Some of the greatest gangster movies of all time can’t exactly be called underrated, because the best of the best also happen to get included among the best films (of any genre) of all time. Think titles along the lines ofThe GodfatherandThe Godfather Part II, as well as anynumber of Martin Scorsese crime films, including the likes ofGoodfellas,Casino,Mean Streets, andThe Irishman.
Those movies and various others could be counted as perfect, but there are also some less well-known, more overlooked, or otherwise underrated gangster movies that either achieve perfection, or at least feel near-perfect for what they are. Some of these are included below. Certain ones are decently well-known and deserving of more love,while others are more obscure and just flat-out deserve more recognition, owing to their undeniable quality.
15’Menace II Society' (1993)
Directed by Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes
Menace II Societycan be defined asa coming-of-age movie, albeit an exceptionally gritty, downbeat, and emotionally intense one. It follows a young man and those close to him trying to survive a difficult life on the streets of Los Angeles, with some longing for a different kind of life while others make the best of a bad situation, right where they find themselves.
It’s not a film that shies away, by any means, especially when it comes to the level of profanity and the graphicness of its violence.Menace II Societydoes shock, sure, but it does it with a purpose, all intending to highlight a certain way of life, even if it’s potentially heightened due to it being a movie. There is still a level of authenticity and grit here, andthough it’s not an easy watch, it is, ultimately, an important 1990s movie about gang-related crime.
Menace II Society
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14’State of Grace' (1990)
Directed by Phil Joanou
Though somewhat obscure, as far as gangster movies go,State of Graceboasts an undeniably impressive cast,including stars like Ed Harris,Sean Penn,Gary Oldman,Robin Wright, andJohn Turturro. Regarding the last of those, he had a particularly good 1990, as far as crime movies went, given he also had a supporting inMiller’s Crossing(directed by theCoen Brothers).
As forState of Grace, it’snot revolutionary as far as its story goes, but it’s still relatively compelling, being an in-your-face crime drama about a young man returning to where he grew up, and falling in with some criminals after reconnecting with a childhood friend.State of Gracegoes big, and perhaps even veers close to melodrama at points, but the committed cast members persistently give it their all, and the film, at its best, does prove to be equal parts moving and intense.
State of Grace
13’A Prophet' (2009)
Directed by Jacques Audiard
While a good manyprison movies center around escape,A Prophetsticks out for being more focused on simply surviving life inside prison. Further, it’s a movie that goes to great lengths to show how certain rules and ways of life for criminals outside prison walls continue to exist, in varying ways, for life inside a prison, too.
Namely, this comes across through the way in which gang warfare, in some capacity, continues to be waged inside the prison complex, furthering the idea that life inside remains as dangerous as it can be outside. This also meansA Prophetfeels quiteunique, as far as gangster movies go, and though it runs for a fairly lengthy 155 minutes, it’s paced welland tells a continually absorbing character-focused story throughout.
Watch on Netflix
12’Sexy Beast' (2000)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Thoroughly un-erotic for a movie with the word “Sexy” in its title,Sexy Beastis thankfully so bold and well-acted a gangster film that even those misled by the title shouldn’t come away too disappointed. It’sa British crime filmthat nevertheless largely has a Spanish setting, revolving around a retired safecracker who’s bothered by a gruff and violent associate who wants to pull him back into a life of crime.
With this premise,Sexy Beastmanages to find plenty of opportunities to be darkly hilarious, even if much of the film is also quite tense and uncomfortable.Ben Kingsley gives a bombastic and career-best performance here that needs to be seen to be believed, and the other cast members – namely,Ray WinstoneandIan McShane– are also excellent. It’s a strange and hard-to-categorize movie, all in all, but an honestly pretty great one regardless.
Sexy Beast
11’Animal Kingdom' (2010)
Directed by David Michôd
Before it was a successful drama series that aired six seasons between 2016 and 2022,Animal Kingdomwas a movie, and one of the best crime/gangster films of its decade, too. It follows a whole heap of conflict and drama within a family unit, some of the members within having ties to criminal activities and gangs. Thinkthe blending of family and crime-related drama inThe Godfather, but with more betrayal and grit, not to mention an Australian setting.
