I searched far and wide for lists of best crime movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and covering all time, not just a decade. The lists were generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 24 lists. I took the 24 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. The total number was over 1160 including all the repeats. I experimented with different formulas, trying to balance the value of being ranked high on any list and being included on the most lists. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 202 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 24) were:

  • The Godfather (1972) – 20 lists
  • Pulp Fiction (1994) – 19 lists
  • Goodfellas (1990) – 17 lists
  • The Godfather Part II (1974) – 16 lists
  • Fargo (1996) – 15 lists
  • L.A. Confidential (1997) – 14 lists
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – 12 lists
  • Scarface (1983) – 12 lists
  • The Usual Suspects (1995) – 12 lists
  • The Departed (2006) – 12 lists
  • Double Indemnity (1944) – 12 lists
  • Contagion (2011) – 12 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

Best-Crime-Movies-of-All-Time-1Download

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