Real-life crime might not be the greatest thing in the world, but movies about crime? That's another matter altogether. The crime genre is one of the most thrilling, engrossing, and emotional of all the core movie genres. Some offer escapism through anti-hero characters, some fictionalize real-life stories in a more cinematic fashion, and some are more serious, tackling grim or dark stories that aim to challenge audiences or otherwise prove thought-provoking.

It's naturally a genre that's all-encompassing, given how fun some crime movies can be, and how crushingly sad or brutally realistic others can be. Some even juggle multiple tones at once, and so it stands to reason that the crime genre can be pretty easily combined with other genres. As such, coming up with a definitive list of the greatest crime movies of all time is a difficult task, but what follows is an attempt to do just that (and hopefully, any potential omissions won't feel too criminal).

25 'Ocean's Eleven' (2001)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

2001's Ocean's Eleven is the rare example of a remake surpassing the original. While the 1960 film of the same name was decent for its time, the updated version made noticeable improvements when it came to tone, pacing, and characters, and is an overall breezier, more enjoyable heist movie than the original. It also has one of the most impressive casts of all time, including big names like George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts, too.

The plot is technically about assembling a team to steal $150 million from several Las Vegas casinos in one night, but it's really just an excuse to get as many big Hollywood stars in one movie as possible (and the cast is great, so it's hard to complain). Its sequels weren't quite as good, but Ocean's Eleven holds up well as a solidly entertaining crime/thriller movie.

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24 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' (1989)

Directed by Peter Greenaway

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover takes place inside a classy restaurant... though the titular thief (Michael Gambon in an amazing villainous performance) dining there every night is making it a far less desirable place. He bullies his entourage of gang members, makes the restaurant staff uncomfortable, and consistently torments his wife (Helen Mirren), who one day strikes back against his behavior by starting an affair with one of the restaurant's other frequent patrons.

This kicks off a very disturbing yet engrossing (and also just kind of gross) story about murder, sex, abuse, and greed, and on top of all that, it can also be read as a darkly comedic critique of Britain's political climate in the 1980s. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a brilliant, nauseating, relentless, and multi-layered film, and arguably one of the most underrated within the crime genre.

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23 'Gangs of Wasseypur' (2012)

Directed by Anurag Kashyap

An Indian crime epic that runs for over five hours and was released in two parts, Gangs of Wasseypur is everything you could want out of a large-scale gangster movie. It begins in the 1940s and ends seven decades later, telling the story of three generations worth of warfare between two crime families in the Indian city of Dhanbad.

It's a film that overall wears its influences on its sleeve, but borrows from enough sources - and remixes them in interesting enough ways - to ensure it never feels like it's ripping anything off. There's nothing else quite like it, and it impressively stays exciting and entertaining for every minute of its gargantuan runtime. This makes Gangs of Wasseypur a fantastic epic movie, and one of the best to come out in the last decade or so, with the 5+ hours of runtime being more than worth sticking with.

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22 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Al Pacino has always been able to pull off some fantastically "big" performances, and the classic Dog Day Afternoon gives him plenty of chances to do just that. It's a consistently tense film, following the true story of a bank robbery that spirals out of control and becomes a huge sensation in the news.

It's such an efficiently paced and always engaging movie, with the action kicking off almost immediately and things never really letting up until the end. Dog Day Afternoon is the kind of film where it feels as though everything fits into place neatly, and as such, it's hard to come up with too many things about it that can be criticized. When it comes to picking which Al Pacino movies are the best he ever starred in, Dog Day Afternoon will always be right up there.

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21 'White Heat' (1949)

Directed by Raoul Walsh

Old-school black-and-white gangster movies might feel like a product of their time to some fans of the crime genre, but those viewers might be surprised to learn how well some of the genre's early films hold up. White Heat was by no means the first film of its kind, but it arguably represents the "classic" (or at least pre-1960s) gangster movie at its best. White Heat stands out among these classic gangster films, considering it was released in the 1940s rather than the 1930s, but is definitely a highlight of its decade.

It follows one particularly intense criminal as he plans a heist shortly after breaking out of prison, only for things to inevitably collapse around him. It stars the great James Cagney in what might be his very best role, and proves to be an explosive send-off to the sorts of crime movies that Hollywood made in the 1930s and 1940s.

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20 'The Untouchables' (1987)

Directed by Brian De Palma

Crime movies set during the Prohibition era don't get much more iconic than The Untouchables. Make no mistake; it's a far from historically accurate movie, but is instead a highly fictionalized (and very Hollywood) depiction of how law enforcement agent Eliot Ness put together a team to try and take down Al Capone and his criminal empire.

As long as you accept that it breaks from reality a bunch of times, The Untouchables is a blast. It's got a great cast that includes Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, and Sean Connery, features the flash and style you'd expect from a Brian De Palma movie, and also has a great score by the legendary Ennio Morricone. Perhaps it's a little bit schmaltzy and over-the-top in parts, but in typical De Palma style, the heightened elements of The Untouchables work and serve to make it more memorable.

