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10 best heist movies of all time, ranked

Marion Cotillard and Leonardo DiCaprio sit on a beach together in Inception.
Warner Bros. Pictures

When movies successfully make criminal masterminds look cool, heist flicks end up being some of the most entertaining types of films to get the blood pumping from the comfort of one’s couch. The greatest heist films combine careful preparation and strategizing with the high-stakes action and thrilling obstacles of executing those plans with everything at stake.

From engrossing classics like Heat and A Fish Called Wanda to stylish hits like Ocean’s Eleven and Inception, the best heist movies are guaranteed to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Expect meticulously crafted plots, shocking twists, and thrilling stories from these spectacular heist movies that set the gold standard for the genre.

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10. Point Break (1991)

Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Point Break.
20th Century Studios

Keanu Reeves stars as FBI agent Johnny Utah in Point Break, which sees him tasked with infiltrating a gang of bank robbers known as the “Ex-Presidents” because of their distinctive masks. It turns out that they’re also a rowdy group of adrenaline junkies getting their thrill from surfing, and Utah is drawn to their exciting lifestyle. The undercover agent soon forms an unexpected bond with the criminals, especially with their charismatic leader, Bodhi (Patrick Swayze).

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Point Break uses the surfer subculture as a unique backdrop for its exhilarating story. The heist movie is often over-the-top and sometimes downright absurd, which is what makes it so memorable and entertaining. It’s also notable for Reeves’ role, for which he performs an impressive balancing act between the role of a serious agent and a more comical fake surfer. The film hasn’t been forgotten to time, with its cult following ensuring that new generations will continue to discover the bizarrely delightful action movie from the 1990s.

9. Baby Driver (2017)

Three men sit in a car in Baby Driver.
Sony Pictures Releasing

Director Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is an award-winning heist film best remembered for its combination of action and a killer soundtrack. It primarily follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young getaway driver who uses music for his getaways and also to drown out his tinnitus. His criminal activity is controlled by Doc (Kevin Spacey), a mastermind who relies on Baby’s exceptional driving skills for his heists. However, when Baby falls for the server Debora (Lily James), he wants to leave his life of crime behind, hoping one last job will finally be enough.

Baby Driver is full of flawlessly choreographed car chases that unfold alongside pulsating music. Despite things spiraling out of control, the 2017 flick doesn’t take itself too seriously in the best way possible, making each action sequence fun to watch. It also uses the “one-last-job” trope well, making Baby and Debora’s romance something worth rooting for, even if the idea isn’t entirely novel.

8. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

A man with a gun robs a bank in Dog Day Afternoon.
Warner Bros.

On a hot dog day afternoon, a gripping heist unfolds in Brooklyn, led by the first-time crook Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino). Dog Day Afternoon, which is based on a true story, revolves around Sonny and Sal Naturile’s (John Cazale) robbery gone wrong. What was supposed to be a quick crime eventually turns into a tense hostage situation, which sees the pair surrounded by police and the media. Sonny’s surprising motivations for the crime are soon revealed, which makes him an unlikely anti-hero in the eyes of the public.

Directed by Sidney Lumet, Dog Day Afternoon is remembered for its anti-establishment sentiment, emphasized by a moment when Sonny chants “Attica! Attica!” to the gathered crowd in an attempt to reference the infamous prison riot. It was also ahead of its time in its portrayal of sexuality, as aside from the protagonist being a bisexual male character, his reason for stealing is to fund his partner’s gender reassignment surgery. This movie stands out as one of Al Pacino’s greatest works, with the actor truly shining in the character-focused story.

7. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Men in suits walk down the road in Reservoir Dogs.
Miramax Films / Miramax

Reservoir Dogs is a pioneering crime film that also served as renowned director Quentin Tarantino‘s feature-length debut. The 1992 movie centers on a group of criminals, each assigned color-coded pseudonyms, brought together by crime boss Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) for a diamond heist. The heist itself is never shown; instead, the movie depicts the increasingly tense interactions between the characters as they regroup in a warehouse, trying to figure out what went wrong during the robbery and who among them might be a police informant

The choice to portray the aftermath of the botched robbery instead of the actual crime was an innovative and fascinating one at the time. Reservoir Dogs also featured a non-linear narrative that added to its novel contributions to the genre. Plus, despite being among Tarantino’s earliest works, it already greatly benefited from the filmmaker’s trademarks, with his signature sharp dialogue, offbeat humor, and graphic violence helping turn the movie into a cult classic.

