Non-motoring > Caper/heist movies Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Crankcase Replies: 40

 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
I might be on my own (again) here, but I do like a fun caper movie. I'll cope with a straight heist movie too, but I like them light really. although the film just called Heist is a cracker. It's the one made in 2001 with Gene Hackman, not the 2015 de Niro one (which is less good for me).

I know some here like original The Italian Job, as do I. Related in a way is Gambit, which I've just seen for the first time. 1966, Michael Caine again, Shirley MacLaine, Herbert Lom. Lots of fun, great twists in the plot, 60s period stuff. Most enjoyable.

I also like A Man, A Woman and a Bank - Donald Sutherland, 1979.

And also The Silver Bears, once again Michael Caine, 1978.

Any more hidden gems, anyone?
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
To be honest I avoid anything described as a "caper" or "heist" ;-)..generally not my cup of tea. However upon reading this, I recall, as a very small child going to see a classic Caper and or Heist...it was in colour (!)...about a sort of road trip and or treasure hunt for some "loot" which the last clue was a pair of palm trees shaped in the form of a letter (possibly a W) -- now that the subject has been raised on here I want to see it again !

Italian Job was superb and added several phrases to the language ! May re-watch that this weekend.

Could Dog Day Afternoon be classed as a Heist. Superb movie.
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Your road trip movie is It's a mad mad mad mad world, which in turn, I don't think is a very good one!

Not seen Dog Day Afternoon, so will add it to the watch list. Thanks.
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Ha yes, thanks...! Maybe it subliminally put me off. I'll go look for a DVD or a streamed version ! Dog Day Afternoon is superb.
 Caper/heist movies - Zero
Robbery 1967

Made by Stanley Baker when he was in his prime, the first recreation of the great train robbery, Fantastic cast, real hard gritty crime, great car chase with, of course Jaguars. Whats not to like.


Sexy Beast. Comedic and chilling, (and in one way was the basis used for the later real hatton garden job)


The Usual Suspects, because of its plot twist, a film you can only ever see once. Once seen, never forgotten tho.

The Sweeney - The two films. 1 & 2
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 10 Oct 19 at 10:41
 Caper/heist movies - devonite
How about "No Country for old Men"? - The only film I've watched 3 times and never yet seen the ending ! so this W/E it will be No 4! maybe this time?
 Caper/heist movies - helicopter
My nomination would be Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, so many twists and turns and funny as well.
 Caper/heist movies - devonite
In the same vein as Mad Mad World there is a Terry Thomas classic "Rat Race".
 Caper/heist movies - Zero
>> How about "No Country for old Men"? - The only film I've watched 3 times
>> and never yet seen the ending ! so this W/E it will be No 4!
>> maybe this time?

You wont see the ending because it does not have one. Worlds most frustrating movie.
 Caper/heist movies - tyrednemotional
...if you want to combine it with car chases, try "Ronin" if you haven't already seen it.
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Some good suggestions there. I have seen Ronin and do remember thinking it was the best car chase I'd ever seen on film at that point. I might have another go at that one.

Mustn't forget the Oceans films - quite good fun in their way.

The Sting, of course.

And also a sleeper - Robert Redford in The Hot Rock. Anyone seen his last (apparently a heist) film - The Old Man and The Gun? I haven't.

I also have a penchant for foreign stuff in this genre - The Wages of Fear is brilliant, so tense. And A Bout de Souffle is great French crime noir, if you like Truffaut.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 10 Oct 19 at 12:54
 Caper/heist movies - zippy
Some oldies but goodies...

The Grifters

The Lavender Hill Mob

The League of Gentlemen (1960) (see the uncensored one).

Plus 1 for Sweeney 1

Is no country for old men a heist movie? Brilliant film though.

More recently Hell or High Water is quite watchable.

