The 20 best gangster movies of the 1990s
Gangster movies have thrived in world cinema for almost as long as the Western has. Telling tales of American-Italian mafia goons, stylish European assassins and British thugs who use fists as their primary weapon, stories from the shadowy underworld of civil society have long thrilled audiences looking for escapism, following dark gangsters who follow hedonistic masculine fantasies.
Few names were bigger in this genre throughout the late 20th century than American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the same mind behind 1973’s Mean Streets, the 1976 Palme d’Or winner Taxi Driver and the classic 1980 boxing movie Raging Bull. Inspired by the cinema of Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola and the British duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Scorsese humanised gangster cinema throughout the twilight of the century, picking apart the psychology of killers, assassins and young men who were out of their depth.
Whilst Scorsese entered the decade with potent mastery of his craft, his fellow American creative, Quentin Tarantino, was merely finding his feet. Looking to Scorsese as a direct influence, Tarantino made a name for himself in the ‘90s as a plucky, innovative mind who was ready to take gangster cinema into the 21st century, armed with screenplays for True Romance and Natural Born Killers, as well as two directorial feature films.
Whilst Tarantino and Scorsese are the most prominent names of the era, several other filmmakers from around the world also made a significant name for themselves, either introducing their name to the industry or continuing their fine form of success. As such, we’ve decided to highlight some lesser-known films and directors, naming just one movie from any given filmmaker.
The 20 best gangster movies of the 1990s
20. New Jack City (Mario Van Peebles, 1991)
Released in 1991, Mario Van Peebles’ feature debut New Jack City sees Wesley Snipes give one of the best performances of his career as drug lord Nino. Set in New York City during the crack epidemic, rapper Ice-T stars in his first significant role as Scotty Appleton, a detective determined to stop Nino’s criminal behaviour and avenge his mother’s death, for which Nino is responsible. Allen Payne, Chris Rock and Judd Nelson also star in the crime drama, which is not short of effortlessly comedic lines.
New Jack City is abundantly entertaining and charismatic, with an unforgettable soundtrack which topped the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Album charts for eight weeks.
19. Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)
In a genre famously dominated by men, both in front and behind the camera, Kathryn Bigelow uses a distinctively feminine gaze to prove that gangster films can be more than just high-action macho thrills. Not only does Bigelow cast unlikely action leads — Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, but she also highlights the homoerotic undercurrents of the pair’s relationship. Point Break carefully examines male dynamics, with the character’s downfalls dictated by masculinity and heteronormativity.
Even Swayze told an interviewer upon the film’s release, “I wanted to play it like a love story between two men.” Point Break is not your typical gangster movie, which is why it is so refreshing, even over thirty years later.
18. L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
L.A. Confidential is a story of police corruption and its intersection with Hollywood, based on James Elroy’s 1990 novel of the same name. Set in 1953, Curtis Hanson’s neo-noir crime flick follows a group of LAPD officers tackling an unsolved murder, each with their own motivations for solving the case. The film stars Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe as the three detectives, with Kim Basinger, Danny Devito and James Cromwell in supporting roles. The film was a commercial and critical success, earning nine Academy Award nominations and winning two.
Hanson’s film is sophisticated, stylish and lavishly detailed, complete with rich dialogue and emphasis on the characters’ psychology. With a complex and well-written script, L.A. Confidential will undoubtedly have you gripped.
17. Desperado (Robert Rodriguez, 1995)
As Robert Rodriquez’s second instalment in his Mexico Trilogy, Desperado follows Antonio Banderas’ El Mariachi, a musician seeking revenge on the drug lord that killed his lover. The film also starred Salma Hayek in her breakout role alongside Joaquim de Almeida and Steve Buscemi. Packed full of action and comedic lines, Desperado is easily the best of the trilogy, which began with 1993’s El Mariachi and ended with 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Made on a budget of $7 million, Rodrigeuz’s film grossed over $24.6 million, with the director stating, “creativity, not money, is used to solve problems.”
16. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998)
This list simply wouldn’t be complete without an entry from Guy Ritchie. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was the British director’s debut feature film, released in 1998. The black comedy crime drama features an ensemble cast, including Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Sting and Jason Statham in his debut acting role. The heist tale follows a young card shark who enlists his reluctant friends to help him find money after losing £500,000 in a dodgy poker match with a crime lord.
Ritchie’s film was a huge commercial success, gaining over $28 million in profit on a $1.35 million budget. Slick, funny and quintessentially British, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is bountifully enjoyable.
15. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
Bryan Singer teamed up with Christopher McQuarrie to create The Usual Suspects, which won the latter an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Furthermore, the neo-noir mystery thriller won Kevin Spacey an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Roger, a small-time conman. The film uses flashbacks and narration as Roger attempts to convince police that a mysterious crime lord drew him and his partners into a massive heist, leading to an explosion that left him one of the sole survivors.
