Special Report

The 50 Best Gangster Movies of All Time

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Of all the genres of film, there may be none more beloved by American moviegoers than the organized crime drama. For well over a century, film fans have flocked to theaters to see extraordinary tales of people living outside the law.

One of the very first plot-based films to tell a full story was 1903’s “The Great Train Robbery,” a tale of outlaws robbing train passengers and the posse that seeks to bring them to justice. It is hailed as one of the most influential movies of all time. Since then, hundreds of films following the exploits of gangsters have hit the big screen. The best of these gangster flicks are now acknowledged as some of the best movies in Hollywood history — and these are the greatest movies of all time.

To determine the best gangster films of all time, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, current as of December 2021. All ratings were weighted equally.

Only movies classified in the crime genre tagged with the keyword “gangster” on IMDb, or those that were nominated by the American Film Institute for their 2008 list of top 10 gangster films, were considered. We excluded films that did not explicitly center on organized crime or criminals in the context of a larger organization.

Movies released in every decade rank on this list — from the 1920s to as recently as 2019. Several are praised not just as top-tier gangster movies, but rank among the very best movies of all-time, according to critics.

Though the best gangster movies of all time center around organized crime, they are all very different movies. Some are grisly, violent power struggles, while others are farcical comedies following bumbling criminals and their exploits. In fact, one of the best gangster movies also ranks as one of the funniest American movies of all time.

Click here for the best gangster movies of all time

Courtesy of Focus Features

50. Eastern Promises (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (236,483 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (149,335 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (201 reviews)
> Directed by: David Cronenberg

“Eastern Promises” is a dark crime thriller with the type of extreme violence one might expect from director David Cronenberg, (“Videodrome” (1983), “The Fly” (1986)). While the movie may be more dramatic than the average action flick, the gritty brutality — including a famous nudе fight scene — is a draw to many fans of the genre.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

49. Cry of the City (1948)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (2,783 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (329 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (14 reviews)
> Directed by: Robert Siodmak

Film noir classic “Cry of the City” follows a convicted killer and suspected jewel thief who escapes from prison. As he plots to escape from the country, a police lieutenant who happens to be a long time family friend tries to track him down.

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

48. Force of Evil (1948)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (6,525 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (1,546 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (15 reviews)
> Directed by: Abraham Polonsky

In “Force of Death,” a lawyer has a chance to team up with a gangster to make big money with an illegal numbers racket. But when the lawyer’s brother refuses to involve his bank in the scheme, he is left with a difficult choice.

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

47. Point Blank (1967)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (20,253 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (7,641 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (39 reviews)
> Directed by: John Boorman

“Point Blank” is a film adaptation of the 1963 Richard Stark noir novel “The Hunter.” It tells the tale of a man double-crossed in a robbery, shot, and left for dead. Upon recovering from his wounds, he sets out to get his share of the take and kill those that wronged him.

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Courtesy of Access Motion Picture Group

46. Dinner Rush (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (5,075 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (4,138 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (45 reviews)
> Directed by: Bob Giraldi

In “Dinner Rush,” a restaurant owner must fend off a takeover attempt from a pair of gangsters, while also navigating an argument with his son and making sure to please a restaurant critic – all in the space of one busy evening.

Courtesy of United Artists

45. Thief (1981)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (29,172 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (7,282 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (31 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Mann

“Thief” is another classic gangster movie from a master of the genre — Michael Mann. In the film, a jewel thief tries to leave his life of crime behind so he can settle down with his girlfriend. But to do this, he needs one last big score, and the gangster he teams with for the robbery doesn’t want to let him retire.

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Courtesy of New Line Cinema

44. Menace II Society (1993)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (55,942 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (62,756 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (42 reviews)
> Directed by: Albert & Allen Hughes

Albert and Allen Hughes — credited as The Hughes Brothers — directed and co-wrote (along with Tyger Williams) this gritty drama about a young man trying to escape his hometown in the Los Angeles Watts neighborhood projects.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

43. Mean Streets (1973)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (105,724 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (54,887 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (67 reviews)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese

“Mean Streets” is a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. Keitel plays Charlie, a young Italian-American man navigating life in New York City in the 1970s. Charlie is torn between his mafia-connected family and his desire to be a good Catholic. Further, his best friend Johnny (De Niro) is self-destructive and owes money to all the wrong people.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

42. The Untouchables (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (297,532 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (217,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (63 reviews)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma

“The Untouchables” follows a special team of law enforcement agents, led by Elliott Ness (Kevin Costner) as they try to take down the infamous Al Capone (Robert De Niro) in Prohibition-era Chicago. Ness sets out to build a team that hasn’t been corrupted by Capone and is willing to pursue him to the end.

