The Burglars (1971)

The big Hollywood heist film, largely known for its larger-than-life antiheroes, stuntwork and long, drawn-out car chases. Before the action film changed to what most of us are familiar with in the 1980s, the above largely began to define American films from the late '60s and into the 1970s. From well-regarded films such as Bullitt and The French Connection to hangers-on like Grand Theft Auto, it became a source of escapist entertainment for American audiences and something for critics to hang their disdain on. After all, European films (if you consciously ignored most mainstream films coming out of England and Italy) were so much more intellectual, right? This was real cinema. Except it turns out that European audiences like their heists and their car chases just as much as we do. That is why Le casse , released under the English title The Burglars , had the biggest opening in France up to that time. Give art its due, but seeing Jean-Paul Belmo...