Best Crime Movies of All Time - Based on 42 Online Movie Rankings

 

 

Scene from Shawshank Redemption (1994), ranked 11th among crime movies making 12% of top fives.

 Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best crime movies of all time. Our team found 42 published rankings and ended up with 67 top movies. Reel Fives has taken all of these rankings and aggregated them into definitive rankings for the top crime movies of all time. For each ranked list of top movies for the crime movie genre we found online we have taken the top five ranked films. The original sources of rankings on top crime movies are included at the bottom of this post and include rankings of the best movies in the genre created by movie experts as well as rankings from polling sites, such as ranker.com.

The film industry and audiences love nuanced plotlines, such as determining what is right and what is wrong and who gets to decide, and crime movies provide that. Crime movies and gangster movies share those nuances and that is seen in the rankings. The Godfather (1972), the all-time best crime movie (also the top gangster movie), mixes suspense and mob politics. Though The Godfather (1972) is mostly dialogue and slow building action, it is able to engage the audience as much as more commercially driven action movies. Director Francis Ford Coppola is careful not to let audiences know too much about who will run the mob and uses violence to show who has the power. Goodfellas (1990), ranked second (also ranks second in the gangster genre), revolves around another mob family and who gets to ultimately run the mob.  The Godfather: Part II (1974), ranked third on both lists, looks back on the family’s history in the 1920s. In these top three films, similar elements are present: mob families, mob politics, suspense, and great dialogue.

While gangster movies dominated the rankings, not all the top crime movies were gangster films. Crime films also include thrillers, heist, action, and even superhero movies. Silence of the Lambs (1991), ranked fifth, follows an FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodi Foster) as she attempts to get into the mind of a serial killer so that she can find another serial killer. She learns about his crimes in excruciating detail, and the movie shows the brutality of the crimes. Gotham is riddled with crime, and Batman (Christian Bale) must defeat the Joker (Heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight (2008), ranked seventh. Two prisoners bond and plot their escape in The Shawshank Redemption (1994), ranked eleventh. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding (Morgan Freeman) commit acts of kindness in the hopes of being redeemed by themselves and society. Heat (1995), ranked eighth, is a game of cat and mouse after bank robbers accidentally leave a clue at a heist. These crime movies have similar elements as gangster movies, but differ in that they center on individuals, not groups.

The rankings showed the influence of the gangster genre in the crime genre and it is no surprise that the gangster films ranked high. The crime genre is more than cat and mouse; it delves into the minds of criminals. In The Dark Knight (2008) the audience learns about the Joker’s backstory and why he is the way he his. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) draws attention to the lives of Andy and Red before they went to prison. Criminals on a whole are not bad all the time. In fact, criminals can have humanity and be redeemed. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) centers on the idea of redemption and argues criminals are indeed redeemable. Great crime films include elements of suspense, thriller, and humanity. Though mob bosses show extreme brutality, they also have their kryptonite (such as a child, lover, parents), thus rounding out the edges in the crime genre. 

 