The film also stars Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollack, Gabriel Byrne, and Chazz Palminteri, who all give fantastic performances. The Usual Suspects delivers plenty of twists and turns for the audience alongside heavy doses of violence.
14. A Bronx Tale (Robert De Niro, 1993)
Renowned actor Robert De Niro might be best known for his roles in Taxi Driver and The Godfather Part II (to name just a few), but he also tried his hand at directing with his feature debut, A Bronx Tale, in 1993. The actor has only directed one more movie since then (2006’s The Good Shepherd), yet A Bronx Tale was positively received by critics, who praised De Niro’s thoughtful direction. The actor adapted the film from Chazz Palminteri’s play of the same name, which tells the tale of a young Italian-American boy torn between a world of organised crime, his working-class father’s sincere values, and the community’s racial tensions as he falls for a black girl.
Palminteri penned the film’s screenplay and starred opposite De Niro as Lorenzo. A Bronx Tale is far from your typical mob movie, with De Niro prioritising heart and tenderness without being overly sentimental.
13. King of New York (Abel Ferrara, 1990)
Abel Ferrara’s neo-noir gangster tale King of New York stars Christopher Walken as a drug lord who must rebuild his criminal career after his release from prison. The actor is joined by a standout cast, including Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi, David Caruso and Victor Argo. Tightly shot and stylish, nothing is out of place in King of New York, yet the mise en scene is far from compensatory. The film is thrilling, nihilistic and atmospheric – easily one of the best gangster tales to emerge from the decade.
Ferrara’s film was filmed entirely on location in New York City, including the Plaza Hotel, then owned by Donald Trump. To secure the building for free, Trump required Ferrara to arrange a meeting between Ivana Trump and Walken, who wanted a photograph with the actor, whom she was a big fan.
12. Pusher (Nicolas Winding Refn, 1996)
Nicolas Winding Refn is best known for his 2011 film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling. However, in the late 1990s, the director found success with his Danish Pusher trilogy. Beginning with 1996’s Pusher, which gave Mads Mikkelson his acting debut, the film follows drug dealer Frank (Kim Bodnia), who desperately tries to raise money that he owes after an awry drug deal. Inspired by films such as Mean Streets, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Cannibal Holocaust and The Battle of Algiers, Winding Refn’s movie is considered a highly influential piece of Danish cinema.
Two sequels followed, created out of Winding Refn’s financial difficulties. Yet, Pusher remains the strongest of the three, noted for its fabulously gritty guerilla documentary realist style.
11. Léon (Luc Besson, 1994)
Luc Besson’s seventh film, Leon: The Professional, is the director’s strongest work, balancing high-stakes action with incredible sensitivity. The 1994 film was the acting debut of Natalie Portman, then twelve, playing Mathilda, whose entire family is murdered by a corrupt DEA agent. Upon returning home to the crime scene, Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by her mysterious neighbour and hitman, Leon. The pair form an unlikely bond, with the latter training the young girl to seek her revenge.
Leon: The Professional is a refreshing take on the genre, aided by Portman’s emotionally arresting performance and Gary Oldman’s spectacularly evil portrayal of Norman Stansfield.
10. Carlito’s Way (Brian De Palma, 1993)
American filmmaker Brian De Palma was proficient in his craft long before the 1990s, having a hand in some of the greatest gangster movies of all time, including 1981’s Blow Out, 1983’s Scarface and 1987s The Untouchables. It was no surprise, then, that in 1993 De Palma continued his form with the excellent crime thriller Carlito’s Way, starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn and John Leguizamo.
Telling the story of a Puerto Rican former convict who has just been released from prison and pledges to stay away from the allure of gangster life, De Palma’s film is a gripping tale with an excellent protagonist in Pacino’s Carlito at its heart.
9. True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993)
The influence of Quentin Tarantino was pervasive in the 1990s, with the auteur penning the screenplay for Tony Scott’s sexy gangster film, which stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, two young criminals who steal cocaine from a pimp and try to sell it on in Hollywood whilst being pursued by the mob. Less a tale of heartless gangsters and more a heartwarming story of love and how pop culture can corrupt the youth, Scott’s tale is a seminal ‘90s classic.
It certainly helps proceedings that Slater and Arquette are joined by such an eclectic supporting cast, including Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson and James Gandolfini.
8. Donnie Brasco (Mike Newell, 1997)
From a revisionist gangster flick to something a little more classic, Donnie Brasco, from the English filmmaker Mike Newell, tells the story of an FBI undercover agent who infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more than he’d like with the mafia life. Boasting an irresistible team-up between actors Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, the film remains a somewhat underappreciated classic of the gangster genre.