6. The Italian Job (2003)

Four people stand around a car in The Italian Job.
Paramount Pictures

Part meticulously crafted heist film, part incredibly exhilarating revenge movie, The Italian Job revolves around a team of skilled thieves who pull off a robbery in Venice. When one of their own, Steve (Edward Norton), betrays them, making off with the loot and killing their safecracker, the rest of the group vows vengeance. A year later, Charlie and his crew — including their new safecracker Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), hacker Lyle (Seth Green), wheelman Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), and explosives expert Left Ear (Mos Def) — regroup in Los Angeles to get payback and reclaim the stolen gold.

The Italian Job is a stylish heist movie featuring an all-star cast, with director F. Gary Gray’s work being an homage to the eponymous 1969 British film. The inspiration is obvious in the 2003 movie’s use of tricked-out Mini Coopers in some of the most exciting action sequences in the genre. This blend of stylish scenes with sheer fun has cemented The Italian Job as a modern classic that has lost none of its appeal since it first premiered.

5. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Danny Ocean stands with his crew in Ocean's Eleven.
Warner Bros.

Fresh out of prison, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) recruits his old friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and assembles a team that includes pickpocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) and explosives expert Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), among others in Ocean’s Eleven. Together, they handpick a crew of skilled con men and thieves to pull off a daring theft of three Las Vegas casinos. Their target is the vault holding $160 million from the Bellagio, Mirage, and MGM Grand, all owned by ruthless tycoon Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who is also dating Danny’s ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts).

Director Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven is a slick heist film that makes its flawed criminals look effortlessly cool, despite showing all the tedious work it takes to plan a risky robbery. With star power like Clooney, Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and more, all performing against the glamorous backdrop of Las Vegas, it was a guaranteed major hit. The blockbuster would spawn a massively popular franchise that set a new benchmark for ensemble heist films.

4. Rififi (1955)

Pierre Grasset, Robert Hossein, Marcel Lupovici, and Magali Noël in Rififi (1955)
Pathé

Rififi is one of the greatest crime movies most have likely never even heard of, with the 1955 movie being a seminal work in French film noir. Directed by Jules Dassin, who found work in France after being blacklisted from Hollywood, the film follows Tony “le Stéphanois” (Jean Servais), a master thief fresh out of prison, who teams up with three other criminals: Jo le Suedois (Carl Möhner), Mario Ferrati (Robert Manuel), and César le Milanais (played by Dassin himself under the pseudonym Perlo Vita). Together, they plan an elaborate robbery of an exclusive Parisian jewelry store.

The movie is best known for its 32-minute heist sequence shot in complete silence to emphasize the tension and realism of the act. This single segment would become one of the most influential scenes in the genre, with the crime caper’s legacy obvious in later heist classics like Ocean’s Eleven and Heat. Despite premiering almost 70 years ago, Rififi is still worth watching if only to see the groundbreaking aspects that helped shape the genre as fans know it today.

3. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

The cast of A Fish Called Wanda.
MGM

Jamie Lee Curtis stars as the seductive femme fatale Wanda Gershwitz who leads a quirky gang of criminals in A Fish Called Wanda. Directed by Charles Crichton, the movie shows the group’s fallout following a successful heist, as Wanda and her dim-witted lover Otto West (Kevin Kline) double-cross their colleague George Thomason (Tom Georgeson). After he ends up in jail, the duo attempts to locate the diamonds he hid by manipulating George’s barrister, the bumbling Archie Leach (John Cleese).

A Fish Called Wanda is a standout in the genre for its unique blend of a classic heist and screwball comedy. Its sharp humor leads to some laugh-out-loud moments, especially as the eccentric characters find themselves in the middle of hilarious misunderstandings and awkward scenarios. From Wanda’s misguided seduction of Archie to Ken’s absurd failed attempts at getting rid of a witness, the 1988 crime-comedy flick had viewers guffawing in cinemas, so much so that an audience member actually died while laughing during a screening of A Fish Called Wanda.

2. Inception (2012)

Leonardo DiCaprio watches a top spins in Inception.
Warner Bros.

Inception is a genre- and mind-bending blockbuster that’s among director Christopher Nolan’s best movies. A sci-fi, heist, action, and drama film, it primarily follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a skilled thief specializing in extracting secrets from within the subconscious during the dream state. Cobb is offered a chance to have his criminal record erased in exchange for implanting an idea into a target’s mind, a process known as “inception.” To succeed, Cobb assembles a team that gets deep within the mind of their target, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Soon, Cobb’s subconscious projections of his deceased wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), begin to jeopardize the mission.

Nolan had somehow combined high-concept science fiction with heist movie tropes and created one of the most confusing yet wildly entertaining and immersive viewing experiences in cinematic history. Inception is a widely celebrated film that has left a permanent mark on pop culture, with most fans agreeing that it warrants more than one viewing to fully appreciate its twisty plot and visually stunning dreamscape.

