Crime films can cover a lot of ground, there are a few films that have elements of the crime as part of their story, thus well over half of all films will have some crime but, some are more focused and vital part of what the films are about. They can be violent, clever, heartwarming, funny with some of the greatest actors in history, the story can be so intriguing and excellent and for me, they are often excellent.
With all that being said, making a list might be a little tough, as there are many films that have crime in them, so I had to focused on the ones listed as crime and crime/thrillers, this still brought up a few. Doing some investigations and chats with my friends saw a few of us have very similar tastes as a few of these were commonly chosen.
Table of Contents
Departed
For me this is arguably one of the better crime films there has ever been, it’s well written, well-acted and a stunning cast, This was Martin Scorsese on form directing, this is a film well worth watching above almost all others in the list. There are many actors I like that are in these films, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo Dicaprio, Martin Sheen among others.
Goodfellas
I’m perhaps a bit too young to really appreciate the Godfather, but Goodfellas I really enjoyed, this was my favourite Mob style old school crime, from 1990 starring Robert De Niro, Joe Peschi, and Ray Liotta. In reality, is a masterclass in this style of film making and perhaps this style will never be done again, but it’s a great film anyway?
Seven
To be honest its more of a thriller but the whole premise is solving the crime so I let it pass, but this is one of the favourite films, Morgan freeman is excellent while Kevin Spacey is pretty weird…Brad Pitt in arguably his breakout performance at the time, but the ending of the film is arguably still one of the most memorable in film history.
Reservoir dogs
Pulp fiction was equally good, however, Reservoir dogs was a change in cinema history with Quentin Tarantino making his directorial debut, but even with that the style of the film was different and made a huge impact, with a host of known actors that retuned in later roles for him, it was so clever and well written and cant be undersold in its quality, people may now have other Tarantino favourites, but this film made the impact for him.
Oceans
I have no doubt Oceans 11 with frank Sinatra was big in its time, but in 2001 this film was hugely successful, starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon and several other well-known stars this was a clever but a different style of film again, and an excellent masterpiece in a robbery style film, it spawned sequels, Oceans 12 wasn’t great, there were parts of ok but most people agree it was weak, the third in was back to the best but the second did stall its rhythm, but it’s still good. 10 years on from there Last an all-girls version was released and actually did pretty well, there still rumours of a second one based on its popularity, I think it was fine.
Overall
There are some excellent films on this and some of the ones I like to rewatch, but I think unlike other films I have to be in the mood for it, however, these are fantastic and well worth watching at least once.
Some alternative films that could have made the list
Scarface | A great classic, iconic in films
Usual suspects | Excellent film, for many would be on theres
Godfather | Its great but i was too young to be in that era of it being spectacular and many peoples favourite.
Pulp fiction | I could have made a Tarantino list, and this film should possibly be on this one, it was excellent.
Heat | Its more of an action film, which is why it’s not on my main list, it’s a great film, one of my favourites.
