1. "A Daring Daylight Burglary"
   "Outside the Law"
2. "Three Bad Men"
   "The Great Train Robbery"

Although it misses being the first heist movie by a few months (that title goes to "A Daring Daylight Burglary"), 1903's "The Great Train Robbery" by Edwin S. Porter is one of the earliest examples of the form. Based in part on a popular 1896 play, the film is a groundbreaking work of early cinema.

1. "Coffy"
   "The Big Hit"
2. "Jackie Brown"
   "The Maiden Heist"

"Jackie Brown," based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel "Rum Punch," was Quentin Tarantino's stylish and comparatively sedate follow-up to "Pulp Fiction." True to Elmore's work with plenty of Tarantino's signature touches, "Jackie Brown" is an underappreciated gem. Pam Grier sizzles in the title role.

1. "Clockwise"
   "Fierce Creatures"
2. "A Fish Called Wanda"
   "Brazil"

1988's "A Fish Called Wanda" was written by and co-stars Monty Python's John Cleese. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast, including Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and Cleese's Python cohort Michael Palin, this comedy crime film is a hilarious and, at times, surreal take on the heist movie subgenre.

1. "The Fast and the Furious"
   "Never a Dull Moment"
2. "The Pink Panther"
   "Goldfinger"

With the impact that the cartoon character known as the Pink Panther and his iconic theme music have had on pop culture, it's easy to forget that they began in the opening credits of Blake Edwards' 1963 film. The Pink Panther of the film and its sequels is a magnificent diamond with a feline flaw.

1. "Buster"
   "The League of Gentlemen"
2. "The Bank Job"
   "Robbery"

2008's "The Bank Job" by director Roger Donaldson is (very) loosely based on the famous 1971 robbery of Lloyds Bank in central London. Saffron Burrows stars as a drug smuggler who strikes a deal with MI5 to retrieve compromising photos of a member of the Royal Family from a deposit box.

1. "A Hole in the Head"
   "Never So Few"
2. "Ocean's 11"
   "The Joker Is Wild"

Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford gather nine of their wartime pals from the elite 82nd Airborne to pull off a New Year's Eve robbery of five Vegas casinos in "Ocean's 11." Also starring Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., this film features the legendary Rat Pack at their stylish best.

1. "The Hustler"
   "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
2. "The Sting"
   "Bugsy Malone"

Director George Roy Hill re-teamed with his "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford for 1973's "The Sting." Newman and Redford star as a couple of grifters who concoct a scheme to con the Irish mobster (Robert Shaw) responsible for the death of their friend.

1. "Looper"
   "Ex Machina"
2. "Source Code"
   "Inception"

Christopher of "The Dark Knight" fame wrote and directed this sci-fi variation on the heist formula in 2010. Starring Leonardo Dicaprio as a thief who can extract secrets from a target's subconscious, "Inception" is a unique inversion of typical heist movie tropes.

1. "Jarhead"
   "The One That Got Away"
2. "Fires of Kuwait"
   "Three Kings"

"Three Kings" walks a line between heist film and war movie. Starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze as a group of bored American soldiers who attempt to steal Kuwaiti gold in the days after the end of Desert Storm, this film is unlike any other war or heist film ever made.

1. "The Getaway"
   "The Great Escape"
2. "The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery"
   "Convoy"

Directed by Sam Peckinpah with a script by Walter Hill, "The Getaway" stars Steve McQueen as a convict who, through the machinations of a crooked businessman, gets early parole in exchange for doing a bank heist. Doublecrossed and desperate, McQueen and his wife (Ali MacGraw) go on the run.

1. "Fast Five"
   "Baby Driver"
2. "Gone in 60 Seconds
   "Drive"

Edgar Wright, best known for the 2004 zombie laugh-fest "Shaun of the Dead," directed this action-packed heist film starring Ansel Elgort and Kevin Spacey. A long-percolating passion project, Wright conceived this Atlanta-based crime epic when he was only 21.

1. "Reservoir Dogs"
   "Bad Lieutenant"
2. "Man Bites Dog"
   "Storyville"

1992's "Reservoir Dogs," starring Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth, was filmmaker Quentin Tarantino's debut feature film. Detailing the prelude and bloody aftermath of a diamond heist, the film focuses on a gang of anonymous crooks that has both a cop and a psychopath in its midst.

1. "The Guns of the Navarone"
   "Kelly's Heroes"
2. "The Dirty Dozen"
   "The Wild Geese"

An audacious blend of war film and heist movie, "Kelly's Heroes" features an ensemble cast led by Clint Eastwood. Subversive and violent with a wicked wit, "Kelly's Heroes" treads some familiar territory in innovative ways. Although it takes place during WWII, its ethos lies firmly in the 1970s.

