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Best heist movie

The 16 movies of the “Best heist movie” bracket, with year, director, runtime and rating for each — then play the knockout tournament and let your own duels pick the winner.

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What is in this bracket

The bracket spans 62 years of cinema, from 1955 to 2017, with an average TMDB rating of 7.5/10. The dominant genres are Crime (16 movies), Thriller (12 movies), Drama (10 movies), Action (5 movies). Steven Soderbergh appears 2 times, Quentin Tarantino appears 2 times — a good sign of how much one filmography weighs on the outcome. Watching the whole line-up back to back would take about 32 hours. The 2010s are the best represented decade with 5 entries.

The highest-rated entry going in is The Usual Suspects (1995) at ★ 8.2/10 — but a bracket is not a ranking: it only takes one duel against a favourite of yours for it to go out in the first round.

The full line-up (16 movies)

Seeded in the order they enter the bracket. 16 titles means 4 rounds and 15 duels to a champion.

  1. Heat 1995 · Michael Mann · 170 min · ★ 7.9/10

    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.

  2. Ocean's Eleven 2001 · Steven Soderbergh · 116 min · ★ 7.5/10

    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.

  3. The Usual Suspects 1995 · Bryan Singer · 106 min · ★ 8.2/10

    Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural

  4. Reservoir Dogs 1992 · Quentin Tarantino · 99 min · ★ 8.1/10

    A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.

  5. Inside Man 2006 · Spike Lee · 129 min · ★ 7.4/10

    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.

  6. The Town 2010 · Ben Affleck · 125 min · ★ 7.2/10

    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.

  7. Baby Driver 2017 · Edgar Wright · 113 min · ★ 7.4/10

    After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

  8. Dog Day Afternoon 1975 · Sidney Lumet · 125 min · ★ 7.9/10

    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.

  9. Rififi 1955 · Jules Dassin · 118 min · ★ 7.8/10

    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 li

  10. The Killing 1956 · Stanley Kubrick · 85 min · ★ 7.6/10

    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.

  11. Now You See Me 2013 · Louis Leterrier · 116 min · ★ 7.3/10

    An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

  12. Fast Five 2011 · Justin Lin · 131 min · ★ 7.2/10

    Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom.

  13. The Italian Job 2003 · F. Gary Gray · 110 min · ★ 6.8/10

    Charlie Croker pulled off the crime of a lifetime. The one thing that he didn't plan on was being double-crossed. Along with a drop-dead gorgeous safecracker, Croker and his team take off to re-steal the loot and end up in a pulse-pounding, pedal-to-the-metal chase that careens up, down, above and below the streets of Los Angeles.

  14. Logan Lucky 2017 · Steven Soderbergh · 119 min · ★ 6.7/10

    Trying to reverse a family curse, brothers Jimmy and Clyde Logan set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

  15. Jackie Brown 1997 · Quentin Tarantino · 154 min · ★ 7.4/10

    Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.

  16. The Bank Job 2008 · Roger Donaldson · 112 min · ★ 6.9/10

    Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

How this tournament works

  1. 16 movies enter a knockout bracket.
  2. Two titles face off at a time — you pick the one you would rather watch.
  3. Winners advance round by round until one champion is left: your pick for tonight.

There is no “right” answer and no algorithm deciding for you: the bracket only forces a series of small, easy comparisons instead of one impossible choice in front of a catalogue. You can also play it with friends — everyone votes the same duels from their own phone in a Brawl Room.

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