The New Centurions is a 1972 American Panavision neo-noir action crime film based on the 1971 novel of the same name by author and policeman (both at that time) Joseph Wambaugh.

Three rookie cops, Roy Fehler, Gus Plebesly, and Sergio Duran, report for duty with the Los Angeles Police Department.

As they answer a burglary call at a market, Gus opens fire on an armed figure in a dark alley, only to discover, to his horror, that he has killed the owner of the store, who was pursuing the robber.

Roy begins to frustrate his wife, Dorothy, by becoming obsessed with police work, neglecting his family, and dropping out of law school.

As their careers progress, Roy is assigned to the vice squad, where the job is anything but glamorous—mostly arresting "fruits" for homosexual behavior in public parks.

Roy begins seeing Lorrie socially and comes to his senses, appreciating the need for personal relationships, remembering what led Andy to end his life.

In addition, the film marks the debut of William Atherton, in a minor role as Johnson – Roy's final young partner.

When George C. Scott agreed to join the cast, Winkler felt they should take advantage of the actor's presence by adding scenes for his character; Sillipant was not available, so Towne was hired for two weeks (the production was already filming) at a fee of $200,000 (equivalent to $1.55 million in 2024), with one of the additional scenes being the character's final phone call and suicide.

Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote: Richard Fleischer's The New Centurions is an intermittently exciting, sometimes preachy, sometimes ironic, occasionally successful film about the lives of some fictional patrol-car cops on the Los Angeles police force...It is an awkwardly modern movie.