1. Heat (1995)

A young Robert De Niro sitting at a table in a restaurant with another man, looking unimpressed in a scene from Heat.
Warner Bros.

In Heat, master thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) plans high-stakes heists with a loyal crew, enjoying an unbelievable success rate. This is soon threatened by LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), who becomes obsessed with capturing the criminal. As McCauley plans one final big score, he lays everything on the line, even if it puts him on a dangerous collision course with Hanna, who’s more determined than ever to catch him.

Directed by Michael Mann, the 1995 film impressed fans and critics alike with its layered story that explored the unexpected parallels between the criminal mastermind and the cop. Heat exposes the parallels and contrasts between them. McCauley lives by a strict code and avoids attachments that could compromise his freedom, while Hanna’s dedication to his job strains his relationships with his wife and stepdaughter. This profound exploration of the duo’s loneliness and obsession is perfectly complemented by intense action, with the film culminating in a tense showdown at the bank and a climactic airport chase, which will have audiences glued to their screens.

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Hannah Saab
Saab whips up SEO-optimized articles as a writer for Digital Trends and updates top-performing articles on Collider.
Purdue vs. Michigan State: How to watch, results, and highlights
Michigan State basketball court from an aerial view.

Two of the Big Ten's best teams face off on Tuesday night. Braden Smith and the No. 13 Purdue Boilermakers (19-7) take on Jaden Akins and the No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday night. After hot starts, both teams have dropped recent games. Purdue enters Tuesday's game on a two-game losing streak, with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of Wisconsin. Michigan State has lost three of their last five but picked up a crucial victory over Illinois this past Saturday.
After the departure of Zach Edey, Purdue had major questions in their frontcourt. Trey Kaufman-Renn has been better than advertised, as the junior forward leads the Boilermakers in points (19.4) and rebounds (6.3). Plus, Smith's veteran presence in the backcourt will pay dividends in March. It's a true team effort for Tom Izzo's Spartans, with five scorers between eight and 14 points per game. The x-factor is freshman Jase Richardson, who has scored over 10 points in three straight games, including a 29-point outburst in the win over Oregon.
With the regular season winding down, this game will go a long way when determining seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. Find out how to watch the game below, including the start time, channel, and streaming information. Read our NCAA men's basketball March to the Madness guide for more information.

Purdue vs. Michigan State: How to watch
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25 years ago, Vin Diesel had the best day of his career
Vin Diesel looks cool in black goggles and a black tank top in a still from the movie Pitch Black.

