10 Best Bank Robbery Movies

The 10 best bank robbery movies on our list span four decades. They are some of the best heist films ever produced. A heist film usually involves one person or a group of people trying to steal something, such as money from a vault.

In a heist film, the plot twists and turns as the thief creates a plan, attempts to follow-through and makes an escape. Most of the bank robber movies on our list are caper stories or crime fiction, although some of them are based on true accounts.

1. “Bonnie and Clyde” “Bonnie And Clyde,” the 1967 movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, is one of the best-known bank robbery movies. The film is a romanticized account of the criminal career of real-life bank robbers, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The couple was responsible for a number of violent robberies during Depression-era America.
2. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” Another well-known bank robber movie is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The 1969 film tells the story of two western bank robbers/train robbers who flee to Bolivia when the law closes in on them. Paul Newman and Robert Redford star in this Oscar-winning film.
3. “Dog Day Afternoon” “Dog Day Afternoon” is a 1975 movie inspired by a real-life story starring Al Pacino and John Cazale. The film tells the story of a man who robs a bank to pay for his lover’s sex-change operation. What starts as an attempt to help someone he loves turns into a tense hostage situation.
4. “Point Break” “Point Break” is a 1991 film starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. The movie has an undercover FBI agency determined to catch a gang of robbers called the Ex-Presidents. Masks of former presidents disguise the group, who may actually be a surfer gang. The successful film has gathered a cult following since its release.
5. “Heat” “Heat” is a 1995 crime film starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer. While the movie features banks, vaults and armored car heists, it really focuses on two men--a detective and a robber--on opposite sides of the law. With two distinct storylines, viewers seem to experience two different movies.
6. “Bandits” “Bandits” is a 2001 movie starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett. In this crime drama/comedy/romance, two bank robbers fall in love with the girl they kidnap. The outlandish story brings a change of pace to typical bank robber movies.
7. “Inside Man” The 2006 movie “Inside Man” is another story about a bank heist-turned-hostage situation. Denzel Washington and Clive Owen lead a stellar cast that includes Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer. This great movie has a plot that keeps viewers guessing.
8. “The Bank Job” “The Bank Job” is a 2008 British film starring Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows. It is based on a real-life crime, the 1971 Baker Street robbery in London. The producers claim the story was prevented from being told in the past due to a gag order protecting a member of the British Royal Family. With touches of truth, the film has a lot of fictional elements.
9. “The Dark Knight” “The Dark Knight” is a 2008 Batman film starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Why does it make the list of best bank robber movies? The Joker and his accomplices rob a Gotham City bank and it’s Batman to the rescue. “The Dark Knight” was Ledger’s last film, released shortly after his death.
10. “Public Enemies” In the 2009 crime film “Public Enemies,” federal agents try to take down John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd, notorious banks robbers and Depression-era gangsters. Although the film is based on true accounts and was filmed where certain events took place, the film is mostly fiction.