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Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

41. Snatch (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (819,749 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (394,757 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% (142 reviews)
> Directed by: Guy Ritchie

In “Snatch,” the underground boxing world is thrown into disarray when a talented fighter refuses to throw a match — much to the dismay of the gangster betting on him. Meanwhile, incompetent thieves and crooks all search for a stolen diamond.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

40. Underworld (1927)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (2,912 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (2,499 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (17 reviews)
> Directed by: Josef von Sternberg & Arthur Rosson

In “Underworld,” notorious gangster kingpin Bull Weed helps pull his alcoholic lawyer out of the gutter and get his life together, but things become complicated when the lawyer falls in love with Weed’s girlfriend. The film earned its writer, Ben Hecht, the first ever Academy Award for best writing, original story.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

39. Carlito’s Way (1993)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (210,536 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (124,751 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (49 reviews)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma

Al Pacino stars in this crime drama as Carlito Brigante, a Puerto Rican criminal in New York City who attempts to clean up his act.

Courtesy of USA Films

38. Traffic (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (203,053 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (190,474 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (163 reviews)
> Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

“Traffic” tells three different interlocking stories about the drug trade — a tough judge who has to deal with an addict daughter, DEA agents who are protecting an inside source, and the wife of an incarcerated gang leader who tries to run his crew and the drug business. The film won four Academy Awards, including best director for Steven Soderbergh and best supporting actor for Benicio Del Toro.

Courtesy of Miramax

37. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (38,218 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (17,034 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (58 reviews)
> Directed by: Woody Allen

Set in the late 1920s in New York City, “Bullets Over Broadway” tells the story of a struggling playwright who must cast a mob boss’ talentless girlfriend in order for his play to make it on Broadway.

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

36. Underworld U.S.A. (1961)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (3,364 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (587 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (5 reviews)
> Directed by: Samuel Fuller

The 1961 film “Underworld U.S.A.” is a classic tale of revenge. In it, a teenager sees a group of four gangsters kill his father. He promises to exact revenge on those responsible.

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

35. Donnie Brasco (1997)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (293,982 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (204,317 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (56 reviews)
> Directed by: Mike Newell

In yet another crime drama, Al Pacino plays Lefty Ruggiero, an aging gangster who unwittingly takes a young undercover FBI agent under his wing.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

34. Casino (1995)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (493,599 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (285,429 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (68 reviews)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese

“Casino” is an American mob epic that is based on real-life organized crime members in Las Vegas. Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) is a gambling expert who is asked to take over operations of a mob-controlled casino in Vegas in the early 1970s. Shortly after his arrival, Rothstein’s childhood friend and mobster Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) is sent by higher ups to help with security and operations. Everything begins well enough, but Santoro starts getting into all sorts of trouble.

Courtesy of Warner Bros./Seven Arts

33. Bullitt (1968)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (66,236 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (40,109 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (42 reviews)
> Directed by: Peter Yates

Remembered for its iconic 10-minute car chase scene — known as one of the best in film history — “Bullitt” follows a San Francisco detective as he searches for the mob boss who killed one of his witnesses. The film, shot mostly outside on location, broke boundaries with its hyperreal filmmaking style.

Courtesy of La Aventura

32. The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (11,144 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (18 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (34 reviews)
> Directed by: Won-Tae Lee

The Korean drama “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil” was one of 2019’s best-reviewed films, with well over 90% of both critics and audience members on Rotten Tomatoes reviewing the movie reporting that they enjoyed it. In the film, a mob boss forms an unlikely partnership with a detective to try to find a serial killer that attacked him.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

31. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (131,897 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (50,607 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (61 reviews)
> Directed by: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“Miller’s Crossing” tells the story of an escalating mob war between Irish and Italian organized crime families. Caught in the middle is a crooked bookie whose sister is dating the head of the Irish mob.

Courtesy of Netflix

30. The Irishman (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (358,018 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (1,057 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (455 reviews)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese

The mob epic is based on the nonfiction book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. It follows the story of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a real-life mob hitman. By chance, Sheeran begins working for some local crime figures around Philadelphia and quickly begins to climb the ranks. His experience fighting in World War II left him with considerable skills that are useful in the criminal world. One thing leads to another and he becomes involved with famous Teamster union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

29. Scarface (1983)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (788,225 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (488,931 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (71 reviews)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma

Though 1983’s “Scarface” is still well known today, what may be less well known is the fact that it is actually a remake of another movie that came out over 50 years earlier. In both films the lead character is an ambitious figure in organized crime whose greed proves to be his downfall.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

28. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (10,035 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (1,443 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (40 reviews)
> Directed by: Peter Yates

“The Friends of Eddie Coyle” is a film about an aging bakery truck driver in Boston who is also a small-time gun runner and faces jail time unless he rats out his friends. The title character is played by film noir-star Robert Mitchum, and the movie also features Peter Boyle.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

27. The Public Enemy (1931)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (20,469 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (7,551 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (32 reviews)
> Directed by: William A. Wellman

Ambitious Irish mobster Tom Powers (James Cagney) becomes a successful bootlegger during Prohibition-era Chicago. One of Warner Bros.’s studio first gangster movies, Powers murders a rival gang member, but his smashing of a grapefruit in his girlfriend’s face is what really made him a bad guy.

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Courtesy of United Artists

26. Scarface (1932)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (27,110 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (25,981 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (45 reviews)
> Directed by: Howard Hawks & Richard Rosson

Loosely based upon the life of Al Capone, Scarface traces the rise of brutal mobster Tony Carmonte (Paul Muni) in the Chicago underworld. An unrepentant murderer, Tony blows away anyone in his path. He may also have some unnatural feelings for his sister, Cesca (Ann Dvorak). Capone himself was said to admire the film.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

25. Key Largo (1948)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (39,431 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (12,047 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (35 reviews)
> Directed by: John Huston

The plot of “Key Largo” centers on a World War II veteran who goes to Florida to see the family hotel of his fallen war buddy. He arrives to discover gangsters have taken over the operation, leading to a confrontation. The star-studded cast features Hollywood legends like Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress for the film.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

24. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (8,531 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (1,497 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Otto Preminger

In 1950’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” a tough cop tries to leave behind his father’s legacy of crime, but when he kills a suspect during an interrogation, he tries to get out of trouble by framing a gangster for the crime.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

23. Heat (1995)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (616,574 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (222,208 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (85 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Mann

In this crime drama, Al Pacino plays good cop Vincent Hanna, an LAPD Lieutenant who investigates a professional theft ring, led by Neil McCauley, played by Robert De Niro.

Courtesy of The Ladd Company

22. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (333,831 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (75,065 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (55 reviews)
> Directed by: Sergio Leone

Based on the 1952 novel “The Hoods,” this movie sees Robert De Niro playing a mobster — broke, and haunted by the memories of his past — returning to the Lower East Side after 35 years in hiding.

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Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures

21. The Narrow Margin (1952)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (7,517 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (1,139 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (11 reviews)
> Directed by: Richard Fleischer

In “The Narrow Margin,” a gangster’s widow is preparing to testify in a trial. A police officer is assigned to escort her on a train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles as hit men come for them both to try to stop her testimony.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

20. Scarlet Street (1945)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (15,934 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (3,700 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Fritz Lang

An artist falls in love with a young woman named Kitty, who is secretly involved with a criminal named Johnny. When the artist’s work suddenly becomes highly sought after, Johnny and Kitty team up to con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

19. The Killers (1946)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (20,528 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (3,806 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (34 reviews)
> Directed by: Robert Siodmak

After a mysterious man called “The Swede” is murdered, an investigator unravels his past, finding a femme fatale, deception, and evidence of a bank robbery.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

18. Boyz n the Hood (1991)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (134,628 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (144,378 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (70 reviews)
> Directed by: John Singleton

John Singleton became the first African American nominated for a Best Director Oscar for the film about the experiences, relationships, and aspirations of three young black men living in the impoverished Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles. Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, and Laurence Fishburne star in the film.

Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures

17. Out of the Past (1947)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (35,600 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (8,038 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (39 reviews)
> Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

“Out of the Past” is a deftly directed crime drama by Jacques Tourneur that starred Robert Mitchum as a former private investigator whose past catches up with him. Though the film was not nominated for an Oscar, it is lauded by critics as one of the greatest examples of film noir.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

16. Touch of Evil (1958)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (102,197 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (31,265 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (79 reviews)
> Directed by: Orson Welles

“Touch of Evil” is Orson Welles’ film noir about a corrupt, bullying police chief in conflict with a Mexican-born policeman investigating a bomb blast that killed an American contractor. The Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes cites it as “artistically innovative and emotionally gripping.” The movie grossed more than $2 million worldwide.

