The Best Police Movies and TV Shows on HBO MAX

What it's about: NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her office, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.

Where to Watch: 60 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 60 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 60 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When an insatiable great white shark terrorizes the townspeople of Amity Island, the police chief, an oceanographer and a grizzled shark hunter seek to destroy the blood-thirsty beast.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

Where to Watch: 24 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 24 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 24 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were arch-enemies, they were closest of friends, working together with other mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them has a family tragedy.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Where to Watch: 20 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, Starz & 1 other). 20 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz). 20 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. The drama series 'The Leftovers' is the story of the people who didn't make the cut. Based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta, 'The Leftovers' follows Kevin Garvey, a father of two and the chief of police in a small New York suburb, as he tries to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the notion no longer applies.

Where to Watch: 28 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 28 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO). 28 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him. An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean‑Pierre Melville, Le samouraï is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture—with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, ConTV, The Criterion Channel & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

Where to Watch: 37 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Crunchyroll, Tubi & Vudu). 37 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, HBO MAX & Hulu). 37 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: The sheriff of a small town in southwest Texas must keep custody of a murderer whose brother, a powerful rancher, is trying to help him escape. After a friend is killed trying to muster support for him, he and his deputies - a disgraced drunk and a cantankerous old cripple - must find a way to hold out against the rancher's hired guns until the marshal arrives. In the meantime, matters are complicated by the presence of a young gunslinger - and a mysterious beauty who just came in on the last stagecoach.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath. Harry eventually collars Scorpio in the process of rescuing a kidnap victim, only to see him walk on technicalities. Now, the maverick detective is determined to nail the maniac himself.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Off-duty cop John McClane is gripped with a feeling of déjà vu when, on a snowy Christmas Eve in the nation’s capital, terrorists seize a major international airport, holding thousands of holiday travelers hostage. Renegade military commandos led by a murderous rogue officer plot to rescue a drug lord from justice and are prepared for every contingency except one: McClane’s smart-mouthed heroics.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Repression is the rule of the day in this film that skewers Greek governance of the 1960s. Z, a leftist rabble rouser, is killed in what appears to be a traffic accident. But given the political climate, the death of such a prominent activist raises troubling questions. Though it's too late to save Z's life, a postmortem examination suggests that the ruling party was behind his death. As the facts leak out, those who tell the truth pay the price for their honesty.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $12.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Claudia and Anna join Anna's lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, a search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from guilt and tension.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Two men come to Gotham City: Bruce Wayne after years abroad feeding his lifelong obsession for justice and Jim Gordon after being too honest a cop with the wrong people elsewhere. After learning painful lessons about the city's corruption on its streets and police department respectively, this pair learn how to fight back their own way. With that, Gotham's evildoers from top to bottom are terrorized by the mysterious Batman and the equally heroic Gordon is assigned to catch him by comrades who both hate and fear him themselves. In the ensuing manhunt, both find much in common as the seeds of an unexpected friendship are laid with additional friends and rivals helping to start the legend.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organise a daring new heist.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: On a stormy night, young Jim, who transports a luxury car from Chicago to California to deliver it to its owner, feeling tired and sleepy, picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, who has appeared out of nowhere, thinking that a good conversation will help him not to fall asleep. He will have enough time to deeply regret such an unmeditated decision.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO).

What it's about: The Hangover crew heads to Thailand for Stu's wedding. After the disaster of a bachelor party in Las Vegas last year, Stu is playing it safe with a mellow pre-wedding brunch. However, nothing goes as planned and Bangkok is the perfect setting for another adventure with the rowdy group.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions vary.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A former prostitute discovers that her philanthropic fiance is involved in perversion.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms, Tubi & IMDb TV), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, Prime Video, Fandor & 2 others) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Deputy Police Chief Brenda Jean Johnson transfers from Atlanta to LA to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rubs her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogator eventually wins over even her toughest critics.

Where to Watch: 109 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX). 109 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Inquisitive journalist Grace Collier is horrified when she witnesses her neighbor, fashion model Danielle Breton, violently murder a man. Panicking, she calls the police. But when the detective arrives at the scene and finds nothing amiss, Grace is forced to take matters into her own hands. Her first move is to recruit private investigator Joseph Larch, who helps her to uncover a secret about Danielle's past that has them both seeing double.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving November 2012, four boys in a red SUV pull into a gas station after spending time at the mall buying sneakers and talking to girls. With music blaring, one boy exits the car and enters the store, a quick stop for a soda and a pack of gum. A man and a woman pull up next to the boys in the station, making a stop for a bottle of wine. The woman enters the store and an argument breaks out when the driver of the second car asks the boys to turn the music down. 3½ minutes and ten bullets later, one of the boys is dead. 3½ MINUTES dissects the aftermath of this fatal encounter.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: 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.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Two cops are given the 'dirty' job of staking out the home of an escaped convict's ex-girlfriend. Chris and the beautiful girlfriend accidentally meet and fall in love. Just as Chris' confesses, the convict appears, but will she betray him ?

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Catherine is a woman in her late twenties who is strongly devoted to her father, Robert, a brilliant and well-known mathematician whose grip on reality is beginning to slip away. As Robert descends into madness, Catherine begins to wonder if she may have inherited her father’s mental illness along with his mathematical genius. When Robert’s work reveals a mathematical proof of potentially historic proportions, it sets off shock waves in more ways than one.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, HBO & Hoopla), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The modern criminal justice system is hindered by the fact that countless rape kits remain untested in police evidence storage facilities across the United States. Only eight states currently have laws requiring mandatory testing of rape kits.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Big Bird is sent to live far from Sesame Street by a pesky social worker. Unhappy, Big Bird runs away from his foster home, prompting the rest of the Sesame Street gang to go on a cross-country journey to find him.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: This drama follows Inspector Kurt Wallander – a middle-aged everyman – as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the apparently sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in Skane, southern Sweden. Based on the international best-selling books by Henning Mankell.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & BritBox). 12 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $4.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Major Crimes explores how the American justice system approaches the art of the deals as law enforcement officers and prosecutors work together to score a conviction. Los Angeles Police Captain Sharon Raydor heads up a special squad within the LAPD that deals with high-profile or particularly sensitive crimes.

Where to Watch: 105 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX). 105 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard is accompanying a plane load of convicts from Chicago to New York. The plane crashes spectacularly, and Mark Sheridan escapes. But when Diplomatic Security Agent John Royce is assigned to help Gerard recapture Sheridan, it becomes clear that Sheridan is more than just another murderer.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man and grow to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it's up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Covering the life and times of one of the West's most iconic heroes Wyatt Earp weaves an intricate tale of Earp and his friends and family. With a star studded cast, sweeping cinematography and authentic costumes Wyatt Earp led the way during the Western revival in the 90's.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).