The Best Gangster Movies of All Time

I have watched tons of gangster films throughout the course of my life and these are my top ten! In decending order. I will leave a form at the bottom of the page for anyone to disagree with my picks, if you have a compelling case I MIGHT include your pick on my big list. I repeat might . . .

The Godfather- I don't see how anyone can really argue with this pick. I don't know many people that have not seen this film. For me, The Godfather an it's sequel are cinematic perfection and have aged gracefully with the years.

Personally, it's a toss up between The Godfather and The Godfather II. I give the nod to the first film in the Trilogy because it has set the standard for how films (regardless of genre) should be made. The attention to detail is stunning. For me, The Godfather shaped how I envision the world and the thematic structure of this website, sprawling yet focused. The landscape of the movie is perfect, the fashion, music, sounds, characters, places, sets, and themes all set the precedent for all other movies, and very few movies can hold a candle to The Godfather, so it is my number one movie of all time, gangster film or not.

If you don't own it and are looking to invest in the movies, I recommend getting a copy of The Godfather DVD Collection; there are so many extras in the collection that will please a true fan of the movies. You may be able to save a couple bucks if you buy the movies separately, but the collection is worth the extra couple of dollars.

#2-Best Gangster Movies All Time

The Godfather Part II-I'm sure I've convinced you that I'm a true fan of these movies by now, and unless you have been living with wolves for the last 35 years you've seen them and love them as much as me.

Part II is in some ways better than the original, but I don't want to sit here and try to pick the fly poop out of the pepper. I watch both Part I and II every year (twice!) and I thoroughly enjoy both films every time I watch them (I don't know if I have the heart to review Part III). If you are going to buy them, I recommend the box set, it's worth the extra couple of bucks.

I really like the fashion and wardrobe in part II, the fashions are spot on and the dual storylines of Part II deal with Vito Corleone's rise to power throughout the 1920's and 30's following the theme of this site well.

Miller's Crossing- I'm sure this pick will be challenged by someone, but for me Miller's Crossing hits all the right notes when it come to good film making, and effectively makes fun of the gangster movie genre (which has bloated by low rent filmmakers) while honoring it at the same time.

All the usual suspects are in this film; with a twist: the right hand man to the boss who knows all the right moves but can't fight his way out of a brown paper bag (Gabriel Byrne spends most of his time on camera getting his ass kicked in one form or another); the bullheaded Irish crime boss smitten by the backstabbing femme fatale, the obese Italian underworld Don trying to rise to power with his "Evil" gay hitman by his side. This movie is the perfect parallel to the typical gangster film and should not be missed.

The fashion is dead on, the sets are beautiful, as is the cinematography, the music is haunting and perfect, great dialogue--Great Movie!

“Scarface remains, as it was in 1932, the last word on the Chicago gangsterdom of the 1920s, the smartest, cleverest, punchiest portrayal of an individual mobster’s rise and fall” (Todd McCarthy).

Based on the events of Al Capone's life and rise to infamy, Capone supposedly loved the film and bought a copy of the film for himself. The movie's ending was censored and changed, and the subtitle "The Shame of a Nation" was added to moralize the tone of the story and de-glamorize the gangster lifestyle, but the films true colors shine through. This is a great film and should not be missed.

Mean Streets- If The Godfather was perfect rendering of the glitz, glamour, and respect that a gangster could achieve in a career of crime, Mean Streets protrays the hustle, violence, grime, and grit that comes along with a criminal lifestyle. Directed by Martin Scorcese, Mean Streets shows why Scorcese is a master of Amercian movies.

Starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel Mean Streets was released the year after The Godfather and to me seems like the counterpoint or the diary of one of the Godfather's capos. It shows the dirty mean streets of New York that Scorcese seems to know too well.

Set to a modern soundtrack, Mean Streets exhibits some of the best characters of film making, shows De Niro and Keitel as young men, and is truely one of the best gangster movies all time.