That might be hypingAnimal Kingdomup a little too much, but it really is excellently made, unpredictably plotted, and extremely well-acted. It wastes very little and properly develops a large number of characters in a runtime that clocks in at under two hours, making it a worthwhile viewing experience regardless of how much one usually likes movies that revolve around organized crime.
Animal Kingdom
10’The Asphalt Jungle' (1950)
Directed by John Huston
There’s a little overlap betweenthe heist genre and the gangster genre sometimes. Both kinds of movies can be definable as crime films, and heists often – though not always – involve a gang of criminals working together, often being, or trying to be, organized. So it’s organized crime in a sense, at least sometimes, which is whyThe Asphalt Jungleis worth mentioning here.
It follows one criminal assembling a bunch of others so they can try and pull off a jewel heist, a premise that’s very familiar but executed well enough here that it never feels formulaic in a bad way.The Asphalt Jungleisno-nonsense and admirably tough by the standards of the 1950s, and if it being a gangster/heist film isn’t enough, you might be pleased to know that it also counts as a film noir movie, too.
The Asphalt Jungle
9’Carlito’s Way' (1993)
Directed by Brian De Palma
Pretty much everyone knows aboutBrian De Palma’sScarface, which is perhaps one of the greatest remakes of all time and also one of the most legendary gangster films ever made. Less well-known, however, isCarlito’s Way, which was a less bombastic and more down-to-earth gangster movie De Palma directed 10 years on fromScarface, once more withAl Pacino in the starring role.
Carlito’s Wayis about a former gangster trying to make his way through life after an extended stay in prison, but finding that easier said than done, with a past that continually threatens to keep catching up with him. It’s not the flashiest or most explosive gangster movie, butit works extremely well as a more realistic and drama-heavy take on the genre, making for a fascinating – and different – spiritual sequel of sorts toScarface.
Carlito’s Way
8’A Colt Is My Passport' (1967)
Directed by Takashi Nomura
The gangster genre is already something of a sub-genre to the broad crime genre, but a further sub-genre of gangster movies would be yakuza films. These deal with organized crime in Japan, and thereby tend to be Japanese productions that usually only have cult followings (at best) outside Japan,making most yakuza movies worthy of being called underrated to some degree.
EnterA Colt Is My Passport, which is a lean and consistently engaging yakuza movie about a hitman…
EnterA Colt Is My Passport, which is a lean and consistently engaging yakuza movie about a hitman who’s thrust into a gang war, with the leader of one gang hiring him to kill the leader of another. It was one ofmany gangster movies Jō Shishido starred in, a Japanese star who seemed able to get through movies like this in effortlessly cool ways without breaking a sweat. The movie as a whole is also stylish and very entertaining, not to mention wonderfully snappy with a runtime that clocks in at under 90 minutes.
Watch on Criterion
7’The Yakuza' (1974)
Directed by Sydney Pollack
A rare yakuza movie that was made by an American director (Sydney Pollack) and featuring an American star (Robert Mitchum),The Yakuzanonetheless still ranks as one ofthe best yakuza-related movies ever made. And of course, it’s about said gangsters, what with that title and all, with its premise centering on an American who goes to Japan to rescue a friend’s daughter from some gang members.
The Yakuzais patiently paced but effective in its slow build toward a tense and explosive climax. It’s a movie that explores the differences in culture between the U.S. and Japan, specifically as it relates to organized crime in each country.It’s very 1970s stylistically and cinematically, but it really works and generally holds up very well, even if there are some things that would probably be (perhaps understandably) different if it were made today.
The Yakuza
6’Killing Them Softly' (2012)
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Andrew Dominik has made a grim Western(The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), a grim biographical film (Blonde), and a grim gangster movie, with the stark and cynicalKilling Them Softly. It’s about chaos unfolding within a criminal underworld, principally concerning the fallout from an event that involved three people stealing from a card game that was mob-protected.
Brad Pitt’s character is sent to clean up the whole messy affair, and he does so ruthlessly, withKilling Them Softlyindeed having a good deal of killing… the “soft” part might refer to the movie’s at times slow and methodical pace. ButKilling Them Softlyis never boring, and it works as a somewhat offbeat and unapologetically dark gangster filmthat, in some ways, effectively deconstructs what some might expect from the genre.
