I’m an honest person. I don’t steal things or rob places, but for some reason these movies have always been my favorites. I’m going to tell you about a few of my favorites.
The Thomas Crown Affair ~ 1999
The Thomas Crown Affair I think this one is my all time favorite. In the movie Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) is a millionaire who loves his Monets.
San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk ~ Claude Monet
Ocean's Eleven ~ 2001
Ocean’s Eleven What a great movie! There’s one of the best all-star casts you could ask for as far as big names: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts. In the film they rob 3 Las Vegas casinos (Bellagio, The Mirage, and the MGM Grand). They plot and plan with the precision of surgeons. George Clooney plays the ringleader Danny Ocean. He has a personal vendetta against Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) because he is dating Danny’s wife Tess (Julia Roberts). The only way to get to Terry though is hit his pride/hit his wallet.
I found out a few interesting flaws in the movie (there are many) while I was researching this post:
- Danny Ocean says that Nevada Gaming Commission regulations require casinos to have enough cash in their vaults to cover every cent in play on the floor. In fact, no such regulation exists.
- The $100 dollar bill is currently the largest US note in circulation (and has been since the sixties). One million dollars in $100 bills (10,000 notes) weighs about 22 pounds according to the US Treasury Dept web site. Therefore $160MM dollars would weight about 3,520 pounds. There is no way eight people could carry that much weight in canvas bags in one trip from the vault to the SWAT van.
- During the robbery, the first set of 6 bags which allegedly contained half of the $160 million actually held fliers for hookers. As Rusty had instructed, they were sent up from the vault using the elevator, and carried out of the casino and placed in the white van by Benedict’s men before the SWAT team arrived. However, there is no explanation about how the fliers were transported into the vault in the first place – Danny and Linus did not bring them, and there would not have been enough extra space for that much paper in the cart that held Yen.
The Real McCoy ~ 1993
The Maiden Heist ~ 2009
The Maiden Heist is a newer movie out to DVD. I watched it for the first time last month and found it amusing. It was an art heist where 3 museum security guards decide to steal their 3 favorite pieces of art before the new museum curator can have them sent to their new museum owner in Denmark. Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, and William H. Macy all put in amusing performances. (If you like art, check out my Art Blog)
Gone In 60 Seconds ~ 2000
Gone In 60 Seconds has got to be another one of my favorites!! Aside from the fact that it stars one of my favorite actors Nicholas Cage as Memphis Raines the movie kept my interest the ENTIRE time which is tough to say for alot of movies. Like Ocean’s Eleven this movie has another all-star cast. Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Duvall, James Duval, Scott Caan, Delroy Lindo, Chi McBride, Christopher Eccleston, Vinnie Jones, Timothy Olyphant, William Lee Scott (He’s from Hudson, NY), and T.J. Cross. Just in case you live under a rock and haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a retired car thief who has to come out of retirement to pull off a 50 high end car heist in 1 night to save his little brother’s life. There are some BEAUTIFUL cars in this movie as well as funny scenes (remember the snake?) to keep you glued to the TV.
The Saint ~ 1997
The Saint is a movie that many people have forgotten. I was always a big Val Kilmer fan so when this movie came out it was something I needed to see instantly…. Val plays a character named Simon Templar (one of many names he uses throughout the movie) who is a professional thief/master of disguise who says once his bank account gets to $50,000,000 that he’ll retire. His last transaction is working with the Russian Mafia and his last assignment is to steal the formula for cold fusion from Dr. Emma Russell. (played by Elisabeth Shue) What he doesn’t count on is falling in love with her. When he realizes that the formula isn’t complete and the Russian’s will stop at nothing to get it to work Simon realizes that Emma won’t be safe and goes to her to keep her safe. Also stars Rade Serbedzija as Ivan Tretiak.
Heist ~ 2001
Heist starring Gene Hackman, Danny DiVito, Delroy Lindo, and Sam Rockwell. Gene Hackman plays the brilliant leader of a gang (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay & Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman’s youngish wife), which pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his nephew (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. No one trusts anyone and every step is shaded with the unexpected. Summary written by John Sacksteder (off IMDB)
Flawless ~ 2007
Flawless starring Demi Moore and Michael Caine is a diamond-heist thriller set in London during the 1960s. Demi Moore plays Laura Quinn, a bright, driven and beautiful executive at the London Diamond Corporation who gets frustrated as she watches man after man get promoted ahead of her despite her being more experienced. Michael Caine plays Hobbs, the nighttime janitor at London Diamond. Nobody notices Hobbs, but over the years he’s worked there he’s acquired extensive knowledge about how the company runs. Observing Laura’s frustration, he convinces her to help him execute his plan to steal a hefty sum in diamonds.
The Score ~ 2001
The Score was a great movie starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Angela Bassett and Marlon Brando. De Niro plays Nick Wells, a professional criminal who almost got caught on his last job. He wants out of the business for good. His plan is to live in peace with his girlfriend Diane (played by Bassett), and to run his Montreal jazz club NYC. Nick’s good friend Max (played by Brando who’s also his financial partner in his illegal dealings) has an offer Nick can’t refuse. A historical and priceless French sceptre has been discovered while being smuggled into the country. It is under intense surveillance in the Montreal Customs House, and soon will be returned to France. Nick has to team up with Max’s man inside. When Nick and Jackie Teller (Norton) meet it isn’t exactly love at first sight. Nick thinks he’s young and careless. They go into the job together, and only one question remains: Who will trick whom out of their share?
The Italian Job ~ 2003
The Italian Job starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def, and Edward Norton. A team of expert thieves pull off a heist in Venice, Italy stealing 35 million dollars worth of gold bars. One of the thoieves betrays his team and swipes the gold for himself. A year later, in Las Angeles, the remaining team members create a smart and devious plan to steal back the gold and get their revenge on the traitor.
The Doberman Gang ~ 1972
Finally I’m going to mention a movie you’ve probably never heard of. In The Doberman Gang a bank thief decides to train a pack of doberman pinschers to rob a bank after a failed bank robbery attempt. Dobermans are a breed of dog that trains extremely well and there’s less room for deviation in the robbery. Even though this is an old movie, it’s nice to go back to an old school movie to remember how it was all done before we had computers and all the technology used in most heist movies we see today! According to Wikipedia there were two sequels to this movie as well which I haven’t seen. If anyone has them I’d love copies!!
What are some of your favorite heist movies? Tell me, maybe I haven’t seen them yet!!
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UPDATE!!
Please comment and tell me what brought you to this blog. I’ve been getting TONS of hits on it months after it was published. I’m just curious why….
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