Product Description

Vicious and ingenious police flick features Harvey Keitel as an impossibly surly and dysfuntional New York detective on the take. His focus on fine cigars and his prized possession - a Central Park West apartment paid for with drug dealer money are great props for a dirty cop. The story revolves around him and a punk kid (John Lyndon - Johnnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols), who claims to have killed several narcotics cops. A brutal film, not for sensitive viewers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34140 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-02-02
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Format: NTSC
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Customer Reviews

many different titles for this excellent film
This was originally titled THE ORDER OF DEATH, after the novel upon which it is based; then it was released, I think, in Europe under the title COPKILLER. Then the pansies in th US re-named it CORRUPT. And now someone has obviously decided to try to cash in on the Harvey Keitel angle and call this "Corrupt Lieutenant" in a desperate attempt to make audiences think this is a knock-off of Bad Lieutenant. Which is all really not needed because this movie--no matter what it is called--is a very intelligent and engrossing thriller. It boasts a pair of fine performances from Harvey Keitel and the criminally underappreciated John Lydon, formerly Johhny Rotten. He gives an excellent performance as the man who may or may not be the dememnted killer. All in all this is a nifty, over-looked police suspenser well worth seeking out.

The Order of Death. Is this what you want?
Here's a film thats been floating around for a couple of decades now, and, until somebody manages to find the original its only going to be on crappy vhs to dvd transfers that you get to see it. All panned and scanned. I used to own an english cassette of this under its original title and have even heard of it being billed as both Psycho-Killer and the bizzare Psycho-Jogger as well as Cop Killer and the current, cashing-in-on-Keitel Corrupt Lieutenant. There's probably more out there if you care to look.
Titles aside, this is actually quite a good little thriller with a great performance from Keitel and a rather good first one from Lydon. The production is rather pedestrian but there's enough twists and turns in the complex plot to keep you guessing and I'm always surprised by the intense atmosphere which develops as the film progresses.
A very under appreciated movie that deserves better than a dollar-store release such as this. Legend has it that music from Lydons then-band Public Image Ltd. was to grace the score, but, alas, and indeed to some extent, alack, the sound track is a pretty generic library score.
Think about it though. It would have been good.

aka Copkiller
Gray market discs such as this offer no commentary, deleted scenes or other bonus features. Dubs are "best available source" and can vary from very good to only fair.


CORRUPT LIENTENANT
Stars Harvey Keitel and punk rocker Johnny Rotten. Keitel is a country music-loving NYC detective who imprisons and tortures cop-killer Johnny, but the masochistic creep-o only begs for more abuse. An odd, violent little movie.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(5.6) Corrupt Lieutenant ("Copkiller") (Italy-1983) - Harvey Keitel/John Lydon/Nicole Garcia/Leonard Mann/Sylvia Sidney