15 Best Movies Like Goodfellas

As far as crime movies go, 1990’s “Goodfellas” remains the gold standard as one of the best mob movies ever made. The film offered a more humanistic perspective into the world of organized crime through the eyes of aspiring mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). With this focus, “Goodfellas” offered a look at how the dangers and vices of crime impacted domestic lives, influencing the entire genre. Fortunately, for fans of “Goodfellas,” there are plenty of crime movies to check out that share similar themes and sensibilities.

From sagas spanning generations of mobster families to classic rises to illicit power, there are countless crime movies like “Goodfellas.” Many of these movies even share major cast members and the behind-the-scenes crew, bringing another level to these visible similarities. While each of these crime films stand proudly on their own, they also share DNA with Martin Scorsese’s 1990 enduring crime story. 

Here are the 15 best movies like “Goodfellas.”

While mob movies certainly existed before “The Godfather,” the entire genre was never the same after filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic. Adapting Mario Puzo’s 1969 epic novel, “The Godfather” centers on the Corleone family, including powerful New York mob boss and family patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). After Vito refuses to join Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) in distributing illegal drugs, a gang war erupts between the five crime families throughout New York. With the Corleone family under threat, Vito’s youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), steps up to defend his family and their illicit business.

Despite being set in the ’40s and ’50s, “The Godfather” is one of the first gangster movies that feels like it handles its subject matter with more modern flair. From the unflinching violence to the level of depth and nuance of its main characters, Coppola reinvented what mob movies could be. For all stories of decent characters breaking bad and embracing their inner bad guy, “The Godfather” revolutionizes that narrative journey. Michael Corleone isn’t the villain of “The Godfather” but, by the end, he’s definitely not a good guy either.

Making “The Godfather” was an arduous production itself, but Coppola not only returned for 1974’s “The Godfather Part II” but topped his previous effort. Continuing its adaptation of Puzo’s novel, “Part II” features a dual narrative, with the main story following Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his crime syndicate threatened by multiple well-connected enemies. This is juxtaposed with the tale of Michael’s father Vito Andolini (Robert De Niro) rising to power in the early 20th century after immigrating to New York. As Vito builds his empire for his growing family in the ’20s, Michael realizes the threat to the family in the ’50s is coming from within.

With its dual narrative spanning nearly 60 years of Corleone family history, “The Godfather Part II” turns the story into a genuine crime epic. The returning cast doesn’t miss a step in reprising their roles while De Niro is quietly magnetic as the younger Vito. In seeing Vito’s triumph, the heartbreak of Michael’s spiritual downfall is especially heartbreaking. Though Michael may successfully protect himself and his criminal enterprise, it’s a victory that costs him his soul.

Over a decade after starring in “The Godfather,” Al Pacino played a very different kind of mobster for “Scarface.” A loose remake of 1932’s “Scarface,” Brian De Palma’s 1983 movie modernizes the story and characters to ’80s Miami. Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Pacino) falls into a life of crime, becoming involved with cocaine smugglers from South America. Through his cunning and ruthless manipulation, Tony builds an enormous criminal empire, only to run afoul with his powerful suppliers.

Compared to the collected and calculating Michael Corleone, Pacino’s Tony Montana is a fiery raw nerve, always ready to snap at those that wrong him. Like its protagonist, “Scarface” isn’t afraid to embrace its decadent excesses, including a total runtime of nearly three hours. “Scarface” went on to become enormously influential in its own right, in everything from movies and shows like “Miami Vice” to video games like “Grand Theft Auto.” A tour-de-force from Pacino, the 1983 “Scarface” is one of the most quotable and imitated crime movies of all time.

After spending the majority of his career directing Westerns in Europe, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone turned to New York gangsters for his final film “Once Upon a Time in America.” The 1984 movie follows the activities of Jewish mobsters Noodles Aaronson (Robert De Niro) and Max Bercovicz (James Woods) starting in the ’20s. While initially rising through the ranks during Prohibition, the two crooks turn to more dangerous scores after Prohibition ends in the ’30s. This, in turn, draws more attention to the police and more internal pressure within Noodles and Max’s gang.

More than just Leone’s final finished film, Leone saw “Once Upon a Time in America” as the end of a filmmaking era. The movie is Leone at his most meditative, with several sequences playing out like a dream, enhanced by the soft lighting in its cinematography. Make no mistake, “Once Upon a Time in America” is a violent film, but there is a quietly haunting quality to it. The fulfillment of a longtime obsession for Leone, “Once Upon a Time in America” is a beautiful swan song from the celebrated filmmaker.

The Big Apple becomes a neo-noir playground in 1990’s “King of New York,” starring Christopher Walken in one of his best roles as the self-assured drug czar Frank White. After being released from prison, White immediately sets out to rebuild his criminal empire in New York. As White brutally eliminates his rivals, he attracts the attention of the New York Police Department, including police detective Roy Bishop (Victor Argo). This leads to a bloody showdown across Manhattan, as White is determined to control the city’s criminal element at any cost.

