Crime and drama go hand in hand to provide some of the best movies over the years. There’s always some sort of nail-biting action around the corner and loads of material on-screen to get your brain juices flowing. If you’re looking to get your hands on some of the best titles of all time, then we’re here to help you out with the process. If you’d like to stream these titles in the best quality possible, it’d be ideal to equip yourself with fast and reliable internet. CenturyLink Internet plans provide ample speeds and a stable connection to have you either download a fantastic crime movie or season of your choice or go ahead and watch it in quality of up to 4K. Ready? Let’s go ahead and discuss our top picks.
The Hateful Eight
The limited-engagement 70mm Roadshow presentation of The Hateful Eight during the 2015 holidays was undeniably transporting and nostalgic. The Hateful Eight, on the other hand, was overshadowed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the box office and was a box-office disappointment, if not an outright flop. It’s handsomely crafted, and impressively acted, but emotionally hollow. That’s pretty much it.
The Irishman
Martin Scorsese’s long-gestating crime epic, centered on Jimmy Hoffa, is a masterpiece of rich, slow-burn character development. It’s available on Netflix, but seeing it in one sitting on the biggest screen possible is the best way to experience it.
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and (stepping out of retirement for a moment) Joe Pesci deliver standout performances. The film’s much-discussed de-aging visual effects are also front and center. They’re almost seamless at times. They’re also frequently distracting, if not offensive.
Collateral
Michael Mann has created a number of crime classics, perhaps none more so than his streamlined, character-rich masterpiece Collateral. This is also a career high point for Tom Cruise, who plays a sociopathic hitman who becomes entangled in an L.A. killing spree with a mild-mannered cabbie (Jamie Foxx nominated for this the same year he won for Ray).
Collateral, starring Jada Pinkett Smith, is equal parts gripping excitement and meaty, uncomfortable philosophy. Collateral, shot in neon on digital video (years before it became the norm), is also the best, most honest film ever made about nightlife in Los Angeles.
Berlin Syndrome
Movies about kidnapped females generally go one of two ways: it’s either all about suspense, figuring out how and if she’ll get out—or there’s the nastier route, when some movies focus on a woman’s torture and humiliation, turning it into a spectacle.
Though Cate Shortland’s adaptation of Melanie Joosten’s novel about a tourist imprisoned by a handsome teacher after a passionate one-night stand is a thriller (at times quite heart-pounding), and much of the woman’s mistreatment is extremely difficult to watch, this highly absorbing psychological drama stands out because it’s all about the characters and what’s going on in their heads. It also differs from similar films in that this nightmare begins with genuine erotic tension. May sound weird but yeah, that’s what kicks it off.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Three-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul returned as interminably suffering drug kingpin Jesse Pinkman in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, giving one of the greatest television shows in history a fitting conclusion.
The long-awaited sequel to Vince Gilligan’s crime saga Breaking Bad is a Netflix original. On the one hand, this is undeniable fan service. It’s difficult to imagine any Breaking Bad fans being dissatisfied with this suspenseful, raw, and darkly hilarious sequel. Paul, of course, is a million shades of captivating.
Nocturnal Animals
Tom Ford’s second feature, as brutal as it is sad, twists the blade in the corpse of a toxic, failed relationship. In dark, sumptuously realized parallel storylines, Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Golden Globe winner for his work here), and Michael Shannon (Oscar nominee for his work here) are uniformly sensational (about half of the film is a fictional book within the narrative). Nocturnal Animals comes pretty close, if not, a masterpiece.
The Gentlemen
Following the notable critical and box-office failure of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, director Guy Ritchie responded with two hits in the same year: Disney’s Aladdin remake and The Gentlemen, a return-to-form action comedy about the scheming and double-crossings surrounding a weed empire. Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant are among the cast members.
Army of the Dead
Following Zack Snyder’s long-awaited triumph with Justice League this spring, the fan-favorite director returns (without studio interference) with a sequel to his first (and arguably best) feature, the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead. Dave Bautista stars in the action/zombie/heist hybrid, which is already a streaming hit.
Conclusion
And these are our picks for the best crime movies of all time. The above movies aren’t terribly similar in case you’re wondering if they all have the same theme but they all are guaranteed to have you hooked to the screen, chomping down on popcorn and have a good time taking apart the plotline to discover just what went down and why. So get in your Christmas pajamas and get ready for some incredible binge-watching.
