Top 20 Bank Robbery Movie Scenes

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Bank Robbery Movie Scenes. For this list, we’ll be looking at the greatest fictional financial heists ever committed to film. While there are some movie crooks who go after jewelry stores or trains, we’ll primarily look at crews who set their sights on banks and/or vaults. Were any cinematic gems stolen from our list? Let us know in the comments belo

#20: Opening Getaway

“Baby Driver” (2017)
Edgar Wright’s crime caper follows Baby, a getaway driver for a robbery crew. He listens to music to soothe his persistent tinnitus. The movie jumps straight into the action, opening with Baby’s crew robbing a bank. We see the robbery from his perspective as he prepares for the getaway. The robbery itself only lasts three minutes, but the gripping escape sets up an action-packed film. Meticulously scored from start to finish, Baby Driver has some of the best getaway sequences in a heist movie. But the opening scene takes it from 0 to 60 right off the bat.

#19: “I Got a Gun on Me”

“Hell or High Water” (2016)
In this neo-Western set in Texas, two brothers, played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, rob two branches of the same bank back to back. At bank number two, they encounter a cute old man looking to cash in some change. Unfortunately that cute old man, being a gruff West Texan, is packing heat. He takes a few potshots at the brothers as they make their escape. It is a funny moment, but it also foreshadows the many encounters with armed civilians that the brothers face over the course of the movie. Normal people may have counted their blessings and cashed out. The brothers choose to double down and, without spoiling too much, it doesn’t go well.

#18: Backseat Cinematographer

“Gun Crazy” (1950)
"Gun Crazy" is the story of Bart, a crack shot obsessed with guns, who’s trying to stay out of trouble after some run-ins with the law. It all falls to pieces when he meets the sharpshooting Laurie at a carnival. The pair leap headfirst into a toxic marriage that soon morphs into a life of crime. After a series of holdups, the couple decides to rob a bank. The entire heist scene is shot from the back seat of the getaway car. It's a simple conceit, but expertly ramps up the tension. Unlike most car scenes of the time, it was shot on location in a real car.

#17: Paris Heist

“Army of Thieves” (2021)
In this prequel to “Army of the Dead,” German bank teller Sebastian is desperately bored. The highlight of his life are his YouTube videos about safecracking. They attract the attention of criminals who invite him to an underground safe-cracking competition. When he wins, he’s brought into their robbery crew. Their target: three banks housing safes designed by a legendary locksmith. The first heist takes place in Paris. The robbery scene follows a tried-and-true format: we see it happen in real time as the team describes the plan. They sneak in smoothly and Sebastian’s skills are put on full display against Wagner safe number one.

#16: One-Take Robbery

“Victoria” (2015)
Shot in one continuous take, “Victoria” tells the tale of a Spanish woman who recently moved to Berlin. Lonely, she befriends a group of young Berliners. A night of drinking, dancing, and partying turns into a crime caper when the boys convince Victoria to join them in a bank heist. The single take gives the heist sequence a manic, panicked, and frenetic feel. It’s one of the most emotionally honest heists committed to film. Director Sebastian Schipper only had the budget for three takes; this was the third and last chance, and the actors and crew definitely pulled it off.

#15: Baker Street Robbery

“The Bank Job” (2008)
This thriller is based on one of the craziest heists in English history: the 1971 Baker Street Robbery. Inspired by a Sherlock Holmes story, a crew hit a Baker Street bank vault by tunneling through the floor. Unfortunately, their lookout was using a walkie-talkie frequency that was picked up by an amateur radio enthusiast. The film also drew on rumors that have swirled around the heist for decades: namely, that the job was commissioned by MI5, in order to secure compromising photos of Princess Margaret. It’s an English crime movie with 70s flair, and the robbery itself is the perfect mix of action, tension, and humor.

