Gangster & Crime Films

Own these

1. American Gangster (2008)
2. Bronx Tale, A (1993)
3. Carlito's Way (1993)
4. Casino (1995)
5. Departed, The (2006)
6. Donnie Brasco (1997)
7. Get Carter (1971)
8. Godfather, The (1972)
9. Godfather, The Part II (1974)
10. Godfather, The Part III (1990)
11. GoodFellas (1990)
12. Gone Baby Gone
13. Hitman Uncut
14. Miller's Crossing (1990)
15. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
16. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
17. Scarface (1983)
18. Untouchables, The (1987)

Wishlist

1. 10th and the Wolf (2006)
2. American Me (2008)
3. American History X (1998)
4. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
5. Baby Face Nelson (1957)
6. Belly (1998)
7. Blood In Blood Out
8. Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
9. Boondock Saints
10. Boyz N The Hood (1991)
11. Brighton Rock
12. Bugsy (1991)
13. Bugsy Malone (1976)
14. Bullet in the Head
15. Chicago Gangster
16. Cidade de Deus (2002)
17. City of God
18. Colors
19. Cotton Club
20. Crank
21. Croupier (1998)
22. Deuces Wild
23. Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (1955)
24. Eastern Promises
25. Essex Boys (2000)
26. Excellent Cadavers
27. Face (1997)
28. Falcone
29. Fargo (1996)
30. Four Brothers
31. Fresh
32. Gangs of New York (2002)
33. Gangster No. 1
34. Gomorra (2008)
35. Green Street Hooligans
36. Hard Boiled
37. Harlem Nights
38. Heat (1995)
39. History of Violence
40. Hoffa
41. Ichi the Killer
42. Hoodlum
43. Infernal Affairs
44. Inside Man
45. Ireversable
46. Juice
47. Killing Pablo (2009)
48. King of New York
49. Kiss of Death (1947)
50. L.A. Confidential (1997)
51. Layercake
52. Little Caesar
53. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
54. Long Good Friday
55. Meance II Society
56. Mean Streets (1973)
57. Mobsters
58. Mona Lisa
59. Mou gaan dou (2002)
60. Mystic River
61. New Jack City (1991)
62. Nothing Personal
63. Notorious
64. On the Waterfront
65. Paid In Full
66. Performance
67. Petrified Forest
68. Point Blank
69. Pope of Greenwich Village
70. Prizzi’s Honor
71. Public Enemy
72. Pulp Fiction (1994)
73. Revolver
74. Richie’sRock’n'Rolla
75. Rise of the Foot Soldier
76. Rise to Power
77. Road to Perdition (2002)
78. Running Scared
79. Sexy Beast
80. Shoot Them Up
81. Shottas
82. Snatch (2000)
83. South Central
84. State Property
85. State of Grace
86. St. Valentines Day Massacre
87. Taxi Driver
88. The Big Sleep
89. The Business
90. The Hit
91. The Krays (1990)
92. The Long Good Friday (1980)
93. The Last Don
94. The Villian
95. The Warriors
96. Training Day
97. Usual Suspects (1995)
98. We Own The Night
99. White Heat (1949)
100. Why We Bang
101. Witness to the Mob
102. Year of the Dragon

TV

1. The Sopranos(series 1)
2. The Sopranos(series 2)
3. The Sopranos(series 3)
4. The Sopranos(series 4)
5. The Sopranos(series 5
6. The Sopranos(series 6)
7. The Black Donnellys (series)

Links

• 100 Greatest Gangster Movies
• AFI 10 Top 10 Gangster Movies
• AMERICA's 10 Top 10 Film Genres Part 3 (Gangster Films)
• Internet Movie Database
• Mafia Flix
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Amazon's best gangster movies
• Listverse Top 20 best gangser movies
• Filmsite Crime and Gangster Films

AFI Top 10

1. Godfather, The
2. GoodFellas
3. Godfather, The Part II
4. White Heat
5. Bonnie & Clyde
6. Scarface
7. Pulp Fiction
8. The Public Enemy
9. Little Caesar
10. Scarface

Resources: American Film Institute and IMDb

10th and the Wolf (2006)

Inspired By A True Story From The FBI Agent Known As "Donnie Brasco"Marine Sgt. Tommy Santoro (James Marsden) thought he had left his family's ties to the mafia behind. But a visit from the F.B.I. sends him home to the tightly-knit South Philly neighborhood of 10th & Wolf to face the biggest dilemma of his life.

American Gangster (2008)

Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), but when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream in the Harlem of the 1970s. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a new power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene.

American History X (1998)

Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) returns from prison to find his younger brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), caught in the same web of racism and hatred that landed him in prison. After Derek's father is killed in the line of duty by a minority, Derek's view of mankind is altered, but while in prison, he discovers that there is good and bad in every race. The task before him now is to convince Danny of his newfound enlightenment.