1. "The Gauntlet"
   "The Eiger Sanction"
2. "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot"
   "Magnum Force"

Action star Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges make an unlikely duo in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot." Eastwood is a bank robber called the Thunderbolt, whose modus operandi is cracking vaults with an anti-tank gun. With Thunderbolt's old gang on his tail, Lightfoot (Bridges) makes a dangerous proposition.

1. "Dog Day Afternoon"
   "Serpico"
2. "Scarecrow"
   "Heat"

Loosely based on the true story of bank robber John Wojtowicz, "Dog Day Afternoon" stars Al Pacino as a first-time bank robber intent on getting the funds to pay for his partner's sexual reassignment surgery. The robbery becomes a hostage situation when he discovers the bank only has $1,100 on hand.

1. "Snatch"
   "Out of Sight"
2. "Ronin"
   "Point Break"

Patrick Swayze stars as a zenned-out surf guru who leads a gang of bank robbers known as the Ex-Presidents in this 1991 crime film. It's up to undercover cop Keanu Reeves to bring the gang down from the inside. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "Point Break" is a deceptively complex study of friendship.

1. "The Hot Rock"
   "Snow Job"
2. "The Master Touch"
   "The Silent Partner"

"The Hot Rock," based on a novel by Donald Westlake, stars Robert Redford as the leader of a gang of thieves who just can't get it together. After plotting an increasingly complex and costly caper to steal a valuable diamond, Redford and his crew keep losing the gem in a series of misadventures.

1. "Hudson Hawk"
   "The Last Boy Scout"
2. "Last Man Standing"
   "Striking Distance"

"Hudson Hawk" stars Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello as a pair of expert safecrackers who get roped into an elaborate art heist scheme. A bomb with both critics and audiences, the film's slapstick style failed to connect with Willis' huge post-"Die Hard" fanbase.

1. "Thief"
   "Prince of the City"
2. "The Killer Elite"
   "Hide in Plain Sight"

1981's "Thief" was the first film directed by Michael Mann of "Miami Vice" fame. The film stars James Caan as an expert jewel thief who's looking to settle down to a life of legitimacy. Naturally, the mob has other plans for him.

1. "The Usual Suspects"
   "Get Shorty"
2. "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead"
   "Nick of Time"

Bryan Singer's critically acclaimed 1995 film "The Usual Suspects" focuses on the police interview of Verbal Kint, a survivor of a violent showdown on a mysterious crime lord's boat. Kint regales the cops with a complex story of heists gone wrong, murder and deceit. However, nothing is as it seems.

1. "Used Cars"
   "Blue Collar"
2. "Take This Job and Shove It"
   "Gung Ho"

"Blue Collar" marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Paul Schrader. Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto star as auto workers disillusioned by abusive management and their union. When their plot to rob the union's safe uncovers corruption, they find themselves turning on each other.

1. "Heat"
   "Casino"
2. "Donnie Brasco"
   "Sea of Love"

Michael Mann's 1995 high energy heist epic "Heat" stars Robert De Niro as a career bank robber planning one last job before he leaves the criminal life. Al Pacino co-stars as a cop determined to take him down. Although the two are on opposite sides of the law, they come to respect one another.

1. "Odds Against Tomorrow"
   "Hellbound"
2. "Armored Car Robbery"
   "The Hoodlum"

"Armored Car Robbery," directed by Richard Fleischer, deviates from the usual heist movie pattern by portraying its criminals as anything but sympathetic. Focusing instead on a Los Angeles cop in pursuit of the robbers who killed his partner, this film is a violent reminder of the wages of crime.

1. "The Italian Job"
   "Alfie"
2. "Get Carter"
   "The Ipcress File"

1969's "The Italian Job," starring Michael Caine in one of his most celebrated roles, is a tour de force of action and comedy. Caine and his crew of drivers make off with $4 million in gold with the help of Benny Hill, who plays, of all things, a computer expert. The ending is a literal cliffhanger!

1. "Breathless"
   "Band of Outsiders"
2. "Alphaville"
   "Weekend"

"Band of Outsiders" (original French title "Bande à part") is a prime example of the French New Wave style. Directed by critic-turned-filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, "Band of Outsiders" is a celebration of American B-films and a unique blend of comedy, romance and tragedy. This one's a must for cinephiles.

1. "Night and the City"
   "Gun Crazy"
2. "The Asphalt Jungle"
   "Dark City"

A blueprint for later heist-gone-wrong pictures like "Reservoir Dogs," "The Asphalt Jungle," directed by filmmaker John Huston, strikes a near perfect balance between characterization and plot. Based on W.R. Burnett's novel of the same name, "The Asphalt Jungle" is a noir masterwork.

1. "The Lion in Winter"
   "How to Steal a Million"
2. "Charade"
   "Paris When It Sizzles"

Audrey Hepburn stars as the daughter of an art forger in the heist comedy "How To Make a Million." When her father's (Hugh Griffith) faked Venus statue winds up in a Paris museum, she hires professional thief (Peter O'Toole) to steal it back.

