Top 10 Armored Heists in Film
With the upcoming Blu-ray & DVD release of the film Contraband out on April 24! We at SoHood.com decided to take a look at the list of the top ten armored heists films of all time.
-Article written by Rory Marshall, SoHood.com
1. Heat: The lives of two men on opposite sides of the law – one a detective; the other a thief.
Commentary: It’s Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Enough said.
2. Inside Man: A cop has to talk down a bank robber after the criminal’s perfect heist spirals into a hostage situation.
Commentary: Denzel Washington does a brilliant acting job as a detective in this Spike Lee film.
3. The Italian Job: After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally.
Commentary: I think this was one of the first films where I got introduced to Mark Wahlberg in The Italian Job. It was a nice assembled cast.
4. Gone in 60 Seconds: A retired master car thief must come back to the industry and steal 50 cars with his crew in one night to save his brother’s life.
Commentary: Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie. Enough said. :)
5. Fast Five: Dominic and his crew find themselves on the wrong side of the law once again as they try to switch lanes between a ruthless drug lord and a relentless federal agent.
Commentary: Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson really did a fine job. The ending of this film was great. It was much better than the previous Fast & Furious films.
6. RocknRolla: Lenny Cole, a London mob boss, puts the bite on all local real estate transactions. For substantial fees, he’s helping Uri Omovich, a Russian developer. As a sign of good faith, Omovich loans Cole a valuable painting, promptly stolen off Cole’s wall. While Cole’s men, led by the dependable Archie, look for the canvas, three local petty criminals, the Wild Bunch, steal money from the Russian using inside information from his accountant, the lovely Stella. Meanwhile, a local drug-addled rocker, Johnny Quid, is reported drowned, and his connection to Cole is the key to unraveling the deceits and double crosses of life in the underworld.
Commentary: It’s a film directed by Guy Ritchie. Enough said.
7. The Bank Job: Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London’s Baker Street. She targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don’t realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets – secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal.
Commentary: A very unrated bank heist film. I like watching Jason Statham, he’s such a professional actor. He just knows how to play his role in every film.
8. Point Break: An FBI agent goes undercover to catch a gang of bank robbers who may be surfers.
Commentary: I think it’s of one the best Patrick Swayze films that he was ever in.
9. Contraband: To protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord, a former smuggler heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills.
Commentary: Now it wouldn’t be right, not to mention Contraband as one of the top Armored heist films to be added to this list. Mark Wahlberg did a solid job. The film serves its purposes of delivering with action packed scenes and raw dialogue.
10. Armored: A newbie guard for an armored truck company is coerced by his veteran coworkers to steal a truck containing $42 million. But a wrinkle in their supposedly foolproof plan divides the group, leading to a potentially deadly resolution.
Commentary: Not a big budget film but it had it’s moments of a nice storyline and a solid acting cast.
