Gangster movies are home to some of the best quotes in any genre, and many of them are pure genius, thanks to their deeper meanings. The gangster genre is one of Hollywood’s oldest, going back to the silent era with films like Intolerance. Names like Paul Nuni and James Cagney set the template for what gangsters sounded like.
Since that time, movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas have helped revolutionize the gangster genre. These movies, as well as other classics like Casino, On the Waterfront, and newer movies like The Departed, know what it means to be a gangster. The quotes from these films are quite brilliant.
“There Is Only One Guarantee: None Of Us Will See Heaven”
<em>Road to Perdition</em> is a gangster movie that many fans seem to overlook. Directed by Sam Mendes and based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, the film follows a mob enforcer whose own surrogate father, who is also his mob boss, turns against him after a hit gone wrong.
Tom Hanks stars as the mob enforcer, Michael Sullivan. Sr., and when his employer Rooney (Paul Newman) allows the murder of his family, he sets out for revenge. When speaking to Rooney, the mob boss delivers a cutting line, and it has a profound meaning.
Rooney knows that there is no happy ending for people like him and Michael. He also knows that, no matter how much they pretend, there is not even a happy afterlife for them. These are criminals and killers, and even the best of them will never see Heaven when they die. Their fate is sealed, and they are all doomed.
“All I Have In This World Is My Balls And My Word And I Don’t Break ‘Em For No One”
The 1983 version of Scarface is a remake of a brilliant gangster movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and thanks to Al Pacino, it holds up well alongside the original. Some fans even consider it the better of the two releases.
Much of this is thanks to the dialogue in a script written by Oliver Stone.
While most people love to throw out the classic quote, “Say hello to my little friend,” there is a brilliant quote that Tony Montana says in the movie as well. He spends the entire film fighting for respect, and this quote reveals how important his reputation is to him, at least in the eyes of others.
The quote conveys its message with a touch of crude humor that makes it memorable. Tony admits that his word is essential to him, and he wants people to trust him. However, adding the lines about not letting people break his balls also says a lot about the gangster.
“You Don’t Make Up For You Sins In Church. You Do It In The Streets”
Before Martin Scorsese made his gangster masterpieces in the 90s with Goodfellas and Casino, he directed an early-career gangster movie called Mean Streets. Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro starred in the movie as low-level gangsters on the streets who lived a life of danger to the end.
That makes this quote from the movie all the more profound. The men who took part in the street-level crimes for the mafia families knew they had to commit evil acts. They also knew there was no forgiveness coming from God since they had already crossed that line.
However, this quote suggests that there is only one place a gangster can find redemption and forgiveness, and that is on the streets, where the only people who hold their fate are their fellow gang members.
“I Don’t Want To Be A Product Of My Environment. I Want My Environment To Be A Product Of Me.”
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