An all time classic 60s movie glamourising the real life story of the Barrow gang who terrorised the American South in the early 30s. 'Reclaiming the American gangster movie, after it had been stolen by the Nouvelle Vague, Penn's film was so successful (and so imitated) that it inevitably met with some grudging devaluation. But it's still great, half comic fairytale, half brutal fact, it reflects the essential ambiguity of its heroes by treading a no man's land suspended between reality and fant find out more...

Based on Anthony Burgess's novel, Clockwork Orange is a profoundly disturbing movie focusing on the mind-numbing amorality and brutality of gang-leader Alex and the even darker machinations of a government that wants to control him. Striking, masterful, seriously in your face, Clockwork Orange is deservedly up there with some of Kubrick's best work. find out more...

Irish Sicilian Henry Hill always wanted to be a gangster and from running errands as a small boy, he graduates to becoming a trusted member of the "family". A stunning, violent and essential portrait of the Mafia's intimate details. An award winning film, superbly crafted by Scorsese. find out more...

Eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred, ex-soldier turned contract killer, Jay, is pressured by his partner, Gal, into taking a new assignment. As they descend into the dark and disturbing world of the contract, Jay begins to unravel once again, his fear and paranoia sending him deep into the heart of darkness. An find out more...

Spielberg continues to weave his magic over movie audiences with this WW2 blockbuster, being both a harrowing portrayal of the horrors of war, and a heartfelt, if unlikely, human drama. Matt Damon plays the young soldier, destined to almost certain death, who's unaware his three brothers have all been killed in battle in the past few days. Hanks and Sizemore are the caring Captain and battle-hardened Sergeant who are dispatched to find distraught Mother Ryan's only remaining son, and bring him h find out more...

A disenchanted Vietnam vet becomes a New York taxi driver and lets the violence and squalor around him explode in his mind. One of the most atmospheric films ever made about urban alienation. Foster's first film and the one which almost resulted in Ronald Reagan's assassination when he was President - it must be good! find out more...

The story of three steel workers caught up in the Vietnam war. Concentrates as much on the shattering effect on their families as much as on the conflict itself. This emotionally charged movie kicked off America's self-examination of this shameful episode in it's history. Stunningly powerful. Won Best Picture at 1978 Academy Awards. find out more...

A gangster movie that spawned a million with Coppola on top directorial form and Brando and Pacino at their very best. Brilliantly believable and detailed stories unfold complete in every scene as the movie waltzes to its violent moral climax of living and dying by the sword. find out more...

Peckinpah completely rewrites John Ford's Western mythology by looking at the passing of the Old West from the point of view of marginalised outlaws rather than law-abiding settlers. While never ignoring their brutality he contrasts their code of loyalty with that of the corrupt railroad magnates. In purely cinematic terms, the film is a savagely beautiful spectacle, Lucien Ballard's superb cinematography complementing Peckinpah's darkly elegiac vision. find out more...

Reformed hellraiser William Munny saddles up for one last killing, hoping the bounty will help him raise his children. But the steel has softened, and the killing doesn't come so easy any more. More real than any other Western, Clint's creation is bleak, black, desperate and brilliant. find out more...