Top 3 Gangster Movies of All Time

Though the gangster movie has been in existence for over a century now, it became a distinct sub genre in the 1930s when the American masses found a magnetic attraction towards the anarchic, anti-establishment situation depicted in the gangster movies, where the hero is almost always associated with a powerful organized crime family and is cast more as an anti-hero rather than a cruel, selfish, devilish character hell-bent on the macabre. Further, gangster films are often told with a touch of noir (thoughfemme fatales are seldom seen) and they are often biographical in nature depicting the life and times of some famous gangland boss or on add occasions even undercover cops

Here is a list of the top 3 gangster movies ever to have come out of Hollywood:

.After the early 1930s gangster movies had all but disappeared for the better part of four decades till 1972 and the release of Francis Ford Coppola's master piece-- The Godfather.

Based on the internationally bestselling novel by Mario Puzo, The Godfather tells the story of one of the most powerful mafia families in 1940sAmerica. The movie starts with the focus firmly on the founder head of the family, Don Vito Corleone. At first the movie portrays Don Vito Corleone as an all powerful man who is willing to always do a friend a favor and for whom blood is thicker than oak.

But, as the movie progresses we gradually start to realize that Don Vito is actually rapidly becoming part of an obsolete species as he fails to come to terms with the modern developments in the underground world.

Matter come to a head when The Godfather ignores the advice of his son Sonny and counselor Tom Hagen and refuses to sign a lucrative deal with Sollozzo, a narcotics dealer looking for The Godfather's political support and muscle.

Then we find that The Godfather had (possibly unwittingly) married his daughter Connie to a brutal wife-beater and is not really keen on taking steps to stop the abuse.

But, the big issue is, with the fall of the Godfather imminent, who will take the responsibility of the family--the hot headed Sonny Corleone, the infantile Fredo Corleone or the unwilling Michael Corleone?

The Godfather trilogy (particularly The Godfather and The Godfather PartII) is credited with reviving the gangster genre for several decades to follow and is considered to be the benchmark as far as gangster films are concerned.

Over 3 decades after the release of The Godfather, director Ridley Scott probably came closest to capturing that quintessential feel of the gangster movie with his 2007 effort, American Gangster, starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington.

American Gangster is the story of the rise of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) from the chauffeur and body guard of Harlem legend Bumpy Johnson to becoming his successor and a major player in the narcotics arena in war time America. In a city filled with corrupt police officers Lucas' only challenge comes from other gang leaders and Marseilles distributors whom he had cut off from the trade by devising an ingenious method of importing high quality drugs directly in to USA from the Far East.

But, unknown to him a lone, ostracized and honest police officer, Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe) has sworn to bring him down. And despite incredible odds he is determined to succeed.

Public Enemies documents the last few years of one of the greatest bank robbers in history, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), who was some kind of a Robin Hood character, plundering banks in broad daylight in 1930s Chicago and wooing the masses with his anti establishment attitude.

But the government has finally decided to take a stand against John Dillinger and other outlaws and the responsibility lieson the shoulders of a tough and ruthless lawman, Melvin Pervis (Christian Bale). Bale must totally overhaul the police department in his quest to outwit the ever resourceful public enemy number 1 : John Dillinger.