History Film / FortApacheTheBronx

Creator/PaulNewman plays Murphy, a self-admitted stereotypical third-generation Irish American cop who's seen it all and understands what he's doing. Ken Wahl plays his young partner Corelli, who actually defies the young stud trope and also knows what he's up against due to having lived in the neighborhood all his life. Creator/EdwardAsner plays Connelly, the newly-assigned captain of the precinct.

The film generated some controversy due to being perceived as racist since virtually every villain in the movie is black or (Mestizo) Hispanic. However, this is addressed during the prologue and the film emphasizes that the city's NYPD was at the time served almost entirely by white male officers and that very few spoke Spanish despite the 41st Precinct being in a heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhood.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Captain Connolly is the more conventional cop who believes in being tough on crime and keeping his officers in line. But the veteran cops who have been in the roughest neighborhood in America for years know you have to rely on unconventional methods, pick your battles carefully, and just take it all one day at a time.

* FanserviceExtra: When Murphy and Corelli set a trashcan fire to get the guy they're looking for out of his apartment two very attractive scantily clad women come running out first.

* ShutUpHannibal: When Connonlly arrives he tries to give Dugan (whom he's replacing) a The ReasonYouSuckSpeech, but Dugan throws it right back in his face.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Murphy delivers one to Connelly when he points out that all his hardball methods only caused more problems and that they’re no closer to finding the cop killer.

* RagtagBunchofMisfits: Murphy has burned many bridges in his career and thus gets sent to such an undesirable location. Most of the other officers are stated to be in the same predicament.

* ShutUpHannibal: When Connonlly arrives he tries to give Dugan (whom he’s replacing) a The ReasonYouSuckSpeech, but Connolly throws it right back in his face.

'''Dugan:''' Yeah that's right, Blame Dugan! Sure let the politicians and everyone else off the hook, Blame Dugan, that's the easy way. You got a 40-block area with 70,000 people packed in like sardines smelling each others' farts living like cockroaches, and that's Dugan's fault. You got the lowest income per capita, the highest rate of unemployment in the city and that's my fault! Why aren't I out there getting all these people jobs? Largest proportion of non-English speaking population in the city! Dugan's fault, why aren't we out there teaching them to speak English? 4% Spanish speaking cops on the force! Hey Dugan, get your ass out in the barrio and recruit! Families that have been on welfare for three or four generations. Youth Gangs. Winos. Junkies. Pimps! Hookers. Maniacs. Cop-killers...\\

* RefugeInAudacity: Rather than threatening a crazy guy wielding a knife Murphy just acts crazy too and causes the confused guy to let his guard down and just peacefully hand over the knife.

* RagtagBunchofMisfits: Murphy has burned many bridges in his career and thus gets sent to such an undesirable location. Most of the other officers are stated to be in the same predicament.

* AllForNothing: Captain Connolly want to shake down the neighborhood to find the cops' killer. Since it was just a random prostitute who did it for no apparent reason than being on drugs, none of the efforts mean a thing and just end up causing more problems. In the end, [[spoiler:some random drug dealers kill the prostitute and dump her body in an abandoned lot, nobody the wiser that she's the killer.]]

''Fort Apache, The Bronx'' is a 1981 crime drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, about the [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops NYPD]]'s 41st Precinct in the South Bronx. The station was given its name after the [[Film/FortApache John Wayne film]] due to being a safe outpost in hostile territory. The film takes place, and was made, during the infamous "The Bronx is Burning" era when crime was out of control, anybody with even a little bit of money was fleeing, and buildings were being burned down at a rate of dozens a day. It's inspired by the experiences of two real life officers from the Precinct, Thomas Mulhearn and Peter Tessitore, who patrolled the neighborhood during these very dark days of 1964-1968.

* CrapsackWorld: Sadly very much TruthInTelevision at the time. The Bronx was an economically disenfranchised part of New York City, which saw frequent arson, a high murder rate and gang warfare. Googling photos of what it looked like during the 1970s and 1980s will draw comparisons with London during the Blitz.

* BigRottenApple: Very much TruthInTelevision for the era. New York City was a hellhole from the mid/late 1960's to the mid-1990s.

'''Dugan:''' I'll tell ya somethin', Connolly. You'll do better walking the beat in Beirut than you will here.

* RealityEnsues: When a double homicide is committed by a random person who did it for no apparent reason in an already crime infested neighborhood it will likely never be solved, cops or not.