Dark, gritty and tough as nails, Donnie Brasco is a violent romp of a biographical crime drama featuring a rich supporting cast that includes the likes of Michael Madsen, Anne Heche and Zeljko Ivanek.
7. Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano, 1993)
Whilst American and Italian cinema were famous for their mafia stories, Japan thrived on similar tales from the violent Yakuza. Filmmaker Takeshi Kitano has long been fond of such tales, but the eccentric creative is also not one for linear storytelling, with his 1993 classic, Sonatine, being the perfect example of this, telling a slacker story about a group of Yakuza who decide to lay low on a beach.
Bizarre and effortlessly stylish, the movie toys with the medium of film, injecting several surreal moments into this entirely loveable crime story that stands as one of Kitano’s very best.
6. Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai, 1995)
Speaking of unconventional Asian gangster movies, Wong Kar-wai gave audiences a treat in 1995 with the release of Fallen Angels in 1995, a sensual crime comedy that fuses style and genre. Telling the story of a hitman named Wong Chi-ming (Leon Lai), who is hoping to get out of the business, and his elusive female companion (Michelle Reis), known only as his ‘partner’, Kar-wai’s film is a dreamlike drive through Hong Kong’s criminal underworld.
Now considered one of the greatest filmmakers of modern cinema, Wong Kar-wai’s Fallen Angels has been deemed an essential text of his early work containing much of his storytelling style and visual glamour.
5. Miller’s Crossing (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 1990)
Rising to considerable popularity in the 1990s thanks to such hits as Fargo in 1996 and The Big Lebowski in 1998, the Coen brothers became forces of excellence in independent American cinema by the end of the decade. Whilst such aforementioned films helped this progression, it was the early success of crime films Blood Simple, Raising Arizona and Miller’s Crossing which would prove more beneficial in the long run.
Miller’s Crossing was the most impressive film of their early trio, telling the story of Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss who tries to keep the peace between warring mobs. Dark, slick and stylish, the film is elevated by the work of the Coen’s behind the camera who also penned a tight script from the original novels Red Harvest and Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett.
4. Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton, 1991)
By no means a typical gangster flick that glamourises the actions of a well-dressed group of career criminals, John Singleton’s 1991 classic Boyz n the Hood is more of a coming-of-age cautionary tale than a wild shoot-em-up. Taking on a non-exploitative, non-sensationalistic view of the lives of black men in ‘90s Los Angeles, Singleton offered a slice of the reality of life in the ghettos, bringing the issues of so many into the Hollywood mainstream.
Released a year before the L.A. Riots of April 1992, the film tells the story of three young men, Ricky (Morris Chestnut), Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Doughboy (Ice Cube), each growing up in South L.A. surrounded by gentrification and gang violence. An emotional and pertinent ‘90s tale, Boyz n the Hood remains a highly important movie.
3. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
There are few actors in the gangster genre as famous as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, so when the duo collaborated in 1995 for Michael Mann’s Heat, the world of cinema sat up and took notice. Remaining a classic of the genre long after its release, Heat tells the story of a group of professional thieves who start to feel the pressure from the LAPD after they foolishly and unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.
Alongside De Niro and Pacino, the film also features such Hollywood stars as Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria and Tom Sizemore, with Mann crafting a grand mosaic of scintillating crime drama that incorporates comedic elements seamlessly.
2. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
As Pulp Fiction swaggered into cinemas in 1994, its influence spread like cigarette smoke and has since become a touchstone in cultural significance and American filmmaking. Coming to the project having only previously made Reservoir Dogs in 1992, another notable gangster flick of the decade, Tarantino flourished his talents with Pulp Fiction, creating a tangled crime story about several gangsters trying to secure a mythical briefcase.
A delirious ride through a retro-American otherworld, marked with dark humour and a gloriously compiled soundtrack, Pulp-Fiction’s rough edges and fantastical feel launch it into an unplaceable realm of contemporary cinema. If it wasn’t for Tarantino’s own inspiration, the film would take the number one spot.
1. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill muses off-screen in the iconic introduction to Martin Scorsese’s influential gangster classic. A little less rugged than his weathered criminal compadres, played by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Scorsese’s intricate character drama explores whether Henry is up to the challenge of becoming as ruthless as his mafia idols or if he is indeed a boy out of his depth.
A classic not only of ‘90s gangster cinema but of American cinema period, Goodfellas has come to inspire countless filmmakers to tell similar such stories that uncover the depravity of America’s criminal underworld. To this day, not even Scorsese himself seems to be able to top the success of his 1990 movie that challenges the very best of the genre for the top spot.
