Entertainment
10 Gangster Movies That Are Perfect From the First Scene to the Last
When it comes to the crime genre, it doesn’t get much more popular than gangster movies. There’s something that audiences find endlessly compelling about these kinds of criminals and the codes they live by. Their stories are violent, thrilling, sometimes funny and other times downright bizarre. Whether it’s films that are based on real-life gangsters or completely fictional ones, audiences can’t seem to get enough.
Organized crime, the mob, the mafia, the Outfit, the Five Families, and a whole slew of other criminal enterprises have been inspiring compelling entertainment for decades upon decades. Some of the greatest directors of all time have taken a shot at making a gangster movie, and some have taken so many shots that their careers look like Sonny’s car in The Godfather. Many gangster movies are good, some are great, and some are perfect from the first scene to the last.
‘Scarface’ (1932)
While its title has become synonymous with the Brian De Palma-directed remake starring Al Pacino, the original Scarface is the most perfect pre-Code gangster movie ever made, a seminal tale that inspired and influenced dozens of movies. Directed by Howard Hawks, it was based on the novel by Armitage Trail, which itself was inspired by the most famous gangster of all time, Al Capone. The film was considered shockingly violent for the time and still packs a punch today.
Paul Muni plays Tony Camonte, an immigrant and enforcer in the Chicago mob. The film follows a standard rise and fall narrative, as Tony kills off his rivals and becomes the city’s most powerful crime boss before going down in a hail of bullets. Many of the standard tropes of the gangster subgenre were established in Scarface, while Hawks’ moody direction and use of black humor would influence filmmakers like De Palma and Martin Scorsese. There were classic gangster movies made before Scarface and many made after it, but its perfection has never been questioned.
‘White Heat’ (1949)
Few gangster protagonists from the Hays Code era are more ruthless than Cody Jarrett, the bank-robbing psychopath played by James Cagney in White Heat. Cagney had already appeared in a number of gangster movies by the time he took the role of Jarrett, but White Heat would eclipse all of them, and every other film, in his long and storied career.
Jarrett is a violent gang leader with some serious mommy issues. After he and his gang pull off a train heist, he pleads guilty to a different crime to avoid getting pinched for the robbery. When his Ma is murdered by his former associates, Jarrett breaks out of prison with the help of an undercover agent. With the police in hot pursuit, the film ends with an iconic fiery climax featuring Cagney’s famous “Top of the world!” line. Directed by the prolific Raoul Walsh, White Heat is a perfect gangster noir with a perfect gangster performance.
‘The Godfather’ (1972) & ‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974)
After the Production Code withered and died in the ’60s, crime films began to depict the kind of bloody violence that had only been hinted at before. Bonnie and Clyde was a landmark crime film that broke many cinematic taboos with its violence and precipitated the New Hollywood era, which led to Francis Ford Coppola‘s essential gangster saga The Godfather. The original classic and its sequel are considered among the greatest American films ever made, and the two films are so entangled together that they’ve often been edited together and released as one epic feature.
Charting the rise of the Corleone family in America, from young Vito’s childhood as an immigrant to his son Michael’s succession of him as the head of their criminal empire, together the films tell a complete tragedy. So much of the language, style and character elements that would define the modern gangster film were established here by Coppola and his perfect cast. Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro give dual Oscar-winning performances as Vito at different stages of his life, while Al Pacino plays Michael’s entire rise to power, alongside James Caan as his brother Sonny, Robert Duvall as consigliere Tom Hagen, Diane Keaton as his suffering wife Kay, and John Cazale as poor Fredo.
‘Battles Without Honor and Humanity’ (1973)
While Coppola was in the midst of creating his American crime saga, in Japan, director Kinji Fukasaku was creating his own with the five-film yakuza series Battles Without Honor and Humanity. The first film in that saga is often considered the greatest yakuza film ever made. The film is dense with the details and traditions of the Japanese underworld and, like The Godfather, it ushered in the modern era of yakuza films.
Bunta Sugawara plays Shozo Hirono, a war veteran sent to prison for killing a yakuza member. Inside, he befriends another yakuza member and, upon his release, joins a crime family. From there, the film is an escalating series of violent betrayals and criminal machinations, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the larger saga. Battles Without Honor and Humanity is an epic crime film in every sense of the word, and for any crime film fans who are only acquainted with stateside gangster movies, it’s the perfect entry into yakuza cinema.
‘The Long Good Friday’ (1980)
Japan isn’t the only other country to have a rich history of gangster cinema. Britain has contributed a number of its own brand of underworld associates. There are ’70s classics like Get Carter and more modern films like Sexy Beast, but the most perfect British gangster film is The Long Good Friday. Starring Bob Hoskins in an iconic performance as a crime boss who gets more trouble than he bargained for when he tries to go legitimate, it’s a crime thriller that proves that things are just as vile and violent on the other side of the pond.
