A Glean movie guide
The Ultimate Heist Movie Guide
Plan the job. Execute the score.
From high-tech vaults to gritty street robberies, these are the genre's finest hours.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Heat
A sprawling, tactical masterpiece that defines the professional criminal vs. cop dynamic.
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
The gold standard for the stylish ensemble caper, blending charisma with a complex Vegas score.
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
The Sting
A charming and intricate 'long con' classic that keeps you guessing until the final reveal.
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.
- 04
Rififi
Famous for its legendary silent break-in, this film is the ultimate blueprint for technical heist cinema.
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.
- 05
The Killing
Stanley Kubrick’s non-linear race track robbery is a masterclass in precision and mounting dread.
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.
- 06
Inside Man
A brilliant intellectual battle between a calm bank robber 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.
- 07
Inception
A mind-bending sci-fi epic that uses the structure of a classic heist to infiltrate the 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.
- 08
Thief
Michael Mann’s gritty debut offers a hyper-realistic look at the tools and isolation of a master 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.
- 09
Le Cercle Rouge
A cool, atmospheric French classic featuring one of the most meticulous jewelry heists ever filmed.
When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.
- 10
The Town
A tense and grounded look at a career robbery crew operating under the shadow of the FBI.
Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.