I also enjoyed both versions of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Charade with Audrey Hepburn / Carry Grant
Last edited by: zippy on Thu 10 Oct 19 at 13:52
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Well done zippy - I was trying to remember the Cary Grant one this morning, but the name escaped me. Yes, great film, again one I saw for the first time only this year. Dunno how it passed me by before.

And the first Thomas Crown I do like, but against all the odds I like the second one better.

I think there's enough in this thread to keep me going all winter now. Thanks all.

 Caper/heist movies - zippy
>>Charade...

I will admit to having had a huge crush on Audrey Hepburn many years ago! :-)
 Caper/heist movies - Zero

>> The League of Gentlemen (1960) (see the uncensored one).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOY9fMpfWZ8
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Sean Bean appears to be in Ronin..always good value. His latest incarnation as a pacifist Bus Conductor in World in Flames is a bit hard to take !


"A Bout de Souffle is great French crime noir, if you like Truffaut"

Thanks for those tips ! Love Truffaut

 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Glad to hear it. You will also be glad to hear that by "Truffaut" I meant "Godard". A mental lapse.

Still a great film though!
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Still watch it...if I can find it...! :-)
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Well, it's written by Truffaut, if that helps.

Clips on YouTube, or indeed the whole thing there for £2.49 if really keen.
 Caper/heist movies - Ambo
Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955). Jewellery robbery with a fascinating display of detailed break-in techniques, almost like a training film. Best known for its core half-hour sequence, filmed without words or music
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Yes, thanks for Rififi Ambo. Good call.

And whilst on foreign films, some on my wet winter's afternoon list include (not heist films);

Bicycle Thieves. Italian, and on lots of "ten greatest films ever" type lists.

The original Russian Solaris, and Stalker, Tarkovsky.

The original Russian Ivan the Terrible

The German Wings of Desire, directed by Wim Wenders and starring Bruno Ganz, who played Hitler in Downfall. Rather different here, as he plays an angel...

Or chuck on almost any Fellini, see how many people you can offend in an hour and a half.

Nearly all of these we got (and lots of others, including some great Japanese stuff) when Lovefilm DVD rental was a thing. Since its demise, there seem to be fewer sources for foreign stuff easily and cheaply available.




Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 10 Oct 19 at 16:29
 Caper/heist movies - legacylad
Kelly’s Heroes. It’s almost as old as me
Heat. The late 90s Michael Mann film. Wonderful choreographed shoot out as the baddies exit the bank.
Music video....’Fire’ by Kasabian where they use guitars as guns on a bank job. Love that music track.
Last edited by: legacylad on Thu 10 Oct 19 at 18:29
 Caper/heist movies - Zero
Oh another Stanley Baker one, very difficult to track down, A Prize of Arms.
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Don't know that one,zero, but it's a couple of quid to stream on Amazon. So now added to the ever growing list, ta.
 Caper/heist movies - Zero
As you can tell, I am a great admirer of his films.
 Caper/heist movies - Ambo
>>when Lovefilm DVD rental was a thing. Since its demise, there seem to be fewer sources for foreign stuff easily and cheaply available.

When Lovefilm ceased we switched to Cinema Paradiso which has a huge Global Cinema section. We tend to get lost in the vast selection (which is mostly dross) and found it best to research first the films of a given country on such as Wikipedia, to search out the best.
 Caper/heist movies - Ambo
For a quietly menacing Austrian film, Michael Haneke's Funny Games, 1997.
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Great stuff, thanks for the film and source hint, Ambo. Shall look into those.

Just been to a charity shop and bought four DVDs for a pound. None foreign or heists, but I will now run Makemkv on them to get them into our film library and then put them through the projector at some point. One is the original Goldfinger "restored", so that's definitely worth 25p to me.
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
On a slight drift. We have a film club in the next town. For £20.00 you get a proper 2 course meal (plus a tub of ice cream in an intermission) - the cinema has 18 seats and makes for a great night out. There's a programme of recent releases (via Apple) and in addition you can hire the cinema for a film of your choice. It certainly makes for a more enjoyable night out than in the big Cinemas (we have Vue, Cineworld and a smattering of indies in the area).
 Caper/heist movies - Crankcase
Similarly, we have a little cinema in the next town, which shows "arty" and independent films to an audience of perhaps thirty.

