The Best Gangster and Mafia Films

The Godfather trilogy is the best known and loved franchise that falls into our genre list of best gangster and mafia films. In late 1940's New York, Mafia 'Godfather' Vito Corleone gathers his three sons around him for daughter Connie's wedding; the hot-headed Sonny, ineffectual Fredo and war hero Michael, who chooses to distance himself from the family 'business'. When Vito is shot and wounded for refusing to sanction a rival family's heroin sales on his territory, Sonny temporarily takes over and embarks on bloody gang warfare. This results in him being killed in an ambush, and Michael finds himself nominated to succeed the ailing Vito.

Here comes the king of the Gangster and Mafia films, director Martin Scorsese! To many, Scorsese is a synonym for good crime films, especially in the gangster genre. And Goodfellas is considered one of his best films, with some of the strongest names - Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (received an Oscar for his role) and Ray Liotta as main characters. This is a true story of Henry Hill, based on a non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. This film views the mob lives of three pivotal figures in the 1960's and 70's New York. For a special experience, rent Goodfellas on 4K Blu-ray and find out more in three featured documentaries: Getting Made, Made Men: The GoodFellas Legacy and The Workaday Gangster.

Martin Scorsese's first appearance on the best Gangster and Mafia films list is with The Departed. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone... isn't that enough to make you want to watch this gangster film? The story follows rookie cop Billy Costigan who grew up surrounded by crime. Is he an undercover cop or a mole in the police - this film will keep you wondering until the very end. Actually, The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. One of the few highly praised remakes, but what else to expect from a director like Scorsese and an all-star cast.

Snatch is most certainly one of the finer works by director Guy Ritchie and the best Gangster and Mafia films list would be incomplete without it. Ritchie has an edgy and funny at the same time approach to filmmaking which is in this case complimented with great cast including Brad Pitt, Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro and Dennis Farina among others. The plot of the film is set around a diamond heist gone wrong, a colourful Irish gypsy turned prize fighter... and a very temperamental dog. Snatch may be what you expect from a gangster film, but it's also much more so be sure to rent it on DVD and Blu-ray if you haven't seen it.

Yes, Pulp Fiction belongs on the best Gangster and Mafia films list - John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson deliver career performances as petty thugs in L.A.'s criminal underworld. This is the film that showed the full potential and started a legacy for the director/writer Quentin Tarantino. A trait most of Tarantino's films share is intertwined tales, in this case, four tales of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits. The memorable cast also includes Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis and Rosanna Arquette. Be sure to check it out on DVD because it comes with an additional disc full of special features to enjoy as a proper film buff.

This film even has a word gangster in the title, which makes it a perfect entry for the best Gangster and Mafia films list. Starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, American Gangster is inspired by a true story of Frank Lucas, a gangster from North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. When police officer Richie Roberts sets out to bring down Lucas's multimillion-dollar empire, it plunges both men into a legendary confrontation. The film is directed and produced by Ridley Scott who has a long list of successful titles before and after American Gangster.

Another master's name for the Gangster and Mafia films genre is the director Brian De Palma. The Untouchables is just one of the examples, which is a must-see masterpiece. Kevin Costner stars as Eliot Ness, federal agent who's vowed to bring down a gangland kingpin Al Capone (played by Robert De Niro). The film also stars Sean Connery as Malone, and Andy Garcia among other big names. Ness forms the Untouchables team to bring Capone to justice during Prohibition. Blu-ray edition brings quite a few treats for the lovers of gangster genre, including original featurette: The Man and Reinventing the Genre.

This gangster classic is a perfect addition to the best Gangster and Mafia films list. Angels with Dirty Faces reunites James Cagney and Pat O'Brien for the sixth time, and they're joined by other great actors like Humphrey Bogart, Dead End Kids and Ann Sheridan. The film chronicles the rise and fall of the notorious gangster William "Rocky" Sullivan, with plot focused on the part where a priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids. For a special viewing of this 1938 gangster classic, we highly recommend you check it out on DVD where you'll find plenty of additional material such as Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1938 with Newsreel, Musical Short Out Where the Stars Begin, Cartoon Porky and Daffy and New Featurette Angels with Dirty Faces: Whaddya Hear? Whaddya Say.

City of God is sometimes marketed as the Brazilian Goodfellas, and yes, they share a few similarities when it comes to the best Gangster and Mafia films. This film is set in Rio de Janeiro's most infamous slum, Cidade de Deus also known as CDD. The slum was planned as part of the policy to remove favelas from the centre of the city. City of God is a true story of a young man and his ambition as a photographer, and his struggle growing up on these streets where even the police rarely visit. The film received worldwide critical acclaim, including four Academy Award nominations. As a part of the world cinema and gangster genre, this is one film you must-see.

The Killing is a film noir, but also falls into the category of Gangster and Mafia films. It's directed by then 27-year old Stanley Kubrick, his third full-length picture, and it's based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. The film follows a story about crooks planning and executing a daring $2 million race-track robbery, and everybody wants to be in on the action. But the real action begins when the plan gets foiled and disaster ensues. The main cast includes Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray and Vince Edwards. The Killing has gained a cult following, among other works by Kubrick.