Ever since James Cagney graced the silver screen in The Public Enemy, the gangster genre has become a critical cornerstone of cinema and holds a sacred place in the hearts of film fanatics. Titles such as Francis Ford Coppola's classic The Godfather and Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas are just a few of the greatest gangster movies of all time. Still, for every acclaimed gangster movie, there are two that fly under the radar.

Plenty of entries into the genre, such as Kill the Irishman and King of New York, are unfairly overlooked and deserve more recognition. An epic gangster film requires more than just violence and corruption; some fail to find that perfect combination, but many succeed, like Point Blank and The Drop, yet still end up slipping through the cracks. From Danny DeVito's 1992 film, Hoffa to The Coen Brothers' star-studded Miller's Crossing, these are the 15 most underrated gangster movies, ranked.

15 'Hoffa' (1992)

Directed by Danny DeVito

Jack Nicholson stars as the infamous Teamster leader, Jimmy Hoffa, who rises through the ranks of the labor union, organizing strikes and eventually crossing into organized crime activities, making him one of the most powerful men in the Midwest. As Hoffa flourishes in his high-ranking position, he soon clashes with the local mafia and vanishes without a trace, becoming one of the baffling missing persons cases in American history.

Hoffa is a fictionalized account of Hoffa's life and mysterious disappearance that many believe was orchestrated by the mafia. While the film's ending is simply one of many theories as to what happened to Hoffa, Jack Nicholson is absolutely sublime as the prominent union leader and supported by an all-star cast, which includes Danny DeVito, Armand Assante, and John C. Reilly. The movie earned mixed reviews, notably from critics who were critical of the film's plot, but at the end of the day, Hoffa features outstanding performances and sheds light on one of America's most notorious cold cases, deeming it to be one of the most underrated gangster movies.

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14 'The General' (1998)

Directed by John Boorman

As legendary Irish mobster, Martin Cahill (Brendan Gleeson), is on his deathbed, he reflects on his early days growing up in Dublin, Ireland and learning to steal at a young age and eventually rising from a small-time criminal to one of Ireland's most powerful mobsters. While Cahill executes dozens of prolific armed robberies and indulges in his success, a determined police officer, Ned Kenny (Jon Voight), pursues him and will stop at nothing to bring the gangster down.

The crime thriller, The General, is based on the life of Irish mobster, Martin Cahill, who, during the 1980s, was responsible for a string of robberies and was shot and died from his injuries in August 1994. The movie was a success, earning critics' positive reviews, praising Gleeson's phenomenal performance, and becoming Ireland's second-highest-grossing film of the year. Through the years, the film has become a cult classic in the gangster genre, and, with the compelling, lesser-known story of Cahill, The General is easily one of the most underrated gangster movies.

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13 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle' (1973)

Directed by Peter Yates

When an aging gunrunner in Boston, Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is looking at a long-term sentence for a hold-up, he reluctantly agrees to provide information to the authorities. Eddie ends up buying guns from another runner (Steven Kates), he keeps his word and relays the information to Agent Dave Foley (Richard Jordan), who isn't satisfied with Coyle's findings. With no other option, Coyle decides to give up his gang of buyers, but when he discovers Foley has set him up, Coyle's associates think he ratted them out.

Classic cinema icon, Robert Mitchum, stars in the criminal film noir, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which is an adaptation of the 1970 novel by the same name written by George V. Higgins. Even though the movie wasn't a major hit with filmgoers, critics praised the film, particularly Mitchum's epic performance, including film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the movie four out of four stars. Despite not being a major box office hit, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a solid crime-riddled film full of plenty of action and is appreciated as one of Mitchum's final epic performances, deeming it to be one of the most underrated gangster movies.

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12 'Killing Them Softly' (2012)

Directed by Andrew Dominik

When a local criminal, Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola), decides to rob a card game run by a rival gangster's associate, Markie (Ray Liotta), he hires a small-time crook, Frankie (Scoot McNairy) to do the job. With the help of his buddy, Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), they manage to pull off the job and get away with the money and their lives, but when word gets back to Markie's boss about the robbery, he sends an enforcer, Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) to find his money and take care of those who are responsible for stealing it.

Killing Them Softly is a highly marginalized crime thriller based on George V. Higgin's 1974 novel, Cogan's Trade, and features a star-studded cast including James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, and Max Casella. Initially, the movie earned mixed reviews from critics. Some critics and outlets, such as Roger Ebert, claimed Killing Them Softly was simply a series of painful, graphic murders, while The Guardian called it a "compelling comment on economic bloodletting in the real world." Whatever the consensus may be, Killing Them Softly is an entertaining take on modern organized crime carried by a superb cast of stars, which is what makes it one of the most underrated gangster movies of all time.

11 'State of Grace' (1990)

Directed by Phil Joanou and Michael Lee Baron