Courtesy of Savoy Pictures

15. A Bronx Tale (1993)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (135,443 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (66,889 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (30 reviews)
> Directed by: Robert De Niro

A young Italian-American in the Bronx who struggles to navigate the obstacles of racism, his father’s working-class morals, and the temptations of joining the mob in this realistic crime drama.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

14. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (13,611 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (5,095 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (14 reviews)
> Directed by: Raoul Walsh

In the “Roaring Twenties,” three men return home after fighting in World War I. After struggling to adjust to life back home, they decide to get into the bootlegging business during the prohibition era.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

13. The Big Heat (1953)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (25,747 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (5,991 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (32 reviews)
> Directed by: Fritz Lang

“The Big Heat,” Fritz Lang’s tautly directed film, is about a policeman (Glenn Ford) conducting an investigation into the death of a corrupt cop that leads him into conflict with organized crime. The movie is noteworthy for an early-career appearance by Lee Marvin as a gangland enforcer.

Courtesy of Miramax

12. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (968,187 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (446,775 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (71 reviews)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

In Quentin Tarantino’s first feature-length film, a diamond heist goes awry and the criminal posse who pulled it off starts squabbling as they each begin to suspect that one of their own is to blame.

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Courtesy of Gramercy Pictures

11. The Usual Suspects (1995)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (1,038,633 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (435,171 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (77 reviews)
> Directed by: Bryan Singer

Is Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint (Kevin Spacey) a con artist with cerebral palsy, just a two-bit thief, or a fearsome murderous mobster known as Keyser Söze? The movie’s plot revolves around cocaine and a ship explosion. For his duplicitous performance, Spacey won an Academy Award.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

10. The Departed (2006)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (1,254,761 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (738,239 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (284 reviews)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese

“The Departed” is Martin Scorsese’s most financially successful film to date. The movie is based on the popular Hong Kong thriller “Infernal Affairs.” Scorsese’s gritty flick about the Irish mob in Boston took home Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing.

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Courtesy of United Artists

9. Some Like It Hot (1959)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (256,627 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (82,405 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (66 reviews)
> Directed by: Billy Wilder

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play two jazz musicians forced to become cross-dressing members of an all-women band to avoid being killed by mobsters after witnessing the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Directed by Billy Wilder, “Some Like It Hot” is an homage to gangster movies, screwball comedies, and silent films. It was named BBC Culture’s funniest comedy film of all time.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

8. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (20,893 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (9,553 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (22 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Curtiz

“Angels with Dirty Faces” follows the story of a notorious mobster, William “Rocky” Sullivan, and his relationship with his best friend who becomes a priest. As adults, the priest tries to prevent several young boys from falling under Rocky’s influence.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

7. White Heat (1949)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (31,837 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (9,170 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (35 reviews)
> Directed by: Raoul Walsh

“White Heat” centers on psychotic killer Cody Jarrett who has an unnatural attraction to his mother. His wife kills his mother and he goes berserk, eventually leading to his final (literal) blow up.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

6. The Sting (1973)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (252,662 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (61,801 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (63 reviews)
> Directed by: George Roy Hill

The 1973 heist film “The Sting,” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, was both a commercial and critical success. The comedy-drama tells the story of two con men who work together to pull off the scam to end all scams. The movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

5. On the Waterfront (1954)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (149,797 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (52,278 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 99% (105 reviews)
> Directed by: Elia Kazan

Director Elia Kazan’s gritty drama “On the Waterfront” is about corruption on the New Jersey waterfront in the 1950s. The movie was shot in Hoboken, where screenwriter Budd Schulberg walked the streets with star Marlon Brando to get a feel for the longshoremen’s lives.

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Courtesy of Miramax

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)
> IMDb user rating: 8.9/10 (1,932,180 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (1,128,550 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (108 reviews)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

This neo-noir comedy follows a series of Los Angeles criminals — including two hitmen, their boss and his wife, a double-crossing boxer, and a couple of small-time crooks — all of whom come face-to-face with death.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

3. Goodfellas (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 8.7/10 (1,084,226 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (430,126 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (103 reviews)
> Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese’s mafia classic “Goodfellas” is based on Nicholas Pileggi’s nonfiction bestseller “Wiseguy.” The book tells the story of mobster Henry Hill — played by Ray Liotta in the movie — and his criminal associates.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> IMDb user rating: 9.0/10 (1,197,694 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (411,847 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (114 reviews)
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes hailed this all-star saga for setting “new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken.” Critics generally found it deeper and more powerful than the first “Godfather,” and the Chicago Tribune called it “a landmark work from one of Hollywood’s top cinema eras.” The movie won six Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, and best actor in a supporting role (Robert De Niro).

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

1. The Godfather (1972)
> IMDb user rating: 9.2/10 (1,726,057 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98% (734,513 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (133 reviews)
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster epic “The Godfather” breathed new life into the American film industry upon its release in 1972. Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as “one of Hollywood’s greatest critical and commercial successes” and credits it for establishing “new benchmarks for American cinema.”

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