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For film buffs: Gangster Movies Worth Watching - The Classics and the Underrated
20
items My favorite gangster films, from the all-time greats to a few hidden gems. I've rewatched, so you can skip the filler and go straight to the good stuff.
The Coens' Prohibition-era chess match. Every double-cross, hat, and line of dialogue is perfect. An underrated gangster film.
Miller's Crossing
My favorite of the trilogy. It cuts between young Vito building his empire in 1910s New York and Michael slowly losing his soul as he protects his. Pacino's cold, quiet turn is the best work of his career, and De Niro's Vito is just as good.
The Godfather, Part II
Gangsters, jazz, and glamour in 1920s Harlem. Fishburne is magnetic as Bumpy Rose.
Cotton Club - Apple TV
Gangsters, but make them kids. Splurge guns, great songs, and a young Jodie Foster Dexter Fletcher.
Bugsy Malone - Apple TV
Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor run a Harlem nightclub and outsmart the mob. Funny, slick, and full of legends.
Harlem Nights - Apple TV
Noir meets cartoons. Bob Hoskins, Jessica Rabbit, and a murder mystery in Toontown. Still a technical marvel.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Two moles, one city, no way out. Scorsese's tensest crime thriller, with Nicholson having a blast.
The Departed
Three cops, one conspiracy, and 1950s LA at its most corrupt. A twisty, flawless neo-noir.
L.A. Confidential
Scorsese's definitive mob movie. Fast, funny, and terrifying, with Pesci at his scariest.
Goodfellas
The Coens' Prohibition-era chess match. Double-crosses, perfect dialogue, and the best hats in cinema. Wildly underrated.
Miller's Crossing
A hitman and his son on the run in Depression-era Illinois. Hanks, Newman, and gorgeous cinematography. Haunting. My favourite Sam Mendes movie and has a great soundtrack.
Road To Perdition
Ness vs. Capone in Prohibition Chicago. Connery steals it, De Niro menaces, and the train station scene is iconic.
The Untouchables
Based on a true story. An undercover FBI agent gets too close to a dying breed of mobster. Pacino is heartbreaking. Saw this on the big screen. I may have cried at the end.
Donnie Brasco
Two boys, two paths, and Rio's most violent favela. Electrifying and unforgettable. Great cinematography and performances. Harrowing story.
City of God - Apple TV
The original two-moles thriller that inspired The Departed. Tony Leung and Andy Lau in a tense, stylish classic.
Infernal Affairs - Apple TV
A retired safecracker (Ray Winstone) is living a sun-soaked life in Spain until a volatile ex-colleague (Ben Kingsley) shows up to drag him back for one last heist. What follows is less a heist movie than a tense, darkly funny study of one man refusi...
Watch Sexy Beast Online - Curzon Home Cinema
Al Pacino is an ex-con trying to go straight and escape to the Bahamas, but 70s New York won't let him. Quieter and more tragic than Scarface, with a great Sean Penn turn and an unforgettable Grand Central finale. A must-watch for Goodfellas fans.
Carlito's Way
Framed for a murder they didn't commit, a gang has to fight their way across a hostile NYC overnight with every other gang hunting them. Stripped-down, neon-soaked cult classic with a killer synth soundtrack and barely 90 minutes of runtime. A must-w...
The Warriors
James Cagney is a psychotic, mother-obsessed crime boss with an undercover cop in his crew. Tough, fast, and still shockingly intense, with the legendary "Top of the world, Ma!" finale. A must-watch for Sexy Beast fans.
White Heat
Five interwoven stories inside the Naples Camorra, shot cold and realistic with zero glamour. Feels more like a documentary than a gangster film. In Italian with subtitles.
Gomorrah