The 30 Greatest Gangster Movies
Mobsters, molls, heavies & hoods. An offer you can't refuse...
BY Jun 16th 2009 13:13PMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (8)
24. Carlito's Way (1993)
“What might have been if Carlito’s Way had forged new ground and not gone down smokin’ in the shadow of Scarface?” wondered Rolling Stone magazine about Brian De Palma’s mesmeric gangster flick.
These days you have to wonder what the Stone guys were smoking not to see the neo-noir clout in the tale of mobster Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) and his struggle to carve out a law-abiding life for himself.
Even without Sean Penn’s turn as a coke-hoovering shyster, this is scintillating stuff, from its dying man’s voiceover to its bone-cracking violence.
Killer Scene: Carlito uses a pool trick to escape a trap.
23. Casque D'or (1953)
François Truffaut eulogised the “tenderness and violence” in Jacques Becker’s fable of fleeting love doomed by the mob. Manda’s (Serge Reggiani) an ex-con going straight, Marie (Simone Signoret) is a mobster’s moll.
Bad news for him when he claps eyes on her… The action oscillates between verdant riverside scenes viewed through love’s eyes and claustrophobic backstreets where death lurks.
Both feel lived-in, Becker substituting pastiche for the higher goal that captured Truffaut’s heart: truth.
Killer Scene: Manda and Marie wake from a night of love.
22. Get Carter (1971)
It’s grim up north. It’s even grimmer when East End gangster Jack Carter (Michael Caine) arrives in Newcastle looking for the bloke who killed his brother.
Get Carter injects the Brit-flick gangster movie with knuckle-scraping brutality. Caine loved the realism: “The idea was to show that in real life, each punch grinds some teeth in, and just one thrust of the knife can open someone’s heart.”
Killer Scene: Giving a tubby Tynesider a beating: “You’re a big man, but you’re outta shape.”
Next: White Heat, The Killer, Sonatine...
Print Comments (8)
1: ebrown2112 says
I disagree about the exclusion of The Departed, but I agree about Goodfellas at #1.
Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 // 2:04PMAlert a moderator
2: weirdr0b0t says
i had forgotten about the departed, and i agree that should have been in there!!
What about Road to Perdition as well!! That movie should definitely be in there!!
Posted: Jun 23rd 2009 // 6:53PMAlert a moderator
3: adammiller2k says
forget the departed, infernal affairs is so much better! and having both in the list would have been stupid. great list though. i know i might get hounded for this, but if you had room for only 1 new wave "gangster movie" i'd replace breathless with truffaut's "shoot the pianist" that's a stonking good movie.
do the vengance triology not count as gangster movies? i know they are revenge tragedies, but then so is get carter (what a movie).
ps tokyo drifter rocks!
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 // 1:43AMAlert a moderator
4: Desperation says
I think Carlito's Way should have been higher.
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 // 11:39AMAlert a moderator
5: weirdr0b0t says
and you figure s****h or lock Stock or even RocknRolla would have got a mention!!
Posted: Jun 24th 2009 // 6:38PMAlert a moderator
6: Film2517 says
a pretty accurate list but Gomorrah is the most notable exclusion on it.
Posted: Jun 25th 2009 // 3:26PMAlert a moderator
7: SUPERmovieFREAK says
Okay this isn't that bad a list. You've definitely got some all time classics in there like the Godfather Part 1 & 2, Mean Streets, Goodfellas etc, etc. I disagree with Goodfellas being number 1, The Godfather is the greatest movie and greatest gangster movie EVER made (but okay I can deal with Goodfellas being Number 1).
But there are some films in there I've never even heard of. What the hell is Casque D'or, never heard of it. Or The Killing, never heard of it. The Big Heat, never heard of it.
Instead the complete shmucks you are, you’ve gone and missed major classics out like The Untouchables. How could you forget that? It’s got a small but classic role by Robert DeNiro and the legendary Sean Connery.
Plus like people have said above you’ve also missed out major modern classics like The Departed, Gommorah, Road To Perdition and Rock ‘n’ Rolla.
AND WHAT THE HELL ABOUT Eastern Promises and A History Of Violence. Two great movies by a great director and I still can’t believe you missed them out.
If I was a Don and I saw that list I’d have you all whacked you shmucks.
Posted: Jun 25th 2009 // 5:25PMAlert a moderator
8: Hip2thabone says
Seriously this list is totally f****d up.
How can u have pulp fiction higher than donnie brasco or infernal affairs?
What about a movie called "SHOTTAS"?
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