The 10 Best Gangster Movie Casts, Ranked
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It’s no secret that some of the best movies of all time belong to the gangster genre, since there’s so much by way of opportunities to mine drama and a huge range of interesting things from such a subject, and the sorts of characters usually wrapped up in such a lifestyle. And there’s versatility with what gangster movies can be about, to some extent, since they're not all rise-and-fall stories, necessarily.
Some are, sure, but the stories you get in the gangster movies below? Not super important, for present purposes. The titles below are here because they're gangster movies with some seriously strong casts, with the quality of the performances and the quantity of big/noteworthy names taken into account here. It’s not necessarily the same thing as talking about the best gangster movies ever, though some of the ones below could also be counted among the ranks in that regard, sure.
10 'Snatch' (2000)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels might be the slightly better Guy Ritchie gangster film, though Snatch is also pretty great, and it had a bit more money behind it, which allowed it to have an even stronger cast. There are a few cast members who appear in both (like Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, and Jason Flemyng), and then a few more exclusive to Snatch, with Brad Pitt being the most obvious one worth singling out.
Also, though, it’s worth mentioning Stephen Graham, Benicio del Toro, Dennis Farina, and Rade Šerbedžija, all of whom make impressions in a very chaotic and fast-paced crime film, and with so many characters, managing to stand out at all, even for just a few minutes, is impressive. There’s also an argument to be made that Guy Ritchie is the real star of the show, owing to how energetic and in-your-face his style is, but as far as the in-front-of-camera talent goes, Snatch is pretty noteworthy.
9 'Gangs of New York' (2002)
Since Martin Scorsese has made a fair few gangster movies, and since he’s also good at attracting some big names to appear in his films, you're going to have to deal with several Scorsese flicks being here. First up is Gangs of New York, which is worthy of at least an honorable mention because it stars both Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, who are – to put it mildly – two of the biggest names of their respective generations of actors.
Also, Cameron Diaz is in this, and some people like to criticize her performance here, but she’s honestly not bad, and was a big name back in 2002. Then, Gangs of New York also boasts a phenomenal supporting cast, with a ton of great actors showing up in smaller roles, including the likes of Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Brendan Gleeson, and Liam Neeson.
8 'Scarface' (1983)
Al Pacino is the big draw in Scarface, clearly, since he’s the guy with the scar on his face, Tony Montana, and it’s indisputably Tony’s movie. But… there are some great co-stars here. Honestly, everyone here is pretty great, and there are some characters who are only in a scene or two, and sometimes have barely any dialogue, but they’re still memorable (like Arnaldo Santana as Ernie, Mark Margolis as Alberto, and Geno Silva as "The Skull").
As for the rest of the cast, you really could list off the rest of the cast, because everyone’s great, but those with fairly large supporting roles – like Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, and F. Murray Abraham – make the biggest impressions, after Pacino, of course. Pacino going big, bold, and honestly over-the-top (but in a good way) is worth the price of admission alone, when it comes to Scarface.
7 'Goodfellas' (1990)
Speaking of absolute classics within the gangster genre, here’s Goodfellas, which is another Martin Scorsese film. This is probably his best gangster film, but having the best cast isn't the exact same thing as being the best, though a great cast does help. And Goodfellas does have a great cast; it’s just that there are a couple of other Scorsese gangster films with casts that are somehow (and arguably) even stronger.
The big three here are undeniable, though, because Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci are all perfect, as are Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino inevitably in #4 and #5. Bracco and several other people who later showed up in The Sopranos pop up throughout Goodfellas, including Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico, and that’s really only scratching the surface. You’ve also got Tobin Bell and Samuel L. Jackson before they became famous (the former for Saw, and the latter for, like, everything), and so many other people who make impressions with just a few minutes of screen time. It’s a perfect movie, and one with a phenomenal cast, too, without a doubt.
6 'Pulp Fiction' (1994)
Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t in Goodfellas enough for it to be a star-making role, even if he was perfect there for what he had to do (again, not much). It’s Pulp Fiction where you really get to see what he’s capable of, and he might well be the standout as far as the cast goes here, though honorable mentions would also have to be given out to just about everyone else.
John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Rosanna Arquette, and all the other people who haven’t been mentioned, but probably should’ve been. It’s just hard to fault the cast here, other than Quentin Tarantino, who’s not very good with his role, which isn't quite a supporting one, but it’s a bit longer and more prominent than a cameo. Still, he co-wrote (with the often forgotten Roger Avary) and directed the hell out of this movie, so at least he delivered on those fronts.
