20th Century New York City/Gritty New York City Movies
by LeSamourai86 | created - 21 Nov 2021 | updated - 06 Dec 2021 | PublicThis list is not in any particular order.
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1. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 920,455 | Gross: $28.26M
2. Sea of Love (1989)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker
Votes: 44,893 | Gross: $58.57M
3. Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A married New York cop falls for the socialite murder witness he's been assigned to protect.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers, Lorraine Bracco, Jerry Orbach
Votes: 11,755 | Gross: $10.28M
4. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 134,749 | Gross: $29.80M
5. Prince of the City (1981)
R | 167 min | Crime, Drama
A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett
Votes: 9,520 | Gross: $8.12M
6. The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
PG | 110 min | Drama
Follows the lives of heroin addicts who frequent "Needle Park" in New York City.
Director: Jerry Schatzberg | Stars: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright
Votes: 20,204
7. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
R | 113 min | Drama
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Votes: 120,734 | Gross: $44.79M
8. Mean Streets (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Votes: 119,611 | Gross: $3.13M
9. Bad Lieutenant (1992)
NC-17 | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Brian McElroy, Frank Acciarito, Peggy Gormley
Votes: 47,879 | Gross: $2.00M
10. King of New York (1990)
R | 103 min | Crime, Thriller
A drug kingpin is released from prison and seeks to take total control of the criminal underworld in order to give back to the community.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo
Votes: 42,092 | Gross: $2.55M
11. Death Wish (1974)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks. In self-defense, the vengeful man kills muggers on the mean streets after dark.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats
Votes: 44,031 | Gross: $22.00M
12. Death Wish 3 (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Deborah Raffin, Ed Lauter, Martin Balsam
Votes: 17,373 | Gross: $16.12M
13. The Warriors (1979)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
Votes: 110,664 | Gross: $22.49M
14. Shaft (1971)
R | 100 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John
Votes: 21,024 | Gross: $16.69M
15. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,643 | Gross: $15.63M
16. Marathon Man (1976)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane
Votes: 70,209 | Gross: $21.71M
17. Across 110th Street (1972)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.
Director: Barry Shear | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Frank Adu
Votes: 7,143 | Gross: $3.60M
18. Maniac (1980)
18+ | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Abigail Clayton, Kelly Piper
Votes: 20,207
19. The Exterminator (1980)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man's best friend is killed on the streets of New York City. The man (Robert Ginty) then transforms into a violent killer, turning New York City into a great war zone, and Christopher George is the only one to stop him.
Director: James Glickenhaus | Stars: Robert Ginty, Samantha Eggar, Christopher George, Steve James
Votes: 6,557
20. The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
R | 121 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two cousins unknowingly rob the mob and face the dangerous consequences.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page
Votes: 9,821 | Gross: $6.14M
21. Vigilante (1982)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After his wife and son got brutalized by a street gang, and a corrupt criminal justice system puts the perpetrators back on the street, a NYC factory worker teams up with a vigilante group to find some measure of bloody justice.
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda
Votes: 4,536
22. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,714 | Gross: $2.49M
23. The Incident (1967)
Approved | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Late one night, two young toughs hold hostage the passengers in one car of a New York subway train.
Director: Larry Peerce | Stars: Tony Musante, Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges, Brock Peters
Votes: 4,827
24. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Votes: 62,519 | Gross: $41.51M
25. Dressed to Kill (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Votes: 48,210 | Gross: $31.90M
26. The King of Comedy (1982)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A passionate yet unsuccessful comedian stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Votes: 119,129 | Gross: $2.50M
27. Combat Shock (1984)
R | 91 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A dangerously disturbed Vietnam veteran struggles with life 15 years after his return home, and slowly falls into insanity from his gritty urban lifestyle.
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo | Stars: Rick Giovinazzo, Veronica Stork, Mitch Maglio, Asaph Livni
Votes: 3,268
28. Fatal Attraction (1987)
R | 119 min | Drama, Thriller
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Latzen
Votes: 97,072 | Gross: $156.65M
29. Street Trash (1987)
Unrated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror
A liquor store owner sells alcoholic beverages to homeless people, unaware of what the bottles actually contain: toxic brew.
Director: J. Michael Muro | Stars: Mike Lackey, Bill Chepil, Vic Noto, Mark Sferrazza
Votes: 11,437
30. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,854 | Gross: $26.12M
31. Q&A (1990)
R | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Patrick O'Neal
Votes: 7,002 | Gross: $11.21M
32. State of Grace (1990)
R | 134 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A New York cop is recruited to return to his hometown and infiltrate the mob ran by his best friend's brother.
Director: Phil Joanou | Stars: Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright
Votes: 24,772 | Gross: $1.91M
33. The Hard Way (1991)
R | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
An action movie star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled New York City policeman, who finds him superficial and irritating.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Michael J. Fox, James Woods, Stephen Lang, Annabella Sciorra
Votes: 22,286 | Gross: $25.90M
34. New Jack City (1991)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A crime lord ascends to power and becomes megalomaniacal while a maverick police detective vows to stop him.
Director: Mario Van Peebles | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock
Votes: 38,818 | Gross: $47.62M
35. Out for Justice (1991)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama
With his partner executed in broad daylight by a psychotic mafia enforcer, a veteran Brooklyn officer vows revenge. But is the unstoppable detective prepared to face the truth and pay the price of blood?
Director: John Flynn | Stars: Steven Seagal, William Forsythe, Jerry Orbach, Jo Champa
Votes: 25,781 | Gross: $39.67M
36. Light Sleeper (1992)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama
A drug dealer reconsiders his profession when his boss plans to go straight and an old flame reappears.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon
Votes: 9,377 | Gross: $1.05M
37. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
R | 121 min | Drama, Thriller
Haunted by the patients he failed to save, a monumentally burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three increasingly turbulent nights.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames
Votes: 76,044 | Gross: $16.64M
38. The Bone Collector (1999)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker
Votes: 184,925 | Gross: $66.52M
39. The Hot Rock (1972)
PG | 101 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand
Votes: 6,943 | Gross: $2.54M
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