MRQE Ranks: Cinema's Best Heist Movies

1

Rififi (1955)

Cast: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Magali Noel, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin

Director: Jules Dassin

Synopsis: Jules Dassin -- in his second European film after being driven out of the United States during the years of the house Un-American Activities Commit... [MORE]

2

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

Cast: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding

Director: Charles Crichton

Synopsis: Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland,... [MORE]

3

The Dark Knight (2008)

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman

Director: Christopher Nolan

Synopsis: Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with... [MORE]

4

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick, Chris Sarandon

Director: Sidney Lumet

Synopsis: Based on a true 1972 story, Sidney Lumet's 1975 drama chronicles a unique bank robbery on a hot summer afternoon in New York City. Shortly before c... [MORE]

5

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken

Director: Charles Crichton

Synopsis: In A Fish Called Wanda, Jamie Lee Curtis plays an ambitious con artist who uses every ounce of her sexual wiles to obtain a fortune in jewels stole... [MORE]

6

Goldfinger (1964)

Cast: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet

Director: Guy Hamilton

Writer: Ian Fleming

Synopsis: With Goldfinger, the James Bond series took a turn away from relatively straightforward spy thrillers and toward campy gadgetry, extravagant sets, ... [MORE]

7

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons

Director: Arthur Penn

Synopsis: Producer/star Warren Beatty had to convince Warner Bros. to finance this film, which went on to become the studio's second-highest grosser. It also... [MORE]

8

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey

Director: George Roy Hill

Synopsis: Opening with a silent "movie" of Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang, George Roy Hill's comically elegiac Western chronicles the mostly true tale... [MORE]

9

The Killers (1946)

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker

Director: Robert Siodmak

10

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe

Director: John Huston

Synopsis: The Asphalt Jungle is a brilliantly conceived and executed anatomy of a crime -- or, as director John Huston and scripter Ben Maddow put it, "a lef... [MORE]

11

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Cast: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Writer: Quentin Tarantino

Synopsis: In 1992, Reservoir Dogs transformed Quentin Tarantino practically overnight from an obscure, unproduced screenwriter and part-time actor to the mos... [MORE]

12

Fight Club (1999)

Cast: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf Aday, Jared Leto

Director: David Fincher

Synopsis: In this darkly comic drama, Edward Norton stars as a depressed young man (named in the credits only as "Narrator") who has become a small cog in t... [MORE]

13

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: A gifted forger and confidence man attempts to stay one step ahead of the lawman determined to bring him to justice in this comedy-drama from Steve... [MORE]

14

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak

Director: Bryan Singer

Synopsis: Near the end of The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey, in his Oscar-winning performance as crippled con man Roger "Verbal" Kint, says, "The greatest tri... [MORE]

15

Three Kings (1999)

Cast: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Nora Dunn

Director: David O. Russell

Synopsis: Three stars team up for this unusual look at America's role in the war against Iraq. In 1991, as the Gulf War winds to a close, three American serv... [MORE]

16

The Town (2010)

Cast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively

Director: Ben Affleck

Synopsis: Boston bank robber Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) falls for a woman his gang had previously taken hostage after feigning a chance meeting with her to en... [MORE]

17

Heat (1995)

Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore

Director: Michael Mann

Synopsis: A successful career criminal considers getting out of the business after one last score, while an obsessive cop desperately tries to put him behind... [MORE]

18

Face/Off (1997)

Cast: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Gina Gershon

Director: John Woo

Synopsis: The third of John Woo's American-made feature films, Face/Off stars John Travolta as Sean Archer, an FBI agent obsessed with capturing Castor Troy ... [MORE]

19

Out of Sight (1998)

Cast: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Synopsis: Steven Soderbergh directed this crime caper adapted from the novel by Elmore Leonard. When ex-con Jack Foley (George Clooney) robs a bank, his car ... [MORE]

20

Inside Man (2006)

Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe

Director: Spike Lee

Synopsis: The volatile showdown between a determined cop and a perfectionist bank robber is sent spiraling toward disaster when a scheming power broker steps... [MORE]

21

Bottle Rocket (1996)

Cast: Owen C. Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave, James Caan, Lumi Cavazos

Director: Wes Anderson

Synopsis: A bright, optimistic caper comedy from first-time director Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket focuses on a group of young Texans aspiring to become master... [MORE]

22

Matchstick Men (2003)

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman

Director: Ridley Scott

Synopsis: Ridley Scott directs the crime comedy Matchstick Men, based on the novel of the same name by Eric Garcia. Neurotic con man Roy (Nicolas Cage) suffe... [MORE]

23

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, Brigitte Auber, John Williams

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Synopsis: A jewel thief is at large on the Riviera, and all evidence points to retired cat burglar Cary Grant. Escaping the law, Grant heads to the Cote D'Az... [MORE]

24

Sexy Beast (2000)

Cast: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman, Cavan Kendall

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Synopsis: Gary (Ray Winstone) is a former gangster who has made a modest amount of money from his criminal career. Happy to put his life of crime behind him,... [MORE]

25

Ronin (1998)

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean

Director: John Frankenheimer

Synopsis: John Frankenheimer directed this $20 million international action thriller from a screenplay by Richard Weisz (pseudonym for David Mamet) and J.D. ... [MORE]

26

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Cast: George Clooney, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Synopsis: A rag-tag group of con artists and ex-cons team up for the heist to end all heists in this high-profile remake of the 1960 Rat Pack favorite. As wi... [MORE]

