Number 5
Casino. Robert De Niro stars as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a top gambling handicapper who is called by the Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers casino in Las Vegas. Starring Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro an intimidating enforcer and psychopath. Nicky’s job is to check that everything is kept in line at the Tangiers and to skim money off the top to keep the Mob happy. Pesci gives a performance to remember is this thrilling crime drama.
Number 4
At number four, Goodfellas. Starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta, Goodfellas is a tale of snakes and ladders. The opening scene sees Liotta state, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster”. As Henry Hill (Liotta) and Tommy DeVito (Pesci) try to make names for themselves in the Mafia, they encounter tough times. A cocaine addiction and fascination with greed leads to his final downfall. After being left penniless and fearing for his life he enrols in the Witness Protection Program as a mole for the FBI. And absolutely fantastic film with a great cast gives an insight into the world of narcotics in the 80’s.
Number 3
Donnie Brasco comes in at number 3. Based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, a FBI agent who successfully infiltrated the Bonanno Crime Family, one of the Mafia’s Five Families based in New York City during the 1970s, under the alias “Donnie Brasco”. Johnny Depp takes on the titled role of Donnie Brasco. Al Pacino stars as Benjammin “Lefty” Ruggiero a lowel level mob hitman. After more than 30 years in the mafia, Lefty is tired of being overlooked for a higher position. He takes Brasco under his wing and hopes that he can succeed where he failed. A fantastic film in which Johnny Depp gives an award winning performance.
Number 2
It was a very hard decision to make when considering what my number 1 gangster film of all time would be. So, at number 2 is the Godfather Part II. Starring two legends in term of gangster film, Al Pacino (Scarface, Carlitos Way, Donnie Brasco, Godfather Part I, II and III) and Robert DeNiro (Mean Streets, Godfather Part II, Heat, Goodfellas, Casino). Even though Pacino and DeNiro have the two leading roles, they never share a scene. Part II of the Godfather sees the development of Michael Corleone (Pacino) from young Godfather to the mastermind of the family. Michael was always considered the smart one of the family by his father but never ruthless. Michael orders the destruction of the four other families and shows his ruthlessness when ordering his own brother for the chopping board. DeNiro plays a young Vito Corleone, as we sees the early life of Michaels father and founder of the family Don Corleone. The films switches from Vito’s early life to Michael’s problems. Both characters switching between English and Italian dialogue. Both DeNiro and Pacino put in fantastic performances which made my decision to make this film number two in my chart.
Number 1
Finally, top spot goes to the Godfather Part I. Marlon Brando plays the original Godfather Don Vito Corleone. We are introduced to his family. Sonny, the successor to his title, Freydo who is a tad simple, Michael who is in the forces and Tom Hagen, a child Vito took under his wing and invited into his family. After an attempt on Vito’s life, Sonny is promoted to Godfather however his fiery temper is his own worst enemy as he later dies. This film shows the early ruthlessness of Michael as he kills Solozzo and McCluskey. He flees to Sicily into hiding. After his return, Michael is finally handed the reins as his father steps down into part retirement and promotes his youngest son to Don. Watching Michael’s character mature from the clean cut guy to ruthless gangster is simply beautiful. The two best parts of this film is the shift in power from Vito (Brando) to Michael (Pacino). This is my favourite gangster film of all time and it never seizes to amaze me.
theOnlyMrDee 