55 Best Heist Movies Of All Time Ranked

If heists didn't exist, the movies would have to invent them. Sure, we all know and appreciate the rules of orderly, law-abiding existence — but it's just so purely entertaining to watch characters break them for fun and profit. No wonder there are so many great heist movies out there: The genre has a guaranteed hook few cinephiles can resist.

This foundation also allows for a lot of creative freedom. For every lighthearted, breezy caper where the thieves have hearts of gold, there's a gritty and blood-spattered look at the darkest corners of the criminal world. Characters can be clueless amateurs, hardened professionals, and everything in between. As long as the movie keeps us hooked — and maybe makes us idly daydream about whether or not we could pull this off ourselves — it's doing its job. All 55 heist movies on this list do that and then some, making them the all-time best of the genre.

Updated on May 12, 2022: Great heist movies are being made every day. We'll be keeping this list updated to make sure you're always current on cinema's best stories of ill-gotten gains. Be sure to check back often to hear about the latest and greatest tales of getting away with the goods.

In the gritty and intense "Triple Frontier," a one-time special ops team reunites to rob a Colombian drug lord. If anyone could be up to the challenge, it's them — until they find more money than they ever expected, and greed makes all their expertise fall by the wayside. Their getaway is complicated enough without the twist of the loot making their helicopter too heavy to escape over the mountains. As things continue to go wrong and the death toll mounts, everyone involved begins to understand that this has become a grim slog to the finish line — if they make it there at all.

• Starring: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam

• Director: J. C. Chandor

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 125 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" runs on atmosphere, energy, and a giddy cascade of complications, as four friends find out that the way up the criminal ladder is very slippery indeed. Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon want a big score, but their plans keep going wrong, landing them in deep debt and deeper trouble. If they want to pay off what they owe to dangerous local kingpin Harry, they need to rob some other dangerous crooks. It's a chaotic movie full of mistakes, coincidences, and run-ins engendered by organized crime's surprisingly small world.

• Starring: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran

• Director: Guy Ritchie

• Year: 1998

• Runtime: 106 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74%

This lighthearted and creative caper flick revolves around a plot to steal a jewel ... then steal it again. And again. And ... you see where this is going. Professional thief John Dortmunder and his crew may be eccentric, but they know what they're doing, and the plans they hatch are good ones. No matter what they do, however, the jewel they've been hired to steal keeps moving just out of reach. Their simple museum break-in soon needs a follow-up prison escape, police station infiltration, and more. The endless complications and increasing outrageousness keep "The Hot Rock" lively and fun.

• Starring: Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman

• Director: Peter Yates

• Year: 1972

• Runtime: 105 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%

Martin Bishop runs an agency that specializes in testing businesses' security systems, especially everything vulnerable to hacking. Martin knows what he's doing — years before, he was Martin Brice, a student who barely escaped arrest for a college hacking stunt that put his best friend behind bars. When his past comes back to haunt him, he takes a deal to retrieve a code-breaking device for the NSA ... and that's just the start of the secrets, lies, and heists to come. "Sneakers" is fantastic, lighthearted fun starring an incredibly charismatic cast.

• Starring: Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley

• Director: Phil Alden Robinson

• Year: 1992

• Runtime: 126 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Music-obsessed Baby owes a debt to the powerful Doc, who has a finger in every criminal pie. Thus, whenever Doc cooks up a robbery with a set of codenamed crooks, Baby acts as the expert getaway driver. He's great at quick escapes — unless it's extricating himself from the messy tangle of an arms deal and heist gone bad. Everyone is now pitted against each other, leaving Baby struggling to get out alive and protect his innocent girlfriend, Debora. Full of action and featuring innovative use of music, "Baby Driver" is pure entertainment.

• Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James

• Director: Edgar Wright

• Year: 2017

• Runtime: 113 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

It's not easy to retire from a life of crime, especially when you know other criminals who want to pull a job and won't take no for an answer. That's the fix Joe Moore gets into in "Heist." As soon as it seems like his anonymity is blown, he's ready to get out of the game for good — but his fence has other plans, and he's willing to use all his leverage to make sure Joe and his crew comply. If Joe and the others want their peace and quiet, they'll have to buy it with one more job. Everyone in "Heist" has schemes within schemes, and sorting out who's playing who is part of the fun.

