Every Robert De Niro Gangster Movie, Ranked Worst To Best

The Alto Knights is the latest in a long line of gangster movies starring the great Robert De Niro, and his efforts in this well-worn genre have ranged from forgettable duds to all-time masterpieces. Throughout De Niro’s storied career, he’s appeared in a wide variety of genres. He’s been in great comedies like Meet the Parents, great war movies like The Deer Hunter, and great action movies like Midnight Run.

But the genre that De Niro is most associated with is crime. He’s been in crime movies that have nothing to do with the mafia, like Jackie Brown and American Hustle. But since he’s an Italian-American A-lister and a frequent collaborator of Martin Scorsese, he’s often cast as mobsters, resulting in both timeless gems like The Godfather Part II and bitter disappointments like Analyze That.

13

The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Comedic Crime Chaos

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The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

PG-13

Comedy

Crime

10/10

Release Date

December 22, 1971

Runtime

96 minutes

Director

James Goldstone

Writers

Waldo Salt

Producers

Irwin Winkler

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Jerry Orbach

    Jerry Orbach

    Kid Sally

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Leigh Taylor-Young

    Angela

The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight is a 1971 crime comedy following a Brooklyn mobster and his incompetent gang as they bumble through their attempts to eliminate their rivals.

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De Niro scored one of his earliest lead roles in the gangster comedy The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. The movie attempts to tell the life story of mobster Joe Gallo as an absurdist comedy, but James Goldstone’s direction is too heavy-handed for the humor to land. The performances are too broad and the gags are overplayed.

12

Analyze That

Therapy and Turf Wars

Analyze That

Analyze That

R

Comedy

Crime

Release Date

December 6, 2002

Runtime

96 minutes

Director

Harold Ramis

Writers

Kenneth Lonergan, Peter Tolan, Peter Steinfeld, Harold Ramis

Cast

  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

  • Headshot Of Billy Crystal

    Billy Crystal

  • Headshot Of Lisa Kudrow In The NBC's 'Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love' Birthday Special

    Lisa Kudrow

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Joe Viterelli

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Sequels to classic comedies rarely live up to their predecessors, because a joke is never as funny the second time, and that’s the case with Analyze That. Analyze That continues mob boss Paul Vitti’s psychiatric treatment by Dr. Ben Sobel, but there wasn’t much comedic mileage left in that one-joke premise. De Niro’s chemistry with Billy Crystal is just as great the second time around, but there are far fewer laughs.

11

Mad Dog And Glory

Romantic Mob Entanglements

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Mad Dog and Glory

R

Comedy

Crime

Romance

Drama

Release Date

March 5, 1993

Runtime

96 minutes

Director

John McNaughton

Producers

Barbara De Fina, Martin Scorsese

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

    Wayne “Mad Dog” Dobie

  • Headshot Of Uma Thurman

    Uma Thurman

    Glory

  • Headshot Of Bill Murray In The 65th BFI London Film Festival: 'The French Dispatch' premiere

    Bill Murray

    Frank Milo

  • Headshot Of David Caruso

    David Caruso

    Mike

Mad Dog and Glory is a 1993 film that follows Wayne Dobie, a reserved police officer nicknamed “Mad Dog,” who rescues crime boss Frank Milo. In gratitude, Milo offers him a week with Glory, a waitress. Despite initial discomfort, Wayne and Glory develop feelings for each other, leading to complications.

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De Niro’s unlikely team-up with Bill Murray in Mad Dog and Glory is marked by casting against type. De Niro plays the timid Chicago detective who’s never drawn his gun, while Murray plays the notorious local gangster.

Robert De Niro in The Alto Knights

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When the detective unwittingly saves the gangster’s life, the gangster offers the detective the “personal services” of his moll, played by Uma Thurman, as an unconventional thank-you gift. Mad Dog and Glory works surprisingly well as an oddball romcom, even if the casting isn’t always convincing.

10

The Alto Knights

Upcoming Period Crime Drama

The Alto Knights Official Poster

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The Alto Knights

R

Crime

Drama

ScreenRant logo

5/10

Release Date

April 21, 2025

Runtime

120 Minutes

Director

Barry Levinson

Writers

Nicholas Pileggi

Producers

Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Mike Drake, Barry Levinson

Cast

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The Alto Knights depicts the rivalry between two infamous New York crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Formerly close allies, their friendship unravels due to jealousy and betrayal, igniting a violent power struggle. Their conflict not only alters the dynamics of the Mafia but also leaves a lasting impact on American history at large.

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De Niro’s latest gangster vehicle, The Alto Knights, casts him in two roles as rival mob bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Although there’s no dramatic reason for De Niro to play both parts, he nails these two characters — especially Vito, who De Niro plays as a hot-tempered Junior Soprano-esque curmudgeon.

