Your top 5 gangster movies

[Time for a Miller]

While there probably should be other movies in here, it's hard to narrow it down to five, I did my best. I was wondering what gangsta movies you would include.

 

1. Godfather I

2. Scarface

3. Miller's Crossing

4. Good fellas

5. Resevoir Dogs

 

Ughh, so many are left off the list. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Untouchables, Pulp Fiction, Casino, West Side Story(?), Godfather II and on and on. What do you guys think?

[InsomniacInkRoss]

its not a "gangster" movie in the sense you mean, but, I always have to mention The Warriors when I get a chance

 

Would Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels fit here?

[razzzorsharp]

Casino is number one. After that it gets fuzzy for me.

[Time for a Miller]

I think that Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is a gangster movie. It's got some small time gangsters, some bigger gangsters, fixing card games and some heists, albeit poorly executed heists. It just has a lot more comedy in it then other gangster movies.

 

I read the synopsis of the warriors and it sounds like a gangster movie to me. P.S. there is suppose to be a remake of it set in L.A. with a tenative release date of 2008.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

Thankfully, to my knowledge, the remake got squashed

 

You cannot and should not even try to remake that. I am not saying it is a great movie, but it cannot be better than what it is. Oh, and the book SUCKED. The only time I can truly say that about a film/book combo.

 

Casino is awesome, sometimes I just watch the first hour and pretend its a standalone movie in which everyone wins and it doing great.

[JoeHova]

1. Hard Boiled- no question in my mind. Chow Yun-Fat's body count in this movie has to be a couple hundred, at least.

2. Infernal Affairs- I love this movie, was disappointed when Scorsese remade it.

3. Run Lola Run- great movie, underrated

4. Yojimbo- excellent film, features Toshiro Mifune in an iconic role

5. The Maltese Falcon (1941) - started film noir, Bogart in one of his best roles (Casablanca & The Big Sleep are his others, imo)

5.-tie- The Usual Supects- Keyser Söze is an all-time great character

 

If you say Hard Boiled and The Maltese Falcon don't count because the main guys are fighting against gangsters, then I would probably throw Scarface (1983) in there, despite the fact that it drags at many points and should be an hour or so shorter, and probably Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or maybe Mean Streets, Menace II Society, or The Godfather I or II. I like Casino, I just think it drags even worse than Scarface. Goodfellas is weak, imo. I actually prefer Donnie Brasco and Carlito's Way if you're looking for movies about snitches.

 

edit: fixed formatting. I forgot that yuku doesn't work with Safari.

[Bikeage77]

Good Fellas is in my top 3 movies of all time, so that's number one.

 

2. Casino

3. Boys In The Hood

4. Scarface

5. The Warriors

 

Pretty cliche answers, I know...I loved the Godfather, but only saw it once, I've owned Godfather 2 for over a year, and am yet to watch it because of my lack of time...i know, i failed.

[PKBadger]

1. Goodfellas

2. The Godfather Part II

3. Scarface

4. The Godfather

5. Reservoir Dogs

 

Honorable mention: A Bronx Tale, Snatch, Casino

[DSFastball55]

The Departed

Goodfellas

Reservoir dogs

Scarface

Casino

[theavrock]

1. Godfather 2. Snatch 3. Goodfellas 4. Godfather II 5. The Departed

[aracko]

Is American Gangster not a Gangster movie or just not very good?

 

I havent bought it yet so dont know.

[brew64]

Awhile back I saw "Once Upon a Time in America" in the top 250 of all time on imdb.com. I had never heard of it and checked it out. Its an awesome gangster film with DeNiro and James Woods set in the prohibition era.

[RobertR]

My utterly safe and predictable list:

 

1. The Godfather

2. Goodfellas

3. The Godfather, Part II

4. Mean Streets

5. Once Upon a Time in America

 

HM: Miller's Crossing, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

 

I really need to go catch some of the classics of the 30s one of these days. Especially the original Scarface.

