10 How To Rob A Bank Films

Most of the time plans go very wrong in movies where the characters are planning how to rob a bank, here's our top 10 how to rob a bank films. The mistakes and unplanned events alone are what make these films suspenseful and worth seeing.

1. "Dog Day Afternoon " Al Pacino’s performance in this 1975 movie is one of the best things about it, although it also has an original story and very believable subplots that help out. Add to this the fact that the movie is based on a real life bank robbery in Brooklyn. Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) are horrible bank-robbers, but Sonny’s motive (cash for his lover’s sex change operation) keeps him struggling along.
2. "Bonnie and Clyde" The ultimate stick-your-hands up movie, this film gives you successful tips for how to rob a bank and things to avoid when attempting the crime. It’s all done with great flair and romantic realism on the part of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who make one of the hottest pair of criminal lovers to ever grace the screen.
3. "Inside Man" Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, and Jodie Foster are a trio of high-powered actors who make this how to rob a bank film a blockbuster. When bank robber Owen gets stuck “inside” the bank, the policeman (Washington) and a rich man’s lawyer (Foster) set up a complex plot that keeps you guessing and in suspense.
4. "The Silent Partner" This strange 1978 film warns of the dangers of not letting a crook rob your bank. Elliot Gould stars as a bank teller who learns he is going to be robbed, hides most of the money from his bank and pockets it. He's then pursued by the real robber who is very angry. The ironic and surprising plot twists, combined with inspired acting by Gould and Christopher Plummer make this a must-see sleeper.
5. "Quick Change"Here’s a funny bank robbery movie full of mishaps, a clown as the main robber, Geena Davis being beautiful and goofy, and Randy Quaid being just goofy. Based on a novel by Jay Cronley, this 1990 film has the robbers being successful but unable to get out of the city with the loot.
6. "Run Lola Run" Definitely not a typical bank robber movie, this German film starring Franka Potenta (of the Bourne movies) requires Potenta’s character to attempt to rob her own father’s bank. This is to save her boyfriend who had tried to rob a grocery store when, well the plot is a doozy, and the repeated Groundhog-Day-type scenes keep you wondering what will go wrong next.
7. "Kelley's Heroes" Combining a bank robbery plot with one about war, this 1970 film includes an oddball collection of WWII soldiers who go after gold in a German bank vault. The whole platoon, on one of their R&R trips, takes on the challenge, along with tanks, hustlers, and lots of audacity.
8. "Heat" In the archetypal cop vs criminal plot, this how to rob a bank movie appears to have the most suave of robbers (Robert DeNiro) with a lifelong record of getting out fast from a heist when it goes wrong. However, when things go more wrong than he even imagined, the cop (Al Pacino) on his tail might admire his savvy, but he’s not going to let him get away.
9. "Take the Money and Run" Who but Woody Allen would make the ultimate in bank robber screwup movies? This 1969 film that plays like a mock documentary follows the career of Virgil Starkwell from his childhood living under a roller coaster to his career of bank robbing that involves arguing with the teller over what his robbing instructions actually say. Hilarious and stupid in turns, Allen definitely shows us how not to rob a bank.
10. "Gun Crazy" This 1950 film beat the censors and tells the doomed bank robber lovers’ tale in beautiful tragic detail. You will be unable to turn away from Peggy Cummins, the gun-loving woman who tempts her lover into running away from the sideshow carnival they work at to rob their way across the country. The original film title was “Deadly is the Female,” and Cummins is deadly and delightful to watch in this one.