Walken hasn’t delivered a role as unrelentingly magnetic as Frank White since “King of New York,” commanding total attention whenever he’s on-screen. Walken also gets plenty of support from Laurence Fishburne and Wesley Snipes, with Fishburne playing White’s trusted enforcer while Snipes plays a vengeful cop. Just like its lead, “King of New York” has a visible swagger, confidently moving from scene to scene until its final shootout. An antihero story for the ages, “King of New York” is as stylish as it is wholly unforgettable.

After playing mob-busting cop Dick Tracy, actor and producer Warren Beatty went on the other side of the law for his next role in “Bugsy.” The 1991 biopic stars Beatty as ’40s mobster Bugsy Siegel, who is sent to Los Angeles to manage mob-run gambling rings. As Siegel strikes up a romance with Hollywood actor Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), he sets his sights on revamping Las Vegas’ casino industry. However, costs in building the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel Casino spiral out of control while Siegel is betrayed by his closest associates.

Compared to more violent mob movies from the early ’90s go, including “Goodfellas,” “Bugsy” is a more understated and restrained period piece crime flick. The movie is elevated by the clear chemistry between Beatty and Bening, with the two co-stars marrying shortly after the film’s release. While intense in his portrayal of Siegel, Beatty’s usual charisma plays the eponymous crook as a wounded figure rather than a villain. That distinction helps make for a more sympathetic gangster than most other protagonists in the genre.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s feature directorial debut was 1992’s “Reservoir Dogs,” which he also wrote and appeared in as a supporting character. The film centers on a jewelry heist gone disastrously wrong, with a group of thieves caught in the middle of a police ambush. After the majority of the gang shoots their way out and hides out in a safehouse, they retrace their steps to learn where their carefully planned score fell apart. Tension within the group steadily builds as they quickly realize that one of the surviving thieves is actually an undercover police officer.

“Reservoir Dogs” is beautifully self-contained and lo-fi, given its indie movie budget, and most of it could function just as well as tautly paced stage play. Tarantino hits the ground running, coming right as the movie’s surviving thieves make their escape, before relying on flashbacks to flesh out the backstory. Tarantino’s penchant for dialogue-driven scenes and nods to a myriad of film influences, including overlooked Hong Kong crime cinema, is already well-used throughout the movie. Anchored by a solid ensemble cast, including a sadistically standout performance from Michael Madsen, “Reservoir Dogs” showcases Tarantino coming out the gate swinging.

To date, Robert De Niro has only directed two films in his celebrated career, the first of which being 1993’s “A Bronx Tale.” Adapting Chazz Palminteri’s stage play of the same name, the story is told from the perspective of Calogero (Lillo Brancato, Jr.), a teenager in the Bronx in the ’60s. Calogero follows two different mentors, his hard-working, blue collar father Lorenzo (De Niro), and local mob boss Sonny (Palminteri). As Lorenzo tries to keep his son from embarking on a life of crime, racial tensions disrupt their neighborhood.

If “Goodfellas” has its impressionable protagonist embrace the allure of working in organized crime, “A Bronx Tale” offers its thematic counterpoint. Calogero is just as influenced by his father as he is the local mobster, even if his turbulent teenage years don’t fully reflect this juxtaposition. In playing the legitimate Lorenzo, De Niro subverts the hardened mobster archetype that made him famous, playing his character with a stern but protective quality. A strong directorial debut from De Niro, “A Bronx Tale” is the perfect way to wash out most gangster movies’ bitter aftertaste.

A decade after working together on “Scarface,” Al Pacino reunited with filmmaker Brian De Palma for the 1993 crime movie “Carlito’s Way.” After Carlito Brigante (Pacino) is released from prison on a legal technicality, he attempts to ditch his criminal ways and go legitimate. This frustrates hot-headed young gangster Benny Blanco (John Leguizamo), who is obsessed with working with Carlito. Despite his attempts to avoid trouble and leave town with his girlfriend Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), Carlito’s underworld connections draw him back into a life of grim violence.

This might be a hot take, but “Carlito’s Way” is not only the better collaboration between Pacino and De Palma, but it’s also De Palma’s best crime movie. De Palma reins in the excesses from “Scarface,” while Pacino delivers a more nuanced performance as Carlito than he did as Tony Montana. Carlito is a tragic figure in a way that Tony never could be, but no less lethal if pressed without alternative options. Stylishly staged with one heck of a closing set piece, “Carlito’s Way” is the underrated Pacino/De Palma pairing.

When filmmaker Martin Scorsese reunited with “Goodfellas” actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci for 1995’s “Casino,” what resulted was a far darker and more violent gangster movie. The movie adapts crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi’s nonfiction book detailing the mob’s links to the Las Vegas gambling industry in the ’70s. Gambling expert Sam Rothstein (De Niro) is sent by the mob to manage a Vegas casino, joined by his longtime friend and enforcer Nicky Santoro (Pesci). However, Rothstein’s careful management is threatened by Santoro’s impulsive behavior, his unstable wife Ginger (Sharon Stone), and incompetent outsiders brought into the casino outfit.

