History of Heist Films

The first ever heist film was The Great Train Robbery in 1903 Directed by Edwin S. Potter. It layed the groundwork for heist films as a whole but it changed the way the staories were told within a film. The film was only twelve minutes long and was one of the first narrative films. Edwin S. Potter used groundbreaking techniques such as cross-cutting and non-static camerawork which helped to tell the story of the film, the heist and its bloody aftermath. Overall, The Great Train Robbery is one of the most influential films in history and its final shot, a man firing a gun at the camera is one of the most used scenes, re-enacted in other films such as Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.

One of the most well know heist films in history has to be the Italian Job. This is because it stars some very well known actors such as Micheal Caine and Benny Hill. The film, made in 1969 and Directed by Peter Collinson, is about a group of infamous criminals from the UK who plan to steal a shipment of gold from Turin, Italy. Originally, the job was someone else's idea but Charlie Corker (Micheal Caine) takes over and has the master plan of taking the gold by bringing the whole of Turin to a standstill and putting the gold into three Minis, which is one of the most iconic scenes in any crime film. After taking the gold and escaping the police the Mini drivers meet up and then transport the gold into a tour bus. A few moments after the bus has set off the driver takes a corner sharply and the film ends on a litteral cliff hanger as the rear end of the bus is hanging off the edge of a cliff and that is where the film ends. But for me it has to be one of the most inluential films in history as it is not only welll know for the use of Minis but the famous line 'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off' spoken by Michael Caine. This line has been used in other more recent films due to it been so iconic.

A more modern heist film would be Point Break, originally made in 1991, (but re-made in 2015 but the original was the better film, critically). Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film is about an FBI agent who goes undercover into a group of extreme sportsmen who rob banks dicuised as ex US Presidents. As the story develops, Keanu Reeves (FBI agent Johnny Utah) becomes good friends with Patrick Swayze's character Bodhi. Eventually Bodhi involves Johnny Utah in the heists and Johnny blows his cover as he has a chance to take down the whole crew but insted he lets them go. One of the most recognisable scenes from the film is where Keanu Reeves' character Johnny Utah goes to shoot one of the criminals but he cannot bring himself to do it, instead opting to unload his bullets into the air, it has become one of the most iconc scenes of the film.