AFI’s 10 TOP 10 — CHALLENGE RANK: GANGSTER

Hello and welcome to “AFI’s 10 Top 10 — Challenge Rank,” this is an article series where we put to test the American Film Institute’s various list rankings through a critical and audience consensual assessment scale. We will be breaking down “AFI’s 10 Top 10” lists, right here. The “AFI’s 10 Top 10” originally broke down by genre of what are the 10 best films in that specified genre. We have covered Courtroom Drama, Romantic Comedies, Mystery, Animation, Western, and Sci-Fi in the six prior articles in the series so far, as we are now going to tackle “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Gangster” category. Here’s the list of films and how they ranked from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Gangster”:

1.) “The Godfather”

2.) “Goodfellas”

3.) “The Godfather: Part II”

4.) “White Heat”

5.) “Bonnie and Clyde”

6.) “Scarface: The Shame of a Nation”

7.) “Pulp Fiction”

8.) “The Public Enemy”

9.) “Little Caesar”

10.) “Scarface”

If you want to see the actual AFI page of the Top 10? The link is below: http://afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=8

Now, this is how AFI ranked the best films of the gangster genre. But do critics and audiences agree with AFI’s consensus? Well, through a rather collective algorithm from various critical and audience aggregators, I came to forming an overall consensual ranking of the collective films from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Gangster”. I was a rather surprised how things turned out here among the consensual rankings compared to AFI’s rankings but here’s how it laid out:

Consensual Placement: 10th

LITTLE CAESAR (1931)

AFI’S RANKING: #9

LOGLINE: A small-time criminal moves to a big city to seek bigger fortune.

DIRECTED BY: Mervyn LeRoy

STARS: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell and William Collier Jr.

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Little Caesar” dipped 1 spot from #9 to #10 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 9th

SCARFACE (1983)

AFI’S RANKING: #10

LOGLINE: In Miami in 1980, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.

DIRECTED BY: Brian De Palma

STARS: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Scarface” bumped ahead 1 spot from #10 to #9 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 8th

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)

AFI’S RANKING: #5

LOGLINE: Bonnie Parker, a bored waitress falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

DIRECTED BY: Arthur Penn

STARS: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard and Gene Hackman

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Bonnie and Clyde” descended 3 spots from #5 to #8 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest drop among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 7th

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)

AFI’S RANKING: #8

LOGLINE: A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster’s accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war.

DIRECTED BY: William A. Wellman

STARS: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods and Joan Blondell

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “The Public Enemy” moved up 1 spot from #8 to #7 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 6th

SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF A NATION (1932)

AFI’S RANKING: #6

LOGLINE: An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.

DIRECTED BY: Howard Hawks

STARS: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley and Osgood Perkins

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Scarface: The Shame of a Nation” stayed put at #6 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment matching AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 5th

WHITE HEAT (1949)

AFI’S RANKING: #4

LOGLINE: A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. Shortly after the plan takes place, events take a crazy turn.

DIRECTED BY: Raoul Walsh

STARS: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien and Margaret Wycherly

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “White Heat” jumped 1 spot from #5 to #4 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 4th

GOODFELLAS (1990)

AFI’S RANKING: #2

LOGLINE: The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.

DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese

STARS: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Goodfellas” dropped 2 spots from #2 to #4 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 3rd

PULP FICTION (1994)

AFI’S RANKING: #7

LOGLINE: The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino

STARS: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Pulp Fiction” ascended 4 spots from #7 to #3 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest climb among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 2nd

THE GODFATHER (1972)

AFI’S RANKING: #1

LOGLINE: The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

DIRECTED BY: Francis Ford Coppola

STARS: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “The Godfather” slid 1 spot from #1 to #2 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 1st

THE GODFATHER: PART II (1974)

AFI’S RANKING: #3

LOGLINE: The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.

DIRECTED BY: Francis Ford Coppola

STARS: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “The Godfather: Part II” rose 2 spots from #3 to #1 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

In concluding, you can see the critical consensual assessment with critics and audiences ranked just a bit differently with every placement except for one position in AFI’s ranking list. So, how would you personally rank these top-tier gangster films?

Article Note: All loglines are sourced from IMDb.com.

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