An all time classic 60s movie glamourising the real life story of the Barrow gang who terrorised the American South in the early 30s. 'Reclaiming the American gangster movie, after it had been stolen by the Nouvelle Vague, Penn's film was so successful (and so imitated) that it inevitably met with some grudging devaluation. But it's still great, half comic fairytale, half brutal fact, it reflects the essential ambiguity of its heroes by treading a no man's land suspended between reality and fant find out more...

A lavish Scorcese epic set in 70s Vegas. De Niro is typically charismatic as Ace, whose gambling empire brings him wealth, power and, ultimately, ruin. Pesci is satisfyingly psychotic regurgitating his "Goodfellas" gangster, but it's Stone who will break your heart as tortured ex-hooker Ginger. Superb. find out more...

The 'City of God' is a slum town within the confines of Rio De Janeiro and a place of such casual and seemingly infinite brutality that no one but its residents ever venture within its borders. Rocket is one young man who has made a conscious decision to escape his 'home town' and it is through his eyes that we view this mesmerizing vision of a society where violence and the ruthlessness to use it have run amok. 'City Of God' is a truly awesome film, a heart pounding journey, with relentless pac find out more...

Phyllis Dietrichson is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who inspires in her nothing but contempt, but rather than leave him Phyllis decides to kill him and collect on the insurance policy she's had set up with the help of her lover, and naive partner in crime, insurance salesman Walter Neff. The only flaws in their plan are the company's reluctance to pay out so much, the diligence of Neff's increasingly suspicious colleague, (and his 'little man'), and the exemplary ruthlessness of Ph find out more...

Ming is a sergeant in the Hong Kong police force, but his true colours lie with his Triad boss; Yan works for the same Triad boss but his real loyalties are with the police. Both men have spent years leading the same furtive and often fraught existence but for opposing sides, and it is only when a drugs bust goes spectacularly wrong that the two moles become aware of the other's existence, though not their identity. Infernal Affairs is a hard boiled character driven thriller that concentrates he find out more...

A young married man with a baby girl is inexplicably relieved of his freedom one drunken night. Just as inexplicably released fifteen years later he is given some money and a mobile. His family now gone his only contact is the nameless, faceless voice on the other end of the phone that sets him the task of discovering the reason for his incarceration. Taken in by a young woman, love blossoms almost immediately for the two, but as he draws closer to the truth her life becomes increasingly threate find out more...

The definitive gangster-epic; violent? Yes, but never mindless. The Jewish Mafia's coming of age on the Lower East Side in 1923, their rise to wealth during Prohibition, and their fall in 1933, provide the background to a story of friendship and betrayal, love and death. Leone's masterful cinematography evokes both the harshness of the vice-ridden decades before and after Prohibition, but also the philosophy behind it. Splendid performances by De Niro and Woods and a stupendous score by Ennio Mo find out more...

Prepare to be corrupted! The long awaited, but mercifully uncut release of Tarantino's masterpiece means you can now rewind all the nasty bits in the privacy of your own home. A superbly scripted, stunningly stylish study of loyalty and double-dealings amongst underworld gangsters in sharp suits.

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Four men set in motion a heist of incredible audacity, a robbery where the level of risk is only matched by the protagonists' meticulous precision, but though the thieves are consummate professionals once the job is done their emotions and animosities begin to threaten the rewards of their hard work. Rififi is renowned for its tense half hour long heist scene in which not a word is ever uttered, and acknowledged as one of the classic examples of French film noir. find out more...

Chucked out of Cuba as an undesirable by Castro a small time crook claws his way to the top in the Miami cocaine trade. A megolamaniac rise in a twisted version of the American dream. Very violent, foul mouthed and bloody - a telling parable for the 80s. find out more...