Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 8, 2025

Walter Cichy's "Cop Killers" a.k.a. "Sweet, Mean and Deadly" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Classics. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with star Jason Williams; audio commentary recorded by Jason Williams and critic Adam Trash; and remastered vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Take a look at the back cover of this Blu-ray release of Walter Cichy’s film Cop Killers. In the upper part of it, you will see an image of a busy street with several yellow cabs heading in opposite directions. It is New York City. Then, under the image, you will find the following description: “In 1970s New York City, two escaped convicts plunge into a rampage of crime and violence, evading capture and plunging the city into chaos. Starring Jason Williams, this gritty exploitation thriller is a cult classic known for its intense action and raw portrayal of urban decay.” The image looks great, and the description prepares for a fine action thriller that someone like Abel Ferrara could have shot, which is wild, to say the least, because Cop Killers is set in the scorching Arizona desert. All of it. In other words, the image and the description are not just inaccurate, but seriously misleading.

The two convicts are also amateur drug dealers, planning to sell a duffel bag full of cocaine that someone drops from a low-flying Cessna in the middle of the desert. Ray (Williams) has put together the job and negotiated the terms of the sale with an unknown buyer. Alex (Bill Osco) is his best pal. With the money from the sale, which is supposed to be a lot, the two have agreed to cross the border and disappear somewhere on the southern coast of Mexico. But on the way to the spot where the cocaine is supposed to be exchanged for the money, Ray and Alex encounter a roadblock, engage in a shootout, and kill several cops. While improvising, the two then kill a few more strangers and, during an altercation at a gas station, pick up a hostage (Diane Keller). When the hostage unexpectedly begins melting Alex’s heart, Ray’s once-perfect plan to get rich quickly and disappear in Mexico falls apart.

In a rather amusing archival program, Williams, while arguing that all drugs should be legal, reveals that he became close with Osco during the production of Flesh Gordon, an ambitious adult parody made with plenty of improvised funding. (Apparently, Osco and associates shot quite a few cheap adult films to generate more money to finish Flesh Gordon). Cop Killers materialized a few years after Flesh Gordon and, according to Williams, was offered to a lot of the same theater owners who would consider purchasing Osco’s more explicit work.

Everything that makes Cop Killers a bad film, which it is, is also what makes it worth seeing. For example, Williams and Osco appear genuinely erratic and behave pretty much as real amateur drug dealers trying to do a quick job and run away with a large sum of money. Cop Killers is uncharacteristically violent, too. (Williams mentions that no one would have been surprised if authorities in different states had confiscated some of the 35mm prints of it that Osco had sold to independent theaters). It produces a lot of very rough visuals from the Arizona desert, but they easily transform it into a fine piece of Americana.

Of course, Cop Killers cannot be enjoyed without an appreciation for the unfiltered thrills that American exploitation films, and specifically the rougher, low-budget type, from the 1970s typically offered. These are not the same thrills that Italian (and some other European) exploitation films from the same period earned reputations with.

Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfrer, Cop Killers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Classics.

It is pretty easy to tell that the master used to produce this release is recent. It is just as easy to tell that it was struck from an aged source, possibly an interpositive or some sort of print. I would describe the quality of the visuals as good, but you need to keep in mind that Cop Killers was shot in 16mm and then transferred to 35mm, and because it was shot very quicky with a tiny budget, there are plenty of fluctuations. Also, while color balance is fine, saturation levels can be better. Image stability is very good. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Some small marks and blemishes can be spotted, but there are no large cuts, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, despite looking a bit rough, Cop Killers has a fine organic appearance. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

All exchanges are very clear and easy to follow. However, it is also very easy to tell that Cop Killers was finalized quickly and as cheaply as possible because dynamic balance and intensity are difficult to compare to those present on studio films. This is fine because Cop Killers is a rough exploitation film, but this means that you should expect to hear plenty of random organic sounds and noises. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Jason Williams - in this archival program, Jason Williams, who plays one of the amateur drug dealers, recalls how his professional relationship with Bill Osco started and what it was like to work on Cop Killers (and Flesh Gordon), and discusses the socio-cultural environment in which the film was released. Williams also has interesting observations about the complex nature of the business he was part of and how low-budget films like Cop Killers were made and sold. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Trailer - a remastered trailer for Cop Killers. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by Jason Williams and critic Adam Trash. The commentary covers a lot of ground, from Williams' career to the production of Cop Killers and the independent film scene in America during the 1070s.

• Trailer Reel - several trailers for other MVD Classics titles.

Cop Killers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the 1970s, amateur drug dealers betting everything, including their lives, on a single deal to help them get to an imaginary better place were probably a lot like the two characters in Cop Killers -- delusional, low-IQ kamikazes. They would have been similarly bad improvisors, too. In Cop Killers, the bad improvising sort of works because it produces the unfiltered thrills that are right for a low-budget exploitation film, but I think the journey through the Arizona desert makes it more attractive as an unscripted piece of Americana. This recent release from MVD Classics offers a decent organic presentation of Cop Killers, with a couple of intriguing bonus features that may even be of interest to fans of Flesh Gordon. RECOMMENDED.