Gangster films are among the most popular movies on the planet. Long have we enjoyed thrillers around the Mob or psychological dramas delving into the minds of crime lords. Hollywood has long been living off the tales, and they continue to do so, producing some fantastic movies in the process, including The Traitor and The Irishman more recently.
With gangster films, you get many actors and directors who have carved themselves a niche within them, from the likes of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, to Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone on British soil.
But what are the best gangster films of all time? We run through five of our favourites…
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday gave Bob Hoskins his breakthrough role as well as providing Helen Mirren with one of her more iconic early roles. Released in 1980, it follows Harold Shand, a London gangster who is planning to redevelop parts of the city’s Docklands.
In order to do so, the American Mafia are involved, but it’s not smooth sailing for them, with the IRA and rival gangsters seemingly devout on destroying those plans, including Pierce Brosnan in his first film role.
Such was the accuracy of Hoskins as Shand, it’s believed he was even congratulated on his performance by one of the Kray Twins.
Casino
Casinos have long been a popular part of Hollywood too, and Casino delves into the gambling scene of the 1970s and 80s. It’s a time very different to now, where more people are enjoying online gambling sites like casino777.nl than in the casinos of Las Vegas, but it was the perfect backdrop to Martin Scorsese’s epic gangster movie.
Released in 1995, it saw the director join forces with Robert De Niro once again, with the actor playing a casino boss appointed by the Mob. But like any gangster film, trouble is on the horizon as the Mafia’s grip on the city lessens and lessens.
The Godfather
The greatest gangster film in history undoubtedly comes from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Starring Marlon Brando, the movie is completely timeless and has some of the most iconic scenes in gangster movie history. Many have tried to replicate, but none can compete.
Everything about it just oozes class and it will be a movie that is never knocked from top spot in this category.
Goodfellas
This Scorsese masterpiece is his finest piece of filmmaking and is a fast paced classic that sees De Niro in another brilliant gangster role, starring alongside Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. It’s a movie that inspired the likes of The Sopranos and much of Quentin Tarantino’s work, and the film itself is adapted from the 1985 book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who also wrote the screenplay.
It won multiple awards, with Joe Pesci taking an Oscar for his supporting role, while it cleaned up at the BAFTAs and to this day is considered one of the best and most influential movies ever.
Sexy Beast
There are so many other films that could have made the cut in a final five, not least The Godfather Part II, but we didn’t want to include other parts of franchises, and it would be a travesty to leave out Sexy Beast, another British gangster classic.
Starring Ray Winstone, this 2000 movie is all about his character trying to settle into retirement. And he is certainly doing that, out in Spain, until Don Logan turns up, a psychotic gangster played by the great Ben Kingsley. He makes Winstone an offer, which ultimately cannot be turned down in what is one of the most intense movies of all-time in the genre.
