The Great Train Robbery kicked off Hollywood’s fascination with heist films in 1903, but the genre really blew up in the early 1950s with the noir crime film, The Asphalt Jungle. Based on the 1949 novel by W. R. Burnett, the film tells the story of Dix Handley, a man who plans to steal $1 million in jewels. All the workings of the classic heist caper are present here, as the film follows Handley as he assembles a team of low-level crooks, a safecracker, and a lawyer to carry out his quest.
Regarded as one of the greatest noir films ever made, the classical film structure is both visually striking and rich in its narrative, providing the framework for countless American heist movies to follow. Perhaps the heightened popularity of the heist film is the art of watching a skillful character perform dangerous and rigorous thefts through a sea of sticky and incriminating plot lines. It can become incredibly entertaining to watch people skilled in their trades (explosives, safecracking, etc.) perform at the best of their ability in order to get some big score, and the collaborative aspect of their usual ensemble casts is always fun.
Some heist movies are completely fictional, others relate to true stories, but all the best are able to transcend drama and become something else entirely. Invoking fun, sometimes righteous anger, and usually downright intense emotions are the greatest modern-day heist movies in American culture.
Update January 30, 2024: This article has been updated with even more great heist movies as well as where you can stream each film.
10 American Animals (2018)
Based on the true story of how four friends botched a $12 million dollar heist, Bart Layton’s American Animals follows four Kentucky-based friends as they enact a plan to steal the most valuable books from Transylvania University’s library. The film stars Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd.
Not Your Typical Bank Robbery Movie
The film is fascinating for blending the documentary approach with a traditional film dramitization. It uses the real-life people from the crime to play themselves in a meta twist. At the same time, the real ringleader, Spencer Reinhard, narrates, lulling audience members into American Animals‘ quirky and unorthodox method of storytelling. The film’s tagline says it all: “The perfect heist is a work of fiction.” Stream on Tubi
9 Point Break (1991)
In Kathryn Bigelow’s action film of 1991, Point Break, Johnny Utah is a rookie FBI agent who decides to infiltrate the surf community in order to see who’s been leading a series of bank heists. Utah does so and becomes familiar with the band called the Ex-Presidents, professional surfers during the day, and professional thieves when the sea gets rough. Of course, Utah falls in love with the wrong girl and puts the operation at risk.
The Cool Mix Between Action and Heist Films
Point Break is a solid action, and apparently realistic, film starring two actors that feel tailor-made for the genre, but especially for the script. The movie’s extremely exciting and fast-paced, and it features great action pieces, heists, and surfing scenes. It’s weird how the remake of this one got it so wrong that people quickly forgot about it. The unofficial remake, The Fast & The Furious, certainly captured the spirit better, and given that the film ten movie franchise is still going strong, it is clear that the Point Break model works. Stream on Freevee
8 Widows (2018)
Widows
- Release Date
- November 6, 2018
Steve McQueen’s underrated crime thriller Widows, tells the story of a gang of widows whose partners perish during an operation. They form a team and decide to follow up on a hit their husbands were planning when they were alive. The problem is that they end up messing with the wrong crime lord. Widows shines mainly because of this star-studded cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, and Liam Neeson.
A Twist on the Usual Male-Led Ensemble Casts
McQueen has proven himself one of the best directors working today, and Widows was a sadly overlooked gem. Released in late November, it appeared 20th Century Fox originally intended it to be both an awards contender and an adult-oriented blockbuster, but it got swallowed up in a crowded marketplace place, and 20th Century Fox pivoted their awards push to Bohemian Rhapsody. It is a shame because Widows is one of the best crime dramas of the 2010s and is an exceptional heist film, particularly because of the cast. Viola Davis, Michell Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debecki, and Cynthia Erivo are not the type of actresses one would expect to put together, and that is the point. Together, they work as a strong unit, not to be underestimated. Widows is a film that was sadly slept on but should not be overlooked. Rent on Prime Video
7 The Usual Suspects (1995)
In Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects, the worst is over. A heist operation has left a gang of criminals dead—one that barely survived and one that has walked away without injuries. Kint decides to narrate, through an interrogation of law enforcement agents, what actually happened. The film is precisely about that flashback in which a seemingly harmless con man tells the story of what actually happened with a drug operation gone haywire.
An Impressive Script Executed by Someone Who Truly Understands the Genre
One of the best scripts in cinema (thanks to future Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie), The Usual Suspects is a cleverly written film with levels of intrigue thoroughly at a friendly pace. It never feels overwhelming, and it features an impressive cast whose unity feels like a stroke of luck. Yes, its twist is outstanding, and it’s probably the most memorable aspect of the film, but the morality-based arc is stunning as well. Just don’t take it too seriously. Rent on Prime Video
6 Inside Man (2006)
Inside Man is one of the past twenty years’ most captivating and exciting heist movies. Director Spike Lee’s heist thriller centers around an elaborate 24-hour bank heist held on Wall Street. As a crisis for fellow hostages unravels, Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) goes toe to toe with deadly bank robber Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) to end the mastermind’s chances of seizing control. Though complicated, its premise ties into the bank owner being affiliated with past Nazi dealings, betrayals, and unforeseen alliances.
It Goes Beyond the Tropes of the Typical Heist Film
Inside Man features everyone at the top of their game, coming together for what, on the surface, feels like a simple bank robber film. Yet, as the movie goes on, there is more up the criminal’s sleeves than the police or the audience knows, and there is a moral code that they abide by that will leave the audience torn on who to root for. The film’s final moments are both narratively satisfying and also clever as they pay off everything that was established in the beginning, even little details audiences might have forgotten about. Stream on Peacock Premium
5 The Town (2010)
The Town
- Release Date
- September 15, 2010
In The Town, Doug MacRay (Affleck) leads a group of ruthless criminals who commit incredibly dangerous bank robberies around the state of Massachusetts. MacRay, who has authority over his fellow gang, struggles to balance his romance with bank employee Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), taken as a hostage in one of their earlier heists while dogging the F.B.I. Of course, he loses some control over his crew. The film’s third act is a great exercise in tension that will leave you gasping for air several times.