Review: Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it should; Norton is so fully immersed in his role as a neo-Nazi skinhead that his character's eloquent defense of racism is disturbingly persuasive--at least on the surface. Looking lean and mean with a swastika tattoo and a mind full of hate, Derek Vinyard (Norton) has inherited racism from his father, and that learning has been intensified through his service to Cameron (Stacy Keach), a grown-up thug playing tyrant and teacher to a growing band of disenfranchised teens from Venice Beach, California, all hungry for an ideology that fuels their brooding alienation.

The film's basic message--that hate is learned and can be unlearned--is expressed through Derek's kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), whose sibling hero-worship increases after Derek is imprisoned (or, in Danny's mind, martyred) for the killing of two black men. Lacking Derek's gift of rebel rhetoric, Danny is easily swayed into the violent, hateful lifestyle that Derek disowns during his thoughtful time in prison. Once released, Derek struggles to save his brother from a violent fate, and American History X partially suffers from a mix of intense emotions, awkward sentiment, and predictably inevitable plotting. And yet British director Tony Kaye (who would later protest against Norton's creative intervention during post-production) manages to juggle these qualities--and a compelling clash of visual styles--to considerable effect. No matter how strained their collaboration may have been, both Kaye and Norton can be proud to have created a film that addresses the issue of racism with dramatically forceful impact. --Jeff Shannon

American Me (1992)

In prison they are the law. On the streets they are the power.

Review: Actor-turned-director Edward James Olmos set out to spread the word against the destructiveness of gang violence with this 1992 gritty drama. Set in the barrios of East Los Angeles, he attempts to cover 30 years in the life of a family with strong gang ties. This brutally realistic story may not intentionally glorify violence, but it offers no answers. (Olmos actually shot the prison scenes in Folsom, which explains their harsh reality.) Great performances though, especially by Olmos and William Forsythe. Olmos plays a gang leader released from prison who is finally in touch with himself, only to realize it is too late. The one major problem with this well-intentioned flick is that it is rated R for violence, nudity, and profanity. Therefore, the kids who most need its message are not, in theory, the ones who will see it. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

A gangster on the run takes people hostage in a roadside diner.

Review: Michael Curtiz' "Angels with Dirty Faces" is one of those movies (like his "Casablanca" and "Mildred Pierce") in which the planets and stars were perfectly aligned. James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, and the Dead End Kids are completely believeable. In fact, even the actors who played the young Cagney and O'Brien were right on.
But it is Curtiz' direction that runs the show. Curtiz moves seamlessly from the crowded streets, to the claustrophobic tenements, to the glitzy gambling joints. And his mastery of shadow and light cannot be overstated, as historian Dana Polan points out in his insightful commentary.
All these elements combine to create a great movie, and not just a great gangster movie. The complex relationships between Rocky Sullivan, the kids, and Fadda Jerry (O'Brien)--and the astounding ending to the film--make it as poignant and widely-appealing as any other movie of its time or any other time.

Baby Face Nelson (1957)

More vicious than Little Caesar! More savage than Scarface! More brutal than Dillinger! The "baby-face b butcher" who lined 'em up -- chopped 'em down -- and terrorized a nation! George "Babyface" Nelson becomes one of the most important gangsters of 1920s Chicago by making brutal robberies. In order to compete with Al Capone he allies himself with John Dillinger...

Review: Close your history books, and enjoy Hollywood at its finest in Gangster genre. Like Bugsey was impressed with George Rafts imitation of him; Nelson should have got to see Mickey Rooneys portrayal of him! This movie is hardly outdated, even timeless, entertaining audiences almost any age, of the ruthless outlaws of the thirties. If anyone has time enough to notice something even remotely corny, remember that it is America's favorite vegetable.

Belly (1998)

A pair of vicious black gangsters have spiritual awakenings.

Review: Tommy Brown and his friend Sincere are gangsters who have learned how to make a good living by dealing drugs and pulling armed robberies. Tommy and Sincere have been able to move out of the ghetto in Queens where they were raised and relocate to an upscale section of Manhattan; they would seem to have it made, but both realize that their lives are headed toward a dead end. Sincere begins getting in touch with his African roots and tries to convince his girlfriend Tionne that they should emigrate to the Motherland, while Tommy has a religious awakening and joins the Nation of Islam.

