The action gangster subgenre is characterized almost entirely by the organized crime gangs of Lower Manhattan. Our associations may be somewhat limited to New Yorkers of Italian descent, who say "cwoffee" instead of "coffee," have large, extended families, and deal in drugs, robberies, murders, and mass fraud.
However, this would be a limited perspective of a genre that encompasses a wide variety of urban gunfighters and not just the mafioso type. While this won't be an article for all the Martin Scorsese stroke Francis Ford Coppola fanatics, let's take a look at the best gangster movies that don't involve the mob...
10 Boyz n the Hood
John Singleton's 1991 crime drama, Boyz n the Hood, is an exploration of a black community in Los Angeles and their battle with the hive of criminal activity at their doorstep. The film follows the lives of three teenage friends, Tre (Cuba Golding), Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut), as they try to cope with the challenges of growing up in an underprivileged, crime-ridden area. The film confronts issues of race, violence and hope for the future.
9 Reservoir dogs
Any gangster list simply wouldn't be complete without an ode to foot fetish filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. In his gory, all-out action directorial debut, Reservoir dogsthe inglorious bastards creator delivers a lavish tale of six criminals who pull off a diamond heist, only to be foiled by the police, leading them to believe one of their crew members is an informant.
8 Cake with layers
It was in 2004 Cake with layers that Daniel Craig as the nameless, smooth-talking and impeccably proven drug dealer sealed his fate as the next face of the Bond franchise. Written and directed by Matthew Vaughn, this dazzling screenplay captures the essence of different parts of British culture through the eyes of a criminal, from the understated stables of Notting Hill to the gaudy, nondescript yellow Range Rover.
Cake with layers follows a drug dealer's bid to retire after a final deal that will see him bank a life-changing sum, but of course his plans are derailed when he must find the daughter of a disgruntled kingpin and an ecstasy catch worth £2 million.
7 In Bruges
It must infuriate the people of Bruges that the film, which technically functioned as an advertisement for the Gothic beauty of the city, uses the English spelling. Grammar aside, Martin McDonagh's dark comedy is an effortless watch that just gets better with every viewing.
With two cool hitmen, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) sent on a mysterious mission to Belgium's medieval relic, Bruges, it soon becomes clear the significance of their ill-fated journey and what Ken has been led to by the crazed Harry. must perform. In Bruges is a hilarious, brilliantly written film and arguably one of the best Irish films ever.
6 City of God
Globe movies
Brazil is a country known for its flamboyant culture, its football, the Amazon rainforest and its huge number of favelas. It is in the latter that 2002's City of God is set.
In a lawless neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, two boys, Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) and Li'l Dice (Douglas Silva), follow two very different paths, one starting out with photography and the other working his way up as a drug dealer as he aspires to be like the mobsters who have become so synonymous with his community.
5 American gangster
Denzel Washington is slick, gentle and downright brutal as Frank Lucas in Ridley Scott's stylish thriller, American gangster. After his boss's death, Lucas takes charge of the company's affairs, while at the same time running his drug cartel. He becomes responsible for transporting opium in the coffins of dead American soldiers returning from Vietnam.
This is a partly biographical story that is by no means plain sailing, as police officer Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) tries to bring his burgeoning empire to the point of collapse.
4 Sexy beast
The nouveau riche never looked so good. Many British gangsters seemed to follow the same route, making their fortunes in the British Isles through money laundering, tax evasion and a series of dodgy drug deals, banking jobs and murders, before retiring, mostly on the run, and emigrating to Spain . , where they live the Vida Loca.
2000s Sexy beast is a nod to the retired sun-chasing, sangria-drinking Essex gangsters, and is one of the best British gangster films. Ray Winstone stars as Gary Dove, a former gangster who now lives a comfortable life on the Costa del Sol. That is until a ghost from a gangster's past in the foul-mouthed, psychopathic Don (a great Ben Kingsley) reappears and demands he perform one last task.
3 Lock, stock and two smoking barrels
A British gangland classic turning 25 this year, Guy Ritchie's film Lock, stock and two smoking barrels is his definitive best as a director. The movie runs amok with Cockney-rhyming slang, quick cuts, creaky, and a story that weaves together in a harmonious yet kinetic way. It is essentially an act of Guy Ritchie extremism.
After Eddy (Nick Moran) starts a poker game with a notorious East London gangster, it turns out that he and his three friends will have to pay in blood if they can't pay the small fortune they owe. The out-of-their-depth group is inexperienced in the world of crime, and as they scramble to devise a plan, they are thrown obstacle after obstacle. It all ends up being free for the money offered between rival gangs, drug dealers and the four men.
2 Scarface
"All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I'm not breaking them for anyone!" Tony Montana yells at Sonny in Brian De Palma's cocaine-covered Scarface. An iconic 1980s classic, and arguably the defining film of its decade, follows a Cuban immigrant chasing the American dream as he and his friend Sonny make the daring ascent of Miami's drug trade.
The mixture of cocaine abuse, an abuse of ego and power, and narcissism soon begins to send the deplorable Montana into a downward spiral. It's an epic, classic film and proof that the Italian Mafia doesn't have to be present in one of the greatest gangster movies ever made.
1 Once upon a time in America
Sergio Leone's 1984 epic is a timeless action thriller and Italian legend has mastered the art of storytelling with this three-hour extravaganza. Against the backdrop of New York City, the Prohibition era, Once upon a time in America is surprisingly not a movie about a mafia crime family and instead focuses on Noodles (Robert De Niro). He is a former mobster who returns to the city after exile and must come to terms with his troubled past and the many mistakes that led to his timely departure. A remarkable photo that often resembles an opium-induced fever dream, with some of his career best performances.
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