#14: Frankie’s First Heist

“Set It Off” (1996)
There is a reason why down-on-their-luck bank robbers are a staple of the genre. They serve as a stand-in for audiences, many of whom don’t mind sticking it to the big banks. In “Set It Off,” Vivica A. Fox’s Frankie certainly fits the bill. She works as a bank teller until she witnesses a bank robbery and is fired for knowing one of the robbers. After she finds work as a janitor, she and her friends decide to rob banks themselves, using Frankie’s inside knowledge. The crew has a rocky start, but they hit their stride and make a clean getaway.

#13: Botched Heist

“The Lookout” (2007)
One of the reasons why the heist genre is so popular is that it mixes well with other types of movies. You can have zombie heists, action heists, comedy heists - the possibilities are endless. The 2007 film “The Lookout” is more of a drama, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a small-town high school hero whose life falls apart after a traumatic brain injury. His limitations require copious note-taking, and he gets a job as a janitor at a local bank. A small group of crooks rope him into helping with a robbery. Gordon-Levitt delivers with his typical pathos, making it all the more heartrending when the heist goes badly sideways.

#12: Bike Heist

“The Place Beyond the Pines” (2012)
Despite some misleading trailers, “The Place Beyond the Pines” is not, in fact, a heist film starring Ryan Gosling. It’s an ensemble drama about intergenerational trauma. Gosling plays a motorcycle stuntman who discovers that his ex-girlfriend had their baby. He stays in town and works for a local mechanic, who convinces him to start robbing banks. They base the plan around Gosling’s strengths: his bike. He storms into a small bank with his motorcycle gear masking his identity. After nabbing the cash, he makes his getaway on his bike, riding it into his partner’s waiting box truck right under the cops’ noses.

#11: Cannon Heist

“Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” (1974)
Five years before winning an Oscar for “The Deer Hunter,” Michael Cimino directed the crime comedy “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges. Bridges plays a small-time crook, Lightfoot. On a whim, Lightfoot rescues a local preacher from an assassination attempt. As it turns out, the man is no preacher at all, but Eastwood’s Thunderbolt: a notorious bank robber. While there are many ways to break into a safe, Thunderbolt’s method may be the simplest. He earned his moniker by using a huge 20 mm cannon to blow a hole through vault doors. The bank robbery in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” may not be the most complicated movie heist, but it’s probably the loudest.

#10: Rio Bank Vault

“Fast Five” (2011)

At the halfway point of the franchise, the Fast crew really took their thieving ways to the next level. After getting framed for murder, the crew is at odds with a drug lord, Hernan Reyes, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Toretto and his family trick Reyes into consolidating all of his cash into one police station. While the building isn’t technically a bank, the high security, presence of a vault and the fact that this scene is amazing gets it a pass. As with all the “Fast & Furious” movies, the robbery sequence is an explosive action bonanza. The team doesn't just steal all of Reyes’ money from his vault. They steal the vault itself.

#9: Boston Heist

“The Town” (2010)
Ben Affleck first crossed over from actor to director in 2007’s “Gone Baby Gone.” His second turn at the director’s chair came a few years later with “The Town.” Affleck stars as Doug, one of four friends and criminals in Charlestown, Boston. The film opens with the crew robbing a bank. It’s clear that they did their research and planned meticulously. But tensions run high, and Doug’s friend Jem is a wildcard. When the alarm is pulled, he beats one man and takes a hostage. Throughout, Doug remains cool as a cucumber, but it’s a tense, nail-biting scene.

#8: The Ex-Presidents

“Point Break” (1991)
Surfer bros are not the first people who come to mind when it comes to stick-up crews. But Bodhi, played by a bleached-blonde Patrick Swayze, manages to rob with style. He’s the head of a team of extreme sports athletes-turned thieves. They rob banks, only hitting the cash drawers, dressed as former presidents of the United States. Richard Nixon found himself in a great deal of trouble in the 1970s, but that was due to his involvement in a crime of a much different kind. The mix of action, comedy, and stunts make this robbery scene one to remember.