• Starring: Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo

• Director: David Mamet

• Year: 2001

• Runtime: 109 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Daniel Craig's unnamed protagonist in "Layer Cake" is cool, competent, buttoned-down, and ready to leave the criminal world for good. He tries to resign from his role handling Jimmy Price's cocaine distribution, but Jimmy isn't ready to let him go: He has a few requests our man will need to fulfill first. As simple as they seem on the surface, they open up a Pandora's box of backstabbing and violence, revealing some dark truths about Craig's character, and, on top of everything else, saddling him with a load of stolen ecstasy tablets. This movie is as tough and vicious as its characters, and Craig shines in the lead role.

• Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham

• Director: Matthew Vaughn

• Year: 2004

• Runtime: 105 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

"The Italian Job" is bright and stylish, and offers both a famous car chase (on the streets of Turin, in Mini Coopers) and a famous ending. Most importantly, though, it offers Michael Caine, who has a wicked twinkle in his eye the whole time. Caine plays Charlie Croker, who honors a fallen friend by carrying out his gold heist plan and outwitting the mafioso who killed him. It'll take a lot of work and a lot of luck, but Croker and his men are up for the task — and we're certainly up for tagging along for the ride.

• Starring: Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill

• Director: Peter Collinson

• Year: 1969

• Runtime: 99 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

Like her older brother Danny, Debbie Ocean is a consummate professional thief with the chops to pull off elaborate jobs and the charisma to bring together a varied crew. That's just what you need, it turns out, if you want to commit a robbery in the middle of the famous Met Gala. Take some experienced thieves, a hacker, a scatterbrained designer, a jeweler, and a not-so-reformed fence, and you have the perfect team. This high-fashion heist effortlessly blends competence, comedy, and a glitzy milieu.

• Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway

• Director: Gary Ross

• Year: 2018

• Runtime: 110 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%

1999's "The Thomas Crown Affair" is one of those rare remakes that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the original. This iteration is full of flair and panache, and leans into the sparkling chemistry between millionaire thief-for-fun Thomas Crown and driven insurance investigator Catherine Banning. Thomas Crown has walked out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a genuine Monet. That theft leads to an intellectual fencing match between him and Catherine as she tries to get the painting back. It's all a game to Thomas — except for the part where he's genuinely falling in love with Catherine.

• Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary

• Director: John McTiernan

• Year: 1999

• Runtime: 113 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

Scott Lang used to be a good-hearted, Robin Hood-style thief, but he wound up paying the price anyway. Now he's out of prison and trying to put his life back together so he can be there for his daughter, but his record doesn't leave him with a lot of options. Forced into a corner, he participates in a break-in — one that changes his life by introducing him to cranky genius Hank Pym and his tough daughter, Hope. The Pyms need a professional thief's help to infiltrate their own company and steal tech the new owner intends to misuse. "Ant-Man" succeeds through its humor and many creative uses of its titular superhero's fabulous shrink-suit.

• Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly

• Director: Peyton Reed

• Year: 2015

• Runtime: 117 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

Chris was his high school's golden boy until a car crash left him with scars and a significant brain injury. He's trying to build a better life for himself, but his night janitor job at the local bank makes him a target for a brutal group of thieves who bully and coerce him into their robbery scheme. When the fateful night arrives, Chris wants out — but ringleader Gary and his friends are willing to smash Chris' fragile new life to pieces to make sure he plays ball. "The Lookout" is a tense and psychologically fascinating study of Chris' efforts to get himself out of this fix before too much blood is shed.

• Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode

• Director: Scott Frank

• Year: 2007

• Runtime: 98 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

Wes Anderson's directorial debut is as whimsical and distinctive as you would expect — and it stands out as a particularly funny heist flick. Old friends Dignan and Anthony are, to put it mildly, not a pair you would expect to pull off any especially ambitious crimes. But Dignan is convinced they can succeed via thorough preparation: His "75-year plan" includes items like "make wise investments" and "develop outside interests," so they can be well-rounded and eventually legitimate. Their early heist targets include Anthony's own house and a bookstore — not exactly the most lucrative spots, but still, as it turns out, enough to get them into trouble.

