Crime Movies

Crime Movies

This will be a list of my top ten Crime movies i have watched over the years. This list wont be in any order or ranked, it will be randomized. 

Lawless

In 1931, the Bonduarant brothers hides their true business in the backwoods from where they live, bootlegging.The middle brother Forrest is the brains of the operation, the older brother, Howard is the brawn and the youngest brother jack is the look out for the operation. Now the local police have took bribes, the Bonduarant brothers stand alone to face the corrupt war when a lawman from Chicago tries and shuts down the bootlegging business. 

The thing i liked about this movie is, that its not a typical "in the city" crime movie, its vacated in the backwoods of Franklin County. It was refreshing and it made me very intrigued on how the movie would play out, since it didn't have the typical gangster role.

I liked how the three brothers are brought up to nothing in a small community, from having nothing to having the brightest idea to start up the underground business. This shows us that you don't need much in life to succeed with your dreams.

Gangster Squad

Mickey Cohen is Brooklyn's most ruthless gangster there is. In 1949, Los Angeles, Mickey makes a fortune from drugs, prostitutes and gambling. Mickey has a lot of goons. policemen and even politicians on his side, its enough for him to intimidate the bravest lawmen, until the Los Angeles police department decide to form a squad of their own to take down Mickey Cohen.

Gangster Squads has to be one of my favourite modern made movies to date, even though its based in 1949, they did a great job in reacting that era at its finest with its costumes, cars, background setting and guns.

The story of it all was so action packed and intense to watch, as one of the policemen falls in love with Mickeys girlfriend, while the policeman is trying to take him and his cult down. This made things harder for the policeman and his object of the job.

Scarface

Tony Montana finally got his green card in exchange in assassinating a Cuban government official. As he lands himself in Miami, Tony claims the drug trade around the city, murdering anyone who stands in his way. He then becomes the biggest drug lord in the whole state, controlling the cocaine that comes through Miami. The pressure from the police, drug cartel and his own paranoia becomes the rise and fall of Tony Montana.

Scarface, a huge legendary film and one of my favourites of all time. This has to be one of the most typical ganster/crime movies yet, it reminded me of the game GTA: vice city almost, with all its flower coloured T-shirts and the whole Miami 80s vibe.

This film has a similar concept of "Lawless" as he started with nothing and became the biggest drug lord in the state. It is kind of inspirational in some ways, but obviously i don't want to be a big drug lord!

Public Enemies

Bank robber, John Dillinger's charm and audacity endears him of America's downtrodden public, but but hes all so a pain for J, Edgar Hoover and the rest of the FBI. Hoover, desperately wanting to capture the bank robber dead or alive assigns his top agents to the field and make him public enemy number one.

If you have seen the movie J.Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio, then you know how much of a iconic lawmen he was back in the 40/50s era. So you must know by now that most of the stories involving J.Edgar are to be true or based on true events, which makes the story and movie more intriguing to watch.

Public Enemies is one of J.Edgars iconic stories i have witnessed on the big screen, showing the audience on how he might of acting in the situations he was brought to while working with the FBI force. John Dillinger on the other hand was also a legend back in his era, robbing 24 banks and 4 police stations with his notorious gang. Knowing this before i watched the movie helped me understand the tension between the two and i hope it helps you, if you haven seen it yet.

Gangs Of New York

A young Irishmen Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the five points of New York to try and find the killer of his father. William cutting is a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader who  becomes friends with the young Irishmen. Amsterdam's journey becomes a personal fight for survival and to find a place for the Irish people in New York.

Another not so typical gangster/crime movie, as it is set in the 1860's of New York. The back ground setting was amazing as it shows us how New York might of looked back in that era and how the people behaved.

I liked this movie because its dark, gritty and revengeful, these three ingredients are a powerful combination for a very thrilling movie. Plus if you want to see the two of the best actors act together (Leonardo DiCaprio & Daniel Day- Lewis) then you should watch this movie!

