# Please rercommend some heist movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866 "2004-09-02T23:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/21 "2004-09-03T12:34:06Z")
**The Taking of Pelham 123,** with Walter Mathau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, and Jerry Stiller. “Even great men have to pee.” ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/22 "2004-09-03T12:39:38Z")
“Stark Raving Mad”. The writing/directing team is one half Doper. Sadly, it was not widely released in the US, but it is available on video here. A fun movie. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/23 "2004-09-03T12:41:46Z")
**The Anderson Tapes** was a good one, and is often overlooked since it deals with much more than just a heist. It looks like they’re remaking it. ---
**Author:** ![ryanbobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ryanbobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryanbobo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/24 "2004-09-03T12:50:58Z")
If you don’t mind an older French film, check out [Rififi](http://imdb.com/title/tt0048021/). It’s about a bank heist, and the actual heist scene is one of the greatest of its kind (IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/25 "2004-09-03T13:08:10Z")
If it doesn’t stretch the category to the breaking point - [_The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068661/), with Robert Duvall as Jesse James. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/26 "2004-09-03T13:29:26Z")
**Breaking In** is a John Sayle’s movie with Burt Reynolds that is pretty good. It’s about an old theif teaching a new thief the ropes. To be a completist, I’d second **Topkapi** and **Rififi** , classics of the genre. They might not give you what you want all the way through, though. They don’t have the crisp pacing of something like Ocean’s 11. I think **Out of Sight** is a brilliant movie. Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11) directed. Clooney is great and it also has Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, Dennis Farina, and J.Lo. You’d probably like this a lot if you liked Ocean’s 11. It’s better. I love the movie **Femme Fatale** with a cool heist/double cross. But most people seem to hate this movie, so be warned. **Three Kings** is on the edge of what I’d call a heist movie, but it’s really good, nonetheless. **Diamond Men** is pretty good, but like someone at IMDB wrote, it’s more of a “leisurely paced character study” than a heist movie. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/27 "2004-09-03T15:09:36Z")
I just discovered that **The Hot Rock** is finally out on DVD. Cheapo price, so it’s probably a no-frills transfer. Very fun movie, though; the only film I’m aware of based on Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder series. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/28 "2004-09-03T15:33:19Z")
[was based on Westlake’s _Bank Shot_. See also at the bottom of [url=http://www.donaldwestlake.com/wks\_biblio.html]this page](] **Bank Shot** [/url) for other films from his books. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/29 "2004-09-03T17:01:19Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > [was based on Westlake’s _Bank Shot_. See also at the bottom of [url=http://www.donaldwestlake.com/wks\_biblio.html]this page](] **Bank Shot** [/url) for other films from his books. You know, just as I was posting, I thought “Wait–wasn’t there also a film of _The Bank Shot_?” I never saw it, though. Thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/30 "2004-09-03T17:28:57Z")
**Nine Queens** is an Argentinian film about 2 con artists. Don’t be put off by the sub-titles; it’s a ton of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/31 "2004-09-03T18:20:05Z")
Dont forget **Ronin**. Some great European car chases set around a plan to retrieve a mystery silver box. ---
**Author:** ![Phantoms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e36b37/32.png) [@Phantoms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantoms)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/32 "2004-09-03T21:06:59Z")
May I also recommend a recent one called “The Good Thief” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/33 "2004-09-03T23:43:31Z")
The League Of Gentlemen ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/34 "2004-09-03T23:58:02Z")
Wow. Almost all the films mentioned are great examples of the genre. You should write all these down, Emilio, and work your way through the entire list. I tripley second **The Killing** and **Topkapi** , two of the greatest examples. Did anyone mention Hitchcock’s **To Catch a Thief** , with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly? A masterpiece of the jewel-heist/romance genre. An often overlooked but BRILLIANT heist movie is **Breaking In.** Made during Burt Reynolds’s obscure years, it’s probably the performance that turned his career around. But not many of the public took the gamble and it kind of slid into obscurity. But written by the brilliant John Sayles, and directed by the nearly as brilliant Bill Forythe, it’s a shamefully overlooked little gem. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/35 "2004-09-04T00:23:18Z")
Going by **Johnny Angel** ’s definitions above [The First Great Train Robbery](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079240/) with Sean Connery is a caper movie. Very well done and popular when it came out but few people seem to remember it today. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/36 "2004-09-04T00:41:12Z")
These aren’t about heists that go smoothly, but I think they qualify to a degree, and in any case are fun to watch: **Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels** , and **A Fish Called Wanda**. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/37 "2004-09-04T00:44:11Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > Going by **Johnny Angel** ’s definitions above [The First Great Train Robbery](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079240/) with Sean Connery is a caper movie. Very well done and popular when it came out but few people seem to remember it today. Just rewatched that, for the third or fourth time, recently. The US title, the only title I’d ever heard until your post, was\*\* The Great Train Robbery.\*\* Written as well as directed by Michael Crichton, so it’s not transcendant or anything. But it’s definitely a respectable heist movie. And the camera work is breathtaking. You’ve seen a lot of fights on top of trains, but never anything like this one. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/38 "2004-09-04T01:09:26Z")
[_Going in Style_.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079219/) This was a ‘comfortable’ heist/robbery movie. Very unconventional, having more to do with human nature and the understanding and reckoning of mortality than merely stealing something. This coupled with two impact actors rates this one three thumbs up. And an emphatic, hearty second for \*Kelly’s Heroes \* which would easily have been my first choice in the very unlikely event it had not been mentioned already. The nameless faceless evilness of war is replaced by the very human qualities of desire and compassion, expressed very well in the end when both sides laid down arms and shared the loot, despite seemingly impassable hatred and differences. 5 thumbs up on this one. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/39 "2004-09-04T06:04:05Z")
Here are two more obscure ones… **Big Deal on Madonna Street** , an Italian film from 1958 about a plan to rob a safe - great fun but not for those who dislike sub-titles **Disorganized Crime** , forgot the date, but within the past decade. While not in the league of most of the other movies mentioned so far, it’s worth a watch for it’s slightly off-centered approach. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866/40 "2004-09-04T06:17:42Z")
> [@ryanbobo](#): > > If you don’t mind an older French film, check out [Rififi](http://imdb.com/title/tt0048021/). It’s about a bank heist, and the actual heist scene is one of the greatest of its kind (IMHO). I’ll put my vote in for **Rififi** as well. Also **Bob Le Flambeur** , which _The Good Thief_ is a remake of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-rercommend-some-heist-movies/262866.md?page=3)