The All-Time Best Heist Movies!

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Matthew Jackson at Mental Floss presents The 25 Greatest Heist Movies of All Time.  Jackson’s list is a good one.  I’ve seen 18 of the 25 films listed.  Here are my thoughts on each of the movies Jackson selected.

1. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) – An excellent choice for number one.  John Huston directs a great cast in a classic film.

2. RIFIFI (1955) – The heist itself is an extended classic scene without dialogue.  Another excellent choice.

3. THE LADYKILLERS (1955) – I haven’t seen this one.

4. THE KILLING (1956) – I love this film and it gets better with each viewing. I wouldn’t have argued if it had placed higher.

5. BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1956) – I haven’t seen this one, but would like to.

6. THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) – The first film on the list that I’ve seen and didn’t love.  In fact I would have chosen McQueen in The Getaway instead.

7. THE ITALIAN JOB (1969) – I haven’t seen it.

8. THE STING (1973) – Newman and Redford re-teamed for an excellent follow-up to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

9. DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) – A unique story told from a perspective most wouldn’t expect.

10. BLUE COLLAR (1978) – I’ve never seen this one and until this list didn’t realize it was a heist film.

11. THIEF (1981) – Thief takes us into a world alien to us civilians.  You can see the groundwork for Heat being developed by Mann.

12. DIE HARD (1988) – A classic.  Until this list, I had never considered Die Hard to be a heist movie but it is.

13. RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) – My favorite Tarantino movie.  

14. HEAT (1995) – Love this one.  I wonder why it didn’t rate higher.

15. BOTTLE ROCKET (1996) – I haven’t see this one.

16. OUT OF SIGHT (1998) – I was surprised by how much I liked this one.  I need to see it again.

17. SEXY BEAST (2000) – I haven’t seen this one.

18. OCEAN’S ELEVEN (2001) – Saw it when it was first released and thought it was ok.

19. INSIDE MAN (2006) – Another movie that I thought was just ok.

20. THE TOWN (2010) – I love The Town and would have rated it much higher.

21. FAST FIVE (2011) – I like the Fast & Furious series but truthfully they all start to run together as they get more and more outlandish.  I still dig ’em though.

22. HELL OR HIGH WATER (2016) – Surprisingly good and doesn’t follow the typical Hollywood format.

23. BABY DRIVER (2017) – What a stylishly unique film.  I can’t wait to see it again… 

24. LOGAN LUCKY (2017) – This was a much better and funnier movie than I expected.

25. WIDOWS (2018) – I haven’t seen it, but wouldn’t mind doing so.

Click over to Matthew Jackson’s The 25 Greatest Heist Movies of All Time to see trailers and learn more about each film.