Best Movies On Netflix About Mobsters

Make no mistake about it (how could you?), but Martin Scorsese is the preeminent director when it comes to mobster movies. True, Francis Ford Coppola set the bar to almost untouchable levels with his Godfather trilogy, but Scorsese stands on equal ground in the pantheon of gangster films.

In The Departed, Scorsese brings in a cast of Hollywood heavyweights – Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg – all of whom could teach a masterclass in acting. The film, written by William Monahan, is loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang.

The character of Frank Costello, played by Nicholson, is based on crime boss Whitey Bulger, while the character Colin Sullivan (Damon) is based on John Connolly, a corrupt FBI agent.

Scorsese’s Mobster movie masterpiece tells the story of mob boss Frank Costello, a man who runs things in South Boston. As a way to keep tabs on what the police have on him or if they are getting close to any of his operations, he has planted a spy inside the Massachusetts State Police.

This informant, Colin Sullivan (Damon) has moved into the Special Investigations Unit and is privy to everything the police have on Costello.

At the same time, the State Police have one of their own deep undercover and inside Costello’s organization. Billy Costigan Jr. (Di Caprio) is a trusted member of Costello’s gang, so trusted that Costello talks about all of his operations with Costigan.

Things become tense for both Sullivan and Costigan when both sides discover there are informants within each organization. The race becomes who finds the other first.

Watch The Departed on Netflix.

Speaking of Martin Scorsese, here is another one of his finer efforts. The Irishman is a mobster movie telling the true story of hitman Frank Sheeran, a man who claims to have pulled the trigger on powerful Teamster leader, Jimmy Hoffa. Steven Zaillian penned the script which is based on the book, I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.

Scorsese turned to Hollywood legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino to play Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa, respectively. He also tabbed then-retired Joe Pesci to play crime boss, Russell Bufalino, the man who eventually would order the hit on Hoffa.

The story follows Sheeran’s rise in the Bufalino crime family as he began to carry out hits ordered by the big boss. Sheeran would also do wet work for others in the South Philadelphia underworld.

As Sheeran continues his work with Bufalino, he is introduced to Hoffa, eventually becoming his chief bodyguard. Time goes on and Hoffa not only becomes more powerful but continues to go against the wishes of the crime families. Bufalino then orders Sheeran to kill Hoffa.

The Irishman is an epic watch. If there is any negativity surrounding the film it is that Scorsese used the de-aging technique for De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci in certain scenes and it was a little off-putting. If you can get past this, The Irishman is one fantastic mobster movie.

Watch The Irishman on Netflix.

American Gangster tells the true story of Frank Lucas, a career criminal who was big in the heroin trade in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Director Ridley Scott brought Lucas’ story to the big screen from a script written by Steven Zaillian (The Irishman).

There was only one actor that Scott felt could take on the essence of Lucas and that was Denzel Washington. To counter Washington, Scott brought in Russell Crowe to play Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

The story follows Frank Lucas as he steps into the big shoes of Harlem mob boss, Bumpy Johnson, when Johnson dies of a heart attack. This leaves the heroin trade wide open for Lucas.

Choosing to take out the middleman, Lucas decides to import heroin on his own. To do this, he brings the drugs into the United States using American service planes that were returning the dead bodies of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam.

Lucas’s drugs, called Blue Magic, were as pure as can be and made them a very popular street drug in the early ‘70s. After Roberts’ partner dies from a Blue Magic overdose, Roberts is put in charge of the task force assigned to take down Lucas and his drug trade.

Washington and Crowe do masterful work as Lucas and Roberts. Zaillian’s script and Scott’s directing provide a riveting look at the early ‘70s drug trade in Harlem and the fall of Frank Lucas.

Watch American Gangster on Netflix.

One more name you can add to the list of great mobster movies is Reservoir Dogs. While you’re at it, you can also add the name of Quentin Tarantino to the short list of directors who know their way around a gangster film.

For Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs is his writing and directing debut. Tarantino pulled no punches (he never does) in this gritty, violent film about a group of diamond thieves whose latest robbery goes terribly wrong. In his debut film, Tarantino introduces a number of concepts that would follow him throughout his writing and directing career.

These include pop culture references, graphically violent crime, a ton of profanity, and nonlinear storytelling (made even more famous in Pulp Fiction).

Reservoir Dogs stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, and the director himself. Many of these actors would find their way onto future Tarantino sets as he loves using specific actors time and time again (hello, Samuel L. Jackson). Reservoir Dogs is considered to be a classic among mobster movies, gaining cult status over the years since its release.

Watch Reservoir Dogs on Netflix.