Best Movie Gangsters Who Are Not Scarface and Godfather, Ranked
There have been many memorable gangster characters throughout movie history, and we decided to keep things interesting by excluding the most obvious winners.
Gangster movies have been a staple of Hollywood for quite some time, introducing audiences to countless charismatic criminals.
From the sophisticated Vito Corleone to the explosive Tony Montana, there have been many memorable performances from a variety of actors.
To keep this list less predictable, we decided to exclude the aforementioned two, along with Michael Corleone, as they would have taken the top three spots in a heartbeat.
So here are five of the best movie gangsters in our opinion.
5. Frank Lucas (American Gangster)
Denzel Washington's portrayal of a real-life gangster who flooded Harlem with heroin in the late 1960s and early 1970s was one of the many things the film was praised for upon its release in 2007.
With his elaborate drug trafficking scheme and ruthless businessman attitude, Lucas' rivalry with detective Richie Roberts, portrayed by Russell Crowe, kept viewers glued to their seats until the credits rolled.
4. Carlito Brigante (Carlito's Way)
Although we excluded The Godfather and Scarface, it would have been a crime to deny Al Pacino a spot on this list.
His portrayal of a gangster desperately trying to escape his criminal past after a prison sentence is completely in line with his other similar roles, making Carlito's Way one of the classics of the gangster movie genre.
3. Nicky Santoro (Casino)
Arguably the most memorable performance of Joe Pesci's entire career, this mentally unstable Italian-American mobster almost upstages the film's star Robert De Niro, as Nicky steals every scene he is in with his explosive temper.
Curiously, Pesci played an almost identical character to Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas (1990), leading fans to confuse the two.
2. Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction)
Quentin Tarantino 's cult classic introduced audiences to a number of highly memorable characters, but none topped Samuel L. Jackson 's gangster.
Jules' legendary monologue remains one of the most iconic movie moments in history, and his unique charisma completely outshines his partner Vincent Vega, with all due respect to John Travolta.
1. Frank Costello (The Departed)
This Irish mob boss, portrayed by the one and only Jack Nicholson, sent chills down the spine of the audience with almost every appearance he made on screen.
A great movie overall, his scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio 's undercover cop Billy Costigan are definitely the crown jewels of the film.
