30 Greatest Movie Heists

The Sting (1973)

The Heist: Ah, revenge. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are out for it, against slippery gangster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). And they’re gonna get it – by humiliating Doyle and taking all of his money.

Coolest Detail: It’s brilliantly complex, involving numerous instances of deception, close shaves and the creation of an entire fake betting shop.

Public Enemies (2009)

The Heist: During the Great Depression, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and his gangsters embark on a plot to free a bank of bags of mulah.

Coolest Detail: Dillinger’s so cocky that he decides to take the bank on in broad daylight. He even has the gall to chat up a beautiful broad during the raid, before getting away with the money – all in one minute and 30 seconds.

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Heist: Claude Rains takes advantage of the fact that nobody can see him by raiding a local bank – and carrying the money outside for the townspeople to help themselves. Think of him as a modern day Robin Hood.

Coolest Detail: He’s an invisible freakin’ man!

The Killing (1956)

The Heist: Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) is an ex-con whose supposed last job will be his finest. Rounding up a few ordinary Joes, he masterminds a plan to steal $2m from the racetrack.

Coolest Detail: Clay’s plans involve shooting one of the horses during the race as a distraction. Not nice, but pretty damn smart.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Heist: Pinching $91m worth of cocaine from mobster Keyser Soze. To say anymore than that would do a disservice to the movie. But, as most of you already know, it's amazing.

Coolest Detail: Just about every carefully-planned corner of Bryan Singer’s seminal flick – and in particular that final, iconic reveal.

Inside Man (2006)

The Heist: Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) and his crew take on an apparently unheistable bank in lower Manhattan. But will their plan to use hostages in matching jumpsuits go off without a hitch?

Coolest Detail: Russell is a sneaky sleuth whose motives remain tantalisingly murky throughout. Is he really after the contents of the bank, or is there something else at work?

The Silent Partner (1978)

The Heist: Psycho Harry Reikle (Christopher Plummer) is planning on breaking into a small bank in a Toronto shopping mall – but somebody’s gotten whiff of his plans.

Coolest Detail: Miles Cullen (Elliot Gould) is a teller at said bank, and fancies setting himself up for retirement as well – so he sets aside some money that Reikle will end up pinching for him. It takes some balls to rob a robber.

Stander (2003)

The Heist: Bored with his run-of-the-mill life, South African police captain Stander (Thomas Jane) decides to spice things up by robbing banks. While wearing fantastically ridiculous disguises. As you do.

Coolest Detail: Stander’s a cop, which means he gets away with the bank raids for longer than most people would – who’d suspect a cop?

Heat (1995)

The Heist: Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and his crew attempt to pull off one last job that will set them up for life – the robbery of a busy Los Angeles bank. The problem? McCauley is being tailed by LAPD detective Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino).

Coolest Detail: It’s one of the loudest, most gun-heavy heists in the history of cinema. And, naturally, one of the coolest.

How To Steal A Million (1966)

The Heist: Nicole (Audrey Hepburn) pairs up with a skilled cat burglar (Peter O’Toole) in order to snatch a Cellini Venus statue. Even if it is, apparently, a fake.

Coolest Detail: Nicole isn’t just any wannabe burglar – she’s also the daughter of a millionaire art forger. This girl’s got thieving in her veins.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

The Heist: Eight colour-coded crims raid an LA jewellers and take off with their loot – only for confusion and paranoia to eat them up from the inside.

Coolest Detail: That creeping paranoia, which builds slowly until the film’s infamous bloodbath of a climax.

Kellys Heroes (1970)

The Heist: During World War II, Clint Eastwood leads a rabble of American soldiers into battle – not to do away with pesky Nazis, but to nab a massive cache of gold bars from a bank vault.

Coolest Detail: Kelly’s Heroes is a war movie and a heist movie. Woah.

Run Lola Run (1998)

The Heist: Desperate to pull 100,000 Deutche Mark out of thin air in order to pay a ransom, Lola (Franka Potente) decides to knock off a small bank. Easy money.

Coolest Detail: Lola’s actually the daughter of one of the bank workers, meaning nobody would ever suspect her of attempting to heist the place. This chick's got the element of surprise.

The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Heist: An inspiration for a young Quentin Tarantino, Mr Blue, Mr Brown and co wear cool shades while hijacking the New York underground to get their grubby paws on $1bn.

Coolest Detail: The genius way in which the bad guys escape the underground system once they’ve satisfied their looting hunger. Too amazing to give away here, naturally…

Oceans Eleven (2001)

The Heist: Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his clever clog troupe attempt to break into the vault of a swish Las Vegas casino. All for a cool $150m.

Coolest Detail: The casino’s vault is super-protected by a security system that could protect a nuclear missile. Sounds like a challenge.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Heist: A mob-controlled bank is targeted by The Joker and his clown-mask-wearing minions. A killer opening for Nolan's seminal Batflick.

