Customer Reviews
Different story , fine ensemble acting well captured 
2007-07-13
I always felt this film deserved a good DVD edition and now we have it .
All involved with it should be proud .
The device of there being a part of town which is mostly policemen was novel , I thought .
There is a 'Western' element to it - the 'one man stands up for what's right' sort of plot device , however it is well done .
Highly recommended .
For die-hard fans 2007-06-27
Mangold's masterpiece with an all-star cast, icluding Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta. Extras, deleted scenes, the whole nine yard. Very good stuff.
Copland has a place on my shelf 
2007-06-12
Every time I hear people saying that Sylvester Stallone can't act, I'm inclined to want to believe them. I think it's the dead sounding voice of his, that thick accent that he's never worked to get rid of. However, there are two movies of his where he is at the top of his game. In action films, he's the same, whether the hero or the villain. However, in comedy he is great in "Oscar" and in drama he is fantastic in "Cop Land." Filled with a cast full of high profile actors and yet a bomb at the box office for reasons unknown to me, this movie only suffers from a touch of melodrama.
Written and directed by James Mangold (Heavy), Cop Land is set in Garrison, New Jersey, just over the George Washington Bridge from New York City. Garrison is populated by the NYPD's most questionable, with the powerful, mob-bought Ray Donlan (Keitel) as its unofficial mayor. Among Ray's minions are his main henchman Jack Rucker (Robert Patrick) and the coke-fried Gary "Figs" Figgis (Liotta), who was brought into the inner circle after his partner died in an incident that brought Internal Affairs sniffing around. Watching over Ray's little slice of paradise is Sheriff Freddy Heflin (Stallone), a wannabe cop who was kept from the big-city force by a bum ear. With a badge that is little more than a vanity plate, Freddy's main duty is turning a blind eye to the shady dealings of Garrison's most prominent citizens. When Murray "Superboy" Babbitch (Michael Rapaport) kills two joyrides in what he thinks is self-defense but isn't, his compatriots first clumsily attempt to save his job by performing a quick-and-dirty plant, but that quickly goes wrong and in a deft move, Lieutenant Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel), uncle, spirits him away in a phony suicide. But this does little to defuse the powder keg, and as Internal Affairs agent Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) moves in on Garrison but admits that the town is beyond his jurisdiction in the strictest sense, Freddy is forced to make a series of decisions that lead him to admit to himself, finally, that something is seriously wrong with this unsupervised town and that as sheriff, he's the one who's been falling down on that supervisor's job while facing a hard decision with his precinct.
While Cop Land is nothing too astounding, it is a good, solid drama, with a climactic scene that's worth the admission alone. The extra pounds Stallone put on serve him well for this part. In his past roles, his physique, along with his droopy-lidded, thick-tongued manner, has made him untouchably macho. With that taken away, Stallone is vulnerable. He stoops over his gut and walks uncomfortably -- a nice take for a character who's spent his life being pushed around. No matter how many shots of him staring dreamily over at New York or how many shots of him blanking out to a stuck-in-a-rut Bruce Springsteen song, it's the way in which he moves that nails this part for him. And while this role is being set forth as proof that Stallone is a serious actor, and has also maintained this in "Rocky Balboa."
Cops for real. 2007-05-25
Discounting the stars in this film, I believe that it exposes a common human failing of authority and corruption. We need to be reminded that not only law enforcement but elected officials as well are prone to the very same desires and needs that we experience. Their office and the esteem we bestow on them, is all irrelevant as they are victims of the same human frailties that they prosecute. This film functions as an exposure of our common traits, illnesses, weaknesses and pliability when faced with dilemas.
Very well done!Sadly extremely underrated 2006-12-25
Copland should have been nominated for an oscar.. It is a shame that hollywood is so biased. This movie truly represents what drama is all about.. Sly does outstanding work as freddy and deserved much more credit for his performance... Great film to watch !! A shame it has so much profanity. That is the only negative comment I have about the film..
Sly holds his own among some of the finest actors out there 2008-06-08
Sly plays a human being for a change--and I dug the hell out of it. He only raises his voices once--during a shouting match with the always convincing Ray Liotta.
Entire cast is amazing. You know who they are, so there is no need to list all the names.
Smartly written and directed by the talented James Mangold. This is a real movie (for grownups) and not some mindless shoot-'em up.
Mangold, as writer, first and foremost, understands the importance of strong character development and the stories he tries to tell (usually) have substance and are about something.
Sly 
2008-03-25
If you like Sly you might not like this one. If you like Film, and dislike Sly for the most part, you might want to check this one out. Copland is a fresh flick with a strong cast. Special Features are good, soundtrack is kinda fresh too.
Buy used at least.
Stallone's finest 2008-03-10
Mr Stallone is fantastically successful and, I'm sure, needs no praise from me. But for me, this is his best work. The all-star support cast are good and easily dislikeable, and Liotta is on form, but although the film is not perfect, that is precisely what makes it so good. Stallone's regretful, never-quite-good-enough Sheriff is the best character of all. Well worth a look. I wish he'd made more films like this. Take it for what it is and you won't be disappointed.
Yours,
Baby Cromwell, Nottingham, England
Copland review 2008-02-18
If I were not a Stallone fan, this might have been a good movie. Stallone's character in this film doesn't have the edge most of us love in his other films. Here, his character is less aggressive and less intelligent. Still, it was an okay movie. It reminded me of t.v. cop shows/t.v. movies in the late 70's and 80's. My mom is not a Stallone fan. I lent her the movie and she really enjoyed it. She didn't have the Sly expectations going into it that I did, and I think that made the difference. It was inexpensive to buy, so I'm still glad to add it to my Sly collection.
Fantastic urban drama backed by an all-star cast 2007-07-18
Cop land seems to be under appreciated now after being out on the shelves a few years, and it is truly a shame. This movie has some shock value in a couple of areas, and those dynamics were crucial for its initial success in telling a compelling, character driven story that is wrought with suspense and action. The first of these things is the performance of Sylvester Stallone as Sheriff Freddy Heflin. Despite dominating screen presence as a muscle bound brute, Stallone's character in this film is a laid back, easy going type whose big heart is often overlooked by his own shy demeanor. The writer and director of this film did a superb job and what is amazing is that it was only his second venture, the first one being the film "Heavy". James Mangold assembles an outstanding cast, which includes such great actors as Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Peter Berg, Robert Patrick and Michael Rappaport among others.
Cop Land centers on a town called Garrison, New Jersey that happens to have a ton of members of the NYPD living there in order to raise their families in a better, safer neighborhood. When one of their own gets caught up in a controversial shooting that leaves a trail of blood, he and others are soon suspected of some pretty high profile crimes themselves. A trail of dead cops and closed cases arrives at the desk of Moe Tilden (DeNiro) it seems all to familiar, but as the stakes of the game starts to rise, so do the doors of opportunity to advance any investigation into the case. Freddy Heflin soon realizes that nothing is as it seems in this grandiose "cop land" of Garrison, and his only key to finding answers is just as elusive to him as it is to the guys playing the law into their own hands for their own gain.
Compelling characters and intrigue all seem to come together intricately, while still keeping all points of this film strong and fresh. As far as scripts go, this one could not have been better, and it is all topped off by an excellent portrayal of a climatic ending seen through the eyes and ears of Heflin. The special features part of this "collectors edition" is a bit disappointing, and although there are some great interviews with the cast and director, I found it lacking when it comes to extra features of a "collectors edition" DVD. Regardless, Cop Land is an excellent "Urban Western" that has all the grit and style for a NY/NJ style crime oriented film.
