15 Best Movie Thrillers From The 1980s

Few directors have made the thriller their specialty like Michael Mann has, and with his 1981 debut feature Thief, he set out his stall for his career going forward: a hard boiled tale of a criminal with a code of honour, shot with extreme style and propulsive plotting.

James Caan stars in an unsung career highlight as Frank, a lifelong jewel thief who lives by a strict set of rules to avoid police attention. Caan wrings a lot out of an essentially unemotional character. Frank dreams of a family life, but ultimately his criminal instincts are inescapable; it's almost tragic as he finds himself dragged ever further into a mire of his own making.

A minor hit on a small budget, Thief established Mann as a key director of the genre, and there are tropes and tricks he establishes here that would serve him well throughout his stellar filmography. Mann loves to highlight the process of his shady characters, and he had Caan learn the tricks of the trade to give a convincing performance as a safe cracker.

Mann’s budgets would skyrocket over his career but Thief proves how much he can do with minimal resources.