Everyone loves a great heist movie like The Italian Job. There’s something very satisfying about being part of the crew for a couple of hours while also trying to figure out how the protagonists are going to pull it off.
Michael Caine stars in this evergreen crime caper that underwent the unfortunate remake treatment in 2003. He plays an ex-con who plans an audacious bullion robbery in the middle of Turin during a football match, using iconic Mini Coopers to beat the traffic…
If you’re a fan of movies like The Italian Job, let’s put together a crew and case out these top picks…
10 Great Heist Movies like The Italian Job
1. Logan Lucky (2017)
Fans of movies like The Italian Job will love Logan Lucky, a comedy thriller about two down-on-their-luck brothers who plot to steal money from beneath a NASCAR race track…
Steven Soderbergh returns for another hugely enjoyable heist caper starring Channing Tatum and Adam Driver as the working-class masterminds, while Daniel Craig chews scenery as the incarcerated demolition expert crucial to their plan.
As with Ocean’s Eleven, Soderbergh relishes letting the viewer in on the plan while also keeping them in the dark, revealing how they did it with a trademark rewind in the final act.
2. The Sting (1973)
A rookie conman teams up with a wily old pro to pull off an elaborate sting on a ruthless crime boss…
Robert Redford and Paul Newman’s chemistry is irresistible in George Roy Hill’s enormously enjoyable caper, while Robert Shaw provides plenty of menace as the target of their schemes.
The Sting took Best Picture at the Oscars and remains a popular favourite, thanks to the terrific cast, ingenious plot and a ragtime score that takes us right back to Depression Era Chicago.
3. Inside Man (2006)
A band of masked robbers seize a New York bank and hold everyone inside hostage. A seasoned detective negotiates with the leader of the gang, while a ruthless fixer hired by the bank’s founder complicates matters…
Denzel Washington and Clive Owen are both superb as the detective and criminal playing a game of cat-and-mouse, and Jodie Foster lends muscular support as the fixer interfering with the negotiations.
Spike Lee keeps a tight grip of the action in this taut thriller that will keep people who love movies like The Italian Job guessing until the end.
4. The Town (2010)
Much of the excitement in movies like The Italian Job how the crooks are going to escape with the loot after they’ve pulled off the heist, an aspect that goes badly wrong in The Town.
Ben Affleck directs and stars as a career criminal who masterminds a heist at the Fenway Park baseball stadium, but runs in to trouble when he falls in love with a witness. Plus there’s a loose cannon in his crew…
Robbers dressed as nuns, what’s not to love? Affleck keeps the action mean and lean in this efficient and suspenseful crime thriller.
5. Heat (1995)
A professional band of robbers hit an armoured car, but the job doesn’t go to plan when a loose cannon starts blowing away the guards. A dedicated cop is also hot on their heels, determined to bring them down…
Michael Mann’s steely crime thriller is famous for putting screen legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in a scene together for the first time, but in truth the whole cast is superb.
Heat is meticulously acted and directed and features some teeth-rattling shootouts. It’s an essential film for anyone who loves movies like The Italian Job…
6. Point Break (1991)
More cool masks in this high-octane thriller about a gang of surfing bank robbers and a young FBI agent sent to infiltrate them, but ends up forming a close bond with the charismatic leader…
Kathryn Bigelow keeps the pedal to the metal in this enjoyably over-the-top caper, matching Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze to terrific effect.
Point Break is one of the best crime thrillers of the 90s and you should seek it out immediately if you love movies like The Italian Job.
7. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Four men armed with machine guns take control of a New York subway train and force the driver to stop in a tunnel between stations. They demand a ransom of $1 million within one hour and threaten to kill one hostage for every minute that it’s late…
Joseph Sargent’s tough, funny and gripping heist thriller has terrific chemistry between Walter Matthau as the transport cop handling the situation and Robert Shaw as the merciless professional criminal.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is an overlooked classic, set in a brilliantly gritty 70s New York. David Shire’s score is one of the great thriller soundtracks.
8. Jackie Brown (1997)
A forty-something stewardess is busted smuggling cash for her arms dealer boss. Fearing that he’ll kill her while she’s on bail, she hatches a scheme to double-cross him, right under the noses of the police on the case…
After the adrenaline blast of Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino took a more reflective tone for this superb adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime novel. Some consider it his best film to date.
Movies like The Italian Job and Jackie Brown thrive on detailing how the protagonist will get away with the crime, and 70s icon Pam Grier makes a brilliant comeback at the head of an all-star cast.
9. The Usual Suspects (1995)
Five criminals unwittingly cross a mysterious criminal mastermind and must pull off an impossible heist to appease him. After the job ends in a bloodbath, a survivor recounts the tale to the cops…
Bryan Singer’s audacious crime thriller is best remembered for its twist ending, but it remains an excellent caper worth re-watching for its sharp writing and superb ensemble cast.
The Usual Suspects is cracking entertainment and no list of movies like The Italian Job would be complete without it.
10. Inception (2010)
We round out our list of movies like The Italian Job with a very unusual twist – instead of stealing something, the protagonist’s goal is to plant an idea in someone’s head…
Inception is perhaps the quintessential Christopher Nolan movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an exiled thief who is offered a chance to return home if he can pull off an impossible inverted heist in someone’s dreams.
Inception is a huge movie, full of spectacle, mind-bending concepts, and plenty of twists and turns. It’s one of the best crime thrillers of the century so far.