Best Gangster Film of all Time.

[Worf101]

When you think Hoods, what flick do you immediately run for? What crime film or drama about guns and gats makes your blood boil?

Da Worfster

[kexodusc]

Wow what a list of EXCELLENT movies! I own all but 2, I'll let you guess which ones.

My totally biased, non PC, mine-all-mine opinion:

If you were to take all the excellent parts of all these movies, and filter out the crap, put all that good stuff together, and multiply it by 10, it would still fall short to the immaculate storytelling and cinematic mastery that is The Godfather story. Absolutely untouchable. To be fair though, I don't think you can isolate one movie from the other 2. (and IMO, Godfather pt. 3 doesn't get the credit it deserves, despite being a step down from I and II).

My favorite "Trilogy" by far. Star Wars and LOTR don't even come close.
Something they all share though - No F'n compromised time limits to fit additional showing in at the box office. In fact if anything, these are too long. This is a good rule of thumb for my wife and I. If the film is only 90 minutes, chances are it's rental material anyway. Though I'm sure there's a few exceptions I'm missing.

Honorable mention to "Resevoir Dogs", anyone?

[Worf101]

I only had 10 slots so...

Resevoir Dogs.
Pulp Fiction
Angels with Dirty Faces
Mean Streets
A Bronx Tale


and many, many others... failed to make the cut. Just wanted to let you know I'm not totally brain dead. I picked "The Usual Suspects" because it was such a complete surprise. From begining to end you were totally drawn in and never, ever saw it coming. Superb film making and a flat out amazing scripting and casting. What a film.

Da Worfster

[GMichael]

I had to pick the Godfadda based on the fact that I liked it. Sorry, no indepth reasons. Just, liked it.

[steamboy 2]

STATE OF GRACE (SEAN PENN,GARY OLDMAN,ED HARRIS - 1990 )
pretty good & overlooked most times

THE UNTOCHABLES ( ONE OF THE BEST GANGSTER FILMS )

FOR NOW THAT'S WHAT I CAN COME UP WITH.

[topspeed]

The Usual Suspects is "gangster?" I guess I never thought about it that way. Easily one of my favs, but Godfather (in particular GFII) gets my vote. There are simply no flaws to that film.

Some other movies that might qualify as gangster are:

Boys n' the Hood (different gang, same idea, terrific direction and performances all around)
Casino (how this didn't make the list, I'll never know)
Shark Tale (hey, it's got DeNiro and Scorcese, it has to be gangster, right? )

[Smokey]

Dam it Worf, you only allowed one vote per member

Voted for GF, but wanted to vote for Scarface (Pacino ) and Goodfellas also

[Kam]

i voted fo' cagney... you dirrty rahtss....

[Worf101]

Dam it Worf, you only allowed one vote per member

Voted for GF, but wanted to vote for Scarface (Pacino ) and Goodfellas also

Only one to a customer, go way boy you bother me....

Da Worfster

[Woochifer]

Great list, and I'm generally partial to the Godfather series, because it really set the table for the modern gangster movie genre. So many aspects of our pop culture have come out of the Godfather movies. Among the three movies in the trilogy, I would actually rank The Godfather, Part II above the original. It had so much more of an epic quality to it, and having Robert DeNiro, Bruno Kirby, et al doing that entire story arc in Italian was a very inspired idea. (certainly better than doing the whole thing with faux Italian accents)

Among the ones that I would add to the list -- you absolutely must include SOMETHING from John Woo's Hong Kong gangster pic library. A Better Tomorrow is a watershed movie because it spawned so many creative filmmakers from Hong Kong; and the genre that they collectively created has influenced a multitude of Hollywood directors who borrow heavily from the Hong Kong gangster movies. Among John Woo's works, I would put Hard Boiled up at the top of the list, simply because it's a tour de force piece of filmmaking that culminates all of the elements that Woo had been stirring into his gangster pics (the tragic anti-hero, Chow Yun Fat, the male bonding, the strength of honor, etc.), and puts them over the top with breathtaking gunfights.

[Smokey]

Among the three movies in the trilogy, I would actually rank The Godfather, Part II above the original. It had so much more of an epic quality to it, and having Robert DeNiro, Bruno Kirby, et al doing that entire story arc in Italian was a very inspired idea. (certainly better than doing the whole thing with faux Italian accents).