Boys N' The Hood

Tre is sent to live with his father where he is brought up to be a man in his household, and also understand the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Tre's friends Dougboy and Ricky, don't have the same support as Tre and is sucked in the neighborhood booming drug and gang culture, with the most horrific end results.

If you like NWA and Los Angeles gang cultural movies, then this is the perfect movie for you, as it is surrounded by gangster rap, horrific gang shootings and the typical survival on living on the streets of LA.

 Loved this movie because i'm a big fan of NWA and one of its actors, Ice Cube who was one of the rappers for the NWA group. This film shows the audience what its really like living on the streets of South Side LA and what some of consequences could be.

Training Day

A veteran police officer who escorts a rookie on his first day with the LAPD's tougher inner city narcotics unit. The rookie officer is shown a different side to the police force that he hasn't seen before and needs to decide whats best for him and his future.

Training day is a raw and blistering film that shows the audience what heroism can get yourself in to when you cross paths with a desperate crooked cop.

This movie is more of a modern type movie of Boys n' The Hood, but obviously on the other side of the law, or is it? since the LA street culture has taken over some of the policemen's judgement to make them decide wrongly with greed.

With a Oscar winning performance for his (Denzal Washington) role in this movie, its totally worth the watch as his acting is outstanding!

Man On Fire

A wave of child abduction in the city of Mexico, a ex CIA agent John Creasy accepts a job to be the body guard of a 9 year old kid Lupita, the child of a wealthy business owner. As Creasy becomes very fond of the young girl, she gets kidnapped by a crazy gunmen and Creasy must find her, through the corrupt policemen and criminals.

I think this is my favourite Denzal Washington film as i could watch this movie when ever i'm bored. Its so thrilling and entertaining to watch as Creasy takes down the corupt policmen and criminals one by one, as he is very motivated and focused on getting the girl back.

The best part about this movie is that its based on a true story, this makes things better as it makes the audience think what a great man he must of been.

American Gangster

Frank Lucas is a chauffeur for one of the biggest mobsters in Harlem, New York. When he dies, Frank uses his wits and business code to become the next biggest crime boss in New York. A Veteran cop senses a change in the New York crime industry and looks for a way to stop it growing any further.

Oh look another Denzal Washington movie! Well i like him as a actor and he does amazing crime films, what can i say? Any way i think this is one of his best films yet, showing again that anyone can rise to the top, no matter what background or job you come from.

American Gangster is more of a drama based film and isn't mostly action as most crime movies would be. Its all about knowledge and how you can use it to your advantage to be the best.

Dead Man Down

1. Rising gangland player Victor infiltrates the criminal empire run by Alphonse, but his aim is not to accumulate prestige and power. Instead, Victor's mission is to make Alphonse pay for destroying his once-happy life. Beatrice, his neighbor, watches and waits. When she uncovers Victor's secret, she threatens to expose him unless he helps her carry out her own campaign of revenge.

Another great revenge movie as we spoke about Gangs Of New York before. This movie has to be one of the most suspense movies on this list, as it focuses on a man who is deeply in to the gang related world just to seek out revenge on the gangsters.

Its rare of me to like a Collin Farrell film as i think he hasn't produced many great ones since the movie SWAT, which is also another crime film, but i think this movie does him justice and tells me he can be a great actor at times, depending on the role & film.

Conclusion

Everyone loves a good crime movie of some kind, whether its on the good side of the law or on the wrong side of the law. Each aspect we see from both sides brings us thrilling, action, suspense scenes that we wouldn't normally see in real life and we could all do with seeing good a crime movie once in a while.

Discussion

1. Whats your favourite crime movie of all time?
2. Whats the worst crime movie of all time?
3. What era delivers the best crime scenes?
4. Who's your favourite crime character & why?
5. who's your least favourite crime character & why?
6. If you was a crime character what would you gangster name be?
7. if you was a police detective, what would you detective name be?
8. what would you gang be called?