8. Neil McCauley (Heat)
Warner Bros.Before he did Public Enemies, director Michael Mann made his name with the seminal 1995 cops 'n' robbers movie Heat. The film had a premise that we'd seen a few times before: master criminal matches wits with a brilliant detective in a series of daring crimes. What made Heat stand out were the actors playing the roles. For the first time, we would see Al Pacino vs Robert De Niro on the big screen. De Niro's Neil McCauley is a career criminal, to quote the man ", I do what I do best. I take scores." What makes McCauley brilliant is that he knows when to cut his losses and his plans are simple but effective. Unlike a lot of the plans concocted by the other criminals on our list, McCauley doesn't bother with elaborate double bluffs or twisty-turny long cons. The iconic opening scene is a perfect example: McCauley and his crew hit an armoured truck, literally with an even bigger truck. They then blow the door off and steal the contents, all before the police can even get there. In fact, the only reason McCauley is ever caught is because Al Pacino's Vincent Hanna is the one other person intelligent enough to keep up with him. Even then, it is McCauley sense of honour that forces him to linger at the scene of the crime just a little too long, enabling Hanna to shoot him dead.