Blood In Blood Out

Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Boondock Saints

Boyz N The Hood (1991)

Brighton Rock

Bronx Tale, A (1993)

One man lives in the neighborhood, another man owns it. A devoted father battles the local crime boss for the life of his son. Robert De Niro directs for the first time and stars in A Bronx Tale. This story of a boy brought up by two fathers, one an honest working man, the other a charismatic mafia boss, has been called "Goodfellas with heart" by Variety. As the boy grows to manhood, he experiences the full range of emotions, the joy and pain of first love, the horror of conscienceless violence, the cold emptiness of death, and the received wisdom of two men, both of whom love him in very different ways.

Bugsy (1991)

Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel (Warren Beatty) is the legendary power broker whose disarming charm and elegant good looks hide a violent and dangerous personality. Virginia 'The Flamingo' Hill (Annette Bening) is a stunning, glamorous starlet with a wiseguy wit and a tough past. Together they were driven by sex, risk and danger to fight their underworld bosses and build their dream of a city in the desert - Las Vegas.

Bugsy Malone (1976)

Bullet in the Head

Carlito's Way (1993)

Academy Award winner Al Pacino is an ex-druglord fighting to escape his violent, treacherous past in this crime-action tour-de-force from acclaimed director Brian DePalma. Sprung from prison on a legal technicality by his cocaine-addicted attorney (Sean Penn), former drug kingpin Carlito Brigante (Pacino) stuns the local underworld when he vows to go straight. Taking a job managing a glitzy, low-life nightclub, he tracks down his onetime girlfriend (Penelope Ann Miller) and rekindles their romance, promising he's changed for good. But Carlito's dream of going legitimate is undermined at every turn by murderous former cronies and even deadlier young thugs out to make a name for themselves. Ultimately, however, his most dangerous enemy is himself.

Casino (1995)

Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci star in director Martin Scorsese's riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion and 24-karat greed toppled an empire. Las Vegas 1973 is the setting for this fact-based story about the Mob's multi-million dollar casino operation - where fortunes and lives were made and lost with the roll of a dice.

Chicago Gangster

Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002)

Colors

Cotton Club

Crank

Croupier (1998)

Departed, The (2006)

Based on the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed is set in South Boston where the state police force is waging war on organised crime. Young undercover copy, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief, Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costellos confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that there is a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being exposed to the enemy and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

Deuces Wild

Donnie Brasco (1997)

They were unstoppable, untouchable, uncontrollable. They were the Mafia, a law unto themselves and no-one could get to them. Until an FBI agent broke ranks and infiltrated their violent underworld, getting closer to its inner circle than any U.S. law officer ever had. The the force, he was Joe Pistone. The Mafia knew him as Donnie Brasco. Academy Award winner Al Pacino (1992 - "Scent of A Woman") and Johnny Depp star in this devastating true story of the man who had the power to bring the mafia down.

Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (1955)

Eastern Promises

Essex Boys (2000)

Excellent Cadavers

Face (1997)

Falcone

Fargo (1996)

Four Brothers

Fresh

Gangs of New York (2002)

Gangster No. 1

Get Carter (1971)

When Jack Carter comes to Newcastle to inquire about his brother's mysterious death, racketeers think they can threaten him, rough him up, shoo him away like a fly. Which shows they don't know jack about Carter. Double Academy Award winner Michael Caine plays the relentless title character in this gritty neo-noir (Sylvester Stallone stars in a 2000 remake). Caine's Carter is a sharp portrait of cold-blooded precision as he connects the dots of a cover-up that leads to a pornography ring (John Osbourne, whose Look Back in Anger launched Britain's "Angry Young Men" era, plays the flesh peddler's ringleader). Revenge is sweet for Carter. But in the hard world of latter-day film noir, sweet is sure to turn suddenly, violently sour.

Godfather, The (1972)

Director Francis Ford Coppola brings Mario Puzo's epic saga of the Corleone crime family to the screen in stunning fashion. Oscars include Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Marlon Brando's riveting performance as the Don. But the whole cast is excellent, including Al Pacino as Michael and James Caan as the ill-fated Sonny Corleone. Truly an offer you can't refuse!

Godfather, The Part II (1974)

Perhaps a unique case of a sequel superseding the original, The Godfather II follows the Corleone crime family as it relocates to Nevada in the 1950s, with Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. The original cast returns with Robert Duvall outstanding as consigliere Tom Hagen and John Cazale as the tragic Fredo Corleone. Oscars include Best Picture, Director (Francis Ford Coppola) and Actor (Robert De Niro).

Godfather, The Part III (1990)

Some Godfather devotees thought this final installment in the Corleone crime family saga an infamnia; for others, it represents closure to one of cinema's epic tales of dissolution without redemption. It's the 1980s, and Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) has struggled to make the family business legitimate. But dark forces (in the Vatican and among his Mafia compatriots) conspire to pull him down.