Vin Diesel in Pitch Black USA Films
More than almost any other movie star working today, Vin Diesel seems to think only in franchises. Skim the last two decades of this muscle man’s filmography, and you’ll see almost nothing but sequels or movies designed (not always successfully) to spawn sequels. Once Vin got a taste of life in the fast lane, he never really looked back. Maybe he was always just destined to become a Hollywood action hero: When you’re built like a bullet and talk like a subwoofer, the Italian Stallion career path makes a lot more sense than anything else.
Of course, like Sly Stallone, Vin didn’t start out making multiplex cash grabs. Before he was Dominic Toretto, Xander Cage, and Groot, Diesel was a hungry young actor, more focused on honing his craft than bulging his biceps. In the ’90s, he even dabbled in writing and directing, penning his own gritty, calling-card starring vehicle; it was that indie drama, Strays, that caught Steven Spielberg’s attention and earned Diesel a breakout role in Saving Private Ryan. To watch him there or in the late Sidney Lumet’s swan song, Find Me Guilty, is to be reminded of a time when the big guy aspired to a little more than bankable machismo.
What’s wild is that you can pinpoint to the day the pinnacle of Diesel’s time as a dramatic performer as opposed to a box-office draw. Said day was 25 years ago tomorrow, when not one but two movies featuring the future star hit theaters nationwide. There he was as a likable off- Wall Street stock broker in the financial drama Boiler Room, and there he was again as a mythic outlaw in the deep-space creature feature Pitch Black. Diesel has never been better than he was in these two very different movies, which kind of makes February 18th, 2000 the best day of his career — and also the last moment before that career changed directions.
Boiler Room (2000) Official Trailer #1 - Vin Diesel Movie HD
Of the two films, Boiler Room is the more obvious acting showcase, though Vin has a much smaller part in it. Written and directed by Ben Younger, this Martin Scorsese-indebted procedural essentially fictionalizes the true story the actual Scorsese would later dramatize with The Wolf of Wall Street. Younger looks at the fraudulent practices of brokerage houses like Stratton Oakmont from the perspective of one of the cold callers, a Long Island entrepreneur played by Giovanni Ribisi. Maybe fourth or fifth booked in the cast is Diesel, who steps in as one of the more experienced brokers who takes Ribisi’s snake-oil salesman under his wing.
“He’s like gravity —everything gets pulled to him,” is how someone describes Diesel’s most famous character, Dominic Toretto, in the following year’s franchise-launching melodrama The Fast and the Furious. But he’s much more conventionally magnetic in Boiler Room as a slick but approachable young millionaire swindler. Vin’s first big scene in the movie puts his signature bravado to good use, as he gregariously coerces a doctor into buying a bunch of shares over the phone — a hard sell that he makes look effortless. It’s a kind of initiation, laying out the seductive thrill of how these chop-shop frat boys make their fortune. They’re really just actors, playing a part for the clients they unscrupulously exploit.
Diesel’s Chris Varick, like Toretto, is as much teddy bear as shark, though. Boiler Room positions him as a big brother for Ribisi— the warm alternative to Nicky Katt’s jealous, competitive bullpen prick. The script’s pages of shop talk (the kind of industry exposition that Scorsese waved off with a fourth-wall-breaking wink from Leo) go down smoother when delivered in Diesel’s low rumble and New York accent. And Chris becomes an unlikely figure of redemption at the ending, confronted by both the impending collapse of his livelihood and the opportunity to do one noble thing before it all comes crashing down. That makes Boiler Room the first in a long line of movies that find the conscience burning within Diesel’s bad-boy routine.
Pitch Black Official Trailer #1 - Vin Diesel Movie (2000) HD
A secret flicker of decency also defines Richard B. Riddick, the apprehended mercenary Diesel plays for the first time in Pitch Black. In terms of temperament and vocabulary, he’s a much different animal than Varick: a stony Western archetype unleashed onto the final frontier, like Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name airdropped into an Alien knockoff. Writer-director David Twohy builds Riddick up, establishing his fearsome bona fides by keeping him chained, shrouded in darkness, and silent for the first act, when the ship carting this dangerous fugitive crash-lands on a planet with three suns and some deadly nocturnal wildlife. Beyond the opening voice-over, Diesel doesn’t utter a word for the first 30 minutes of the movie.
More than Toretto, that marble-mouthed, messianic Robin Hood patriarch always mumbling about family, Riddick is the quintessential Vin Diesel character. Twohy leans on and inflates his comic-book physicality – the bulkiness that caught the actor bouncer gigs before he went Hollywood. And he streamlines that familiar Diesel braggadocio into a cucumber cool, the poise of a post-human bruiser in touch with his wild side. His performance in Pitch Black arguably comes closer to approximating the original conception of Wolverine than the one Hugh Jackman would deliver, for the first time, a few months later in the first X-Men movie. Diesel is so convincing here as an animalistic loner that his eventual, reluctant call to be a team-player, à la Logan, packs the desired punch.
Less blockbuster than glorified sci-fi programmer, Pitch Black didn’t make boatloads of money. But it was a successful proof of concept; what it sold the world was Diesel’s suitability for action-hero duty. Those who caught the movie in theaters, maybe even on a double bill with Boiler Room, could clearly see into his future as a post-millennial Rambo. But few of the big Hollywood projects that followed better capitalized on his rugged, monosyllabic qualities. No wonder Diesel returned to the film’s treacherous star system, reprising the role in two sequels — the goofier, more expansive Chronicles of Riddick and the back-to-basics Riddick — even after he had moved on to more lucrative multi-picture engagements.
Boiler Room Prospecting Scene - Vin Diesel Closing
In retrospect, 2000 was as much a last hurrah as it was a highpoint for Vin Diesel, the actor, not the brand. A year later, he’d buckle in for the comparably low-key first entry in a series he’d eventually makeover into a multi-billion-dollar vanity project. There was really no turning back from the road Fast & Furious put him on. It’s been basically all intellectual-property bids since, as Diesel has balanced his cash cow franchise with attempts to develop new ones. You have to strain to see any real artistic ambition in any of the work he’s done since the day the multiplex served up double, clashing doses of his cowboy swagger. Besides a supporting role in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, it’s been one star sleepwalk after another.
Maybe Diesel never had a character actor's range. As a performer, he mostly offers different shades of macho — brooding, sentimental, or arrogant as needed. But on one winter day at the start of a new century, he demonstrated that his particular steroidal charisma could be stretched a little, and applied to projects with wildly different aims. February 18 was a crossroads for this modern tough guy. He took the path to marquee immortality that Pitch Black opened up before him, while leaving us wondering how many Boiler Rooms he bypassed along the way.
Boiler Room and Pitch Black are both available to rent or purchase from the major digital services. For more of A.A. Dowd’s writing, visit his Authory page.

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