#7: The Barrow Gang Heist

“Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)
The late 1960s marked a turning point in cinema history, thanks to the decline of the Hays Code and the fall of the Studio System. “Bonnie and Clyde” was one of the movies that ushered in the New Hollywood Era. The film is a fictionalized account of the real-life Barrow Gang from the 1930s. In one scene, the gang robs a bank and is immediately chased by the police. It cross-cuts between the reactions of those at the bank and the getaway. At the time, this was considered to be a radical new editing technique. The criminals were violent yet likable, another sweeping shift in the way movies were made.

#6: Low Key Robbery with a Smile

“Out of Sight” (1998)
George Clooney spent the mid-to-late 90’s trying to make the jump from television to movies. Though “Batman & Robin” almost crashed that plane before take-off, “Out of Sight” was a step in the right direction. Clooney turns the suaveness and charisma up to eleven as Jack Foley, a career criminal. The film has a number of robberies, but the opener is perhaps its most memorable. Foley ambles right up to the bank teller and cons her into thinking he has a partner threatening her boss. He scoops up the cash with no effort whatsoever, robbing the bank with nothing but his trademark charm. Though Foley gets arrested soon after, it’s a heck of a way to start a movie.

#5: The Perfect Robbery

“Inside Man” (2006)
Spike Lee’s “Inside Man” is part heist movie, part shell game. Clive Owen’s Dalton Russell and his team of thieves enter a New York City bank, taking hostages. When the police arrive, they shift the hostages constantly, moving among them to maintain their cover. When the police finally move in, they can’t tell the customers from the thieves. Nothing is reported stolen. But that’s because the real target is the safe deposit box of the bank’s founder. He’s a corrupt oligarch, having made his fortune by collaborating with the Nazis. Russell spends days hiding in a storage room, eventually walking right out the front door with the owner’s diamonds.

#4: New York Federal Reserve

“Die Hard with a Vengeance” (1995)
Movie bank robberies often involve complex plans, with moving parts working in tandem with one another. “Die Hard with a Vengeance” is no exception. John McClane finds himself at odds with the mysterious Simon, brother to his original nemesis, Hans Gruber. John is sent on a wild goose chase across the city, seemingly trying to stop a terrorist plot. But Simon, like Hans, isn’t a terrorist. He’s a thief. The entire plot is meant to keep the police away from his real target: the Federal Reserve. He and his crew of mercenaries manage to steal $140 billion of gold bullion in dump trucks.

#3: A Rough Start

“Dog Day Afternoon” (1975)
The 1970s were a unique period in American cinema. Plots were often dark, and heroes often pitted against powerful institutions. “Dog Day Afternoon” is a prime example. It’s based on the real life story of a man who tried to rob a bank to pay for his spouse’s gender affirming surgery. The robbery itself is a tragedy of errors. One of the robbers backs out at the last minute while the other two move forward. Unfortunately, they learn quickly that they've missed the daily cash pickup. The robbery turns into a hostage situation, and devolves into a media circus.

#2: The Great Clown Robbery

“The Dark Knight” (2008)
In film, a reveal entails a slow, methodical introduction to a character. The best reveals manage to tell the audience exactly who the character is without saying a word. “The Dark Knight” begins with arguably one of the best reveals ever. Joker's gang - composed of masked criminals who don't know one another - rob a mafia bank. Each man has his own specialized task. But he’s murdered once his job is complete. The plan itself is a brilliant window into the Joker's mindset. He’s an agent of Chaos, and finds the most control when things are out of control.

#1: Heist Shootout

“Heat” (1995)
For years, gunfights in movies were sequences of pure spectacle. They were entertaining, but realism wasn’t a major selling point. That all changed with Michael Mann’s “Heat.” In an incredibly tense scene, Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley leads his crew in one last heist. But when they exit, the LAPD are waiting for them. The police and robbers fire with realism and precision. Both suffer casualties, with only a few getting away. It remains an incredibly influential scene, having inspired countless robbery and shootout scenes in its wake.