Top 10 Gangster Movies - The Best Gangster Films on DVD

Thu 19 Jun 2008 7:20 PM AEST, by James

I thought I'd continue the 'gangsters on DVD' theme from yesterday with this list of the top 10 greatest gangster films ever, announced by the AFI on June 17. We've added a synopsis of each film for you, along with a link to buy the DVD online at a discounted price (where possible).

'Gangster' is just one of ten classic film genres in these American Film Institute 'Top 10 Films in 10 Genres' Awards. AFI defines the "gangster film" as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting.

To compile the final list, AFI distributed a ballot with 500 nominated movies (50 per genre) to a jury of over 1,500 leaders from the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians. To make their decision AFI jurors had to consider the film's popularity over time, it's historical significance and cultural impact.

AFI's Top Ten Greatest Gangster Films >

#1 THE GODFATHER
Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece features Marlon Brando in his Oscar-winning role as the patriarch of the Corleone family in the title role of a movie that became a cultural phenomenon and the highest-grossing film of its time. Director Coppola paints a chilling portrait of the Sicilian clan's rise and near fall from power in America, masterfully balancing the story between the Corleone's family life and the ugly crime business in which they are engaged. Based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel and featuring career-making performances by Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall, The Godfather sets the scene for a trilogy of entertainment, and one of the most acclaimed movies of all time.

#2 GOODFELLAS
When Martin Scorsese, one of the world's most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year. Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFellas great. It was named 1990's best film by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy "The Gent" Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performance. You have to see it to believe it-then watch again. GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie.

#3 THE GODFATHER PART II
Perhaps a unique case of a sequel superseding the original, The Godfather II follows the Corleone crime family as it relocates to Nevada in the 1950s, with Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. The original cast returns with Robert Duvall outstanding as consigliere Tom Hagen and John Cazale as the tragic Fredo Corleone. Oscars include Best Picture, Director (Francis Ford Coppola) and Actor (Robert De Niro).

#4 WHITE HEAT
Playing a psychotic thug, Cody Jarrett, devoted to his hard-boiled ma, James Cagney gives a performance to match his electrifying work in The Public Enemy. Bracingly directed by Raoul Walsh, this fast-paced thriller tracing Jarretts violent life in and out of jail is among the most vivid screen performances of Cagneys career, and the excitement it generates will put you on top of the world!

#5 BONNIE AND CLYDE
Adrift in the Depression-era Southwest, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker embark on a life of crime. They mean no harm. They crave adventure - and each other. Soon we start to love them too. But nothing in film history has prepared us for the cascading violence to follow. Bonnie And Clyde turns brutal. We learn that they can be hurt - and dread they can be killed. Bonnie And Clyde balances itself on a knife-edge of laughter and terror, thanks to vivid title-role performances by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and superb support from Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons, who won 1967's Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Director Arthur Penn keeps the film's sensibilities tough but never cruel. It continually dazzles, especially in the work of cinematographer Burnett Guffey (winner of the film's second Oscar) and editor Dede Allen. And as film lovers since have discovered, it's no ordinary gangster movie.

#6 SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF A NATION
(This DVD doesn't appear to be available to buy online yet, but you can rent it online)
Italian mob leader Big Louie Costillo is killed by Tony Camonte, setting off gang wars over the control of Chicago's bootlegging business. Under orders from their boss Johnny Lovo, Tony and Guino Rinaldo terrorize South side bars to maintain it as Lovo's territory. Afterward, they go on a several month long shooting spree, killing innocent bystanders as well as intended victims. When Tony kills O'Hara, the North side boss, Lovo becomes scared.

Pulp Fiction 10th Anniversary Edition (2 DVDs)

#7 PULP FICTION
Follow the action-packed adventures and misadventures of two hitmen as they recover their boss' secret briefcase from some punks in a business deal gone bad, track down the boxer who fixed a big money fight, take the boss' wife out on a date that will not be soon forgotten, and almost become victims themselves of a holdup while having breakfast at the local coffee shop.

#8 THE PUBLIC EMEMY
Showcasing James Cagney's powerful 1931 breakthrough performance as streetwise tough guy Tom Powers, but only because production chief Darryl F. Zanuck made a late casting change. When shooting began, Cagney had a secondary role but Zanuck soon spotted Cagney's screen dominance and gave him the star part. From that moment, an indelible genre classic and an enduring star career were both born. Bristling with '20s style, dialogue and desperation under the masterful directorial eye of William A. Wellman, this is a virtual time capsule of the Prohibition era: taut, gritty and hard-hitting. Contains several restored scenes (deleted from subsequent reissue versions due to enforcement of the Production code) from the original release version of the film, unseen since 1931.

#9 LITTLE CAESAR
"R-I-C-O, Little Caesar, that's who!" Edward G. Robinson bellowed into the phone. And Hollywood got the message: 37 year old Robinson, not gifted with matinee-idol looks, was nonetheless a first-class star and moviegoers hailed the hard-hitting social consciousness dramas that became the Depression-era mainstay of Warner Bros. Little Caesar is the tale of pugnacious Caesar Enrico Bandello, a hoodlum with a Chicago-sized chip on his shoulder, few attachments, fewer friends and no sense of underworld diplomacy. And Robinson - a genteel art collector who disdained guns (in the movie, his eyelids were taped to keep them from blinking when he fired a pistol) - was forever associated with the screen's archetypal gangster.

#10 SCARFACE
He loved the American Dream. With a Vengeance. In the spring of 1980, the port at Mariel Harbour was opened, and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun washed avenues of Miami... wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name - Scarface