5 Best Break-In Movie Scenes
Over the years, there have been many heist movies; some of which involve actual loot, and some of which are a bit less literal (Take Inception, for example). Whether breaking into a suburban house or taking on the most secure bank in the wizarding world, here are five of the best break-in movie scenes.
Home Alone (1990)
Even though this film has various sequels, the first one has to be the best. In the film, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left at home by his parents over their Christmas break, and the family somehow doesn't realize Kevin has been left behind until they're in the air, on the plane. Meanwhile, two neighborhood thieves figure out that most of the neighborhood is out a town, and they decide to rob Kevin's house... not knowing that there is no way that Kevin is going to let that happen. This movie was a breakout role for Culkin and is still considered a '90s classic, twenty years later.
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
One might argue that Ocean's Eleven was a better heist movie, but Ocean's Twelve is worth mentioning for a few reasons, one of which is the laser dance scene that the Night Fox (Vincent Cassel) executes in the museum, trying to outsmart Danny Ocean and his cohorts. This part of the movie continues to be one of the best heist scenes, due to the choreography and also the music. In Ocean's Twelve, Danny and his friends have to steal again, this time in Europe, to pay back the $160M they stole from Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) in Vegas in the first movie.
The Town (2010)
The Town is adapted from a novel called Prince of Thieves, and it follows four friends from the Charlestown (Boston) area who rob a bank; complications ensue when the robbers have to take one of the managers (Rebecca Hall) hostage, although they do eventually release her unharmed. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is the leader of the group, and the real complications start when Affleck meets and falls in love with her, and he debates whether he should tell her he was involved in the robbery. This film has great performances by Affleck, Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and more, and the bank robbery scene is also great.
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The Italian Job (2003)
Not only does The Italian Job have some great heist scenes, the criminals do it in style too (who could forget those Mini Coopers?). Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland and more star in this film. The action starts when bricks of gold are stolen from a safe in Venice from gangsters who had previously stolen the gold. However, the distribution of the loot later turns out to be a problem, and a year later, the team must reassemble to steal back the gold again. The Italian Job is definitely one of the more flashy heist movies, but it's also a lot of fun.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
You might be surprised to see a Harry Potter movie on this list, but the scene where Ron, Hermione and Harry break into Gringotts (the goblin bank) was epic. They break in to the bank because they believe a Horcrux (part of Lord Voldemort's soul) may be hidden there, and the goblin Griphook agrees to help them do it. The film's production designer, Stuart Craig, said in an interview that in order to create Gringotts Wizarding Bank, the design crew used marble (as well as marble columns) and exaggerated the size, weight and shine of the marble; the team also had to create thousands of pieces of "treasure" in one of the bank's vaults for the film.
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Liz Parker is a freelance writer and a University of Michigan graduate with a degree in Creative Writing and Literature. Her work can be found at Examiner.com and yesnofilms.com.
