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Movie Gangster films

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cammo84

cammo84

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Nov 22, 2007
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I'm a huge fan of gangster films, so I decided to create this thread for a bit of discussion about the genre. I'm curious as to what peoples favourites are, and do you know of any good ones that have slipped under the radar and are a little lesser-known?

My favourite is probably Scarface. Pacino put in a flawless performance, and the soundtrack and the general atmosphere of the film are so authentic that you almost feel as if you are in 1980s Miami. Then there's the chainsaw scene...

Goodfellas is runner-up. The narration holds it all together, and all the actors are top-notch. Joe Pesci, in this movie, is my all time favourite psycho. I love the "shinebox" scene.

Anyway, discuss :thumbsu:
 
I'm a bit of a fan of the old school gangster films such as those with James Cagney.
White Heat is one of my all time faves of this genre
 
Once Upon a Time in America is the best gangster film for mine.

Godfather I/II both not far behind.

Scarface is pretty badly dated, but still fun to watch.

Goodfellas is good, but I was never a massive fan. Prefer Scorsese's Mean Streets tbh.
 

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Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels - Good old fashioned cockney gangsta flick with fast-paced flashy editing from Guy Ritchie

Goodfellas is a classic. Scene where Ray Liotta walks through the back entrance of the restaurant and comes out the king is a great analogy. Also De Niro is great in it (aswel as Pesci - 'Funny how?')

The Departed - has some funny as **** dialougue and a good dose of violence.
 

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rupert pupkin 87 said:
mmm consider that film more of a character study than a gangster flick
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I'd consider it a gangster film. Character-based, but still fits in the category, I think.

Carlitos Way is awesome. I only saw it for the first time last year, and after half an hour I was thinking "this is pretty lame, nothing much is happening". Then Sean Penn puts the hammer through the guys skull and it really picks up. That boat scene is up there with my favourite violence scenes of all time.
 
Some real bauties mentioned in this thread...one of my earliest exposures to the gangster genre (via my Grandfather who loves them) was The Untouchables.

Has remained a favourite to this day.
 
Nobody pulls off a gangster flick like Scorcese :

Mean Streets
Goodfellas
Casino (favourite)

I would classify The Departed as a disposable crime thriller, and not a gangster film, and truly undeserving of a swath of Oscars, IMO.
 
I agree on The Departed, it doesn't really offer any insight into the Irish-American mob or anything. Its a story. Entertaining though.

Would love to see a Scorsese movie on the Westies though (Irish mob in New York), or the Gopher Gang focusing on Owney Madden (some cool stories about this guy, got shot 11 times in a botched hit, checked himself out of hospital and within a week a whole bunch of rivals were dead).

Gangs of New York was good though not sure if it qualifies as a gangster flick.

Menace to Society was awesome too.
 
Karl Pilkington said:
I agree on The Departed, it doesn't really offer any insight into the Irish-American mob or anything. Its a story. Entertaining though.

Would love to see a Scorsese movie on the Westies though (Irish mob in New York), or the Gopher Gang focusing on Owney Madden (some cool stories about this guy, got shot 11 times in a botched hit, checked himself out of hospital and within a week a whole bunch of rivals were dead).

Gangs of New York was good though not sure if it qualifies as a gangster flick.

Menace to Society was awesome too.
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I remember reading an interview with Scorsese where he mentioned that Gangs of New York was intended as a prequel to the gangster trilogy of Streets, Goodfellas and Casino. I watched it with this context in mind, but also couldn't buy it as a gangster flick in the same calibre as any of those in the trilogy; Perhaps it has something to do with his boy crush casting of Leo or Cameron. Call me a traditionalist.
 
In no particular order:
Godfather I/II (obvious choice)
Goodfellas (Love it when they almost feed the guy to the lion, Pesci is a psycho too)
Untouchables (so too, a classic)
 

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Karl Pilkington said:
Gangs of New York was good though not sure if it qualifies as a gangster flick.

.
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I tried to like it, I really did, but it's too flawed.

Opening sequence and some Day-Lewis efforts aside, it is a pretty prdinary film. I don't think Scorsese knew what type of film he wanted to make and just got lost.

Gangster films I would rank like this:

Godfather
Godfather II
Goodfellas
Millers Crossing
Mean Streets
Casino
 
Mario the Lothario said:
Most of the ones mentioned here.

I'd throw in "The Long Good Friday", Bob Hoskins is brilliant as the Gang boss. The film was obviously a massive influence on Guy Ritchie and quite a few of the characters that appeared in that film were cast in his movies (Hatchett Harry, Brick Top etc) .
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Ta, I was trying to remember the full name of that movie. Loved it.
 

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Movie Gangster films

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