Still, as far as Scorsese imitators go, it’s a very entertaining little gangster movie.

The Alto Knights is essentially Scorsese-lite, borrowing all the stylistic hallmarks of Scorsese’s crime films without replicating the depth or raw honesty. Still, as far as Scorsese imitators go, it’s a very entertaining little gangster movie.

9

Analyze This

Psychological Mob Comedy

Ben and Paul walk through a parking lot in Analyze This

The sequel may have been a bridge too far, but Analyze This still holds up as a comedy classic. De Niro and Crystal share a hilarious on-screen dynamic as a ruthless mafioso and his put-upon therapist. The script is full of great gags, courtesy of Ghostbusters’ Harold Ramis, but the character work is surprisingly strong, too, thanks to the contributions of legendary playwright Kenneth Lonergan. Analyze This is a prime example of a comedy that fulfills the potential of its juicy high-concept premise.

8

The Untouchables

Prohibition Era Showdown

The Untouchables

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The Untouchables

R

Crime

History

Thriller

9.3/10

Release Date

June 3, 1987

Runtime

1h 59m

Director

Brian De Palma

Writers

David Mamet

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Kevin Costner In The Premiere Of Horizon: An American Saga

    Kevin Costner

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    Sean Connery

The Untouchables, directed by Brian De Palma, is a crime drama set during Prohibition-era Chicago. The film stars Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, a federal agent determined to bring down the notorious gangster Al Capone, portrayed by Robert De Niro. Alongside Sean Connery as seasoned officer Jim Malone, Ness forms an elite team to combat organized crime, focusing on the legal strategy to dismantle Capone’s empire.

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Long after he got his start in Brian De Palma’s early experimental comedies, De Niro reunited with the director to play Al Capone to Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness in the crime epic The Untouchables. De Palma’s dramatization of the story deviates wildly from the real events, but it delivers some of the genre’s most iconic moments, like Capone savagely beating a lieutenant with a baseball bat. The Untouchables might not be the most accurate gangster movie of De Niro’s career, but it’s one of the most thrilling.

7

Mean Streets

Early Urban Grit

Mean Streets - Poster

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Mean Streets

R

Crime

Drama

Thriller

7.7/10

Release Date

October 14, 1973

Runtime

112 Minutes

Director

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

  • Headshot Of Harvey Keitel

    Harvey Keitel

Mean Streets is a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese, following the lives of small-time criminals in New York City’s Little Italy. Starring Harvey Keitel as Charlie and Robert De Niro as the reckless Johnny Boy, the film explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the harsh realities of street life. Mean Streets is noted for its gritty portrayal of urban corruption and the dilemmas faced by those entangled in it.

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De Niro’s first of many collaborations with Martin Scorsese, Mean Streets, is a character-driven two-hander about a young mafioso named Charlie, played by Harvey Keitel, trying to keep his reckless friend Johnny Boy under control in Little Italy.

De Niro turns in a gleefully sadistic performance as Johnny Boy, stealing every scene he’s in, and Keitel is a great deadpan foil. Scorsese and De Niro’s later gangster movies would get much leaner and more ambitious, but Mean Streets perfectly introduced their uniquely authentic take on the genre.

6

A Bronx Tale

Neighborhood Loyalty and Lessons

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A Bronx Tale

R

Crime

Drama

10/10

Release Date

October 1, 1993

Runtime

121 Minutes

Director

Robert De Niro

Writers

Chazz Palminteri

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

  • Headshot Of Chazz Palminteri

    Chazz Palminteri

A Bronx Tale is a coming-of-age drama set in the 1960s Bronx and directed by Robert De Niro. The film explores the life of a young boy named Calogero who is torn between the values of his hardworking father and the allure of a charismatic mob boss. Starring Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri, it delves into themes of loyalty, family, and the complexities of moral choices.

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De Niro’s directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story about a young Italian-American man torn between the working-class values of his father and the glamorous lifestyle of a mob boss who takes him under his wing. In the director’s chair, De Niro manages to evoke a wide range of emotions; it has funny moments, heartbreaking moments, and rage-inducing moments. Chazz Palminteri’s semi-autobiographical script, based on his own one-man show, makes A Bronx Tale much more personal than the average gangster movie.

5

Casino

Vegas Vice and Violence

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Casino

R

Biography

Crime

Drama

8/10

Release Date

November 22, 1995

Runtime

178 minutes

Director

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

  • Headshot Of Sharon Stone

    Sharon Stone

Casino is a 1995 crime drama starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, and James Woods. The film is based on the book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi and centers on Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein (De Niro), who is asked to run the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas.

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Casino loses some points for being a stylistic rehash of Goodfellas, copying its cinematic approach to lesser effect. But it’s still a spectacular crime epic in its own right.

De Niro’s fraught on-screen dynamic with a career-best Sharon Stone is the highlight of the movie.