GF II also had alot of good strong charactor actors such as Michael Gazzo and Strasberg that played very well against Pacino's "towering" performance.

[Kam]

GF II also had alot of good strong charactor actors such as Michael Gazzo and Strasberg that played very well against Pacino's "towering" performance.

pacino held lee strasburg in the highest regard possible, and lee was also his acting coach as well. he petitioned strongly for lee to get the role of roth. it really shows with the whole faux father-figure issues going on between them that michael plays up to his own benefit.

[Woochifer]

GF II also had alot of good strong charactor actors such as Michael Gazzo and Strasberg that played very well against Pacino's "towering" performance.

Very strong performances from both of them, although on the DVD commentary track, I heard that the Michael Gazzo/Pentangeli role was created only because they could not get Richard Castellano (who played Clemenza) back for the sequel. Originally, the plot thread with Pentangeli was to have gone to Clemenza. Could have been another compelling storyline to have one of Don Vito's oldest loyalists betray Michael Corleone, especially since you saw the young Clemenza character working alongside young Vito in that story arc. Imagine going back and forth seeing the evolution of Clemenza from a trusted confidante of the father to betrayer of the son.

Amazing number of actors in both New York and L.A. have gone through the Lee Strasberg institutes. He was one of the driving forces behind method acting, which Pacino has obviously mastered.

[Kam]

Very strong performances from both of them, although on the DVD commentary track, I heard that the Michael Gazzo/Pentangeli role was created only because they could not get Richard Castellano (who played Clemenza) back for the sequel. Originally, the plot thread with Pentangeli was to have gone to Clemenza. Could have been another compelling storyline to have one of Don Vito's oldest loyalists betray Michael Corleone, especially since you saw the young Clemenza character working alongside young Vito in that story arc. Imagine going back and forth seeing the evolution of Clemenza from a trusted confidante of the father to betrayer of the son.

Amazing number of actors in both New York and L.A. have gone through the Lee Strasberg institutes. He was one of the driving forces behind method acting, which Pacino has obviously mastered.

I have to double check this, but its because, as odd as it seems, Clemenza was the highest paid actor on GF1 and wanted the same on GF2. Another big salary dispute was with James Caan, who asked, and got paid, the same salary for GF2 as he did for GF1, in spite of only being in the very last scene of GF2. Double checking on this though.

[Smokey]

I have to double check this, but its because, as odd as it seems, Clemenza was the highest paid actor on GF1 and wanted the same on GF2. Another big salary dispute was with James Caan, who asked, and got paid, the same salary for GF2 as he did for GF1, in spite of only being in the very last scene of GF2.

I always thought that last scene in GFII (where everybody is sitting around table) was something that was left over from GF 1 since everybody looked so young. If it was shot for GF II, it was very well done indeed. Just imagine how much Brando wanted if he was in that shot also

As a side note, I heard that reason Robert Duvall was not in GF 3 was because he wanted same salary as Pacino, but executives refused.

[Kam]

I always thought that last scene in GFII (where everybody is sitting around table) was something that was left over from GF 1 since everybody looked so young. If it was shot for GF II, it was very well done indeed. Just imagine how much Brando wanted if he was in that shot also

As a side note, I heard that reason Robert Duvall was not in GF 3 was because he wanted same salary as Pacino, but executives refused.

ok double checked, yep, Clemenza was the highest paid actor on GF1! it definitely would have been better if they could have brought back clemenza... completing the story arc that both of his father's trusted lieutenants end up betraying michael in some way, even though if clemenza's end would have been the same as pantangeli's, then at least clemenza wouldnt have betrayed michael to the level of Tessio.

[Woochifer]

I have to double check this, but its because, as odd as it seems, Clemenza was the highest paid actor on GF1 and wanted the same on GF2. Another big salary dispute was with James Caan, who asked, and got paid, the same salary for GF2 as he did for GF1, in spite of only being in the very last scene of GF2. Double checking on this though.

On IMDB, it indicated that the actor who played Clemenza in Part 1 wanted to write the dialog for the character in Part 2, and Coppola refused (supposedly Coppola said this in the DVD commentary track; don't recall that, but it's been a few years since I last watched the Godfather commentaries).

Keep in mind that Part 1 broke all kinds of box office records when it came out, and James Caan became a popular leading man afterwards. I would guess that a lot of the cast members got huge raises when Part 2 started filming.

