Top 10 Movie Heists

In our normal humdrum lives we abhor thieves and bank robbers, but a quick glance at the list of films below tells quite a different story.

Indeed, some of the movies mentioned would not be out of place on most people’s all-time top 10 films, never mind heist films. So what is it that makes us so fascinated by them? Is it that we wish we had the balls to do it ourselves? Most of the criminals involved get some kind of comeuppance and usually we’re desperate to get out of banks rather than the other way around. So it is because they look cool while doing it?

But they are not all cool. Look at Al Pacino’s hapless bank robber in Dog Day Afternoon. So what is it? Well, we don’t know. What do you mean you want answers? We’re an entertainment site for God’s sake, not Sigmund Freud! Actually, it’s probably the guns. That and the fact there are so many of them they were bound to get a few right.

10. Quick Change (1990)

Bill Murray at his amusing best robs a bank dressed as a clown. We always knew you couldn’t trust the dirty, painted freaks!

9. The Getaway (1973)

Steve McQueen stars as brutal robber-on-the-run Doc McCoy in Sam Peckinpah’s bloodthirsty homage to Bonnie and Clyde. Steve McQueen, cars and lots of guns and violence: it’s not hard to see why we like this film so much.

8. Sexy Beast

Ben Kingsley deserves all the praise coming to him for making us scared of Gandhi.

7. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

Alec Guinness‘ performance as a shy bank clerk who sets out to become rich by robbing his own bank is almost as good as his role in Star Wars. It’s that good!

6. Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star in a film which arguably redefined modern cinema. However, it’s a somewhat romanticised account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple who terrorised the US during the Great Depression.

5. Out Of Sight

Whenever we watch this film it reminds us there was a time when we didn’t hate Jennifer Lopez.

4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Paul Newman and Robert Redford are simply brilliant as the eponymous outlaws.

3. Reservoir Dogs

Is it better than Pulp Fiction? Frankly, who cares? They are both equally brilliant.

2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino in his possibly his finest performance stars as a bumbling bank robber.

1. The Italian Job (1969)

Was run close by Dog Day Afternoon, but wins the day because, well, it’s British and it’s basically the coolest film ever made. Actually, while we are on the subject, why does Hollywood keep remaking Michael Caine films… very badly? The Italian Job, Sleuth, Get Carter, Alfie - what’s next? Zulu? How would they get Americans into that?