as Charles LeBorg of France, proves not to be J. Johnson, when a third young model disappears.
The Killing Mind
Isobel Neiman, a former FBI agent turned cop, is assigned to catch a ballerina's murderer, but runs into resistance by fellow cops who don't think a woman detective can handle the case.
Roots of Evil
A serial killer is after hookers and strippers. A male detective and his female partner are assigned to stop him.
The Tattooed Stranger
Detectives investigate the Central Park murder of a young woman with a Marine Corps tattoo.
Cage of Evil
While investigating a diamond heist, disgruntled cop Harper falls for Holly, the top suspect's main squeeze. When she convinces him to kill her boyfriend and make off with her and the loot, they start down a treacherous path full of dark surprises.
The Underground
A cop must stop the killings of rap stars. But, he gets in too deep after his partner is killed.
Ironside
Citizens of San Francisco are stunned by the news that Robert Ironside, the city's hard-nosed, tough-talking chief of detectives, has been shot and left for dead while vacationing at his friend the Police Commissioner's rural retreat. Ironside survives the murder attempt, but the bullet has damaged nerves in his spine, leaving him a paraplegic. Unable to gain reinstatement as chief of detectives, Ironside gets permission to continue investigating criminal cases as a citizen volunteer. With the assistance of two former protegees, Det. Sgt. Ed Brown and Officer Eve Whitfield, and a newly-hired aide/driver, Mark Sanger, Ironside sets out to solve his first case as a civilian by finding the people responsible for the attempt on his life.
Flashfire
Police detective Jack Flinder is already in trouble with the rest of his force for imprisoning a corrupt partner, but now he has a new problem to deal with. Another officer has been murdered in a hotel room, where he was with a prostitute named Lisa, who managed to escape with her life. Flinder has to track down Lisa to find out what happened, but the answer proves the corruption in his department runs much deeper than he had initially believed.
Against The Law
A trigger-happy outlaw goes on the run and a burned out, disillusioned cop gives chase. They end up head-to-head in a Los Angeles shoot out.
Family of Cops
Paul Fein is a veteran police detective whose son Eddie is also a cop. Paul is assigned to investigate the murder of a prominent businessman, and he soon learns that the field of suspects has been narrowed down to two—the victim's sexually freewheeling wife Anna, and Paul's wild-child daughter Jackie. Neither Paul nor Eddie believe that Jackie could have committed the murder, and soon Paul is using himself as a decoy in a bid to find out more about what Anna does and doesn't know about her husband's death.
Flipping
The story of Michael Moore, Shot, Hooker, Joey, and Dennis. Five gangsters who work for a man named Leo. They soon discover they could get more out of life if they could run the streets themselves. Tensions build and loyalty is tested as they plan a hit that could change all of their lives forever.
The Right to Remain Silent
Bright and eager to hit the streets in search of bad guys, rookie cop Christine Paly is disappointed when she's instead assigned to process criminals. Under the supervision of a tough but likable mentor, Christine quickly learns that hers is like no other desk job in the world.
The Crime of Helen Stanley
An actress is murdered in the midst of shooting a dance sequence for her latest picture, with Inspector Steve Trent on the case.
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
Lockdown Follows a police officer who returns to duty after recovering from a gun shot wound to discover incriminating evidence of illegal activities against those closest to him. He quickly finds himself trapped inside his own precinct, hunted and in search of the truth, as the crooked cops stop at nothing to recover the evidence.