Best Mafia Movies Ever Made

Consider for a minute your top 10 list of all-time favorite actors. Next, consider how many of those actors became famous playing leading roles in movies about the mafia. Interesting, isn’t it? This connection likely explains why we are quick to fall in love with movies themed around organized criminals throughout history.

These are our top 5 favorite movies about the mafia.

Bugsy – 1990

That’s right, American-style mob story tops our list of all-time favorite mafia movies and it’s not for kids! The movie tells the story of Bugsy Siegel. After having spent a decade working for the New York City mafia, he gets posted to California on a mission to improve and develop “business relations” with members of mafia operating on America’s West Coast.

But something as horrible (as mafia-horrible gets) happens to Bugsy during his time spent away from the bright city lights of NYC. He falls in love. More specifically, he falls in love with the Hollywood lifestyle and Virginia Hill. Suddenly eager to go “straight”, Bugsy soon begins to dream about a life far away from organized crime. But, as you may have guessed, it doesn’t end well for Bugsy. Once a mafia…

Sexy Beast – 2000

This has got to be one of our all-time mafia movie favorites. More a commentary on mafia movies in general than a mafia movie in and of itself, Sexy Beast is as wild and out of control as movies about the mafia get.

What makes Sexy Beast a deserving addition to our list isn’t as much any fresh or new ideas brought to the table of conventions, but rather the genius way in which the film exaggerates those conventions.

The Irishman – 2019

Recent, riveting, and possibly one of the best movies you’ll get to see during your lifetime – mafia or otherwise. Created by the master that is Martin Scorsese, The Irishman is as perfectly-crafted a mafia storytelling-masterpiece as it gets.

What makes The Irishman even more of a special a film-appreciation experience is that it delves deeper into the making of the mob-life than what typical mafia movies tend to do. The storyline covers literally decades of Frank Sheeran’s life, thereby creating the type and depth of context most writers and directors can only but dream of being able to do.  The Irishman will ask nearly 4 hours of your time. You heard it here first – you’ll wish it were longer.

The Godfather 1 & 2 – 1972, 1974

We’ve decided to include both movies on our list. Lets wrap it all into one because they actually are two halves of the same story. Nail-biting, emotionally complex, sensationally intriguing, and as thrilling as Australian sports betting, the Godfather movies were what first made most fans fall in love with motion films about the mob.

The films are as demanding as films get to be and invite the viewer to make up his or her own mind about family, crime, success, and of course, the mafia.