5 Russian heist movies you can watch FREE ONLINE
Daring plans, chases and a big score in the finale - Russian heist movies will make you laugh and surprise you with ingenious plot twists and unexpected endings!
‘Operation Y and other adventures of Shurik’, 1965
Swindlers Trus (‘Coward’), Byvaly (‘Experienced’) and Balbes (‘Dunce’) plan to rob a trading base. The bandits even give their case a name - ‘Operation Y’. Everything has to go like clockwork: first, they need to distract the grandmother-guard and to put her to sleep with the help of some ether, open the locks and to steal the goods. But, an unexpected participant appears in the heist - instead of the grandmother, her student-lodger Shurik goes out on night watch.
The comedy by Soviet director Leonid Gaidai still hasn’t lost its charm. It's impossible not to laugh at the gags he came up with: there's the "training" of intruders on ceramic cats, the blue-flamed moonshine that one of the heroes drinks, as well as the pitiful guitar song. The movie is a perfect genre combo: in short, a fast-paced heist comedy!
‘Old Robbers’, 1971
Myachikov, an investigator at the prosecutor's office, is worried: he is about to be sent into retirement. His friend, engineer Vorobyov, comes up with the perfect plan - to steal a Rembrandt painting from the museum and then triumphantly "find" it. But, everything goes wrong: no one cares that the painting is missing, as the museum caretakers are sure that the painting has gone for restoration after reading the note the “thieves” left behind. So, they have to use plan ‘B’ - rob the collector. But, even here, the hapless criminals are in for an unpleasant surprise!
Eldar Ryazanov's lyrical comedy reminds us that life doesn't end with retirement and, at the same time, parodies classic detective twists. A good option to see the genre in a new way!
‘All At Once’, 2014
Friends from a provincial town decide to make some extra money and disrupt the established cycle of life. They undertake to stage a robbery of a drug courier, who is as fake as the heroes. They turn out to be very average “gangsters”, although they are very diligent. There is only one problem: the courier turns out to be the son of a local criminal mastermind, who is unaware of the agreement..
At first glance, ‘All at once’ perfectly copies Guy Ritchie's movies, but then, Roman Karimov's film turns into a strong drama with an unexpected ending, which is definitely worth an hour and a half of your time!
‘All or Nothing’, 2018
Managers are on the verge of a nervous breakdown: having learned that the boss is going to cut salaries by 50% and cancel insurance, three inconspicuous clerks decide to rob him. Of course, they have never held anything heavier than a glass of coffee in their hands and scream like girls cut by glass shards, but they try very hard to portray themselves as hardened kidnappers. The only problem is that the money they end up stealing doesn’t belong to their boss at all!
The comedy about the robbery of an arrogant boss tries very hard to resemble Hollywood examples and a slightly “rustic” humor even gives it a unique kind of charm.
‘Billion’, 2019
The story of how to make a billion. Banker Matvey Levin transfers all his property to his business partner. When he dies, it turns out that his daughter has taken the assets for herself. Levin decides to return what is his - but he needs to retrieve a receipt stored in a deposit box of the bank of Monte Carlo, which will confirm his rights. To do this, he gathers his illegitimate children and promises them a reward of a billion rubles. A team of a hacker, a construction worker, a psychologist and a third-rate thief take on the case.
This is a dynamic, upbeat movie, a kind of ‘Ocean's Eleven’, Russian style, with endless postcard views of Monte Carlo - a good option for watching with friends. You can watch it here.