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19 'Rope' (1948)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

There are obviously plenty of great Alfred Hitchcock movies that cross over into the crime genre, though many are more clearly identifiable as thrillers. Still, it would be unjust to completely pass over all Hitchcock movies when going over some of the best crime movies of all time, and one of his best (and most underrated) crime-related movies would have to be Rope.

It follows two young men who attempt to pull off the perfect crime and get away with it, hiding the body of their newly murdered classmate under a table and then having his family/friends around to their apartment for a dinner party. Rope takes place in real-time and is filmed to look like one shot, making it a technical marvel on top of being tension-filled and exciting throughout.

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18 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)

Directed by Sergio Leone

It's fitting that Sergio Leone's final film ends up feeling like a farewell to a certain point in history, as well as something of a eulogy for the gangster genre as a whole, given its deconstructive nature. That film is the nearly four-hour epic Once Upon a Time in America, and it stands to this day as a massive achievement that's seldom been topped; indeed, one of Leone's very best movies, which is really saying something.

It spans decades and follows several young boys who grow up to become successful bootleggers during Prohibition, only for greed to tear their once tight-knit group apart. Once Upon a Time in America is a disturbing and sometimes hard-to-watch film, but is ultimately a powerful one that's unafraid to show a criminal lifestyle at its ugliest (that it looks and sounds beautiful also helps it hold up as a masterpiece).

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17 'Uncut Gems' (2019)

Directed by The Safdie Brothers

While Uncut Gems has a little comedic relief, those expecting it to be a light-hearted and/or silly comedy like most Adam Sandler movies are going to be in for a shock. It's an anxiety-inducing movie about a compulsive jeweler who never knows when to quit, and is continually borrowing money (and angering loan sharks) in his never-ending quest to earn the ultimate score. This makes Uncut Gems a dark comedy, an intense thriller, and a grim exploration of the nature of addiction, too.

Much of the film has a frantic feel to it, with constant profane dialogue - much of it yelled - and characters seemingly always talking over each other. Like its protagonist, Uncut Gems never slows down, and though it might be too stomach-churning for some to handle, you have to admire a film that can sustain a level of stress for an entire 2+ hour runtime.

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16 'L.A. Confidential' (1997)

Directed by Curtis Hanson

The original era of film noir movies may have only lasted throughout the 1940s and 1950s, but movies like L.A. Confidential have been instrumental in keeping the spirit of film noir alive. It's one of the best neo-noir movies of all time, and follows three detectives in the 1950s who are trying to solve a series of brutal murders.

L.A. Confidential is an exciting and unpredictable film, and has more than enough plot twists and narrative left-turns to keep even hardened film noir connoisseurs on their toes. It's a dark, gritty, but always entertaining look at Hollywood's sleazier side, and seamlessly catapulted various film noir tropes and traditions into the post-modern 1990s. L.A. Confidential is certainly the greatest film Curtis Hanson ever made, and probably stands as the best movie Kim Basinger has ever appeared in, too.

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15 'Badlands' (1973)

Directed by Terrence Malick

In his debut feature film, Terrence Malick took on writing, directing, and producing duties, and made a movie that stands as a classic of the crime genre in the process. The movie in question is 1973's Badlands, which follows two young lovebirds who go on the run after one of them commits a murder. It's straightforward in a way that stands out among Terrence Malick's films, but retains the poetic visuals and overall feel present in his later films.

Violent crimes follow this murder, leading them to need to venture further away from civilization if they're to have any chance of living in peace. Badlands is a movie that's as poetic as it is shocking and violent, and is overall a beautifully shot and surprisingly emotional film that also contains two great performances from Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen (both very young at the time of release).

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14 'City of God' (2002)

Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund

City of God is frequently regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian films of all time, and is right up there with the best crime movies of the 21st century so far. It follows a large group of characters who are living in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, following them while they're children in the 1960s and then teenagers/young adults in the 1970s.

It spans a good deal of time and bounces around between characters frequently, but never becomes unfocused or hard to follow. It's a well-balanced and very moving film, and highlights a difficult and often cutthroat way of life that was reality for many, given the film's loosely based on true events and people. City of God doesn't just work as an ambitious/sprawling gangster film, but its focus on younger characters also enables it to be a surprisingly great coming-of-age movie.

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13 'Chinatown' (1974)

Directed by Roman Polanski

Neo-noir crime mysteries don't get a whole lot more iconic than Chinatown. It's a film that's set in Los Angeles during the 1930s, and follows a private detective (played by Jack Nicholson, who's seldom been better than he is here) who gets wrapped up in a surprisingly complex conspiracy that involves murder, corruption, and various other unpleasant things.

The plot thickens after basically every individual scene in Chinatown, but it's never too confusing for viewers who are open to paying attention, with the film striking a great balance between being clear and also keeping various mysteries up in the air. It all comes together (and comes crashing down) during its memorable ending, too, which is essentially what cements an already very good film as a classic.