Hoskins plays Harold Shand, a gangster with delusions of grandeur and plans to develop the London Docklands with money from an American investor he’s courting. His plans get cocked up when his associates start to get violently killed off by unknown assailants, sending Harold on a day-long odyssey of violence while trying to maintain professional appearances. Hoskins is of perfectly coiled intensity in the role, with Helen Mirren just as wicked by his side. The Long Good Friday is best remembered for its iconic cynical ending, but the entire journey to get there is just as perfect.
‘Once Upon a Time in America’ (1984)
Robert De Niro broke out in his criminal role in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, which convinced Francis Ford Coppola to cast him in The Godfather Part II in the role that won him an Oscar, but his first leading role in a gangster movie came with Sergio Leone‘s Once Upon a Time in America. As the final epic film from the influential director, its legacy was complicated by the American distributors who re-edited the film against Leone’s wishes and removed over an hour of footage from it. It has since been restored, and the uncut version represents the most perfect epic gangster film ever made.
De Niro plays Noodles, a Jewish youth who comes of age in New York City in the early 20th century and, along with his friend Max (James Woods), rises to power as a prominent gangster. More than just a rise and fall arc, the film is a tapestry of American crime, chronicling the major historical events that shaped both the city of New York and its underworld. Shot on locations around the world, and with massive sets built in Rome, Once Upon a Time in America has a scale almost unmatched in any other gangster film, and it’s a perfect swan song for Leone.
‘The Untouchables’ (1987)
De Niro plays Capone in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables, but the focus of the film is all on the cops in this perfect popcorn movie. Inspired by the true story of the men who brought down the most notorious gangster, the film invents a wildly entertaining plot filled with action, sharply written dialogue by David Mamet, a sweeping score by Ennio Morricone, and a terrific cast. Its status has since risen much higher since its initial release, representing the kind of handsomely produced adult-oriented blockbuster that Hollywood barely makes anymore.
Kevin Costner plays Elliot Ness, the federal agent tasked with taking down Capone in Chicago, a task easier said than done in a city filled with corruption. To combat the criminals, Ness enlists the help of veteran cop Malone (Connery), as well as an accountant and a hotheaded rookie. The cast is immaculate from top to bottom, and De Palma gives the film a sweeping style, with great use of real Chicago locations. The standout sequence is the train station shootout, which is a perfect sequence of suspense.
‘Miller’s Crossing’ (1990)
The Coen Brothers are well associated with the crime genre, having directed a number of neo-noir masterpieces. Included in that list is their one and only gangster film, Miller’s Crossing. A feature-length homage to the work of hard-boiled novelist Dashiell Hammett, it’s an impossibly stylish crime film filled with some of the Coens’ most crackling dialogue and their most devilish characters.
Gabriel Byrne is the film’s antihero, Tom Reagan, the most trusted confidant of Irish crime boss Leo O’Bannon (Albert Finney). When a mob war threatens to erupt, Tom plays every angle and pits his enemies against each other to come out on top. Bodies pile up, doubles are crossed, and backs are stabbed as the Coens unleash their full visual flair. Miller’s Crossing came out the same year as several prominent gangster films and was unfortunately overshadowed by them, but it’s as perfect a film as the Coen Brothers ever made, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.
‘Goodfellas’ (1990)
As perfect as Miller’s Crossing is, it’s still not as good as the best gangster movie released in 1990, and, for this writer’s money, the greatest gangster movie ever made, Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese is the filmmaker most synonymous with the genre. He directs from experience, having grown up in Little Italy in New York City and witnessing much of the organized crime and the violence it wrought right outside his window. Any of his movies could fill a spot here, but Goodfellas is his greatest cinematic achievement.
Based on the non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, which chronicles the life of gangster Henry Hill, the film is a criminal portrait of the work-a-day gangster. The wiseguys in this movie aren’t the powerful bosses sitting in opulent offices but streetwise hustlers and thieves who run schemes and shakedown businesses. Ray Liotta plays Hill with a livewire energy, while Robert De Niro returns to the genre as the old pro, but it’s Joe Pesci who runs away with the film (and an Oscar) as Henry’s friend with a hair-trigger temper. The energy of the actors is matched in every frame by Scorsese’s bravura filmmaking, Thelma Schoonmaker‘s rapid-fire editing and a classic soundtrack.
‘City of God’ (2002)
Goodfellas might be the greatest gangster movie ever made, but it was far from the final word on the genre. The ’90s were filled with new crime classics, and the 21st century has seen all sorts of unique variations to the format. Many of them bear the influence of filmmakers like Scorsese, none more so than the Brazilian crime epic City of God. Set in the titular slum of Rio de Janeiro, the film charts the rise of organized crime and its cycle of violence through the eyes of its residents.
Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) and Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmin) are youths raised in the favelas, their lives shaped by the crime that surrounds them. Rocket grows up to become a photographer, chronicling the gang wars, while Li’l Ze becomes a ruthless drug lord. The violence comes fast and furious in the film, and it’s unflinchingly depicted. City of God has been criticized for its crime-ridden depiction of the city, and applauded for bringing more film productions to it. Co-directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, the film has breathless pacing and boundless energy, surging through its decades-spanning narrative with blunt force.
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