This one takes Scorsese to Las Vegas to examine the illicit ins and outs of the gambling industry, which he uses to tell another cautionary tale of a gangster’s rise and fall in organized crime. De Niro’s fraught on-screen dynamic with a career-best Sharon Stone is the highlight of the movie.

4

Once Upon A Time In America

Epic Gangster Saga

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Once Upon a Time in America

r

Crime

Drama

9.5/10

Release Date

June 1, 1984

Runtime

229 Minutes

Director

Sergio Leone

Writers

Harry Grey, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini, Stuart Kaminsky, Sergio Leone

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

  • Headshot Of James Woods

    James Woods

Once Upon a Time in America tells the story of a group of Jewish gangsters in New York City over several decades, from their youth in the 1920s to their final days in the 1960s. Robert De Niro and James Woods star in the 1984 crime drama directed by Sergio Leone.

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Spaghetti western pioneer Sergio Leone finally managed to realize his long-gestating passion project as his final film. Once Upon a Time in America chronicles the lives of two Jewish gangsters, played by De Niro and James Woods, as they rise through New York’s criminal underworld. Clocking in at nearly four hours, Once Upon a Time in America isn’t as tight as Leone’s previous films — there are plenty of flaws in its disjointed pacing and unfocused narrative — but it’s an impressive artistic achievement nonetheless.

3

The Irishman

Late-Career Reflection

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The Irishman

R

Biography

Drama

Crime

ScreenRant logo

9/10

7.9/10

Release Date

November 27, 2019

Runtime

210 minutes

Director

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Steven Zaillian

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Bobby Cannavale In The 'An Evening with EZRA:' A Storytelling and Screening Event

    Bobby Cannavale

  • Headshot Of Jack Huston

    Jack Huston

Based on the nonfiction book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt, The Irishman follows Frank Sheeran and his time working for the Italian mafia. In recounting his past, the mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.

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Scorsese and De Niro’s gangster movies are all cautionary tales warning viewers against a life of crime, but this thesis reached its apex in The Irishman. Every new character is introduced beside their grim cause of death.

De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, a mob hitman who claimed to have killed union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

Whether that’s true or not, the movie uses it as a springboard to explore the guilt of an aging gangster. The Irishman is much longer, slower, and more somber than Goodfellas, but that’s by design; it’s a meditation on the misery that awaits all career criminals.

2

The Godfather Part II

Expanding the Corleone Legacy

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The Godfather Part II

r

Crime

Drama

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10/10

28

8.9/10

Release Date

December 20, 1974

Runtime

202minutes

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers

Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino

Prequel(s)

The Godfather

Cast

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    Al Pacino

  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather II continues Michael Corleone’s story as he expands the Corleones’ presence as a crime syndicate. The film is also half devoted to the backstory of Vito Corleone, following his rise to power in 1920s New York City. While The Godfather is considered one of the greatest movies ever made, The Godfather Part II was able to live up to the original and secure six Oscars at the 1975 Academy Awards.

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De Niro inherited the role of Vito Corleone from Marlon Brando in The Godfather Part II. Michael’s moral downfall in the sequel storyline is masterfully contrasted with his father’s rise to power in a prequel storyline.

The Godfather Part II is the go-to example of a superior sequel for a reason. It takes the first film’s grand scale even further, explores its poignant themes of morality even deeper, and uses Vito’s origin story to expand on the original movie’s depiction of the dark side of the American Dream.

1

Goodfellas

Iconic Mob Chronicle

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Goodfellas

R

Drama

Crime

ScreenRant logo

10/10

26

8.9/10

Release Date

September 19, 1990

Runtime

145 minutes

Director

Martin Scorsese

Writers

Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi

Producers

Barbara De Fina

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Ray Liotta

    Ray Liotta

    Henry Hill

  • Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

    Robert De Niro

    James Conway

GoodFellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill, a young Brooklynite with half-Irish, half-Sicilian heritage, as he rises through the ranks of a Mafia family. As he navigates the criminal underworld, he is mentored by seasoned gangster Jimmy Conway amidst the backdrop of organized crime in New York.

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The Godfather Part II comes very close, but Robert De Niro’s greatest gangster movie, and maybe the greatest gangster movie ever made, is Goodfellas. The manic energy of Scorsese’s direction — the freeze frames, the voiceover narration, the zippy editing, the ever-changing soundtrack, the dizzying camera movements — perfectly captures the delirious whirlwind of life in the mafia. De Niro’s Jimmy Conway isn’t the lead character, but he has some of De Niro’s finest acting moments, like when he kicks over a phone booth out of grief, or the giddy glint of murderousness in his eye when he decides to kill Morrie.

Headshot Of Robert De Niro In The 35th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Night

Robert De Niro

Birthdate

August 17, 1943

Birthplace

Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, USA