If there ’s one genre that continues to enamor after innumerable iterations on the silver medal screen , it ’s the crime genre . trace it ’s parentage far , far back into the annals of picture palace history , the crime genre has given the world many a classic flick , and that ’s why we here at Goliath have strain to perfect in on some classics to bring you 11 of the greatest law-breaking films of all time , for those afternoon or evenings where you really , really need to be a mobster . Whether you ’re invested in select up a life of crime or just looking to live perilously for an evening , these 11 picture show will be sure to have you long for a taste of the lifestyle .
15. City of God (2002)
The 2002 Brazillian criminal offense dramaCity of Godwas adjust from the 1997 novel of the same name write by Paulo Lins and the plot is generally base on actual event . The cinema highlights the raise of organised offense in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro , between the end of the sixties and the start of the 1980s . Consistently cited as a necessary film to watch in your life-time , City of Godis a terrific test of the depth of corruptness and the effects it can have on all those around it , both shamed and innocent .
The moving picture is full of style and surprisingly effective in its developing and discussion of characters , City of Godexists as one of the unfeignedly interrupt and muscular experience in cinema history . Released to near - universal acclaim , it was nominated for four Academy Awards , including Best Director and Best Cinematography ( rightfully so , as the film uses the beautiful Brazillian landscape painting as a supporting character ) .
14. The French Connection (1971)
Based on Robin Moore ’s 1969 non - fiction bookThe French link : A True Account of Cops , Narcotics , and International Conspiracy , the 1971 film adaptation stars Gene Hackman as Popeye , Roy Scheider as Cloudy , and Fernando Rey as Charnier . This farinaceous , fast - step , and advanced police drama sees New York City police detectives Jimmy “ Popeye ” Doyle ( Hackman ) and his partner , Buddy Russo on narcotics detail , trying to track down the seed of heroin dispersion from Europe into the United States .
The Gallic Connectionwon several Academy Awards , including Best Picture ( the first gas constant give away picture to ever win ) , Best Actor ( for virtuoso Gene Hackman ) and Best Director ( William Friedkin ) . It is still count one of the best film of all - clip , period . While it has n’t aged exceptionally well , it ’s emphatically a classic and absolutely deserve a spot on this lean . The film made over $ 50 million at the box office , despite costing less than $ 2 million to make .
13. Fargo (1996)
Fargois a way-out crime cinema written , produce , and aim by Joel and Ethan Coen . The flick star Frances McDormand as a significant Minnesota police chief investigate a roadside homicide that ensues after a desperate railcar salesman ( William H. Macy ) hire two criminals ( Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare ) to kidnap his married woman for extort a healthy ransom money from his wealthy father - in - law ( Harve Presnell ) . In typical Coen brothers fashion , the story include all kinds of colorful characters and interesting plot of ground twists that make this a unique crime film that every movie fan should see .
The Coens’Fargowas honour with an Oscar win for Frances McDormand who provides a memorable performance , and also chance to be the married woman of Joel Coen . Fargois so well done and holds up so well , that it hit for keen annual viewing when wintertime rolls around .
12. Leon: The Professional (1994)
Leon : The Professionalis a stylish and graphically violent offence thriller manoeuvre by Gallic film maker Luc Besson . Mathilda ( Natalie Portman ) , a 12 - yr - honest-to-goodness girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age : her family lives in a slum area and her abusive father works for drug dealer , cut and stash away drugs . When her sept is killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents run by the psychotic Stansfield ( Gary Oldman ) she turns to her tightlipped neighbor Leon ( Jean Reno ) .
turn out that Leon is a professional torpedo and reluctantly agrees to make Mathila ( who ’s Hades - bent on on revenge ) his protege . One of the most unlikely duos in photographic film history , Leon and Mathilda have an undeniable chemistry that makes this one of the peachy crime plastic film ever get . Besson ’s first American film boast a strong performance from Jean Reno , a striking first appearance by Natalie Portman , and a love - it - or - hate - it , over - the - top turn by Gary Oldman .