 

Robert

[GAME05]

Three other good ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

 

1. Mean Streets--one of Scorcese's earliest movies, also i believe the first movie to introduce popular music into its soundtrack

2. Bonnie and Clyde

3. Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai--a Jarmusch joint. excellent compare/contrast of the gangster Way with the samurai Way.

[BrewCrewForever]

The Departed and Reservoir Dogs are my two favorite for sure. Goodfellas and Casino were nice as well. Honestly I have never seen any Godfather or Scarface.

[Glennron]

Is Pulp Fiction a gangster movie? It revolves around some characters that are gangsters, but it's not really similar to a Goodfellas or Godfather. Anyway, here's my boring and mainstream list (if Pulp Fiction counts)

 

1. Pulp Fiction

2. The Departed

3. Goodfellas

4. The Godfather I

5. Reservoir Dogs

 

I haven't seen many more than those. I still want to see Godfather 2 and 3, Casino, and others I can't think of right now. Plus I'm going to have to check out some of the ones mentioned already.

[PKBadger]

I'm a little surprised that I'm the only person who thought GF II was better than the original.

 

(This isn't meant to critique anyone else's choices - just interesting to me.)

 

I guess I just love the back story with DeNiro playing the young Vito Corleone. The scene with the parade where he shoots Don Ciccio is one of my favorite overall movie scenes.

[Oldcity]

Is American Gangster not a Gangster movie or just not very good?

I think it could be classified as a gangster movie. I enjoyed it a lot, but I just don't think it would get on many people's top 5.

[bigredrobbo]

Wait a minute, Snatch and Lock, Stock get mentions yet the 2 movies that they owe an enormous debt to are unloved? Those movies? The magnificent Long Good Friday and original version of Get Carter. Class, both of 'em.

[brettac1]

1. Goodfellas

2. The Godfather

3. The Godfather II

4. Reservoir Dogs

5. Mean Streets

 

I guess there's really not a lot of them that get it "right". Most gangster movies tend to fall into the same traps and tired cliches.

[Raw Biz]

The first three are obvious but they're too good to be left off.

1. Goodfellas
2. The Godfather 1
3. The Godfather 2
4. Snatch
5. Gangs of New York (if counted, otherwise Donnie Brasco or Once Upon...America)

On the subject, I have to say that The Departed and Scarface (remake) are overrated. That's not saying that they're bad movies because they're not. I like The Departed a lot but I know a lot of people who say that it is one of the best movies to come out in the past 10 years. One might think this after the first time but it just doesn't hold up on repeat viewings. I think what made it so good the first time was how unexpected the ending was. When you know what's going to happen, the suspense is lost. One might say that this is true with any movie you've already seen but I think there are a lot of movies that can still hold suspense even when you know what's coming next. I think The Departed failed to do so. It's a good movie, no doubt, but I would have to say it's overrated and probably one of the weaker Best Picture winners in a long time (Crash being the weakest, I didn't think it was anything special at all). But last year's best picture nominees were weak overall so I guess you can't fault it for that. And I don't know what the appeal is with Scarface. I guess it's just lost a lot with me because every single rapper/athlete/anyone who's ever been on Cribs owns it and talks about it.

As for something not yet mentioned, I'll throw in Road to Perdition. I haven't seen it in a few years but it was awesome the first time I saw it. But it, too, might not hold up on repeat viewings because of the ending. But it's still a solid movie.

[paul253]

I say...

 

1) The Departed

2) Donnie Brasco

3) The Godfather

4) Casino

5) Goodfellas

[Paul77]

I really liked Donnie Brasco, though I was disappointed they completely removed the Milwaukee Mob/Donnie Brasco connection from the story line.

 

Extra points to those of you who realize that our very own Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio's brother - Paul Attanasio - wrote the screen play for Donnie Brasco.

[pitchleague]

come on guys! you are all missing the best one of them all!

 

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n116/pitchleague/51G0YPSW53L_AA240_.jpg

[Hammer]

I am really surprised that Donnie Brasco lasted a whole page w/out a mention. Very good movie in my opinion.

 

1) Godfather II

2) Donnie Brasco

3) Godfather

4) The Departed

5) Scarface