A Great and Honest Antihero
The appeal of this antihero, so life-like and three-dimensionally created with layers of depth, makes viewers fall in love with Affleck’s character. MacRay has this swagger about him that’s nonchalant, but still pulls everyone in further with each twist and turn; he steals the audience’s hearts. The real standout, though, is Jeremy Renner, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie. This marked Affleck’s second film as a director, and it showed that his debut film, Gone Baby Gone, was no fluke and that he was as great a director as he was an actor. On just a budget of $37 million, The Town grossed $92.1 million domestically and $154 million worldwide. Rent on Prime Video
4 Inception (2010)
The Town wasn’t the only heist film in 2010. Christopher Nolan’s most complex film takes place in an embedded, nesting-doll dream universe, forcing viewers to reexamine whether they are watching a dream sequence or ‘the real world.’ Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a professional thief who steals information by invading the subconscious of his targets. Though his skill set has made him world-renowned, it has also cost him the family he once had. Ultimately, Cobb is offered a chance at redemption by a client. His job is to plant an idea in the mind of a business conglomerate; if he succeeds, he is able to regain the life he once lost.
A Different Kind of Heist
In Inception, dreams and reality mirror each other, sometimes forcing the human brain to question its own realities. The film features a lot of complex themes, ideas, and world-building so using the structure of a heist film was a smart, effective way to communicate everything for the audience as well as giving a real sense of stakes to the adventure. This is a heist movie where ideas are the loot, and the mind is the bank. With an all-star cast, mind-bending visuals, and a fun plot that was just the right amount of complicated and captivating, Inception grossed $828 million worldwide and was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of 2010 at the worldwide box office. Rent on Prime Video
3 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
From the critical analysis of Madonna’s Like a Virgin, to the timeless color-coded characters within a highly intriguing and immersive plot line, Reservoir Dogs captures the attention of viewers from the opening moment. Illustrated as an all-boys club, each scene of this heist movie is direct, blunt, and pushes beyond the edge, in true Quentin Tarantino form. Six criminals, all hired to complete a robbery, are also strangers to one another. With the jewelry heist going completely wrong, the guys are forced to take matters into their own hands, shooting their way out and later on coming to the eerie conclusion that one of their own may be a police informant.
A Great Writer in His Prime
What’s iconic about Reservoir Dogs is the unique and unconventional form of storytelling that shifts from angle to angle, providing a series of impromptu surprises. It’s also one of the rare heist movies that doesn’t actually show the heist happening but the sequence of events before and after the heist itself. The fact that it works so well is a testament to Tarantino’s skills as a writer, as the audience never feel ripped off for not seeing the heist and is just as captivated by the tension between everyone following the event. The debut film put Tarantino on the map and also made one of the most iconic movies of the 1990s. Rent on Apple TV
2 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
A plethora of A-list actors conjunctively planning out the most complex and sophisticated casino robbery in Ocean’s Eleven still evokes chills. Steven Soderbergh’s excellent remake of the Rat Pack classic sees Danny Ocean (George Clooney) plotting his next move less than 24 hours into parole from a New Jersey penitentiary. If anyone ever has plans to complete a stint in corrections, the state of New Jersey is probably a safe bet, filled as it is with the country’s most dapper white-collared criminals. Enlisting assistance from his friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), the two assemble a crew of nine professional con men.
An Ensemble Cast Led by a Masterful Director
The artistry behind Ocean’s Eleven makes rooting for criminals not seem like such a bad idea; the guys are all lovable and funny, plus they’re not supposed to steal from anyone who doesn’t deserve it. But the danger and thrill combine perfectly in the third act to make one of the most effortlessly cool movies with one of the greatest heists in cinema. The astronomical success of the super-cool Oceans Eleven launched a franchise that included two direct sequels, an all-female spin-off film with Sandra Bullock playing Danny Ocean’s sister, and now a prequel is in the works that will reunite Barbie stars, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Stream on Peacock Premium
1 Heat (1995)
Heat
- Release Date
- December 15, 1995
Heat takes place as two opposite sides clash in an action drama that’s as underrated as it is distinct from others in its genre. It narrates the stories of an LAPD detective (Al Pacino’s Vincent Hanna) and a criminal mastermind (Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley) as they collide in the middle of a journey of self-awareness while their worlds crumble because of their own acts. Michael Mann’s crime epic is a thought-provoking drama supported by two main storylines that, though they stand on opposite sides of the spectrum, have much to do with each other. It’s about dualism brought to the extreme by an inevitable encounter in which sincerity draws the best and worst of two men together. The cat-and-mouse theme is mighty throughout the film, but this is not your average crime film.
A Crime Epic that Still Feels Relevant
The film is certainly one of the most influential heist movies in cinema, as its influence can be felt in many of the movies on this list, particularly those of Christopher Nolan, who cited it as an inspiration for both The Dark Knight and Inception. From the opening car truck theft to the bank heist in the middle of the movie with a massive shootout, Heat is a heist movie that is also a modern-day epic set in Los Angeles and a thoughtful character study. Needless to say, it’s the best heist film ever made. Stream on Hulu
To stay in tune with American-made films, here’s a video of the best American horror films of the 1950s:
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
