25 best gangster movies of all time
The rise of the mob in America can be tied to the passing of the 18th Amendment on Jan. 16, 1919, which banned the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" and essentially made the United States a dry country. Unsurprisingly, the amendment didn't go over well with all Americans, and the demand for illegal and bootleg spirits increased dramatically. Many gangs that had been loosely organized up to that point capitalized on this new market and began producing and distributing alcohol, in the process morphing into organized crime syndicates along the way.
As time went by, these newly formed groups began to engage in other illegal activities like money laundering, smuggling goods, and bribing police, while adhering to strict codes of conduct and discretion in an effort to avoid the hand of the law. Eventually, the mob became one of the most powerful forces in the country, holding enormous influence over American life for much of the 20th century.
While the mob doesn't really exist in America today the way it did in the '20s, '30s, and '40s, it hasn't completely vanished. Additionally, organized crime as a whole—from street gangs to drug cartels—has grown in recent years, a fact that has led to some pretty dire consequences. Still, there's something about the golden era of the mob that holds a lot of interest for many of us. Call it a twisted sense of curiosity, but we often find ourselves captivated by the power these crime families had and their leaders' authority—as well as the damage and mayhem they caused. Hollywood, it turns out, has been all too keen to mirror the public's fascination with gangsters.
There are thousands of movies out there that tell the story of various crime families, individuals, and mob capers, but they're not all created equal. Stacker compiled data on all crime movies registered on IMDb and Metacritic, sorting through them to pick out the best gangster/mob movies and ranking them according to a weighted index split evenly between IMDb user rating and Metascore (data was collected on Dec. 20, 2020). To qualify, the film had to have significant plot points that involve gangsters, the mob, the Italian American Mafia, or other similar crime organizations.
From international greats like "A Brighter Summer Day" to classics like "The Godfather" and box-office hits like "The Departed," here are the 25 gangster movies considered to be the best of all time.
#25. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
- Director: John Carpenter
- Stacker score: 84.9
- Metascore: 89
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Runtime: 91 minutes
When a group of bloodthirsty gangsters launch an attack on a nearly abandoned police precinct, the police officers and criminals inside must work together to defend themselves from most certain death. Shot in only 20 days, the film came to life after an investor approached John Carpenter with the idea of creating an exploitation film for under $100,000.
#24. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Director: Arthur Penn
- Stacker score: 85.4
- Metascore: 86
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 111 minutes
Roger Ebert called "Bonnie and Clyde" "a milestone in the history of American movies," praising the way that it encapsulates the entirety of human life. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star as the infamous real-life criminal couple who robbed and murdered their way across the country in Depression-era America.
#23. Uncut Gems (2019)
- Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
- Stacker score: 85.9
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Runtime: 135 minutes
A more recent addition to the genre, "Uncut Gems" is about an NYC jeweler who finds himself attempting to evade collectors and gangster relatives in the face of his mounting gambling debts, all the while addicted to the thrill of living dangerously. The movie, starring Adam Sandler, is chaotic and bizarre, maintaining constant suspense with its anxiety-inducing pace.
#22. Mafioso (1962)
- Director: Alberto Lattuada
- Stacker score: 85.9
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 105 minutes
The black-and-white dark comedy "Mafioso" is credited as being "one of the first Italian movies to look frankly" at the Sicilian Mafia. The story follows a factory foreman who takes his wife and daughters to his Sicilian hometown, only to fall in over his head with the local crime boss.
#21. Scarface (1932)
- Directors: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson
- Stacker score: 85.9
- Metascore: 87
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Runtime: 93 minutes
In this first version of "Scarface," we have the classic story of an ambitious gangster who quickly climbs the ladder of success, only to let his weaknesses cause his downfall. Paul Muni stars in the role of Tony, which Al Pacino would claim as his own some 50 years later. It is rumored that real-life mob boss Al Capone liked the movie so much that he owned his own copy of it (an expensive possession in the 1930s).
