Top 10 Mafia Movies of All Time

Mafia movies have long been a captivating genre, exploring themes of power, loyalty, betrayal and the dark allure of organized crime. These films often delve into the intricacies of mob life, offering a gritty portrayal of a world where family ties and criminal enterprises intersect. Here are ten of the most iconic Mafia movies that have left an indelible mark on cinema.

1. The Godfather (1972)

Director Francis Ford Coppola paints a chilling portrait of the Sicilian Corleone clan’s rise and near-fall from power in America, masterfully balancing the story between the family’s domestic life and the ugly criminal enterprise in which they are engaged. Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone is one of the most iconic performances in cinema history. Al Pacino’s transformation from innocent war hero Michael to cold-blooded Don is the heart of the film — and one of the greatest character arcs ever committed to screen.

Awards: Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Three further nominations. Box office gross: $245 million on a $6 million budget. Available on Paramount+.

2. Goodfellas (1990)

Based on Nicholas Pileggi’s bestselling book Wiseguy, Goodfellas tells the true story of Henry Hill — a small-time gangster who rises through the ranks of the Lucchese crime family before his world collapses around him. Martin Scorsese directs with a kinetic energy that had never been seen in crime cinema before: the tracking shot into the Copacabana, the montage sequences, the propulsive narration. Joe Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his terrifying portrayal of Tommy DeVito. Henry Hill himself called the film 95% accurate.

Awards: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Pesci). Five further nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Available on Max.

3. The Godfather Part II (1974)

The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells two parallel stories: a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and 1910s New York (Robert De Niro, in his Oscar-winning performance), and Michael Corleone in the 1950s attempting to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba. Many critics consider Part II superior to the original — a rare achievement in cinema. The dual timeline structure is masterfully handled, and De Niro’s portrayal of the young Vito is one of the finest performances ever recorded.

Awards: Six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (De Niro). Available on Paramount+.

4. Casino (1995)

Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci star in Martin Scorsese’s riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion and 24-karat greed toppled an empire. Las Vegas 1973 is the setting for this fact-based story about the Mob’s multi-million dollar casino operation where fortunes and lives were made and lost with a roll of the dice. Based on the true story of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal — the mob-connected casino boss who ran the Stardust, Fremont and Hacienda hotels for the Chicago Outfit — Casino is Scorsese’s most underrated mob epic.

Awards: Sharon Stone received a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Available on multiple streaming platforms.

5. Donnie Brasco (1997)

Al Pacino and Johnny Depp head an all-star cast in this brilliant true-story gangland thriller about undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who spent six years infiltrating the Bonanno crime family using the alias Donnie Brasco. The film is as much a character study as a crime film — the relationship between the idealistic agent and the ageing, world-weary hitman Lefty Ruggiero (Pacino) is one of the most genuinely moving in mob cinema. Pistone’s real infiltration led to over 200 indictments. The real Donnie Brasco’s handler, Sonny Black Napolitano, was later killed by the mob — his hands cut off before burial.

Based on a true story. Available on streaming platforms.

6. Scarface (1983)

In the spring of 1980, the port at Mariel Harbor was opened and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami — wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world would remember him by another name: Scarface. Brian De Palma’s operatic crime epic is not strictly a Mafia film but belongs unquestionably on any list of the greatest crime movies ever made. Al Pacino’s ferocious performance as the Cuban exile who builds and destroys himself in equal measure is one of cinema’s great turns.

Cultural impact: Scarface has become one of the most referenced films in music, fashion and popular culture. Available on Peacock.

7. A Bronx Tale (1993)

Robert De Niro’s directorial debut is the story of Calogero, a nine-year-old boy in the Bronx caught between two opposing father figures — his dad Lorenzo (De Niro), a diligent bus driver who tries to instil honest values, and Sonny (Chazz Palminteri, whose one-man play the film is based on), the local Mafia boss who teaches him the law of the streets. As the teenage Calogero grows towards adulthood he has to decide which man to follow. A Bronx Tale is the most tender and personal film on this list — less about crime than about mentorship, neighbourhood loyalty and the price of the choices you make when you’re young enough to still change course.

8. The Departed (2006)

Martin Scorsese’s crime drama is set in South Boston where the state police force wages an all-out war against the city’s top organised crime ring — a thinly veiled portrait of Whitey Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang. A cop goes undercover inside the mob; simultaneously a mob plant works inside the police. Each is trying to identify the other before they are exposed. The cast — Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin — is extraordinary. The ending is one of the most shocking in crime cinema. The Departed finally won Scorsese his long-overdue Academy Award for Best Director.

Awards: Four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Available on Max.

9. The Untouchables (1987)

Federal Agent Elliot Ness sets out to take down Al Capone and — because of rampant corruption in the Chicago Police Department — assembles a small, hand-picked team of incorruptible officers known as the Untouchables. Brian De Palma directs with his trademark stylistic bravura; Kevin Costner plays Ness, and Robert De Niro gives a ferociously entertaining performance as Al Capone. Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the veteran Chicago cop who becomes Ness’s mentor. Based on the true story of the real Elliot Ness and his team’s pursuit of Capone on tax evasion charges.

Awards: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Connery).

10. Gotti (1996)

This is the story of John Gotti — the rise and fall of a real-life Godfather. Armand Assante plays Gotti as a man destined to rise to the top of his business, and his business is crime. Under the watchful eye of his mentor Neil Dellacroce (Anthony Quinn), nothing stands in his way — until it does. The execution of mob boss Paul Castellano on the streets of New York takes Gotti straight to the top as Don of the powerful Gambino family. To the public he’s the much-loved, stylish Dapper Don. To the FBI he’s the Teflon Don — a crook who’s slipped from their grasp three times. When the FBI obtains tapes of Gotti undermining his chief executioner Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, they know they finally have him. Assante’s performance earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries.

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