The 32 Greatest Gangster Epic Films of All Time

Sprawling crime sagas from Hollywood, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Naples, where loyalty costs more than any heist. Back the empire that still holds up.

1. 1
   Goodfellas

   Martin Scorsese's 1990 rise-and-fall story of mob associate Henry Hill across three decades.
   1000pts
2. 2
   The Godfather

   Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 saga of the Corleone crime family, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.
   833pts
3. 3
   Nayakan

   Mani Ratnam's 1987 Tamil epic about a Bombay slum dweller who becomes a feared and beloved don.
   833pts
4. 4
   Gomorrah

   Matteo Garrone's 2008 Italian portrait of the Camorra's reach across Naples, from the bestselling exposé.
   700pts
5. 5
   The Godfather Part III

   Coppola's 1990 conclusion to the trilogy, with an aging Michael Corleone seeking legitimacy.
   676pts
6. 6
   Black Mass

   Scott Cooper's 2015 drama about Boston mobster Whitey Bulger and his FBI deal, starring Johnny Depp.
   676pts
7. 7
   City of God

   Fernando Meirelles's 2002 Brazilian epic charting decades of gang life in a Rio favela.
   611pts
8. 8
   Satya

   Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 Hindi film about a drifter drawn into the Mumbai underworld, a landmark of Indian gangster cinema.
   611pts
9. 9
   Gangs of New York

   Scorsese's 2002 epic of gang warfare in 1860s Manhattan, led by Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher.
   611pts
10. 10
    New World

    Park Hoon-jung's 2013 South Korean drama of an undercover cop caught in a crime syndicate's power struggle.
    611pts
11. 11
    Vada Chennai

    Vetrimaaran's 2018 Tamil gangster saga set across decades of feuds in north Chennai.
    559pts
12. 12
    The Godfather Part II

    Coppola's 1974 sequel intercutting Michael Corleone's rise with young Vito's story, the first sequel to win Best Picture.
    500pts
13. 13
    Casino

    Scorsese's 1995 portrait of the mob's grip on 1970s Las Vegas, starring Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone.
    500pts
14. 14
    Carlito's Way

    De Palma's 1993 drama of an ex-con, played by Al Pacino, trying to escape his gangster past.
    433pts
15. 15
    The Untouchables

    De Palma's 1987 Prohibition epic pitting Eliot Ness against Robert De Niro's Al Capone.
    433pts
16. 16
    A Prophet

    Jacques Audiard's 2009 French prison epic about a young inmate who rises to run a criminal empire.
    433pts
17. 17
    American Gangster

    Ridley Scott's 2007 story of Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington.
    433pts
18. 18
    Battles Without Honor and Humanity

    Kinji Fukasaku's 1973 Japanese yakuza epic tracing gang wars in postwar Hiroshima.
    433pts
19. 19
    The Traitor

    Marco Bellocchio's 2019 Italian epic about Tommaso Buscetta, the Mafia boss turned state witness.
    433pts
20. 20
    Once Upon a Time in America

    Sergio Leone's 1984 epic following Jewish gangsters in New York from the 1920s to the 1960s.
    357pts
21. 21
    The Irishman

    Scorsese's 2019 three-and-a-half-hour reflection on hitman Frank Sheeran and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.
    357pts
22. 22
    Scarface

    Brian De Palma's 1983 tale of Cuban refugee Tony Montana's bloody climb in the Miami cocaine trade.
    357pts
23. 23
    Gangs of Wasseypur

    Anurag Kashyap's two-part 2012 Indian saga of a coal-town blood feud spanning three generations.
    269pts
24. 24
    Road to Perdition

    Sam Mendes's 2002 Depression-era drama of a mob enforcer, played by Tom Hanks, on the run with his son.
    269pts
25. 25
    Donnie Brasco

    Mike Newell's 1997 true story of an FBI agent who goes undercover inside the Bonanno crime family.
    269pts
26. 26
    Miller's Crossing

    The Coen brothers' 1990 Prohibition-era tale of a mob adviser playing rival bosses against each other.
    269pts
27. 27
    Bugsy

    Barry Levinson's 1991 biopic of Bugsy Siegel, the gangster who dreamed up Las Vegas, starring Warren Beatty.
    269pts
28. 28
    Public Enemies

    Michael Mann's 2009 account of the hunt for bank robber John Dillinger, starring Johnny Depp.
    269pts
29. 29
    Romanzo Criminale

    Michele Placido's 2005 Italian epic of the Magliana gang's rise in 1970s and 1980s Rome.
    269pts
30. 30
    Scarface (1932)

    Howard Hawks's 1932 pre-Code classic about a Capone-like gangster, the template for the genre.
    269pts
31. 31
    The Departed

    Scorsese's 2006 Boston mob thriller of moles on both sides of the law, winner of Best Picture.
    0pts
32. 32
    Infernal Affairs

    Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's 2002 Hong Kong thriller of a triad mole and an undercover cop.
    0pts

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