• Starring: Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave

• Director: Wes Anderson

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Doc McCoy will do anything to escape the Texas prison he's sweating out the years inside — and he knows exactly who his wife needs to approach to make his parole suddenly go through. Businessman Jack Beynon looks legitimate, but he's actually arranging a bank robbery, and he wants Doc to be in on it. The other men he's selected aren't as reliable, though — especially the untrustworthy and ruthless Rudy. "The Getaway" turns into an every-man-for-himself scramble Doc and his wife might not make it out of alive. This action-packed, gritty thriller keeps it lean and mean.

• Starring: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson

• Director: Sam Peckinpah

• Year: 1972

• Runtime: 122 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Everyone has their hobbies, and Thomas Crown's is masterminding elaborate heists. A millionaire with formidable intelligence and an apparently low threshold for boredom, Crown coordinates a bank robbery with aplomb — but he's not quite good enough to escape the sharp attention and good instincts of insurance investigator Vicki Anderson. Tracking down the missing money isn't just another assignment to her: If she recovers it, she gets to keep a healthy 10 percent. This film's striking visuals and charged sexual chemistry make it a winner.

• Starring: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke

• Director: Norman Jewison

• Year: 1968

• Runtime: 102 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

When you're committing a crime, you need to choose your co-conspirators carefully. Otherwise, they'll almost certainly turn on you — or, in the case of "A Fish Called Wanda," they'll gobble up your pet fish and seduce your lawyer. The four-person team-up presented here is disastrous, but thoroughly entertaining. As Wanda, Otto, George, and Ken scramble to get away with the loot from their successful diamond heist, they run into problem after problem. Most of their attempts to fix things only make them worse. This complex, madcap comedy is chock-full of fun and unpredictable swerves.

• Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline

• Director: Charles Crichton

• Year: 1988

• Runtime: 108 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"Criss Cross" features a heist with an unusual motivation: It's an ad-libbed excuse for why Steve Thompson has been spending so much time with Anna, his ex-wife, who is now married to violently jealous mobster Slim Dundee. To protect Anna from Slim's rage regarding their affair, Steve claims he really just wants to be Slim's inside man for a supposedly impossible armored car job. As a driver and guard for the company, he can make the haul fall right into Slim's lap. Meanwhile, he and Anna plan to get away with the money ... but it's hard to say whether he should trust her. "Criss Cross" gets real pathos from Burt Lancaster's sensitive performance, making Steve a genuinely tragic figure.

• Starring: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea

• Director: Robert Siodmak

• Year: 1949

• Runtime: 88 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

This stripped-down neo-noir's characters are defined by anonymizing nicknames and the roles they play. The Driver is the centerpiece of it all. A highly skilled car thief and getaway driver, he makes a good living, but attracts heat from the Detective, who is determined to catch him. The Detective believes he has a crucial in when he has an eyewitness to the Driver's participation in a casino robbery. When that falls through, he's ready to do anything to arrest him, including covertly arranging a heist of his own. "The Driver" is meditative and existential — the pure essence of noir.

• Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani

• Director: Walter Hill

• Year: 1978

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

As far as professional hoodlums go, Dix Handley is smart and trustworthy — and since he has huge gambling debts and big dreams, he needs work. He attracts the attention of Doc Riedenschneider, an urbane and nigh-legendary criminal who has a plan to knock over a jewelry store. Once the heist is actually in progress, however, things start going wrong. Worse still, the man posing as their financial backer is actually broke and planning to rip them off. As the crooks scatter, we find out which ones really have a sense of nobility. "The Asphalt Jungle" is clever, well-characterized, and offers an inside look at the 1950s underworld.

• Starring: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen

• Director: John Huston

• Year: 1950

• Runtime: 112 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Heist movies are full of criminals looking to pull off one last job before retirement, but "Sexy Beast" opens with Gal Dove already retired and perfectly happy about it. His idyllic life in Spain gets complicated when the violent, unstable Don Logan shows up to recruit him for a bank robbery, however. Gal isn't interested, and the tension between him and Don rises to deadly levels. Eventually, Gal is forced to participate in the robbery after all, if only to appease Don's boss, the powerful Teddy Bess. "Sexy Beast" uses smart casting and dramatically charged performances to imbue the action with a real sense of danger.

• Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane

• Director: Jonathan Glazer

• Year: 2000

• Runtime: 88 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

If you're framed for the destruction of the Kremlin, you can expect your intelligence agency to get treated pretty harshly. This situation ushers in "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol," in which Ethan Hunt is once again forced to work off the grid with only a few misfit allies ... and a lot of abandoned IMF tech that doesn't quite work the way it's supposed to. That last part causes plenty of complications when the team is forced to stage one of their most ambitious heists to intercept crucial launch codes. Sit back and enjoy the ride, because executing this one correctly involves scaling the glass side of a skyscraper, forging a hotel room, and staging an ambitious and simultaneous double impersonation.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg

• Director: Brad Bird

• Year: 2011

• Runtime: 133 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

As usual, spy Ethan Hunt and his team are forced to go without a safety net in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation." The CIA has absorbed the IMF, leaving Ethan on the run and trusted friends Luther, Benji, and Brandt doing their best to help him, right under their new boss' nose. The stakes are high, because they're going up against the Syndicate, an anarchist organization made up of disillusioned former intelligence agents. Clearing their names and proving their worth will require everything from stealing underwater data to coaxing top-secret voice codes out of the Prime Minister. This is another fun, exciting adventure in one of the most entertaining franchises around.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg

• Director: Christopher McQuarrie

• Year: 2015

• Runtime: 131 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

"Quick Change" starts with a clown robbing a bank and only gets more absurd from there. Grimm, Phyllis, and Loomis have concocted the perfect plan, which gives them plenty of time to grab the loot and make their flight to Fiji. But a slip-up makes the clock start ticking, and after that, it's a comedy of errors. The three amateur robbers try to escape a city that's constantly throwing car thieves, tough-talking mobsters, finicky bus drivers, and incomprehensible cabbies at them. Lively and unique, "Quick Change" is more than enough to make us wish Bill Murray directed himself more often.

• Starring: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid

• Directors: Howard Franklin and Bill Murray

• Year: 1990

• Runtime: 89 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

A seemingly simple job gets complicated in "No Sudden Move," a riveting historical heist thriller set in '50s Detroit. Professional criminal Curt Goynes is in a tight spot, and he needs to get out of town in a hurry. To fund his escape, he agrees to apply some necessary pressure to General Motors employee Matt Wertz. He and two other men will hold Wertz's family at gunpoint until Wertz turns over a highly valuable new car part blueprint. It's easy enough on paper, but in real life, it comes with inevitable hiccups. Wertz can't find the blueprint. Curt has qualms about some of the violence. Escalations and double-crosses abound in this clever thriller that takes a realistic, jazzy approach.

• Starring: Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour

• Director: Steven Soderbergh

• Year: 2021

• Runtime: 115 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

"The Town" fuels classic heist tropes with a bruised, cynical outlook, great action sequences, and immersion in its Boston setting. Charlestown local Doug and his criminal friends seemingly pull off their bank robbery, but there's a hitch: The hostage they took in the process is also technically a witness, and they don't know what she's passed along to the cops. Doug wants to prove there's no reason to kill her, so he seeks her out and tries to pump her for information — but by the time he gets it, they're in love, and his loyalties are torn.

• Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm

• Director: Ben Affleck

• Year: 2010

• Runtime: 124 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Dom Cobb runs an elite team of thieves who infiltrate people's dreams and steal the secrets they find there. He has a secret of his own, though — one so powerful, he keeps accidentally bringing it into the dream world. It involves his dead wife, Mal, and the reason he can't go home to his two children. Billionaire industrialist Saito offers him a chance to get back to his real life ... if he can break into a competitor's dreams and implant an idea, instead of taking one. No one has ever done this successfully, but his expert crew is prepared to try. Smart, original, and full of unforgettable images, "Inception" adds a twist of mind-bending sci-fi to its heist movie structure.

• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

• Director: Christopher Nolan

• Year: 2010

• Runtime: 148 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

In this hybrid Western-crime film, two brothers get back at the bank that took advantage of their dying mother by hatching a scheme to pay off their land's mortgage with the bank's own money. The plan is clever and sympathetic, but only one of the brothers, Toby, has the restraint needed to execute it — Tanner keeps causing the wrong kind of trouble. Meanwhile, two Texas Rangers who are just as shrewd as Toby investigate the robberies. Everything leads up to an unavoidable and explosive confrontation. This film's grit and Western atmosphere provide a lot of additional appeal.

• Starring: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster

• Director: David Mackenzie

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 102 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

"Logan Lucky" uses regional flavor and sheer cleverness to produce top-notch entertainment. Jimmy Logan knows the tunnel system and pneumatic tube money transfer process for the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and that's why laying him off was a big mistake. One of the NASCAR team owners, Max Chilblain, makes yet another error: He mocks Jimmy's brother, Clyde. Now the Logan boys are in it together, and they have a scheme to take the Speedway for all it's worth. Recruiting a motley crew that includes their sister, imprisoned explosives expert Joe Bang, and even some cockroaches, Jimmy and Clyde get ready to pull off a truly audacious heist.

• Starring: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig

• Director: Steven Soderbergh

• Year: 2017

• Runtime: 119 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

The Driver makes his living off everything related to cars: fixing them, racing them, and driving them away from crime scenes. His reserved, action-focused life gets complicated when he develops feelings for a young mother named Irene. Things get even worse when Irene's husband comes back from prison and promptly puts his family in danger. The Driver becomes involved in a heist that might raise the money necessary to save them, but things aren't going to go that smoothly. "Drive" is as dark and hypnotic as the romance at its center.

• Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston

• Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

• Year: 2011

• Runtime: 100 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Robbing a casino is supposed to be impossible, and robbing Terry Benedict borders on "having a death wish." But for reasons he's not entirely upfront about, Danny Ocean is putting together a team to do both. Three of Benedict's casinos share a vault, and emptying it on the night of a major upcoming boxing match will set this 11-man crew up for life ... if they can get past intense and multilayered security to pull it off, that is. "Ocean's Eleven" has a well-constructed plot full of perfectly handled surprises, but it particularly shines when it shows off its cast's charm and chemistry.

• Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia

• Director: Steven Soderbergh

• Year: 2001

• Runtime: 117 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

"Bound" provides both a thrilling, noir-style heist and a sensual romance. When ex-con Corky runs into Violet, a modern-day gangster's moll, the attraction and chemistry between them is obvious. Violet wants out of her life with violent mid-level mafioso Caesar, and Corky is just the girl to set her free. The two of them hatch a plan to rip off the mob, which seems foolproof — until Caesar zigs instead of zags, putting Corky and Violet in incredible danger. This smoothly-plotted noir is exciting and thoughtful.

• Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano

• Directors: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 108 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Ethan Hunt works for the Impossible Missions Force, an agency that uses subterfuge, strategy, masks, and occasionally gymnastics to pull off assignments no one else can. He needs to call on all of those skills when most of his team is betrayed and murdered, and his own agency decides that he must be the mole. With just one teammate left and only a pool of disavowed ex-agents to call on for help, Ethan has to track down the truth. While technically a spy movie, this film features one of our favorite on-screen heists: A break-in to CIA headquarters that includes some particularly iconic stunt work.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Henry Czerny

• Director: Brian De Palma

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 110 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Bail bondsman Max Cherry is paid to bail out Jackie Brown, a flight attendant caught smuggling money. Jackie's boss, Ordell, doesn't provide the bail money out of the kindness of his heart: He suspects Jackie is now cooperating with the authorities, and he wants her dead. Jackie is smarter and more tenacious than Ordell imagines, though, and she intends to play him and the ATF/LAPD team off each other to get herself a happy ending. Infatuated with her almost immediately, Max finds himself drawn into her plot — but there may be a limit to how far he's willing to follow her.

• Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster

• Director: Quentin Tarantino

• Year: 1997

• Runtime: 154 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

The frothy, jewel-toned "Topkapi" is firmly on the "fun" end of the caper film spectrum. It centers around the adventurous heist of an elaborately gem-encrusted dagger and the many complicated mishaps that ensue. An international assembly of likable, top-notch thieves — plus one outsider who barely knows what's going on — needs to smuggle the priceless dagger out of a Turkish palace. Unfortunately, the police are already sniffing around, which forces them to improvise. There's never any doubt that things will come out all right, even if they occasionally go wrong, making this a laid-back romp.

• Starring: Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov, Maximilian Schell

• Director: Jules Dassin

• Year: 1964

• Runtime: 120 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

How and why does one pull off the perfect bank robbery? "Inside Man" takes on that question with a ton of flair, inventiveness, and distinctive New York flavor. It presents multiple angles on the same well-planned, well-executed heist, including that of the team of thieves, the investigating detective whose career is in jeopardy, and the political fixer who is unexpectedly called in to make sure all this is resolved as quietly as possible ... because underneath all the twists and turns of the robbery lies the story of a much older and darker crime.

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster

• Director: Spike Lee

• Year: 2006

• Runtime: 129 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Gambling is more about luck than skill, and over the years, Bob's luck has had its ups and downs. A one-time career criminal and eternal gentleman, he's now strictly a civilian ... until his gambling debts put him deep in the hole and a casino robbery plan presents itself. His luck may be turning around, but the odds against him steadily mount with too many people in his life talking too much and too easily about the upcoming heist. This film is as effortlessly cool as Bob himself.

• Starring: Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corey, Guy Decomble

• Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

• Year: 1956

• Runtime: 102 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

In the last days of the Gulf War, three not-so-upstanding soldiers find a treasure map that should lead them straight to some of Saddam Hussein's stolen gold. They're antsy for some action, and what better way to get it than by nabbing themselves a fortune? Getting the gold turns out to be the easy part, however. What's hard is coming face to face with the real carnage of war. All too quickly, the heist turns into an urgent attempt to rescue their captured friend. "Three Kings" puts the "dark" in dark comedy, while its razor-sharp satire and unusual setting make it stand out.

• Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube

• Director: David O. Russell

• Year: 1999

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Smokey, Zeke, and Jerry are frustrated auto workers who, despite their best efforts, never seem to break even, much less pull ahead. They decide to empty the safe at their union headquarters, but get a nasty surprise when all they turn up is a paltry amount of petty cash. However, they also walk away with some inside knowledge of the union's shady business dealings. With their heist spinning into a blackmail plan, they wind up making powerful enemies. "Blue Collar" is complex and unflinching, with its three leads turning in nuanced and powerful performances.

• Starring: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto

• Director: Paul Schrader

• Year: 1978

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Detective John McClane is in the wrong place at the wrong time in this funny, action-filled, thoroughly quotable classic. Hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife Holly, he flies out to Los Angeles for Christmas — which means he's there when her classy corporate holiday party is infiltrated by the enigmatic Hans Gruber, who's planning a deadly and ambitious heist. John evades the initial rounding-up of hostages and gets into one of cinema's best cat-and-mouse games with Gruber and his men. Think of it as hide-and-seek, with machine guns and life-or-death stakes.

• Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov

• Director: John McTiernan

• Year: 1988

• Runtime: 132 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Detached and modern in its ennui, "Band of Outsiders" deals with a small-time heist enacted by aimless, opportunistic amateurs. Odile knows that her aunt has a safe with a fair amount of money inside, and she passes this information along to her friend Franz, who passes it along to Arthur. The three of them form a casual, slightly bored friendship and love triangle as they plot their robbery. This light style makes an intriguing contrast with the grimness that eventually unfolds.

• Starring: Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur

• Director: Jean-Luc Godard

• Year: 1964

• Runtime: 97 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

The elderly Mrs. Wilberforce sees criminals around every corner, but she misses the ones right under her nose: The "string quintet" she's renting rooms to is actually a gang of toughs plotting to rob a security van. She even winds up accidentally getting roped into the crime herself! When she works out what's going on, her life is put in danger — but this eccentric comedy manages to keep things fizzy and fun, even when it involves men trying to figure out which one of them needs to murder their innocent landlady.

