Easy Question...Which did you like best?

[Polidano]

Okay...which of the four gangster films did you like best....and WHY? Feel free to use some of the areas of discussion points printed on the white board.

[Guest]

Because it was a newer movies the cinematography we extremely better and I liked the story line. I liked how in the end it seemed like good trumps evil, the director also used techniques that I thought were very effective in captivating the audience. I like the scene when Wallace go shot but he managed to get back to his house and get hold of the train transaction. I also like the train station scene when the baby dropped down the stairs and Stone managed to save the baby and shot the other guy.

[Guest]

I liked Carlito's Way the best because I found it the most emotionally engaging of the movies. I found the characters extremely compelling and was very invested in their stories. Nearly right from the very beginning I was on Carlito's side and wanted him to succeed in trying to escape his criminal past. In the end when he died it was heartbreaking as we saw this character get so close to achieving everything he had hoped for only to have his life cut short a few seconds away from his goal. The tension built through the train station scene was also very powerful and the moment of relief when we think Carlito is safe is short lived before tragedy strikes and the audience is sent on a whirlwind of emotion again. I feel Carlito's Way was the best of the gangster movies because of the effective emotional quality of the film.

[Sam Depooter]

I liked the Untouchables the best because it shows how courageous four men can be when it comes to taking a stand against the mafia and mob boss Al Capone. I think Sean Connery was the best actor in the whole movie and was by far my favourite character in the film. I think that the events in real life are played out well in the film even though they were exagerated. Overall i'd give the untouchables a solid 8/10.

[Guest]

I have to say my favourite out of the gangster movies we've watched has to be The Untouchables. Ness, Malone, Wallace and Stone worked amazingly to bring down Capone after just meeting one another, and it shows how much power people can have if they believe they can do something, especially when you put these people together. Teamwork is very evident in this movie and is a major part, besides the tax evasion, of what stops Capone and his business. Movies like these are what really get to me, and I love how these four can evoke so much emotion from me just by relying on one another, never giving up, and by being close friends. Humour is also thrown in at some points, which also is what helped to me to enjoy the movie, so that I did not have to grieve and feel saddened by the deaths of Wallace and Malone. I've never been a fan of gangster movies, but The Untouchables has made me open to more of the same genre after watching it, and I'm glad I was able to have this experience. It's hard to think that death is inevitable for these very likeable characters, but knowing that justice is served and that everything is satisfying for Ness and Stone in the end is what makes me enjoy this movie very much.

[Guest]

My favourite gangster films we watched would be Carlitos way because of how much drama, action and romance there was. It also was my favourite gangster film because of the train station scene. There was a lot of moments in that scene that would put you on the edge of your seat because you wouldn't want Carlito to get caught by the guys chasing after him. Also by the end of the movie I felt it would be a good end of him leaving with the girl it turned out to be him getting shot and his cousins being behind it all.

[Guest]

Personally, "Carlito's Way" is one of my favourites out of all of these gangster films. While cinematography is important to a film, compelling and interesting characters enhance the experience even more. This stands out the most for "Carlito's Way" due to the characterization of the characters within the film, especially Carlito. Following a man that simply wants to live a life of peace despite having a dirty past full of crime, the audience can't help but love and root for him due to his complex and likeable character. Even if his fate is already clear to us and his past actions made obvious in the beginning, we come to admire Carlito due to his concern and compassion for his friends and loved ones; even if some of them are beyond retribution. Due to this and Brian De Palma's excellent camera work and directing, this film was the one that I personally enjoyed the most out of all the movies we have watched in this genre

[Guest]

I really liked the Godfather because of its plot development and it's a classically brilliant film, however Angels with Dirty faces really intrigued me more. I'm not a huge fan of gangster films, but starting off with one of James Cagney's best was the right choice. For an old film it was pretty well done. Right from the beginning we get to see young Rocky and how he wasn't a wealthy kid who had to commit crimes as a means of income. We grow up with him and see his flaws, but we empathize with him because of the realization that he never knew any better. For all the murders, thefts and other crimes he's committed Rocky still has compassionate moments. We see them right from childhood when he tells his other friend to go free and he'll take the blame for their illegal doings. After finally getting out of jail he meets kids who see him as a role model and Rocky gets emotional attachments to them along with father Jerry and his love interest. He attempts to give Jerry money and wants to find his lady friend a better job. No matter all the crimes he's committed we are always rooting for Rocky because he is not a completely bad person. Especially during the scene where there becomes a mass shooting with the police trying to corner him, we want Rocky to escape. Eventually, he is caught and during his execution we are saddened the main character is going to die. It also had an unexpected plot twist which we enjoyed because Rocky said that he would never turn yellow especially during his last moments he would go out a hero. But, we hear him screaming for mercy and acting cowardly for Father Jerry's request of sparring the kids from a criminal life. Also the shots taken for that scene where we see his face that is half blacked out and evil looking has a great effect. Secondly, the fact that we do not see his actually electrocution, but only see shadows, hear screaming and see the reaction of others gives a greater effect. The reason I liked this gangster movie the most was because it had the ability to make us love a character who was so rotten.

[Guest]

I liked the untouchables the best because it was filled with action, was very exciting, very suspenseful, and was very heroic and powerful. The train station scene was very slow moving and was made very suspenseful. It had very powerful music that just reinforced the heroism. Kevin Costner and Sean Connery do a great job in the movie which makes it that much better this is why I liked the untouchables the best.

[Guest]

The Gangster film that I liked was The God Father because it takes a criminal family perspective. The Protagonists consisted of both Marlon Brando's Character Vito Corleone and Al Pacino's character Michael Corleone who both are related but differ at the same time. Michael at the start of the movie was a war veteran who didn't follow his family's business but Vito was the catalyst of the gambling business. During the film we slowly see Michael being corrupt and turn into a gangster and takeover the family business. In this film we get to see the perspective of a criminals side and not of a lawful character like Eliot Ness in the Untouchables. At the start of the film Vito was a very respectable man who lives by a moral compass but during the near end of the film we see that Michael has lost his moral compass and took on the big crime families strategically without remorse by killing them in very public and private places.

[Guest]

in my opinion my favorite gangster film was Carlito's way. this is my favorite gangster film because I really liked how he tried to get out of the gangster life because he knew it was a bad life. After he gets out of jail he decides that he wants to put that life behind him and change and i personally like when people who have gotten into bad things change and put the past behind them. i also like that after all those years he was still in love with Gail. I thought that that was cute. I also like how he stayed loyal to Kleinfield even though Kleinfield was not loyal to him. it showed what kind of a man he was and that he wasn't about to tell the cops about him killing the two men on the boat to get off the hook for it. In conclusion all the other gangster films were solely about gangster and they didn't really add love or family into it as much as Carlitos way did which is what made me like it.

[Guest]

Personally I liked Carlito's Way the best because I found it very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. I was interested from the start of them movie and found the characters extremely compelling and was very invested in their stories. I was on Carlito's side the whole time mans wanted him to succeed becaise he was trying to change and not go down the criminal path again. It was sad when he died at the end because he was almost there to a new future.

[Guest]

Out of the 4 gangster films we have watched in class my favourite one who have to be " The Untouchables" because of how suspenseful it is and because the actors played their roles amazingly especially Robert De Niro. The music used in the film, the costumes and the effects was very well done. My favourite part of the movie would have to be the train station scene obviously and the base ball bat scene.

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