Glancing through the top 25 films in the the IMDB Top 250 list, it occurred to me that most involved crime as the central subject, and a few more peripherally:
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (Yes: Central characters are mostly convicted felons in prison.)
- The Godfather (1972) (Yes, obviously.)
- The Godfather: Part II (1974) (Yes, ditto.)
- The Dark Knight (2008) (Yes. What is it Batman dedicated his life to fighting?)
- Pulp Fiction (1994) (Yes. Criminals and their associates drive all the action.)
- Schindler’s List (1993) (No. Genocide is sort of a separate topic from crime…)
- 12 Angry Men (1957) (Yes. Inside jury deliberations in a murder case.)
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) (Yes. Three criminals drive the plot. Then again, crime tends to be a central feature in almost all Westerns…)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (No. Lots of killing, but not crime-related per se.)
- Fight Club (1999) (Marginal. Protagonist runs a ring of illegal fight clubs, then an international revolutionary organization.))
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (No. See above.)
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (No. Despite the presence of a smuggler as a central character.)
- Forrest Gump (1994) (No.)
- Inception (2010) (Yes. Central plot involves a criminal gang carrying off a sort of reverse heist.)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) (Marginal. Protagonist is a criminal who gets himself transferred to the loony bin because he thinks it will be easier than doing time in the joint.)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) (No. See above.)
- Goodfellas (1990) (Yes. Obviously.)
- The Matrix (1999) (No. Though the protagonist starts out as a hacker in trouble with the authorities.)
- Star Wars (1977) (No. Though again, an illegal smuggler is a central figure.)
- Seven Samurai (1954) (Marginal. The entire plot is driven by a village’s desire to protect themselves from criminal marauders.)
- City of God (2002) (Yes. Features the rise of a ruthless crime lord as one of the central plots.)
- Se7en (1995) (Yes. Tracking a serial killer.)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (Yes. Tracking a serial killer with the assistance of another.)
- The Usual Suspects (1995) (Yes. All about a gang of criminals and the machinations of a crime lord.)
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (Marginal, given Potter’s opportunistic theft.)
That’s 15 of the top 25 films which involve crime as either a primary or secondary feature.
Surely crime dramas offer plenty of conflict, but so do war movies, but none of them (save the SF/F entries, and Schindler’s List) make the list, nor do any sports films. (Perpetual favorite Casablanca, which would qualify as a war film, comes in at 30, while Saving Private Ryan comes in at 31.)
Anyone care to speculate on why crime dominates the top of the list?