• Starring: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom

• Director: Alexander Mackendrick

• Year: 1955

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

A rigged line-up for a trunk hijacking results in an impulsive team-up among several professional crooks. They're itching to pull off a new heist that will net a sizable haul and manage to humiliate the NYPD, but that's only a stepping stone to the job the mysterious and dangerous Keyser Söze wants them to pull off. However, said job is also one destined to go horribly wrong. We get the whole story as con artist Verbal Kint spills the details to FBI Agent Kujan in the aftermath. This doesn't just result in a complex film — it's the set-up for one of the best endings of all time.

• Starring: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri

• Director: Bryan Singer

• Year: 1995

• Runtime: 106 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

Dark, polished, and thoughtful, "Widows" is a particularly meaty heist drama. Newly widowed Veronica is still reeling from the loss of her professional thief husband when a crime lord presents her with a bleak ultimatum: Return his stolen millions, which were blasted into smithereens right along with him and his team, or face deadly consequences. Desperate, Veronica rounds up some of the crew's other widows to execute a heist her husband planned before he died. Viola Davis gives the film an especially compelling center, putting us firmly — and often painfully — in Veronica's shoes.

• Starring: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki

• Director: Steve McQueen

• Year: 2018

• Runtime: 130 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

In "Dog Day Afternoon," you're not the only one watching the heist: Everyone has tuned in for this bank robbery, because Sonny and Sal have become the day's hottest news. To the crowds gathered around the bank — and even to some of the hostages within it — the two robbers are easier to relate to than the authority figures who are after them. Sonny, who is anxious to get the money for his lover's surgery, is especially human. This film is funny, sharp, and has an electric energy that makes it impossible to resist.

• Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick

• Director: Sidney Lumet

• Year: 1975

• Runtime: 125 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

The "Reservoir Dogs" heist never happens on-screen, but the setup and bloody aftermath of this robbery-gone-wrong paints a vivid portrait. The code-named thieves involved suspect one of their number is an undercover cop, but they're not sure who. That person is the reason their robbery was doomed before the violent, unstable Mr. Blonde started opening fire. "Reservoir Dogs" leaves a lot of memorable blood on the floor, but it's often at its best when it's all talk, whether that amounts to casual chat about tipping and Madonna or tense conversations that end with guns drawn.

• Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen

• Director: Quentin Tarantino

• Year: 1992

• Runtime: 99 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

"The Sting" is a smart, fun classic of the caper genre, with its heist playing out as an elaborate con on a man who richly deserves it. Doyle Lonnegan is a terrifying and relentless crime lord. The last thing you want to do is rip him off — but unfortunately, Johnny Hooker does just that, by accident. He needs to get Lonnegan out of his life in a way that will also strike a blow for his dead partner, so he teams up with retired master con artist Henry Gondorff. The two of them set up an elaborate off-track betting scam, manipulating Lonnegan right into their trap ... but can they actually close the deal?

• Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

• Director: George Roy Hill

• Year: 1973

• Runtime: 129 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

"The Red Circle" of the title refers to the idea that some people are simply fated to come together. That fate can take strange forms, however. For Corey, who is fresh out of prison, contemplating robbery, and armed with both guns and grudges, it looks like a fugitive slipping into the trunk of his car. Escaped prisoner Vogel is surprised to learn that Corey is more than willing to help him with his escape. The two of them join forces for Corey's planned jewelry store heist and recruit a third partner, but the red circle may be tightening around them like a noose. Contemplative and tense, this easily ranks with the best French noir films.

• Starring: Alain Delon, André Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonté

• Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

• Year: 1970

• Runtime: 140 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Robert Mitchum's world-weary performance provides "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" with plenty of wounded heart. His Eddie Coyle is a professional criminal who's only a small part of the city's elaborate criminal network. When he has to give someone up to the ATF in order to stay out of prison, he does his best to make it someone he barely knows. Unfortunately, it's not enough, and he may have to trade away the secrets of one of the most professional and intimidating heist crews around. "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" is a moving, low-key tragedy.