11. Scarface (1983)
While likely not the bully carrying into action in principal Al Pacino ’s storied career , it ’s certainly his most iconic . Al Capone , channelise by Brian De Palma and also starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michelle Pfeiffer , examine Pacino playing the role of Cuban refugee Tony Montana , a vicious drug bargainer who number to eighties Miami and eventually accumulates a reprehensible conglomerate build on drug trafficking and raft of cocaine .
While originally the subject of innumerous interracial reviews ( negative identified were the excessive violence and graphic scenery),Scarfacehas become a foundational film within the criminal offence genre and is often advert as necessary viewing for those looking to delve deep into that world . terminated with Pacino scene chewery and a not - so - little admirer with very big slug , Scarfaceis the perfect film to sound off off this lean due to its influence on the music genre as a whole .
10. The Usual Suspects (1995)
Directed by Bryan Singer and written by the talented Christopher McQuarrie , 1995’sThe common Suspectsis a motion picture set by its now famous twist ending ; while that ’s all well and good , multitude seem to blank out that the film predate that twist happens to be a bloody especial one in its own right . The common Suspects , which stars Kevin Spacey , Gabriel Byrne , Benicio Del Toro , Kevin Pollack and Stephen Baldwin , take after the interrogation of Verbal Kint ( Spacey ) as he relates to the constabulary a harrowing tale of a stickup go bad , a heist which has since been identified as a cover for the assassination of a mankind who could identify the terrific crime boogeyman Keyser Soze .
We would n’t dare deflower the film ’s ending on the off - hazard that some of our reader have n’t seen the film , but it ’s a mind - blowing number that we ’d check out immediately before someone does bollocks up it .
9. L.A. Confidential (1997)
Released to almost worldwide plaudit , there are very few flaws ( if any ) to be found in the structure of this tight , well - structured and absolutely gorgeous thriller that combines contemporary filmmaking with noir cliché in the most organic way potential .
8. The Big Sleep (1946)
We ’re taking it waaaaay back for this one and drawing attention to one of chronicle ’s most famous noir films , 1946’sThe Big Sleep . Adapted from Raymond Chandler ’s 1939 novel of the same name , the movie figure his famous hard - boiled detective Philip Marlowe attempting to unveil the mystery behind the consistent blackmailing of a reclusive billionaire and his difficult daughters , The Big Sleepis commend for the most part as a fomite starring real - life story Hollywood span Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall .
The screenplay , which was adapted by renowned modernist author and Nobel Prize winner William Faulker ( fun fact ! ) , is airtight and the motion-picture show sees Bogart at his best , dally a sullen detective who has had better Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . One of the most influential film to ever fall out of the offense genre , The Big Sleeplaid the creation for many of the investigator and offence film that make their way into cinemas these days .
7. Heat (1995)
Written , produced and take by Michael Mann , 1995’sHeatwas destine to be a classic . Marketed as the first film to see Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on screen together ( while they both starred inThe Godfather II , their characters never interact),Heatfollows De Niro ’s Neil McCauley , a master thief , as he attempts to circumvent the law and its most fearless character , Detective Vincent Hanna ( Pacino ) . feature a litany of other mavin let in Val Kilmer ( in a breakout role ) , Jon Voight , Tom Sizemore , Ashley Judd , William Fichtner , Ted Levine , Hank Azaria and even a untested Natalie Portman , Heatis best remembered for its iconic downtown shootout conniption , which lasts almost 10 minutes and features some jaw - dropping scenery and stage dancing .
The picture show which gave us the iconic condemnable line , “ Do not get attached to anything you are not unforced to take the air out on in 30 second base if you feel the heat around the corner … ,”Heatremains a must - see for anyone who wants to indulge their criminal instinct for a few 60 minutes ( the film has a very farsighted running time of 170 minutes ) .
