"When you dance with the devil, you wait for the song to stop."
Audiences have been flocking to theaters to watch gangster movies since before the introduction of "talkies," enticed by the opportunity to be a tourist in the violent world of career criminals without any of the risk associated with the reality of the lifestyle. The genre has been dominated by the stories of desperate Italian immigrants struggling to make it in America and Italian-American mafiosos who temper their ruthlessnes with strict codes of conduct, such as in The Godfather, considered the second greatest film in American cinema by the American Film Institute.
But, the "face" of gangster movies has become less defined in the past two decades as America has become more diverse and moviegoers more accepting of foreign imports. Modern masters like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma continue to elevate the genre by perfecting it, while innovative filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and Takashi Miike have helped to broaden the genre by refusing to be slaves to gangster movie tropes. Hide your stash, check your clip, and help us choose the latest, greatest gangster movies.
Top 10 Best Gangster Movies of the Past 20 Years >>
Posted 11.08.12 by BrentJS