no mafia/gangster movies, btw.

my list:

1. heat- one of the best casts ever assembled (pacino, deniro, kilmer), under one of the best directors ever, with the single best robbery sequence ever put on film.

2. infernal affairs- the original hong kong version of the departed. brilliantly acted and written, and destined to be copied basically forever. this movie really blew my mind when i saw it.

3. to live and die in LA- an underrated classic that is finally getting the attention it deserves. excellent performances by william peterson and willem dafoe, a memorable car chase, colorful photography, cool score by wang chung, and some great plot twists. awesome.

4. training day- contains probably the best screaming monologue by a character since rambo. this film is positively scary and intense as hell, and really makes you both hate and sympathize with the main character.

5. the french connection- gene hackman rocks. same director as to live and die in LA, with another classic car chase. filmed in a documentary style, this basically re-defined the cops and criminals genre.

6. lethal weapon 2- the best of the lethal weapon series, with some well-staged action sequences and good dose of humanity that the other films in the series lacked. say what you want about mel gibson, but he was at the top of his game in this one.

7. the french connection 2- REALLY underrated sequel, where hackman is kidnapped by drug dealers and forced to become an addict. he goes through painful detox, then leads a task force to bring down the bad guys. one of john frankenheimer's best films.

note: i would have added robocop, but that's more sci-fi, and se7en, but that's more horror.

the_chillening wrote: 1. heat- one of the best casts ever assembled (pacino, deniro, kilmer), under one of the best directors ever, with the single best robbery sequence ever put on film.
This is the good stuff. French Connection is pretty solid too.

Do The Usual Suspects and L.A. Confidential count?

To Live and Die in LA is indeed a bad dude. One of my favourite comic book writers recommended that one to me some time ago. Training Day is a bad dude:


KING KONG AIN'T GOT SHIT ON ME

And (kind of) on the subject of IA, have you seen part 3 yet dude?

Anyway:

Three Kings - an interesting take on the heist film. Only got knocked off my top ten because I decided that entertainment value was more important than actual good filmmakig in some cases.

Black Rain - Douglas with shades, a mullet and riding a motorcycle. In Japan. One of the clever 80s Action films.

Out of Sight - maybe to much else going on to whack it under the lebal of cops n' robbers, but never-the-less a great film, and my personal favourite of Steven Soderbergh's. Also, apart from Money Train (which I almost put on this list but decided not to), Jennifer Lopez' only good performance.

Crime Story - Jackie Chan's best acting until New Police Story in 2004, this thing was based on real life incidents in Hong Kong and is a very gripping film. Even if the ending does feature a dude being dropped into the sea strapped to an anchor and surviving.

My decidedly lowbrow input:

Beverly Hills Cop
48 Hours
Running Scared (1986)