Five Greatest Mob Movies Ever

There continues to be an ongoing fascination with organized crime in our country. It is reflected in our culture with series such as The Sopranos and a never ending stream of news stories, attempting to infiltrate the more popular crime families of our generation. There is no question that this curiosity with criminal culture has changed over the years and continues to evolve.

There was a time when organized crime was thought of as exclusive to a particular group of individuals working secretly and quietly behind the scenes in our newly industrialized world. Now the phenomenon has changed. It has taken on many different forms and included individuals from a variety of backgrounds. In consideration of this fascination I present the best mafia movies ever made.

In no particular order they are:

Goodfellas. This was a masterpiece that brought home an understanding of organized crime in the modern world in way never seen before. It followed the rising up of a young man in New York from the time he was just a kid, to becoming a major player with one of the most powerful crime families in the country. It was based on a true story that reflected a time of turncoats and government infiltration into an organization that had remained up until that time virtually untouched. It has an all star cast the likes of which do not come along very often including, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta and Samuel Jackson in a small supporting role. A great film and incredibly entertaining.

Donnie Brasco. This was another incredible film based in New York and also taken place during a time of government infiltration into one of the most powerful crime families in the country. The story follows under cover FBI agent Joe Pistone as he manages to become a member of a crew that robs and murders it's way to the pinnacle of the Bonnano crime family. After gaining the trust and loyalty of fellow crime family members, Pistone is able to report back on all of the operations of the organization in such a way that eventually led to over one hundred indictments and countless arrests that in real life, devastated organized crime in the city.

The Godfather Parts 1& 2. I put the two films together as they are essentially a continuing saga. The film is based on the classic novel by Mario Puzzo. This is the story of an Italian immigrant who must flee his home village of Corleone in order to escape mobsters responsible for killing his family. As a youngster he makes his way to America where he starts a family and learns the ways of the street as he rises up to become one of the most powerful and influential gangsters of his era. Although a fictional tale, the film is rumoured to be loosely based on the lives of some of the most powerful gangsters to rise up in America including Lucky Luciano, Myer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. The film boasts one of the most impressive casts ever including Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Robert Duval and the legendary Marlon Brando.

Carlito's Way. A great film that explores more the organized drug cartels in the country as opposed to a particular crime family. The film centres around a superstar in the underworld drug war, Carlos Charlie Brigante. Brigante is a street thug who makes his way up the ranks until eventually becoming the most prominent player in the country's heroine trade. The story picks up where Brigante's lawyer is getting him out of prison early after a lengthy sentence. Brigante, now a changed man supposedly, attempts to go the road more straight and narrow and earn enough money with a club he owns so that he can retire to a deserted island somewhere in paradise and leave his former life of crime behind him. However, the world he left behind before he went to prison doesn't want to see him go and the people in his life aren't exactly what they appear to be. A spectacular film with another superior cast including Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller.

Finally the list rounds up with a classic favourite, The Usual Suspects. This film is not so much a study in organized crime as it is simply a superior criminal drama. The story follows Dean Keaton, a former cop turned criminal master mind who gets thrown together with an interesting group of underworld cronies in a mysterious tale of suspense that is told from both in the moment and flash back sequences. The question you are left with as a viewer is what is real and what is fiction as a large portion of the story is being told by one of the criminal cronies, Verbal Kint, to an investigating police officer played by Chazz Palminteri. The story is complex and fascinating with a twist that will have you watching it several times trying to catch what you missed the first time through.

I'm sure there will be other selections in this regard and I look forward to hearing your choices. In the meantime, if you haven't seen any of these films go out and rent them. All of them are worth a good look.