3. GOODFELLAS
Director: MARTIN SCORCESE
Year: 1990
‘As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster’
are the words provided by the narrator and main character of
the film, Henry Hill. The film follows him through his life,
beginning with him quitting school at 16 to work under the
Lucchese crime family, right up to a middle aged Henry settled
out of gangster life after enrolling in the Witness Protection
Program.
4. TRUE ROMANCE
Director: TONY SCOTT
Year: 1993
After what appears to be by chance, a comic book shop worker
Clarence meets and falls in love with a call girl named
Alabama. They marry a day later. Clarence goes over to see her
boss to collect her stuff. They begin to fight and Clarence kills
him, taking a bag that he thinks is Alabama’s. It turns out it
contains a large amount of cocaine, giving them a chance to make
a lot of money – but the gangster’s that own it aren’t willing to
let it go without a fight.
5. THE GODFATHER
Director: FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
Year: 1972
Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia
Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII but he
just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is
looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange
for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone
about it, but he is morally against the use of drugs, and turns
down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don
shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which
leads Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo which
tears the Corleone family apart.
6. Gangster Movies are my favourite kind of
movies for a number of reasons.
As well as the violence, which most lads my
age enjoy, the storylines are usually very
good, especially in the 3 examples I have
chosen. Whether they provide a twist or just
tell a linear narrative, they always keep
you engaged and interested in what’s going
on.
The acting is usually superb too. The cast of
these types of movies are predominantly
Italian-American, which provide an
opportunity for a talented young actor to
find a way into the movie business. Some go
on to have very successful and prolonged
film careers, such as Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta
and more as well as the legendary actors
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, who both
made their breakthroughs by starring in
crime orientated films.
Another thing I really like about Gangster
Movies are the sheer suspense that is
apparent when watching. Sometimes there
are certain scenes where there is a lot of
talking going on. During these scenes the
tension builds and builds, coming to a head
7. Star theory sometimes plays a huge part in a films
success.
Star theory basically means the power a famous
actor or director can have in influencing a person’s
choice to spend their money to watch a film.
A film could have the best script in the world, but
there is a possibility that it will fail at the Box
Office because they don’t have the draw or the
appeal of a high-profile actor or director.
If you see a trailer of a film that has the name of
someone you are a big fan of attached to it then it
becomes more likely to succeed at the Box Office.
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are actors who
would bring in a big audience to a crime orientated
film. This is because they have made a career of
starring in films of this genre as well as taking
that success into more mainstream films, such as
family comedies.
An example of star theory in crime movies is the
film ‘Righteous Kill’, starring both De Niro and
Pacino. Prior to it’s release, it gained a massive
buzz around it as it starred these two heavy
weights in the same film. The critical response
however was poor, so this proves that sometimes
8. As well as star theory, there are many reasons
as to why I may choose to watch a film.
I must admit though that I too was excited for
Righteous Kill and was also disappointed with
the outcome. Nevertheless, it was still
fascinating to see De Niro and Pacino share
sufficient screen time, something which only
happened for two scenes in Heat and did not
happen at all in The Godfather Part II.
I do get attracted to films sometimes by
reading a critics view beforehand. People might
disagree with this and say its better to watch it
and gather your own opinion yourself, but I
don’t really want to spend a lot of money
these days on a film that has been panned by
every working film critic. It seems I dodged a
bullet by not watching Movie 49, a film I liked
the look of by watching the trailer but by
researching I find it to be described by some as
‘the worst movie ever’.
It apparent that I am a big fan of gangster and
crime films, so whenever a new one is released
or I come across an old one which I haven't seen,
I’ll always watch it. Gangster Squad has been
released quite recently and although it has a
stellar cast, that wasn’t the reason I watched it.
9. There are many ways I use to find out about a
film’s release.
Trailers are a big way of finding out about a
film’s release, and there are a few different
methods of how to see one.
One way is by seeing a trailer being played at a
cinema before your film begins. The trailers are
usually screened a few months before the
film’s release, sometimes even a year before if
the film is expected to be a huge blockbuster.
Another way is by seeing a shorter trailer
played during the advert breaks on the TV.
These are shown quite close to the release
date, the furthest being a month before.
Another way is by actually going onto a film
website and checking out any new trailers that
they might have their hands on, usually shown a
long time before the movies release date.
You can also find out about release dates by
reading the newspaper, magazines and the
internet.
The internet is becoming more and more
prominent in the movie business nowadays. Film
studios find they can get any information
