TOP 25 GANGSTER FILMS: #25

  After many awesome hours of watching/rewatching blood, dark humor, drugs, and more uses of the word "Fuck" than you could ever dream of; the list is finally done. This was a very difficult task to complete.  There are so many amazing films in this genre.  I originally started with 10 then went to 20 and now 25 (and I still have some runners-up that I will release after all the rankings are released).  So here we go.  Grab your gun, cigar/pack of smokes, and stack of 100's (I wish) and let's start with number 25; an overlooked Tarantino flick.

25. True Romance (1993)-
  As you will see on this list there are a couple of directors/writers that have defined the genre of gangster films and have a couple spots on this list.  These names include: Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and the one only Quentin Tarantino.  Tarantino got his start with the classic film Reservoir Dogs (which IS on this list).  He showed it at Sundance and it was an instant hit.  The film had critical acclaim and instantly solidified him as one of the greatest directors/writers in in film history. 
  What was next?  A lot of people think it was Pulp Fiction (which was another instant classic).  However, he wrote a movie in between “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”.  This film was entitled “True Romance”. For this film he teamed up with director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide, Unstoppable). Along with an amazing cast which includes Christian Slater (Interview With A Vampire, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves), Patricia Arquette (Ed Wood, Stigmata), Dennis Hopper (Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider, Speed), Val Kilmer (Heat, Top Gun, Batman Forever), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, The Professional, State of Grace), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, Wedding Crashers, King of New York), Tony Soprano aka James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Brad Pitt (Seven, Fight Club, Inglorious Basterds) in one of his first films.  The film tells the story of two people (Arquette and Slater) who meet and  practically fall in love at first sight (despite the fact that Arquette is hired by Slater’s boss to “service” him). 

  What unfolds is not your stereotypical story of “boy meets girl”.  To put it simply (deep breath) Slater’s character winds up killing Arquette’s pimp, stealing his coke, going on the run while being chased by a bunch of gangsters, and having Elvis be their guardian angel throughout the new couple’s journey.  The dialogue is your stereotypical Tarantino styled writing with the witty remarks, long conversations, and complicated story lines.  If you are a fan of other Tarantino classics (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown) you should definetly check this out.  

Famous Tagline: “Not since Bonnie and Clyde have two people been so good at being bad.”