Image credit: TSG, MGM, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Miramax, Gramercy Pictures, New Line Cinema, Twentieth Century Fox, TriStar Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures Releasing, Fox Searchlight
Heist movies from the 1990s have a special charm that's hard to find elsewhere; it's like they captured a moment in time when clever plans and risky gambles made for the perfect movie night.
They're the kind of movies where you find yourself rooting for the thieves, marveling at their ingenuity, and getting caught up in their world of close calls and narrow escapes; it's all about the adrenaline rush of the perfect crime.
1. "Croupier" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Jack Manfred, an aspiring writer, takes a job as a croupier and finds himself drawn into the casino world, using his experiences as material for his book but getting caught up in a robbery scheme.
2. "Out of Sight" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Bank robber Jack Foley escapes from prison only to be taken hostage by federal marshal Karen Sisco; despite being on opposite sides of the law, they're drawn to each other, complicating their professional objectives and personal desires.
At the end of the Gulf War, four American soldiers stumble upon a map that reveals the location of stolen Kuwaiti gold hidden near their base, embarking on a rogue mission that exposes the moral complexities of war and greed.
A group of criminals with color-coded names regroup at a warehouse after a botched jewelry heist, suspicions arise, loyalty is tested, and tensions escalate as they try to identify the police informant among them.
After pulling off a perfect bank robbery dressed as a clown, Grimm and his accomplices find escaping New York City to be more challenging than the heist itself, leading to a series of comedic misadventures.
6. "Heat" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
Master thief Neil McCauley and his crew plan one last heist before retirement, which puts them on a collision course with determined LAPD detective Vincent Hanna, leading to a deadly confrontation and mutual respect between the criminal and the cop.
7. "Sneakers" (1992) Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%
A team of security experts, led by Martin Bishop, is blackmailed into stealing a sophisticated decryption device, uncovering a plot that threatens their lives and national security, prompting them to use their skills to thwart the scheme.
8. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 75%
Four friends find themselves deeply in debt to a powerful crime lord after a rigged card game, leading them to concoct a risky plan to rob their neighbors, a decision that entangles them in a web of theft, drugs, and violence.
9. "Ronin" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 70%
A team of mercenaries with questionable pasts, including a tactician named Sam, is assembled in France to steal a mysterious briefcase; shifting allegiances and a series of double-crosses ensue as they attempt to uncover the case's contents.
10. "Set It Off" (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 70%
After a series of personal tragedies and injustices, four women — Frankie, Stony, Cleo, and T.T. — turn to bank robbery in Los Angeles as a desperate means to improve their circumstances, but their actions soon attract intense police scrutiny.
FBI agent Johnny Utah goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of bank-robbing surfers led by the charismatic Bodhi, finding himself drawn to their adrenaline-fueled lifestyle and questioning his own values and motives as the stakes rise.
12. "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 69%
Billionaire Thomas Crown orchestrates a daring daytime robbery of a New York City museum, stealing a priceless painting for sport; an insurance investigator, Catherine Banning, becomes entangled in a game of cat and mouse, blurring lines between professional duty and personal attraction.
13. "The Newton Boys" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%
This film chronicles the true story of the Newton brothers, the most successful bank robbers in U.S. history, detailing their rise and fall as they pull off dozens of heists without killing anyone.
14. "Blood and Wine" (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 63%
A wine merchant and his safecracker friend plot to steal a diamond necklace from a wealthy family, but the heist goes awry, unraveling a web of betrayal and desperation among the involved parties.
Anthony Curtis returns home from the Vietnam War to an uncertain future, eventually planning a heist of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency with his friends, a decision that dramatically alters the course of their lives.
16. "The Big Hit" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 41%
Hitman Melvin Smiley, constantly trying to please his demanding girlfriend and pay off his debts, gets involved in what should be a simple kidnapping job that goes terribly wrong, putting him at odds with his own crew.
Veteran thief Robert "Mac" MacDougal becomes the target of insurance agent Gin Baker, who convinces him to join forces for a grand-scale theft on the eve of the millennium, as mutual suspicion gives way to an unexpected alliance.
A convicted thief disguises himself as a cop to retrieve a diamond he hid within a police building, finding himself embroiled in the daily life of law enforcement while keeping his eyes on the prize.
Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkins, the world's greatest cat burglar, is released from prison and coerced into committing a series of elaborate heists to steal artifacts that lead to Da Vinci's gold-making machine.
Two foster brothers, John and Charlie, work as transit cops in New York City; Charlie's gambling debts lead them to plot a heist of the "money train" that collects the subway's daily revenue, a plan fraught with danger and moral dilemma.