#20. City of God (2002)
- Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund
- Stacker score: 85.9
- Metascore: 79
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Runtime: 130 minutes
Loosely based on real events, "City of God" follows two teenagers in the notorious slum Cidade de Deus, located just a handful of miles outside Rio de Janeiro. One of the main protagonists hopes to succeed one of the slum's powerful and revered kingpins, while the other wants only to photograph the beauty in slum life. When their paths converge, the slum's fate is changed forever.
#19. Band of Outsiders (1964)
- Director: Jean-Luc Godard
- Stacker score: 85.9
- Metascore: 88
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 95 minutes
A gem of French New Wave cinema, "Band of Outsiders" follows two young gangsters who coerce the mutual object of their affection (Anna Karina) into helping them rob her own home. The movie inspired Quentin Tarantino and is considered one of the famously cerebral Godard's more accessible movies.
#18. The Sting (1973)
- Director: George Roy Hill
- Stacker score: 86.5
- Metascore: 83
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Runtime: 129 minutes
Supposedly based on the real-life adventures of brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff, "The Sting" sees two con men team up to pull off the ultimate caper in a complicated scheme. The Oscar-winning flick stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford and is almost universally agreed to be better than its sequel, which only managed to gross $6 million before disappearing from the scene.
#17. Mean Streets (1973)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 87.5
- Metascore: 96
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Runtime: 112 minutes
Robert De Niro had his breakthrough role in "Mean Streets" as Johnny Boy, a loose cannon watched over by Charlie (Harvey Keitel), a young man conflicted between his Catholic upbringing and the local mob in New York City's Little Italy. Roger Ebert considered the movie among the best in film history, calling it "a source point of modern movies."
#16. A Prophet (2009)
- Director: Jacques Audiard
- Stacker score: 88
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 155 minutes
A dark and disturbing thriller, "A Prophet" follows a Franco-Arab teen and petty criminal who is imprisoned in France and quickly climbs the inmate ranks, eventually becoming one of the jail's top dogs. With an intriguing story and beautiful camera work, this Cannes prizewinner is a must-watch.
#15. The Departed (2006)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 88.5
- Metascore: 85
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Runtime: 151 minutes
In Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," tensions between the police and an Irish-American street gang come to a head when members of both groups get caught infiltrating the other. The 2006 film has a truly all-star cast including names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalberg, and Martin Sheen.
#14. The Killing (1956)
- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Stacker score: 89.1
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 84 minutes
Based on a novel called "Clean Break," "The Killing" sees convicted criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) organize an elaborate heist at a racetrack with the help of five amateurs who only know bits and pieces of the entire plan. The film was the first professional offering from legendary director Stanley Kubrick.
#13. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
- Director: Anurag Kashyap
- Stacker score: 89.1
- Metascore: 89
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 321 minutes
The first Indian entry on our list, "Gangs of Wasseypur" is a two-part epic that traces the feuds between three leading crime families that last for generations. In 2015, Netflix rereleased the movie as a series.
#12. The French Connection (1971)
- Director: William Friedkin
- Stacker score: 89.1
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 104 minutes
Taking home the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1971, "The French Connection" is based on the true story of one of the biggest drug busts in American history. Inspired by a book by Robin Moore, the film cast the two NYPD detectives who were responsible for leading the real-life case (Eddie Egan, Sonny Grosso) in supporting roles and relied heavily on them to ensure factual accuracy.
#11. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
- Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
- Stacker score: 89.1
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Runtime: 140 minutes
Atmospheric cinematography and incredibly suspenseful sequences really set "Le Cercle Rouge" apart. The film is about a recently released convict, a prison escapee, and an alcoholic ex-cop who work together to plan and execute a massive robbery against impossible odds.