Coolest Detail: The Joker. We all knew it’d take something quite special for Heath Ledger to trump Jack Nicholson’s interpretation of the manic mastermind, and he pulls it off beautifully.

The Town (2010)

The Heist: Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and his team bust into a Boston bank, where they get their mitts on a heck of a lot of cash before taking bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage.

Coolest Detail: Those awesomely creepy skull costumes - which are only matched in coolness by the nun outfits the guys wear on a later job.

The League Of Gentlemen (1960)

The Heist: Soldiers go rogue in this classic, with military fighters using their field expertise to crack open an uncrackable bank vault.

Coolest Detail: It’s a clever role reversal that has American heroes turned into American bad boys.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

The Heist: Notable for being fantastically botched. Sonny (Al Pacino) and his friend Sal (John Cazale) attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank, but find that they’ve come the day after the cash pick-up, which leaves them with just over $1,000 – and a whole load of hostages.

Coolest Detail: Sonny wants money to help pay for his pre-op transsexual partner to have his sex change. Ah, isn’t that sweet?

The Italian Job (1969)

The Heist: Charlie (Michael Caine) is just out of prison, but he’s already onto his next scheme – intercepting $4m in gold, which is being transported to Italy from China.

Coolest Detail: Charlie’s plan involves the use of (trend-setting) Minis, which play a pivotal role in the raid – they’ll be used to bring the nightmarish Turin traffic to a standstill. Less cool is the remake, of course…

Nine Queens (2000)

The Heist: Con artists Juan (Gastón Pauls) and Marcos (Ricardo Darín) are recruited to pinch the Nine Queens, a forged sheet of rare stamps.

Coolest Detail: The multiple twists and turns that all pile on top of one another - among them Juan falling for who he thinks is Marcos’ sister…

Rififi (1955)

The Heist: A French jewel thief (Jean Servais) who’s getting on in his years embarks on what is considered an impossible heist – nabbing a diamond from a shop on the Rue de Rivoli.

Coolest Detail : The heist takes place over a completely silent 30 minute sequence. Those French always were a classy lot.

Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)

The Heist: Former German special forces officer Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons) is after money. A lot of it. So he’s going to break into the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and grab himself $140bn of gold bullion.

Coolest Detail: John McClane (Bruce Willis) of course. The vest-wearing hero foils Gruber’s plans after failing to be fooled by a diversion bomb at the WTC.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

The Heist: Lawyer Emmerich (Louis Calhern) is part of a crime ring headed up by ‘Doc’ Erwin Reidenschneider (Sam Jaffe), who determin to steal $1m worth of jewels to sell for a cool half million in cash.

Coolest Detail: Marilyn Monroe’s small role as Emmerich’s mistress put her on the map, forcing the world to sit up and take notice of the breathy bombshell.

Heist (2001)

The Heist: Gene Hackman attempts to relieve a Swiss plane of its priceless cargo, improvising to his heart’s content in order pull the job off.

Coolest Detail: Hackman and his crew hide in plain sight by dressing as police officers, making their way through airport security without so much as raising an eyebrow.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

The Heist: Playboy millionaire Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) keeps himself entertained by stealing priceless artwork – think Bruce Wayne with sticky fingers. His latest gig? Get those filthy mitts on Monet’s San Giorgio Maggiore At Dusk, valued at a princely £100m.

Coolest Detail: Crown meets his match in sex-on-legs investigator Catherine Banning (Rene Russo), who gives him a run for his money.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

The Heist: Bank worker Henry Holland (Alec Guinness) and souvenir maker Alfred Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) plan on stealing gold from Holland’s bank.

Coolest Detail: Here’s the clever bit. To conceal the gold after they’ve stolen it, Pendlebury melts it down and makes Eiffel Tower statues. Easy transportation - except if tourists take a fancy to them.

Sexy Beast (2000)

The Heist: Teddy Bass (Ian McShane) and his crew of cockney crims take on a high tech vault owned by a chap who possibly got into Bass’ intimate crevices during an orgy…

Coolest Detail: Bass and his goons aren’t as daft as they look. To breach the vault's fancy security system, they flood it and wear diving gear to get away with the goods.

Hold-Up (1985)

The Heist: Jean-Paul Belmondo and Guy Marchand take down the most secure bank in Montreal, taking 30 hostages and dressing in clever disguises.

Coolest Detail: The robbers find clever ways to change their clothes during heists in order to trick the authorities. Neat.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

The Heist: Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Otto (Kevin Kline) team up with a couple of Limeys to take on a jewellery store.

Coolest Detail: They’re both duplicitous and stark raving mad – particularly Otto, who can’t handle it when Wanda starts flirting outrageously with John Cleese’s lawyer in order to get back their loot.