8 Best Robert De Niro Gangster Movies Ranked: From Mean Streets to Casino
A coming-of-age crime story
In A Bronx Tale, De Niro acts and directs, while Chazz Palminteri plays a figure connected to organized crime. The central character is a teenage boy caught between that influence and his father, who is not a gangster.
The film takes a relatively low-key approach. Its direction also reflects the influence of Martin Scorsese, a filmmaker who worked with De Niro on several other gangster movies.
Scorsese collaborations
Casino is a long, bleak and violent crime drama. Its cynical outlook can make it a difficult watch, but the film delivers a forceful portrait of mob life and stands among Scorsese and De Niro’s collaborations.
Mean Streets, an early Scorsese film, gave De Niro one of his notable early roles. Its characters are not established members of the Mafia; instead, they aspire to become connected gangsters, making the film a less conventional take on the genre.
Gangsters and historical fiction
The Untouchables casts De Niro as Al Capone, with Kevin Costner as a heroic lawman and Sean Connery as his right-hand man. The film takes liberties with history, so viewers looking for accuracy may be disappointed.
Brian De Palma directs the film in a bold, larger-than-life style. The article also mentions a 2019 movie in which De Niro and Al Pacino share scenes, but the supplied text does not name it.
Key points
- A Bronx Tale was directed by De Niro, who also appears in the film.
- Mean Streets follows characters hoping to become connected gangsters.
- Casino is described as bleak, violent and deliberately cynical.
- The Untouchables features De Niro as Al Capone and takes liberties with history.