• Starring: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan

• Director: Peter Yates

• Year: 1973

• Runtime: 103 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"Heat" is a cops-and-robbers epic featuring stellar performances from Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, the most professional thief around. He lives lightly, knowing there's always the chance he'll have to walk away from things if the cops get too close. After an armored car robbery gets botched, that becomes a reality: The irascible Vincent Hanna, as quintessential a cop as McCauley is a thief, is hot on their tail. While McCauley plans one last impressive heist to pay for retirement, he and Hanna orbit each other with a kind of wary mutual respect.

• Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore

• Director: Michael Mann

• Year: 1995

• Runtime: 170 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

Jack Foley has a serious heist in the works — stealing a corrupt businessman's private stash of diamonds — but that's not the only thing on his mind. He can't stop thinking about Karen Sisco, the U.S. Marshal who's chasing him. The two of them have sizzling chemistry, and they both know it. Still, they're on opposite sides of the law, and Karen is determined to find Jack and bring him in. As the heist gets riskier and more complex, the tension between Jack and Karen grows, making this a compelling and passionate romance as well as a darkly funny crime film.

• Starring: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames

• Director: Steven Soderbergh

• Year: 1998

• Runtime: 123 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" has an irresistible hook: A New York City subway car is hijacked, making everyone on board a hostage. This unusual setup needs an unusual hero, and so we get a New York City Transit Police lieutenant who needs to use all his knowledge of the trains and their routes as well as all his detective skills to figure all this out. This movie has many laughs alongside its smart thrills — it almost has to, with Walter Matthau in the lead role — but the biggest delight comes from its sheer originality.

• Starring: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam

• Director: Joseph Sargent

• Year: 1974

• Runtime: 104 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Frank is a highly capable jewel thief who successfully keeps one foot in the world of legitimate business. But just as he's finally in a place where he can start a life and a family — something he yearns for with touching earnestness — he gets ripped off. Insisting on his money sets off a chain of events that puts him under the thumb of mobster Leo, whose avuncular mask hides a terrifying ruthlessness. With his family's safety and his whole way of life on the line, Frank has to strike back. "Thief" boasts rich performances, and its tight focus on Frank's code, needs, and longings gives it real soul.

• Starring: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky

• Director: Michael Mann

• Year: 1981

• Runtime: 123 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

This gripping film noir revolves around a plan to rob a racetrack. All those bets should add up to a lucrative haul, one that will let Johnny Clay retire and marry his girlfriend. Unfortunately, any big job involves a lot of people — and this time, one of them is the meek George Peatty, who reveals the plan to his money-hungry wife. As a result, she and her lover hatch a plan to double-cross her husband and the rest of the crew and take the money for themselves. "The Killing" offers a detail-oriented, tense look at its racetrack heist and provides a dose of existential despair as a chaser.

• Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards

• Director: Stanley Kubrick

• Year: 1956

• Runtime: 85 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Everyone assumes that longtime bank officer Holland, in charge of monitoring gold bullion, is exactly as unassuming and jumpy as he appears. But it's all a front: Holland has spent years planning to rob his employers and go completely unsuspected. When he befriends tourist gewgaw manufacturer Pendlebury, who longs for better things, the final piece falls into place. It's nearly impossible to get gold out of Britain ... unless they use Pendlebury's shop to melt it down and mold it into Eiffel Tower souvenirs. Slip-ups, slapstick, and amiable performances make "The Lavender Hill Mob" a delight.

• Starring: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James

• Director: Charles Crichton

• Year: 1951

• Runtime: 81 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

With its meticulously detailed robbery of a Parisian jewelry store sporting a sophisticated security system, "Rififi" is the heist genre distilled into a single movie. The long robbery sequence is an undoubted highlight, packed with clever ideas and incredible visuals. But "Rififi" doesn't let up off the gas once the job is done. The aftermath is just as complicated, with the thieves' personal lives intensifying all their problems. Soon, gangster Grutter, who already has a grudge against the heist's point-man, knows about the money, and is determined to take it for himself. It all sets up a complex and tragic final act where everyone struggles to survive — and, if possible, to hang on to some kind of code.

• Starring: Jean Servais, Robert Hossein, Magali Noël

• Director: Jules Dassin

• Year: 1955

• Runtime: 115 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%