1. "Original Gangstas"
   "New Jack City"
2. "Thelma and Louise"
   "Set It Off"

"Set It Off" stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Queen Latifah and Kimberly Elise as four women who turn to bank heists to support their families. One of only a handful of crime films to focus on women, "Set It Off" represents a welcome change to a male-dominated genre.

1. "Chinatown"
   "Three Days of the Condor"
2. "The Thomas Crown Affair"
   "Bullitt"

Steve McQueen stars as businessman Thomas Crown in Norman Jewison's Academy Award nominated "The Thomas Crown Affair." When millionaire Thomas Crown plots a successful bank robbery as a lark, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway) engages him in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

1. "The Ladykillers"
   "The Man in the White Suit"
2. "The Lavender Hill Mob"
   "The Horse's Mouth"

1951's "The Lavender Hill Mob," directed by Charles Crichton, stars Alec Guinness as a detail-oriented bank clerk with a flawless scheme to steal a shipment of gold. Faced with the difficulty of smuggling it out of Britain, he has it melted and cast into Eiffel Tower statuettes.

1. "Ocean's Thirteen"
   "Ocean's 8"
2. "The Net"
   "Sugar and Spice"

Director Steven Soderbergh breathed new life into the heist subgenre with his remake of 1960's "Ocean's 11" and its subsequent sequels. In 2018, Soderbergh produced "Ocean's Eight," a distinctly feminine variation on the formula, starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway.

1. "Rushmore"
   "Bottle Rocket"
2. "The Darjeeling Limited"
   "Moonrise Kingdom"

In 1996, Wes Anderson burst on to the indie film scene with "Bottle Rocket." Introducing brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, "Bottle Rocket" is an eccentric heist film featuring many of the distinctive touches that would mark Anderson's later work.

1. "Five Fingers"
   "11 Harrowhouse"
2. "The Heartbreak Kid"
   "The Domino Principle"

"11 Harrowhouse" stars Charles Grodin as a diamond merchant who's blackmailed into robbing a fortress-like diamond exchange house called "The System." He enlists the aid of his girlfriend (Candice Bergen). The pair are successful, thanks to the help of their terminally ill inside man (James Mason).

1. "Larceny, Inc."
   "White Heat"
2. "High Sierra"
   "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"

With a screenplay co-written by famed filmmaker John Huston, "High Sierra" finds Bogey in a typical tough-as-nails role as ex-con Roy Earle. Nearing the end of his career, mob boss Big Mac (Donald MacBride) hires Earle to pull off one last job. When it all goes wrong, Earle flees to the desert.

1. "Menace II Society"
   "The Tower Heist"
2. "Dead Presidents"
   "Rush Hour"

Sibling filmmakers Albert and Allen Hughes produced and directed this 1995 film about a psychologically scarred Vietnam veteran (Larenz Tate) who returns home to a life of economic desperation. Circumstances go from bad to worse when he robs an armored car with a revolutionary militant group.

1. "Rififi"
   "Action Man"
2. "Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin"
   "Any Number Can Win"

"Rififi" is the story of an aging and broke jewel thief who assembles a crew and an elaborate plan to break into a Parisian jewelry store. Directed by blacklisted American director Jules Dassin, the film is memorable for its elaborate, nearly silent half-hour heist sequence.

1. "Topkapi"
   "Seven Thieves"
2. "Deadfall"
   "Second Breath"

1964's "Topkapi" is a treasure trove of heist movie tropes. A crew composed of a criminal mastermind, a mechanical genius, an acrobat and a strongman steal a jewel encrusted dagger from a Turkish museum, but they're drawn into international intrigue when their unsuspecting fall guy is arrested.

1. "Bob le flambeur"
   "The 400 Blows"
2. "Le Beau Serge"
   "Jules and Jim"

When a charismatic gambler hits a losing streak, he hatches a plot to rob a casino during the Gran Prix in "Bob le flambeur." One of the earliest examples of French New Wave style, this film from director Jean-Pierre Melville is a noir heist classic that packs a visual punch.

1. "Big Deal on Madonna Street"
   "The Easy Life"
2. "Love and Larceny"
   "The Tiger and the Pussycat"

Mario Monicelli's "Big Deal on Madonna Street" is one of the greatest caper films of all time and a prime example of Italian comedy. Essentially a poor man's "Rififi," it parodies the neorealism of Italian film of the era. A smash hit in Italy, it is a favorite among critics and fans everywhere.

1. "The Wrong Man"
   "Crime in the Streets"
2. "Man in the Vault"
   "The Killing"

"The Killing" is Stanley Kubrick's third feature film. Released in 1956, it stars Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, a career criminal who's planning one last score before marrying. Clay plans to rob the counting house of a racetrack, but greed, pride and bad luck seal the fate of his crew.