Gomorra (2008)

Gone Baby Gone

GoodFellas (1990)

When Martin Scorcese, one of the world's most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year. Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFella great. It was named 1990's best film by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy "The Gent" Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performances. You have to see it to believe it - then watch again. GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie.

Green Street Hooligans

Hard Boiled

Harlem Nights

Heat (1995)

History of Violence

Hitman Uncut

Hoffa

Hoodlum

Ichi the Killer

Infernal Affairs

Inside Man

Ireversable

Juice

Killing Pablo (2009)

King of New York

Kiss of Death (1947)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Layercake

Little Caesar

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Long Good Friday

Meance II Society

Mean Streets (1973)

Miller's Crossing (1990)

From the Creators of Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable comes a complex and graphic vision of gangsterism in the United States. Set in the wide-open days of Prohibition and featuring a riveting rogues gallery of killers and con men. Leo (Albert Finney) is the benevolent Irish gangster and political boss who rules an Eastern city with the help of Anti-hero Tom (Gabriel Byrne), he is the trusted lieutenant and counsellor. But their control of the town is challenged by an overreaching Italian under boss Johnny Casper (Jon Polito) and his ruthless henchmen Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman). While Tom tries to keep the peace, he has a falling out with Leo over a woman and he finds himself caught in the jaws of a gangland power struggle. MILLER'S CROSSING is propelled by gripping action, stunning cinematography and brims with black humour and shocking violence. Its intense and twisting plot walks a deadly tightrope where nothing is quite as it seems.

Mobsters

Mona Lisa

Mou gaan dou (2002)

Mystic River

New Jack City (1991)

Nothing Personal

Notorious

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Ten years in planning, Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in America portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and offers rich roles to a remarkable cast. Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery. Strong support comes from Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern and the young actors playing the central characters as ghetto kids. To see this film (offered for the first time in the full version 1984 Cannes Film Festival audiences cheered) is "to be swept away by the assurance and vitality of a great director making his final statement in a medium he adored" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times ).

On the Waterfront

Paid In Full

Performance

Petrified Forest

Point Blank

Pope of Greenwich Village

Prizzi’s Honor

Public Enemy

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Four perfect killers. One perfect crime. Now all they have to fear is each other. Former video store clerk Quentin Tarantinos directorial debut, RESERVOIR DOGS, is a brutally funny, supercharged introduction to his supremely distinct cinematic vision, which was later to become one of the most mimicked styles of the 1990s. Mastermind Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) assembles a crew of top-notch criminals to pull off a jewellery store heist. As the film opens it becomes immediately clear that the plan backfired, forcing the survivors, who have gathered at an abandoned warehouse, to figure out if one of them is, in fact, a police informer. The crew--Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), an aged veteran; Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), a wounded newcomer; Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), a psychopathic parolee; Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), a bickering weasel; and Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn), Joes son--begin to unravel as the pressure becomes too much for them to handle. When Joe arrives, the truth becomes clear in a vicious Mexican standoff.

Revolver

Richie’e Rock’n'Rolla

Rise of the Foot Soldier

Rise to Power

Road to Perdition (2002)

Running Scared

Scarface (1983)

Al Pacino gives an unforgettable performance as Tony Montana, one of the most ruthless gangsters ever depicted on film, in this gripping crime epic inspired by the 1932 classic of the same title. Directed by hit-maker Brian DePalma and produced by Martin Bregman who brought both Godfather legends to the screen, Scarface follows the violent career of a small-time Cuban refugee hoodlum who guns his way to the top of Miami's cocaine empire. With its intense screenplay by Academy Award-winner Oliver Stone, driving musical score by Giorgio Moroder, and superb insights into Miami's Latin lifestyle, Scarface joins the ranks of Hollywood's greatest underworld dramas, as it lays bare the sordid power of the American drug scene. Time Magazine calls it "Exhilarating," while the New York Times' Vincent Canby applauds the picture as "Stylish and Provocative."

Sexy Beast

Shoot Them Up

Shottas

Snatch (2000)

Sopranos - Series 1

Sopranos - Series 2

Sopranos - Series 3

Sopranos - Series 4

Sopranos - Series 5

Sopranos - Series 6

South Central

State Property

State of Grace

St. Valentines Day Massacre

Taxi Driver

The Big Sleep

The Business

The Hit

The Krays (1990)

The Long Good Friday (1980)

The Last Don

The Villian

The Warriors

Training Day

Untouchables, The (1987)

The critics and public agree. Brian De Palma's The Untouchables is a must-see masterpiece - a glorious, fierce, larger-than-life depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago...and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. This classic confrontation between good and evil stars Kevin Costner as federal agent Elliot Ness, Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery as Malone, the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first.

Usual Suspects (1995)

We Own The Night

White Heat (1949)

Why We Bang

Witness to the Mob

Year of the Dragon