27

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Cast: Scott Maslen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Shaun Parkes, Daniel Caltagirone, Ralph Brown

Director: Sheree Folkson

28

Sneakers (1992)

Cast: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Synopsis: In this tech-thriller from director Phil Alden Robinson, a group of five renegade computer hackers, led by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford), are hire... [MORE]

29

The Bank Job (2008)

Cast: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Richard Lintern, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays

Director: Roger Donaldson

Synopsis: Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows star in director Roger Donaldson's cinematic account of the true-life 1971 London bank robbery that baffled the a... [MORE]

30

Heist (2001/I)

Cast: Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon

Director: David Mamet

Synopsis: Esteemed writer/director David Mamet fashioned this homage to the elegant, character-driven "tough guy" genre pictures of Warner Bros. in the 1930s... [MORE]

31

The Score (2001)

Cast: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett, Gary Farmer

Director: Frank Oz

Synopsis: Three generations of method acting giants unite for this crime thriller written by Kario Salem and directed by Frank Oz. Robert De Niro stars as Ni... [MORE]

32

Point Break (1991)

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, Lori Petty, John McGinley

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Synopsis: Kathryn Bigelow's fourth action film follows FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) as he goes undercover to infiltrate a cache of Southern Californi... [MORE]

33

Public Enemies (2009)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum

Director: Michael Mann

Synopsis: Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43, director Michael M... [MORE]

34

Snatch. (2000)

Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt, Rade Sherbedgia

Director: Guy Ritchie

Synopsis: Guy Ritchie's sophomore follow-up to his 1998 sleeper hit Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch revisits the previous film's territory of Lo... [MORE]

35

The Italian Job (2003)

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green

Director: F. Gary Gray

Synopsis: A team of high-class thieves avenge their mentor's death -- with the help of his own daughter -- in this big-budget remake of the 1969 British cape... [MORE]

36

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Greene

Director: John McTiernan

37

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Faye Dunaway, Ben Gazzara

Director: John McTiernan

Synopsis: When a priceless Monet painting is stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the police find themselves wondering which world-class art thief pul... [MORE]

38

Bandits (2001)

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Troy Garity, Bobby Slayton

Director: Barry Levinson

Synopsis: Director Barry Levinson follows up the low-budget An Everlasting Piece (2000) with another comedy, this one of the homegrown variety from former Tw... [MORE]

39

RocknRolla (2008)

Cast: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong, Idris Elba

Director: Guy Ritchie

Synopsis: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie heads back to the London underworld for this hyperkinetic crime comedy concerning a shady ... [MORE]

40

Tower Heist (2011)

Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Téa Leoni

Director: Brett Ratner

Synopsis: The workers at a posh Central Park condominium plot to steal back their pensions from the thieving Wall Street billionaire who's about to get away ... [MORE]

41

Killing Zoe (1993)

Cast: Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Gary Kemp, Tai Thai

Director: Roger Avary

Synopsis: An American ex-con gets caught up in a Parisian bank heist that goes wrong in this ultra-violent thriller. Zed (Eric Stoltz), a safe-cracking exper... [MORE]

42

The Italian Job (1969)

Cast: Michael Caine, Benny Hill, Noel Coward, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley

Director: Peter Collinson

Synopsis: The quintessential British caper film of the 1960s, The Italian Job is a flashy, fast romp that chases a team of career criminals throughout one of... [MORE]

43

Quick Change (1990)

Cast: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Richard Joseph Paul

Director: Bill Murray, Howard Franklin

Synopsis: Bill Murray co-directed (along with Howard Franklin) this mixture of The Out-of-Towners and After Hours, concerning Grimm (Bill Murray), a frustrat... [MORE]

44

Take the Money and Run (1969)

Cast: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde, Lonny Chapman

Director: Woody Allen

Synopsis: When Woody Allen's fans refer to his "earlier, funnier" pictures, they often cite his directorial debut as a shining example. Co-written by Allen a... [MORE]

45

The Getaway (1972)

Cast: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Al Lettieri, Sally Struthers, Ben Johnson

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Synopsis: In Sam Peckinpah's version of Walter Hill's script, from Jim Thompson's novel, an ex-con and his wife go on the lam after a Texas bank heist. Denie... [MORE]

46

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston, Biff McGuire

Director: Norman Jewison

47

How to Steal a Million (1966)

Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach, Charles Boyer, Hugh Griffith

Director: William Wyler

Synopsis: In this elegant "caper" film, Audrey Hepburn stars as the daughter of a wealthy Parisian (Hugh Griffith), whose hobby is copying famous works of ar... [MORE]

48

Take the Money and Run (1969)

Cast: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde, Lonny Chapman

Director: Woody Allen

Synopsis: When Woody Allen's fans refer to his "earlier, funnier" pictures, they often cite his directorial debut as a shining example. Co-written by Allen a... [MORE]

49

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Cast: Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg, John Cleese, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov

Director: Jim Henson

Synopsis: The Great Muppet Caper is the second Muppet film and it is considerably more complex than its predecessor, The Muppet Movie, which was essentially ... [MORE]

50

Topkapi (1964)

Cast: Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley, Akim Tamiroff

Director: Jules Dassin

Synopsis: After years of enduring movie lampoons of his 1955 crime-caper classic Rififi, director Jules Dassin topped them all with his own spoof, Topkapi. I... [MORE]

51

The Pink Panther (1963)

Cast: Matt Frewer, Nancy Cartwright