Was discussing this subject the other day and i have been giving it a lot of thought, Most people love a good Heist movie, my top 3 favs are,
1, the sting
2, italian job
3, oceans 11.
please feel free to recomend others.

But what is the aspect that defines them as a "heist" movie, complicated set up with twists and turns with a group of peeps robbing someone, usually sucessfully.
Heist movies such as the ones in my favs always seem to portray the robbers as good guys, but DieHard was technically a heist movie surely? the only difference was that the law abiding person, Willis, was portrayed as the goodie with the robbers being the baddies, but this film always gets filed as an actioner.
Your thoughts?

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The Thomas Crown Affair (not the original!).

"The Pink Panther" series fits the bill
"Snatch" is good
"Reservoir Dogs" - though it misses out the actual heist.

"Entrapment" and "The Thomas Crown Affair (both 68 and 99 versions)" are ok for a watch if a bit safe.

The Mission Impossible movies often tend to involve stealing something from an impossible safe/building, but like Die Hard it's from the point of view of the good guys.

I think it has to be from the bad guys point of view to be a true heist movie.

All of the above

Main Entry: heist
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: burglary, robbery
Synonyms: break-in, breaking and entering, caper, crime, five-finger discount, holdup, larceny, pilferage, rip-off, stickup, sting, theft

I tihnk the difference between a hesit film and die hard is the action, yeah theres a heist but there's too much shooting for it to be a heist film.

Heist films need a self-satisfied central character that extolls the virtue of brains over brawn!

i would think the key thing is that they actually rob something. obviously you want some nasty violence and cool cars think thas about it really. oh and just to finish off some steaming hot half naked girls.

any film with hot semi naked girls has to be worth a watch in my book.

Ronin m/

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Originally posted by ashg
i would think the key thing is that they actually rob something. obviously you want some nasty violence and cool cars think thas about it really. oh and just to finish off some steaming hot half naked girls.

any film with hot semi naked girls has to be worth a watch in my book.

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Originally posted by Benzine
Ronin m/

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die hard isn't a heist movie cause the guy your rooting for doesn't steal anything!

For it to be a heist movie the main guy your rooting for has to be doing the stealing, it has to be central to the plot and the action revolves around that one point.

Getting away with it or not isn't important.

I'm curious if people can think of a heist movie that doesn't fit this 'definition'

layer cake?

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Originally posted by omega0684
layer cake?

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How about Catch me If you Can? I really enjoyed watching that...

Heist Films

Swordfish was a good one and Payback if we're not being too strict.

"What defines a Heist movie?"
It's got a 'Heist' in it?'

Although both got pretty duff reviews, I enjoyed 'Face' and 'Killing Zoe'....

+1 for Killing Zoe. Heist movies are supposed to end badly. Reservoir Dogs is a fine example as well as Ronin. All the rest are cheesy, clichéd hollywood nonsense, or London gangster stereotypes

How about "The Driver" although the number one has to be "Kelly's Hero's"

Edit to add... "Tha lady Killers" and "The Lavender Hill Mob"

"Charlie Varrick" is pretty good as well

adrian

[Edited on 10/3/10 by adithorp]

Way of the gun if we're not being too strict, then again if you're not being too strict you could include almost any film; Ong Bak (they steal the Buddha statue), Face Off (they steal his face!) Broken Arrow (they steal a missile), King Kong (they steal King Kong!), Batman Begins (they steal the water bomb thingy).

Personally I think its less in the act of stealing, more in the manner of stealing - a heist infers some kind of intelligence rather than just mugging someone! As an extension of that, the style of filming should suit, flashy and confident!

Heat? Awesome film.

inside man...awesome.....


the bank job......say no more...

Forgot about inside man, great film.
some good interesting points being made here.
The point i was trying to make when i mentioned DieHard was that it too has a heist, If Hans Gruber had been a more likeable character, not killed anyone, gotten away with it and the film focused on him and from his perspective then based on what we seem to feel is a "heist" movie, then diehard qualifies.
OK thats a lot of IFS but you get my meaning.

A good Hiest movie should have someone pull off a hiest against someone who the viewer feels deserved it and someone who thinks they're untouchable.
I think that to much violence can ruin this kind of film.
Italian Job has to be the best.

Jules Dassin's Du rififi chez les hommes (1955) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048021/ is a cracker.
Also Ronin for a more recent effort, even if the Maguffin is of no consequence.

Not heist movies, but well worth a look:
The Hitch-Hiker (1953) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045877/
Detour (1945) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037638/ - ultimate low budget noir
John.

st trinians......

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Originally posted by boggle
st trinians......

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hmmmmmm (as i frantically rub my legs in a vic reeves off shooting stars slyle)