10 Best British Gangster Movies Ever
8. Get Carter (1971)
With its soupy morality and touting arguably the very best performance of Michael Caine's career to date, the savage Get Carter was one hell of a debut for director Mike Hodges.
Making the most of its simple, stripped-down premise - Caine's Carter seeks to find out what happened to his brother, who supposedly died in a drunk-driving accident - the film stews in its moral ambiguity and is all the more compelling as a result.
Daring to take the typically charming Caine and have him play a far more dubious figure, the result is a challenging, nuanced revenge thriller elements of which may still shock audiences today. Right up to its fitting ending, it's trip-wire tense and superbly wrought.
Just be sure to give the 2000 Sylvester Stallone-starring remake - which, embarrassingly enough, includes a Michael Caine cameo - a wide berth.