A Glean movie guide
The Ultimate Heist Movie Guide
Plan the job. Assemble the crew.
From high-stakes bank jobs to elaborate long cons, these are the genre's essentials.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Heat
A sprawling, tactical masterpiece that defines the professional heist genre.
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
- 02
Ocean's Eleven
A stylish, star-studded caper that prioritizes clever misdirection over brute force.
Less than 24 hours into his parole, charismatic thief Danny Ocean is already rolling out his next plan: In one night, Danny's hand-picked crew of specialists will attempt to steal more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos. But to score the cash, Danny risks his chances of reconciling with ex-wife, Tess.
- 03
Rififi
Famous for a legendary, near-silent robbery sequence that set the bar for cinematic tension.
Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.
- 04
The Sting
An intricate and charming 'long con' story where the planning is just as thrilling as the payoff.
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
- 05
Inside Man
A brilliant battle of wits between a calm mastermind and a determined negotiator.
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
- 06
The Killing
Stanley Kubrick’s non-linear breakthrough focuses on the clockwork precision of a racetrack robbery.
Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.
- 07
Thief
A gritty, realistic look at the specialized tools and lonely life of a professional safe-cracker.
Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.
- 08
Dog Day Afternoon
A tense, based-on-a-true-story drama where a simple bank job spirals into a media circus.
Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.
- 09
The Italian Job
A quintessential British caper featuring an ingenious getaway through the streets of Turin.
Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.
- 10
Inception
A mind-bending sci-fi epic that uses the structure of a classic heist to infiltrate the human subconscious.
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.