We went once or twice, but were slightly taken aback at the end of the films, as nobody made any effort to leave. It turned out they all wanted to discuss it great detail.

It reminded me too much of a Damascene moment in my life at University. I was doing a film studies course at the time, and found myself in a lecture hall. We saw a Laurel and Hardy film, which I chuckled at from time to time, but everyone else was watching in stony silence. Turned out I'd not bothered to read the preparatory notes; afterwards we were all expected to make contributions about the "cyclical vortex symbology embedded in the framework of the film". I just wanted to say "oh, that bit where Ollie fell in the pond was BRILLIANT".

I didn't finish that course. And I've never bothered to find out what cyclical vortex symbology is, either, so don't ask.
 Caper/heist movies - John Boy
>> I didn't finish that course. And I've never bothered to find out what cyclical vortex
>> symbology is, either, so don't ask.

Google doesn't seem to have bothered either!
 Caper/heist movies - tyrednemotional
>>
>> Google doesn't seem to have bothered either!
>>


....I shouldn't worry; as a concept it is overrated, and has now largely been discredited.....
 Caper/heist movies - Kevin
>And I've never bothered to find out what cyclical vortex symbology is,..

Euphemism for "Going down the pan"?
 Caper/heist movies - Zero

>> I didn't finish that course. And I've never bothered to find out what cyclical vortex
>> symbology is, either, so don't ask.

With respect to Laurel and Hardy, its the fact that we laugh at their constant state of flux, the vortex symbolic of suffering, turmoil, chaos, danger, obstacle, and misfortune.

To précis (and Kevin came close) "they are always in the sheet"
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Just watched El-Camino. Not sure if it falls into the category of Heis. Awesome production and answered a lot of the questions posed in the finale of Breaking Bad ! Well made.
 Caper/heist movies - zippy
We're No Angels.

Is on Film4 HD on Wednesday 16th at 12:40PM.

It's the 1955 version with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray.

It's a charming "Caper" / comedy and all the more funnier because Aldo Ray clearly cannot keep a straight face with Bogart and Ustinov's antics.

It's of its time and a little dated but well worth a couple of hours of your time.
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Some great old (generally) British movies being run on Talking Pictures (sky 328). Some really obscure movies and programmes. Fills an occasional blank in the schedules.
 Caper/heist movies - No FM2R
>> Just watched El-Camino. Not sure if it falls into the category of Heis. Awesome production
>> and answered a lot of the questions posed in the finale of Breaking Bad !
>> Well made.
>>

The BBC didn't like it quite so much....

www.bbc.com/culture/story/20191011-el-camino-a-breaking-bad-movie-is-a-colossal-waste-of-time
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
I enjoyed it. Lot of the BB experience was about the production values, the way it was shot, the easter eggs, the story was pretty tight up to the last episode - the film was as well made with plenty of tension, the flashbacks to previous events were seamlessly handled. Lot worse ways, tv wise, to pass a Friday evening. The film delivered for me. I get the BBC's references to stuff like Killing Eve. Times and taste move on, but if you enjoyed a series like BB back when it was fresh a sequal 5 years later has to "work" I thought it did personally. One of the stars of the show was the El Camino pick up. I very nearly wanted one !
 Caper/heist movies - R.P.
Series 2 of Killing Eve was poor compared to the first series. Maybe the BBC lost their way on that..
 Caper/heist movies - Lygonos

A bit like a heist in reverse with added brutal martial arts, The Raid is an Indonesian film where a SWAT team tries to break into a tower block to deal with the druglord running it.

Goes rather wrong for them.

One of the best action movies I've seen


youtu.be/m6Q7KnXpNOg
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