The 5 Best (And 5 Worst) ’80s Crime Movies

After the 1970s brought on the New Hollywood movement – dark, gritty cinema influenced by the political fallout of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War – the 1980s brought some much-needed flash, zing, and pep back into multiplexes. Movies of the ‘80s are a lot more fun and lighthearted than their cousins from the previous decade.

But there were plenty of ‘80s crime films that captured unglamorous portraits of the criminal lifestyle, as well as a few that were very glamorous. Directors like Brian De Palma brought gangster violence to life in spectacular fashion.

10 Best: Scarface (1983)

The creative powers behind Scarface are firing on all cylinders. Director Brian De Palma brings the colorful criminal underworld of Miami to life; Oliver Stone’s screenplay keeps the sprawling narrative focused; and Al Pacino gives one of his all-time most compelling performances as coke-addicted drug kingpin Tony Montana.

One of the most beloved gangster epics ever made, Scarface is not subtle in its rise-and-fall story arc, but its brazen lack of subtlety is impressive in itself.

9 Worst: 10 To Midnight (1983)

Although its ridiculous levels of violence and sexual content have ensured it a long stint as a classic of cult cinema, 10 to Midnight is a very bad movie.

The legendary Charles Bronson basically wiped his ass with his own reputation by appearing in this cheap, exploitative dreck.

8 Best: The Long Good Friday (1980)

Since this movie was completed in 1979, but delayed until 1980, it actually tackles a lot of ‘70s-era concerns, like police corruption, the rise of the I.R.A., and the death of industry.

While the plot is sharply constructed and the set pieces are riveting, the film’s true standout is the brilliant-as-always Bob Hoskins in the lead role, bringing a delightfully pitch-black comic wit and a Cockney accent to the kind of character that James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson might play.

7 Worst: Blue City (1986)

A year after making movie history in The Breakfast Club, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy reteamed for crime thriller Blue City, which tells the story of a man returning to a crime-ridden town in Florida to avenge his father’s death.

Nelson’s performance is particularly irritating. Whether he’s a jerk or he just got typecast as a jerk is anybody’s guess, but one thing that is clear is that he makes Blue City’s 83-minute runtime unbearable.

6 Best: The Untouchables (1987)

The second entry on this list helmed by Brian De Palma, the self-proclaimed successor to Alfred Hitchcock, The Untouchables brings the true-to-life cat-and-mouse thriller of Eliot Ness’ Prohibition-era quest to bring down the criminal empire of Al Capone to the screen in beautiful fashion.

The movie has some great performances, from Kevin Costner as Ness to Robert De Niro as Capone, with a stellar Oscar-winning turn from Sean Connery (shaky accent notwithstanding). The Untouchables is a rare crowd-pleasing crime epic that pairs well with popcorn.

5 Worst: Rent-A-Cop (1987)

With Burt Reynolds as a disgraced cop who becomes a security guard and Liza Minnelli as a prostitute that he falls in love with, Rent-a-Cop had the potential to be a movie classic.

Unfortunately, its script is dull at best and doesn’t make any sense at worst, while Jerry London does a professional job as the film’s director; nothing more, nothing less.

4 Best: Blood Simple (1984)

The Coen brothers’ feature debut, Blood Simple, is a prime example of bringing genre thrills to the big screen on a low budget. The duo had basically no money to make their neo-noir thriller about a suspicious husband hiring a dangerously unhinged private eye, but they managed to helm one of the greatest film noirs of all time.

Even after they’ve gone on to direct such masterpieces as Fargo, Miller’s Crossing, and No Country for Old Men, Blood Simple still ranks among the Coens’ finest works. M. Emmet Walsh gives a chillingly sinister performance as psychopathic P.I. Lorren Visser.

3 Worst: City Heat (1984)

Despite featuring two of Hollywood’s all-time most iconic stars, Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, in the lead roles, and coming from the mind of the great Blake Edwards, City Heat is a dreadful movie.

Edwards was initially hired to direct the movie, but got fired halfway through production when the studio wanted to retool the movie as a wacky comedy, which was a big mistake.

2 Best: Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

After years of helming spaghetti western classics like the Dollars trilogy, Sergio Leone tried his hand at the crime genre with a story about Jewish gangsters rising from New York’s ghetto to become powerful figures in organized crime. Once Upon a Time in America may be slow-moving, but every frame is a sumptuous feast for the senses.

Leone’s 250-minute masterpiece got butchered by the distributors, who cut it down to a barely comprehensible 139 minutes. If one can get a hold of Leone’s director’s cut, it’s a long haul, but it’s the best way to watch the movie.

1 Worst: The Sting II (1983)

Starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford in one of their most iconic pairings, 1973’s The Sting is one of Hollywood’s finest classics. As its rare 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes can attest to, the 1983 sequel is not.

In the lead role as a notorious con man, Jackie Gleason isn’t given the freedom to steal the movie. If director Jeremy Paul Kagan had just let Gleason do his thing, the movie would’ve at least been watchable. Sadly, he didn’t, and it isn’t.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
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Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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