[Kam]

On IMDB, it indicated that the actor who played Clemenza in Part 1 wanted to write the dialog for the character in Part 2, and Coppola refused (supposedly Coppola said this in the DVD commentary track; don't recall that, but it's been a few years since I last watched the Godfather commentaries).

Keep in mind that Part 1 broke all kinds of box office records when it came out, and James Caan became a popular leading man afterwards. I would guess that a lot of the cast members got huge raises when Part 2 started filming.

just read that trivia section too, interesting how poorly brando was treated that he didnt want to come back. i always find it interesting to see how salary demands change with sequels, ego, etc. and cast/star billing too. When i saw revenge of the sith in the theaters, i noticed ahmed best (jar jar) was billed above several other actors who actually appeared in that installment (i think we see the cgi jar jar at the end padme funeral sequence for a few seconds), and james earl jones wasn't credited at all, although that might be a good thing for him to rest his voice on the original installment (although i think he wasnt credited for those either... hmmm... back to imdb!)

[Woochifer]

just read that trivia section too, interesting how poorly brando was treated that he didnt want to come back. i always find it interesting to see how salary demands change with sequels, ego, etc. and cast/star billing too. When i saw revenge of the sith in the theaters, i noticed ahmed best (jar jar) was billed above several other actors who actually appeared in that installment (i think we see the cgi jar jar at the end padme funeral sequence for a few seconds), and james earl jones wasn't credited at all, although that might be a good thing for him to rest his voice on the original installment (although i think he wasnt credited for those either... hmmm... back to imdb!)

My recollection is that James Earl Jones was not originally credited in Star Wars (and I think David Prowse wasn't credited either). I believe that they added his name when the Special Edition came out in 1997. Not sure if any prior releases had his name in the credits. Then again, Star Wars has been tinkered with so much over the years that it's hard to remember whether something was in the original theatrical release or got added later on (even the "Episode IV: A New Hope" moniker got added to opening crawl when Star Wars was re-released in theaters before Empire came out).

Also, I remember reading about how contentious the salary negotiations got with Harrison Ford before Jedi started filming. By that time, Ford's star was rising big time and the Han Solo character was still frozen, so killing off the character was apparently an option (and presumably a bargaining chip). I recall that Mark Hamill also negotiated a handsome raise for himself (along with a percentage), which was definitely to his benefit since he hasn't had too many starring roles since then.

[ForeverAutumn]

Would you believe that I've never seen any of the Godfather movies? I know, I know, I shouldn't be allowed into this forum. I do have a friend who owns all three and has promised to lend them to me, but she always forgets to bring them along when we get together.

Anyway, I picked Goodfellas. I loved that movie! And Casino would also be high on my list. I thought that Sharon Stone was brilliant in that movie.

Scarface is another favourite. I saw that movie in an Imax theatre on an eight story high screen. Talk about impactful!!!

[Worf101]

Would you believe that I've never seen any of the Godfather movies? I know, I know, I shouldn't be allowed into this forum. I do have a friend who owns all three and has promised to lend them to me, but she always forgets to bring them along when we get together.

Anyway, I picked Goodfellas. I loved that movie! And Casino would also be high on my list. I thought that Sharon Stone was brilliant in that movie.

Scarface is another favourite. I saw that movie in an Imax theatre on an eight story high screen. Talk about impactful!!!

We've an obvious Soviet Mole on our hands!!!! Wow, this is mind boggling. Well, that's what happens when you eat too much red meat and drank too much wine.... you fall asleep and miss stuff. Ahem you are hereby commanded, commanded I say to take thyself forthwith to yon BlockethBuster and rentith thee the Trilogy of Thugery GodFather's one two and three.

Da Worfster

[ForeverAutumn]

We've an obvious Soviet Mole on our hands!!!! Wow, this is mind boggling. Well, that's what happens when you eat too much red meat and drank too much wine.... you fall asleep and miss stuff. Ahem you are hereby commanded, commanded I say to take thyself forthwith to yon BlockethBuster and rentith thee the Trilogy of Thugery GodFather's one two and three.

Da Worfster

Yes SIR!

[wayner86]

Casino is top of my list, next to the God Father of course and another honorable mention is City of God. City of God is a foreign subtitled film about gang life in the slums of brazil. I caught it on a movie channel and couldnt walk away, if you don't mind sub titles, or foreign films, i recommend it.