#10. On the Waterfront (1954)
- Director: Elia Kazan
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 91
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Runtime: 108 minutes
Marlon Brando gives what's arguably his best performance ever in "On the Waterfront" as an ex-prizefighter longshoreman who struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses. The gangster movie took home eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
#9. L.A. Confidential (1997)
- Director: Curtis Hanson
- Stacker score: 89.6
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 138 minutes
One of Russell Crowe's first American roles saw him as rage-filled cop Bud White in "L.A. Confidential." The box-office hit follows a team of three wildly different policemen (besides White, there's a morally upright rule-follower and a smarmy corner-cutter) as they investigate a series of murders in 1950s Los Angeles.
#8. The Irishman (2019)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 90.1
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Runtime: 209 minutes
Starring three of gangster films' biggest names—Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci—"The Irishman" is one of the best crime films to come out of Hollywood in recent years. Based on the nonfiction book by Charles Brandt titled "I Heard You Paint Houses," the film follows Frank Sheeran, a former labor union leader, mob hitman, and friend of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa, as he reflects on his life and the chaos he inflicted on those around him.
#7. A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
- Director: Edward Yang
- Stacker score: 90.6
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Runtime: 237 minutes
Based on a true story that rocked Taiwan in the 1960s, "A Brighter Summer Day" follows a teenage boy, his young girlfriend, and the conflict that exists between two youth gangs. A slow-paced drama, the story is both intimate and epic, a balance that is the hallmark of Edward Yang's work.
#6. Pépé le Moko (1937)
- Director: Julien Duvivier
- Stacker score: 91.1
- Metascore: 98
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Runtime: 94 minutes
Experimental for its time, French crime drama "Pépé le Moko" is about a wanted gangster who's on the lam and protected from capture in Algiers' Casbah. When a beautiful femme fatale appears in his life, the pull to return to Paris could prove too much, resulting in his capture.
#5. Goodfellas (1990)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 92.2
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 8.7
- Runtime: 146 minutes
The rise and fall of mob boss Henry Hill is chronicled in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece, "Goodfellas." Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci star in this epic of small-time gangsters based on Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book "Wiseguy," which tells Hill's true story.
#4. Rififi (1955)
- Director: Jules Dassin
- Stacker score: 93.2
- Metascore: 97
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Runtime: 118 minutes
The godfather of many modern-day gangster movies, "Rififi" was the first—and remains the ultimate—heist film. In the flick, four ex-criminals unite to pull off one final, epic robbery in Paris. According to Roger Ebert, the movie was so realistic and paid such great attention to detail that it was temporarily banned in Paris, as police worried it could be viewed as an instructional guide rather than a work of fiction.
#3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 93.8
- Metascore: 90
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Runtime: 202 minutes
In this "Godfather" sequel/prequel, two storylines run in parallel, one following the criminal and legal problems of new godfather Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), while the other follows the orphaned Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) from Sicily to New York City, charting his rise to power. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, "The Godfather: Part II" became the first sequel to take home a trophy for "Best Picture."
#2. Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Director: Quentin Tarantino
- Stacker score: 95.3
- Metascore: 94
- IMDb user rating: 8.9
- Runtime: 154 minutes
The lives of two hitmen, a mob boss' wife, and an aging boxer collide in the classic "Pulp Fiction." A Palme d'Or winner at Cannes and a Best Picture Oscar nominee, the movie was graphically violent and narratively experimental, telling its three main stories out of linear order. It is often considered a hallmark of postmodern film and a cultural watershed.
#1. The Godfather (1972)
- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 100
- Metascore: 100
- IMDb user rating: 9.2
- Runtime: 175 minutes
Finally, the best gangster movie of all time according to Stacker's calculations is the original entry in the "Godfather" series. The movie stars Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, the aging leader of the Corleone crime family, who is forced to transfer control to his son Michael (Al Pacino), a hesitant but ultimately ruthless leader. A Best Picture Oscar winner, the film was the highest-grossing movie of 1972.