Top 67 Movies based on 42 published rankings
Percent of online top fives movies appear in shown
1 . The Godfather (1972): 59.5%
2 . GoodFellas (1990): 59.5%
3 . The Godfather: Part II (1974): 54.7%
4 . Pulp Fiction (1994): 30.9%
5 . The Silence of the Lambs (1991): 16.6%
6 . Chinatown (1974): 16.6%
7 . The Dark Knight (2008): 16.6%
8 (tied). Scarface (1983): 14.2%
8 (tied). Heat (1995): 14.2%
10 . The Departed (2006): 14.2%
11 (tied). The Shawshank Redemption (1994): 11.9%
11 (tied). Once Upon a Time in America (1984): 11.9%
13 . Seven (1995): 9.52%
14 . The Untouchables (1987): 7.14%
15 (tied). Reservoir Dogs (1992): 7.14%
15 (tied). Rashomon (1950): 7.14%
17 (tied). The Sting (1973): 7.14%
17 (tied). L.A Confidential (1997): 7.14%
19 . City of God (2002): 7.14%
20 . Die Hard (1988): 4.76%
21 (tied). Double Indemnity (1944): 4.76%
21 (tied). Bonnie and Clyde (1967): 4.76%
23 . The Godfather: Part III (1990): 4.76%
24 (tied). Vertigo (1958): 4.76%
24 (tied). Touch of Evil (1958): 4.76%
24 (tied). Rear Window (1954): 4.76%
24 (tied). Taxi Driver (1976): 4.76%
28 . Badlands (1973): 4.76%
29 . The Usual Suspects (1995): 4.76%
30 (tied). Witness for the Prosecution (1957): 2.38%
30 (tied). Lethal Weapon (1987): 2.38%
30 (tied). The Woman in the Window (1944): 2.38%
30 (tied). Maltese Falcon (1941): 2.38%
34 (tied). Law Abiding Citizen (2009): 2.38%
34 (tied). The Big Sleep (1946): 2.38%
36 (tied). Internal Affairs (1990): 2.38%
36 (tied). Get Carter (1971): 2.38%
36 (tied). Donnie Brasco (1997): 2.38%
36 (tied). Public Enimies (2009): 2.38%
36 (tied). Breathless (1960): 2.38%
36 (tied). Memento (2000): 2.38%
36 (tied). Mean Streets (1973): 2.38%
36 (tied). A Prophet (2009): 2.38%
36 (tied). Rififi (1955): 2.38%
36 (tied). Z (1969): 2.38%
46 (tied). Gun Crazy (1950): 2.38%
46 (tied). Boardwalk Empire (2010): 2.38%
46 (tied). The Night of the Hunter (1955): 2.38%
46 (tied). Thief (1981): 2.38%
46 (tied). Miller’s Crossing (1990): 2.38%
46 (tied). Dog Day Afternoon (1975): 2.38%
46 (tied). Casino (1995): 2.38%
46 (tied). Leon: The Professional (1994): 2.38%
46 (tied). Festen (1998): 2.38%
55 (tied). The French Connection (1971): 2.38%
55 (tied). Dirty Harry (1971): 2.38%
55 (tied). The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): 2.38%
55 (tied). The Public Enemy (1931): 2.38%
55 (tied). Ocean's Eleven (2001): 2.38%
55 (tied). On The Waterfront (1954): 2.38%
55 (tied). Carlito's Way (1993): 2.38%
55 (tied). Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya (1979): 2.38%
55 (tied). Zodiac (2007): 2.38%
55 (tied). The 400 Blows (1959): 2.38%
55 (tied). Deux Hommes Dans Manhattan (1959): 2.38%
55 (tied). Cool Hand Luke (1967): 2.38%
55 (tied). Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (1970): 2.38%
Crime Movie Ranking Sources
Good Movies List	List of top 10 (link)
IGN	List of top 25 (link)
Film Crave	List of top 500 (link)
Ranker	List of top 430 (link)
Entertainment.ie	List of top 10 (link)
What Culture	List of top 10 (link)
Paste	List of top 100 (link)
Flick Chart	List of top 250 (link)
List Challenges	List of top 25 (link)
TSL5	List of top 10 (link)
Crime Fiction Lover	List of top 20 (link)
Made Man	List of top 10 (link)
Listology	List of top 44 (link)
Masters in Criminal Justice	List of top 100 (link)
Share Ranks	List of top 23 (link)
Fact O Fun	List of top 10 (link)
Top Teny	List of top 10 (link)
Board Game Geek	List of top 100 (link)
The Story Plant Fiction Studio Books	List of top 5 (link)
Info Barrel	List of top 10 (link)
Twitika	List of top 20 (link)
IMDb	List of top 100 (link)
Games Radar	List of top 40 (link)
Film School WTF	List of top 100 (link)
List Challenges	List of top 22 (link)
Goliath	List of top 11 (link)
All Things Crime	List of top 5 (link)
Film Vandaag	List of top 100 (link)
The Guardian	List of top 10 (link)
IMDb	List of top 50 (link)
Made Man	List of top 10 (link)
Screen Junkies	List of top 10 (link)
The Quentin Tarantion Archives	List of top 10 (link)
Top 5	List of top 5 (link)
Greatest Movies	List of top 10 (link)
Listology	List of top 81 (link)
Film Gourmand	List of top 20 (link)
List Challenges	List of top 100 (link)
London Lifestyle	List of top 10 (link)
The 10 Best	List of top 20 (link)
Movie Film Review	List of top 100 (link)
Dead Good	List of top 5 (link)

 

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