6. Pulp Fiction (1994)
It ’s a testament to the metier of the criminal offence drama that a film as influential and enjoyable as Quentin Tarantino’sPulp Fiction(1994 ) is all the way down at number six on this inclination . While we were ram to make a concerted effort not to admit too many of Tarantino ’s motion-picture show ( we owe you an apology , Reservoir Dogs ) , it ’d be impossible to hash out the crime musical genre without talk aboutPulp Fiction .
write and directed by Tarantino , who also makes an appearance in the film , Pulp Fictionemploys non - traditional storytelling to tell the story of one mysterious briefcase as it makes its way through a criminal underworld that include a offence lord and his married woman ( Ving Rhames and Uma Thurman , respectively ) , a boxer ( Bruce Willis ) and two verbose hit man ( Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta ) . As revolutionary in its storytelling as it is iconic in its imagination and ocular aesthetic , Tarantino’sPulp Fictionalso has the eminence of featuring one of the all right soundtrack in cinema chronicle .
5. The Godfather II (1974)
The prequel / subsequence to 1972’sThe Godfather(which we ’ll lecture more about afterwards ) , this epic moving picture direct by Francis Ford Coppola and asterisk Al Pacino , Robert De Niro , Diane Keaton , John Cazale and Robert Duvall , flesh out on the mythology of the Corleone category by present twinned storylines which take place both before and after the events of the first film .
Nominated for eleven Academy Awards ( winning six , including Best Picture , Best Director , Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay),The Godfather IIwas even deem superior to the master copy by some critic , an opinion which is not in the main shared but holds some merit in light of how strong this sequel is . Still viewed as one of the superlative in the genre ’s chronicle , The Godfather IIis a desirable sequel to one of account ’s few chef-d’oeuvre .
4. The Departed (2006)
Acclaimed manager Martin Scorsese went an frightfully farsighted sentence and make many a fabled film before taking home an Oscar for Best Director , which he last did with 2006’sThe start . An version of the Hong Kong crime dramaInfernal Affairs(an fantabulous watch in its own right),The Departedsaw Scorsese directing Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in a narration about the twisted criminal underworld of the city of Boston .
Also featuring Vera Farmiga , Martin Sheen , Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg ( who have an Academy Award nomination for his role),The Departedis one of the groovy crime film ever made and is the type of picture that gets safe and better upon every viewing . The film ’s interplay between cop and crook is fascinating as both sides hunt for a rat in their system , and the three main actors save dynamite performances that becharm from the film ’s first inning to its last .
3. Chinatown (1974)
Inspired by the California Water Wars of the early 1900s , Chinatownis a grand pic that cement Jack Nicholson ’s status as one of Hollywood ’s premier leading man and has since been teach as one of the finest example in the account of screenwriting ( seriously … this is the hand they show you when you go to film school . rely us , we jazz these things ) . Fittingly , the only Academy Award it won of its eleven nominating address was the one for Best Screenplay ( which pass to Robert Towne ) .
2. The Godfather (1972)
This is a film that require lilliputian introduction , so we ’ll try not to weave when discussing the legacy ofThe Godfather , Francis Ford Coppola ’s epic gangster motion-picture show which stars Marlon Brandon as Vito Corleone , the patriarch of the Corleone criminal enterprise and the iconic mafia boss whom most ( if not all ) would realise instantly both in face and in voice .
Also asterisk Al Pacino , James Caan , John Cazale , Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton , The Godfatheris a film that has transcended its cinematic medium and entered the exalted gentle wind of cultural phenomenon ; it ’s something that has to be get for assume one ’s place as a fully fledged , amply operational member of smart set . If by some strange turn of upshot you ’re one of the seven people on the major planet who has n’t control this movie , well we think we roll in the hay what you ’re doing tonight .
1. Goodfellas (1990)
It was a terrifically difficult decision not to placeThe Godfatherat number one on this list , but when push come to thrust , we just could n’t come up a reason to place any offence motion picture higher than Martin Scorsese’sGoodfellas , a film that ’s a crime classic from its very first line ( “ As far back as I can call up , I always require to be a gangster . ” ) to its last frame .
Starring Ray Liotta , Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro , the film is an adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi ’s nonfiction textWiseguyand follows the rising slope and fall of the Henry Hill , a mafia phallus involved with the Lucchese crime fellowship . fashionable , violent , smart , funny , toppingly work , wondrous written and incredibly enjoyable , Goodfellasis the heavy , bad gangster that all others aspire to be .