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12 'Double Indemnity' (1944)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Even though it's almost 80 years old, Double Indemnity is still a fantastic watch and has basically aged like a fine wine. When it comes to picking the greatest classic film noir movie of all time, Double Indemnity is usually a contender, as it epitomizes the genre and represents the overall style of film noir at its best.

In classic noir fashion, the protagonist is an inquisitive man who gets immersed too deeply into a complex plot filled with betrayal, greed, and passion, and it benefits from having an all-time great femme fatale villain as well. Parts of it might feel cliché nowadays, but Double Indemnity was a formative film noir movie, and in many ways helped define how these sorts of movies play out, which is something that most classic movies tend to do.

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11 'Reservoir Dogs' (1992)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino exploded onto the film scene with his debut feature, Reservoir Dogs, and his career has been going strong ever since. It's a complex film made with a fairly low budget, centering on the aftermath of a heist that went disastrously wrong, and the way all the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of their own may be working with the police.

Reservoir Dogs is a fierce and often confronting film, being surprisingly uncompromising for a director's debut, and overall manages to be one of his most violent movies while also being a little more grim and serious than many of the movies he'd direct after 1992. Yet it's also very stylish and consistently entertaining, and though it borrows from other movies (as Tarantino likes to do), it combines its influences in a way that still manages to feel distinct and unlike much else out there.

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10 'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967)

Directed by Arthur Penn

The American film industry started to get more radical in the 1960s (an undeniably great decade for cinema, it has to be said), with the movement away from the Hays Code and towards auteur filmmaking ultimately giving birth to the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. And one film that's always mentioned as being instrumental in ushering in that era is 1967's Bonnie and Clyde.

Bonnie and Clyde is a stylish depiction of its titular duo's exploits during The Great Depression, with the two falling in love and pursuing a restless life of crime, mainly through various bank robberies. For its time, Bonnie and Clyde was a shockingly violent and jarringly edited movie, but it helped redefine what the American film industry was capable of producing, and helped audiences get acclimated to a higher level of violence and more morally complex characters.

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9 'Zodiac' (2007)

Directed by David Fincher

The Zodiac Killer is one of the most infamous serial killers in history, particularly because the five known murders they committed remain unsolved to this day. 2007's Zodiac is a film that explores the drama surrounding the case at the time it was unfolding, and follows three determined men who try (yet ultimately fail) to identify the killer.

Making a movie about such a well-known case could have led to something uninspired or superfluous, but director David Fincher spared no expense in making the most comprehensive movie about the case possible, leading to a great film. It remains unnerving and engaging for its entire runtime (over 2.5 hours) even with the knowledge that the movie will ultimately finish with the case still unresolved. It's safe to say that this makes Zodiac a tremendously intense and uneasy crime/mystery film.

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8 'High and Low' (1963)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

One of many great Akira Kurosawa movies, High and Low is a film that shows the legendary Japanese filmmaker was capable of more than just samurai movies. High and Low follows a complex kidnapping case after the employee of an executive has his son held for ransom, with the executive becoming a victim of extortion as a result.

It's a movie that always moves at a steady pace, benefiting from Kurosawa's typically great direction and a large cast that showcases some of Japan's best actors, including the always great Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai (who also starred in Kurosawa's Ran), and Takashi Shimura (who's the actor who most often collaborated with Kurosawa). It's a complex and rewarding film, and arguably the greatest Japanese crime movie of all time.

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7 'Scarface' (1983)

Directed by Brian De Palma

Even though 1932's Scarface is very good, 1983's Scarface is even better. It's a perfect crime movie for the 1980s, being big, showy, and even excessive while exploring excess, greed, and the unstoppable appetite of its main character, Tony Montana, which ultimately proves to be his downfall. Its message is far from subtle, but the overall bombastic style and theatricality of Scarface makes it work, and it ends up being a surprisingly great morality play as a result.

Scarface may be a little over-the-top for some, but it embraces those over-the-top elements and weaponizes its grandiosity to comment on the criminal lifestyle of its heavily flawed protagonist. That it does this while also having great pacing, fantastically bombastic performances, and an iconic soundtrack is inevitably what makes it such a superb crime film.

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6 'Fargo' (1996)

Directed by The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers are no strangers to crime-related movies, and though 2007's No Country for Old Men was their most successful come awards season, it's 1996's Fargo that arguably stands as their best crime movie (or maybe even their best film in general). If you were to count it as a comedy, it would have to rank as one of their best, though it's arguably more of a crime/drama/thriller film than a comedy.

Fargo has an iconic setting, endlessly quotable dialogue, and too many memorable performances to count, with Frances McDormand (who's been in a great many movies directed by the Coen Brothers) winning an Oscar for her lead performance as Marge Gunderson. It's thrilling, darkly funny, and even has a surprising amount of heart for a crime movie, making it an all-around classic by any definition of the word.

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