“Casino” has a more procedural air to it than “Goodfellas,” largely because of its more closed-off protagonist, stoically played by De Niro. Pesci continues to bring volatile energy as he had in “Goodfellas,” but it feels more dangerous and unpredictable this time, fitting the movie’s overall tone. Rounding out the cast is a highlight performance from Sharon Stone, more than holding her own as the manipulative Ginger. A project firmly in Scorsese and the main cast’s wheelhouse, “Casino” showcases its creative team at the height of their powers.

Undercover FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone’s autobiography “Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia” was adapted into a movie in 1997. Johnny Depp plays Pistone, who infiltrates the New York mob in 1978 under the alias Donnie Brasco, befriending enforcer Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). As Lefty positions Pistone deeper into his outfit’s inner circle, Lefty tries to make his own moves to advance in the organization. This places Pistone in increasingly more dangerous situations as he secretly gathers information on the mafia and takes a toll on his personal life.

“Donnie Brasco” thrives whenever it focuses on the mentor-student relationship between Pistone and the unassuming Lefty, with Pacino and Depp playing off each other well. Pacino, in particular, as the put-upon and frustrated Lefty offers a nice contrast to his usual accomplished gangster movie characters. There is a constant heartbreaking quality to the movie, seeing Lefty learn to like and trust Pistone so much, with his protege deceiving him the whole time. A true story deconstruction of the impressionable young mobster archetype rising through the ranks, “Donnie Brasco” features everyone in top form.

After the runaway success of “Pulp Fiction,” Quentin Tarantino’s follow-up movie was 1997’s “Jackie Brown,” adapting Elmore Leonard’s 1992 novel “Rum Punch.” Pam Grier stars as the title character, who uses her job as a flight attendant to smuggle into the United States from Mexico. After Jackie is apprehended by the authorities, she agrees to work with them to bust her gun-running employer Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). However, Jackie also secretly plans to make off with the majority of Ordell’s final cash shipment, made all the more dangerous as Ordell becomes increasingly unstable.

Compared to many of his other films, “Jackie Brown” is Tarantino at his most understated and subtle. While Jackson brings a murderous menace to his role as Ordell, Grier carries the movie as Jackie, imbuing the character with a quick-thinking quality that keeps everyone on their toes. “Jackie Brown” also marks the end of an era for Tarantino, who pivoted to period piece flicks and highly stylized revenge tales after his initial wave of grounded crime movies. Easily Tarantino’s most underrated movie, “Jackie Brown” is an overlooked gem in his filmography and a modern crime classic.

Martin Scorsese’s lengthy award season drought was finally brought to an end with his 2006 crime film “The Departed.” A loose remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller “Infernal Affairs,” the movie centers on the conflict between the Boston police and Irish mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Costello has a mole on the inside, police detective Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), while the police have undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) working for Costello. This intertwined web of deceit surrounding Boston’s criminal underworld escalates to deadly proportions, along with the ensuing body count.

“The Departed” is cops-and-robbers with a domestic espionage twist, given Damon and DiCaprio’s dual-nature roles. The movie has one of the most impressive ensemble casts that Scorsese has ever assembled and everyone does fantastic work with their respective parts. The film was one of Nicholson’s last major acting roles before his retirement, with his work elevating the rest of the cast. Scorsese would finally win the Academy Award for Best Director, as well as Best Picture for “The Departed,” a critical success that surprised even him and a testament to its enduring quality.

The life and times of drug smuggler Frank Lucas serve as the inspiration for the 2007 crime movie “American Gangster,” directed by Ridley Scott. Denzel Washington stars as Lucas, who smuggles heroin into the United States during the Vietnam War. Investigating the influx of heroin into New York and New Jersey is local police detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). As Lucas battles rivals, including the Italian mafia and corrupt police, Roberts begins to deduce who is behind the growing drug empire.

Whereas plenty of great crime movies take the time to show the domestic lives of their criminal protagonists, “American Gangster” also does this for its lead cop. Roberts’ home life is more disastrous than Lucas’, with Roberts only having a firm handle on himself when he’s on the job. These intertwining stories collide spectacularly, with Lucas given the classic rise and fall arc, while Roberts struggles to get his life together. “American Gangster” was Scott’s best film in years, fueled by two magnetic lead actors in a cat-and-mouse game.

Despite both reaching their career breakthroughs around the same relative time and often working in the crime genre, Martin Scorsese and Al Pacino didn’t directly work together until “The Irishman.” The 2019 crime saga adapts “I Heard You Paint Houses,” the biography of alleged mob hitman Frank Sheeran, played in the film by Robert De Niro. Pacino plays firebrand teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa, while Joe Pesci plays Philadelphia mob boss Russell Bufalino. The movie chronicles Sheeran starting to work for Bufalino in the ’50s to his eventual assassination of Hoffa in the ’70s.

For better or worse, everyone seems caught up on the extensive de-aging effects used to depict the main cast as significantly younger men. The movie itself is another solid hit from Scorsese, while he continues to make magic with his ensemble of past collaborators. In keeping the focus on the Irish-American Sheeran, the movie offers a unique perspective on an Italian crime family in the mid-20th century. One last bit of crime movie magic from Scorsese and his regulars, “The Irishman” is as entertaining as it is, admittedly, self-indulgent.