5 'The Irishman' (2019)
The Irishman was potentially made as a way to give a bunch of actors known for their gangster roles one final chance to shine in the spotlight, and somewhat controversially with a few of them de-aged to various degrees. Regardless of how you feel about that de-aging, it did allow for Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino to get maximum screen time, since younger actors weren’t used to play their characters when said characters were, you know, younger.
There are some other previously-mentioned names who have roles in The Irishman, like Harvey Keitel and Stephen Graham. They're great, as are Jesse Plemons, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, and Anna Paquin, the last of them doing quite a lot without getting to say much at all (for a good reason, ultimately). All the greats are here, plus some amazing younger actors. It’s three and a half hours of great acting and filmmaking, for the most part… you just have to grin and bear some of those shakier special effects moments.
4 'The Departed' (2006)
So, The Irishman scored a few extra points because it saw Martin Scorsese finally directing Al Pacino in a movie, which was great to see, and a long time coming. It also took a while for Scorsese to direct Jack Nicholson for the first (and only) time, with The Departed being that collaboration, which was thankfully a great one (both Scorsese and Nicholson had been pretty big names within the film industry for more than three decades by that point in time).
And Jack Nicholson is just one piece of The Departed pie, so to speak, since Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, and Vera Farmiga all impress in this movie, too. It’s star-studded without it feeling like all the stars are distracting, or maybe that lack of things feeling distracting is a testament to how well everybody slips into their respective roles, not to mention how well they're all directed by Scorsese himself.
3 'The Godfather Part II' (1974)
When it came to the top of a ranking like this, the main struggle was deciding which The Godfather movie had the best cast. Now, there is one other non-Godfather movie that ranks ahead of The Godfather Part II, but The Godfather is the only other movie besides that one ranking ahead of the second Godfather. But here is The Godfather Part II. It loses two heavy-hitters, compared to the first movie.
Gaining Robert De Niro in the place of Marlon Brando is definitely something, but the Brando star power is the big reason why The Godfather is going to edge out The Godfather Part II.
Well, James Caan appears briefly at the end, in a flashback, so he’s not completely lost, though his role here is smaller. And sure, Diane Keaton is given more to do here, so she makes more of an impression as a cast member, and gaining Robert De Niro in the place of Marlon Brando is definitely something, but the Brando star power is the big reason why The Godfather is going to edge out The Godfather Part II. Now, all that commentary makes it hard to work out what else can be said about The Godfather (1972) once that movie is gotten to. Oh well!
2 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)
There are some fairly recognizable people in Once Upon a Time in America that don’t get as much screen time as you might expect, like Joe Pesci and Burt Young, and then there was even an Oscar winner in the film whose scenes were cut out of all but the longest version of the film: Louise Fletcher, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest fame. You’ve also got some people who appear here before they were recognizable, like Jennifer Connelly and Estelle Harris (quite surprisingly… she came to be known for playing George’s mom on Seinfeld and voicing Mrs. Potato Head in some of the Toy Story films).
With the main cast, though, you’ve of course got the likes of Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Tuesday Weld, William Forsythe, and Treat Williams, all of whom are great, plus some other people. Once Upon a Time in America is a massive movie, even by the standards of the epic genre, so there’s definitely some room for a huge cast here, but maybe not quite enough, given it would've been nice to see more acting from the likes of Pesci and Young.
1 'The Godfather' (1972)
So, The Godfather was already mentioned before, when talking about The Godfather Part II. But here it is, inevitably, in first place, with it having a perfect cast, and also, quite impressively, assembling this cast before a good many of the cast members were big names. Obviously, Marlon Brando had been a big deal since the 1950s, and Robert Duvall had been in a few things throughout the 1960s, but many of the other stars here were up-and-comers, for the most part.
Everyone is perfectly cast, and it’s understandable why just about everyone here has their arguable most iconic role in each of their respective careers found in this film. What else can be said? No, really? Okay, other than the fact that the cast of The Godfather Part III is also pretty great, but no James Caan, Marlon Brando, or Robert De Niro… admittedly for logical reasons, but the absence of Robert Duvall is harder to forgive (and reportedly the result of Duvall not feeling as though he was being paid enough).
The Godfather
- Release Date
- March 24, 1972
- Runtime
- 175 minutes
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
- Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
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