Crime Movies

This is the best genre of all. The late 60's and early 70's gave us the best of the crime films -Dirty Harry, French Connection etc. It was not until the 1990s that the mantle was picked up by Martin Scorcese who gave us what many people consider the best of all time: Goodfellas. Please be warned that some of the You Tube links on this page are a bit sweary.....

Here are the best Crime Films Ever;

Casino - 1995

Apart from being possibly the best crime film ever, this is also possibly the best film ever made. If you are reading this, Steve G of Wincanton, then I respect your position but I am in complete disagreement with you. This is the most complex and well made of all of the organised crime pix, the cast is superb (De Niro, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone etc), the story complex (but at least the narrative - mainly delivered by De Niro and Pesci - explains everything). This film is best viewed as a companion piece to Goodfellas (see below). If Goodfellas is the blue collar end of the American organised crime story, then Casino is certainly set in the upper reaches of it

Basically it is the story of a time when the Mafia ran Las Vegas (before the big corporations and the Mormons moved in!) - and then buggered it all up. Contains a memorable turn from Joe Pesci wherein he plays a violent bloke who swears a lot.

Best Bit - that bit where the whole operation comes to an end - basically a tying up of all the loose ends section where everyone who could betray anyone is killed, anyone who has betrayed anyone is killed (this is where you see Joe Pesci buried alive, which has to be the most horrible scene in the history of cinema) and De Niro goes for afternoon drive in his Cadillac. This is all done with House of the Rising Sun as the soundtrack - which shows how Scorcese uses the soundtrack to drive his films along.

Goodfellas - 1990

This IS possibly the second best crime film ever made. Once again, it stars the classic coupling of De Niro and Pesci,  Martin Scorcese again directing, with the soundtrack acting almost as much as another cast member. Contains a memorable turn from Joe Pesci wherein he plays a violent bloke who swears a lot.

Basically it is the story of the rise of one Henry Hill in the New York Mafia, his addiction and eventual fall into the witness protection programme. This story is based on the story of the same Henry Hill who somewhere is living under a new name in the USof A.

Best Bit - that bit where bodies start to turn up all over New York to the strains of Layla.

The French Connection - 1971

The best crime pic of the 1970's FACT. Untouchable in the car chase department (for those of you having an internal dialogue - Bullit does not have a better car chase) and the cast is superb - Gene Hackman and Roy Schieder. What I like best about this is the portryal of the two cops who are not very nice blokes at all - indistinguishable from the villans they are chasing. This was the begiining of the cop as an anti-hero (that would eventually give us the Sweeney on this side of the shores, eventually morphing into Gene Hunt).

Basically it is the story of two New York Cops who stumble upon the drugs bust of the century, involving a French actor, a car, and a lot of Heroin. This is actually based on a true story of what was then the biggest drugs bust ever. The actual two cops involved in that bust have bit parts in this movie.

Best Bit - that car chase. William Friedkin knew that he had to better Bullit, which at that time was the benchmark for car chases, so he filmed on real streets with real traffic - that car that Gene Hackman hits was some poor sod who just bumbeled into the shot (they were paid off to avoid a lawsuit - cannot see that happening now!). This was due to that fact that they knew that they would never get permission to film such a chase so they did it anyway. William Friedkin; Loony. The youtube link above lets you see this chase.

L.A Confidential - 1997

Now bad cops were not a product of the 1970's alone. This film portrays police corruption way back in 1950's Los Angeles. Based on James Elroy's complicated book. In fact, this film works so well (despite departing from the book somewhat) that it is difficult to see how two Australian actors (Russel Crowe and Guy Pearce - who once shamed himself by appearing in Neighbours), Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey could have come together so well.

Basically it is the story of three very different cops: Edward Exley (Guy Pearce), Bud White (Russel Crowe) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) who uncover a web of corruption with their boss at the heart of things.

Best Bit - Bud White reveals a very proactive approach to interviewing suspects.... see the YouTube link above.

The Godfather - 1971

Endlessly quotable and rewatchable (especially on Sunday shift when I worked at P&O @ 0600) - the ultimate Mafia Epic. What a cast, what a story and you can phone up your friends and annoy them with the endless quotes. This is the high-end of the crime movie, portraying the royalty. The first two films are brilliantly made and made the disaster that was Part III all the more painful.

Basically - the rise of the wayward son into the family business he initially hates but ends up being a bit of a dab hand at.

Best Bit - shooting Solozo and McClusky, the musical soundtrack replaced by the sound of a subway train to build tension.

Fargo - 1996

Yah! Superb and really nasty - if there is a sub genre for crime films that star really useless criminals then this is it. The Coen Brothers prove that the crime pic really is their best field (they have had a go at several types of films but this is the best of the lot).

Basically it is the story of a really stupid car salesman who pays some really stupid crims to kidnap his wife so he can cash in on the ransom money. The pic above is Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson (who many people thought was based on a real person - wrong! The real Brainerd Sheriff is really pissed off with getting fan mail so please don't send him any) - she won an Oscar.

Best Bit - getting pulled over by a cop in the middle of nowhere and not really being able to explain the fact that you have dealer plates on your car, then trying to bribe him, then having a job explaining the body on your back seat (they solve this by shooting the copper) - and then having to dispose of the body whilst two locals drive past - who then get killed themselves lest they go and tell someone what they have seen.

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