| Movie Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| First Feature Film | Me, Natalie (1969) |
| First Leading Film Role | The Panic in Needle Park (1971) |
| Breakthrough Movie | The Godfather (1972) |
| Most Famous Character | Michael Corleone |
| Other Iconic Role | Tony Montana in Scarface |
| Oscar-Winning Movie | Scent of a Woman |
| Famous Crime Films | The Godfather, Scarface, Heat, Donnie Brasco, Carlito’s Way, The Irishman |
| Movie With Robert De Niro | Heat, Righteous Kill, The Irishman; both also appear in The Godfather Part II |
| Movie With Johnny Depp | Donnie Brasco |
| Movie With Robin Williams | Insomnia |
| Movie With Matthew McConaughey | Two for the Money |
| Football Movie | Any Given Sunday |
| Recent Films | The Ritual, Dead Man’s Wire, In the Hand of Dante, Easy’s Waltz, Killing Castro, Father Joe |
Quick Answer
The best-known Al Pacino movies include The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Scarface, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scent of a Woman, Heat, Carlito’s Way, Donnie Brasco and The Irishman.
Pacino’s feature-film career began with Me, Natalie in 1969. His first major leading role followed in The Panic in Needle Park in 1971, before The Godfather turned him into an international star.
His filmography now covers more than five decades of crime dramas, gangster films, thrillers, sports movies and character-driven dramas. IMDb currently lists 73 previous acting credits, although that total includes more than feature films alone.
Best Al Pacino Movies
There is no completely objective way to rank the best Al Pacino movies. Critical reception, awards, cultural impact and the quality of Pacino’s individual performance do not always point to the same film.
The selections below focus on movies that best represent his career and have remained important to audiences and critics.
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather is the movie that changed Al Pacino’s career.
He plays Michael Corleone, the son who initially wants to remain outside his family’s criminal world. Pacino’s performance is controlled and understated, allowing Michael’s transformation to happen gradually rather than through obvious dramatic gestures.
The role brought Pacino his first Academy Award nomination and made him one of the defining actors of the 1970s.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Pacino returned as Michael Corleone in a darker and more isolated performance.
Robert De Niro also appears in the film as the younger Vito Corleone, although the two actors exist in different timelines and never share a scene.
Readers exploring all the Godfather movies can follow Michael Corleone’s development across the complete trilogy.
Serpico (1973)
Pacino plays real-life New York police officer Frank Serpico, who exposed corruption within the NYPD.
The film showed that Pacino was capable of moving beyond the world of The Godfather. His performance earned another Oscar nomination and remains one of his strongest early roles.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
In Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon, Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, whose attempted bank robbery quickly falls apart.
Sonny is emotional, nervous and unpredictable, making the performance almost the opposite of Michael Corleone’s controlled personality.
Scarface (1983)
Al Pacino’s Scarface movie introduced one of his most famous characters: Tony Montana.
Directed by Brian De Palma, the film follows Tony’s violent rise through Miami’s cocaine trade. Pacino gives the role a deliberately excessive energy that matches the scale of the character’s ambition and eventual collapse.
Although Scarface received mixed reactions when first released, its cultural reputation grew enormously over time.
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Pacino plays blind former Army officer Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman.
The role finally brought him the Academy Award for Best Actor after years of nominations for earlier performances.
Carlito’s Way (1993)
Pacino reunited with Brian De Palma for Carlito’s Way.
Unlike Tony Montana, Carlito Brigante is a former criminal trying to leave his past behind. That reversal gives the movie a more tragic and reflective tone than Scarface.
Heat (1995)
Michael Mann’s Heat gave audiences the long-awaited screen pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Pacino plays LAPD lieutenant Vincent Hanna, while De Niro plays professional thief Neil McCauley.
Their restaurant conversation became one of the film’s defining scenes and remains one of the most discussed moments in both actors’ careers.
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Donnie Brasco stars Johnny Depp as undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone and Pacino as ageing mobster Lefty Ruggiero.
Instead of playing a powerful crime boss, Pacino portrays a man who has spent years inside organised crime without ever reaching the top. That vulnerability makes Lefty one of his more understated gangster performances.
The Irishman (2019)
Martin Scorsese cast Pacino as union leader Jimmy Hoffa alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.
The performance earned Pacino another Academy Award nomination, nearly five decades after his first.
Al Pacino Movies in Order
For readers searching for an Al Pacino movies list or Al Pacino movies in order, the following table covers the key feature films from his career.
| Year | Movie |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Me, Natalie |
| 1971 | The Panic in Needle Park |
| 1972 | The Godfather |
| 1973 | Scarecrow |
| 1973 | Serpico |
| 1974 | The Godfather Part II |
| 1975 | Dog Day Afternoon |
| 1979 | …And Justice for All |
| 1980 | Cruising |
| 1983 | Scarface |
| 1985 | Revolution |
| 1989 | Sea of Love |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy |
| 1990 | The Godfather Part III |
| 1992 | Glengarry Glen Ross |
| 1992 | Scent of a Woman |
| 1993 | Carlito’s Way |
| 1995 | Heat |
| 1997 | Donnie Brasco |
| 1997 | The Devil’s Advocate |
| 1999 | The Insider |
| 1999 | Any Given Sunday |
| 2002 | Insomnia |
| 2003 | The Recruit |
| 2005 | Two for the Money |
| 2007 | Ocean’s Thirteen |
| 2008 | Righteous Kill |
| 2014 | The Humbling |
| 2015 | Danny Collins |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood |
| 2019 | The Irishman |
| 2021 | House of Gucci |
| 2023 | Knox Goes Away |
| 2024 | Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness |
| 2025 | The Ritual |
| 2025 | Dead Man’s Wire |
| 2025 | In the Hand of Dante |
| 2025 | Easy’s Waltz |
| 2026 | Killing Castro |
| 2026 | Father Joe |
This is a practical movie list rather than a count of every screen appearance, documentary, television project or archive credit. IMDb separately lists upcoming projects such as Maserati: The Brothers and Lear Rex in post-production.
Al Pacino’s Gangster and Crime Movies
Crime films are a major part of Pacino’s screen identity, but they are not all the same type of movie.
The Godfather trilogy deals with an organised crime family and inherited power. Scarface follows the rise and fall of a drug trafficker. Carlito’s Way is about a former criminal trying to escape his old life.
Donnie Brasco approaches organised crime through an FBI undercover operation, while Heat is a police-and-robbery thriller rather than a Mafia film.
That distinction is useful when people search for Al Pacino gangster movies, Al Pacino mafia movies or Al Pacino mob movies. The keywords overlap, but the stories and characters are very different.
Al Pacino Movies With Other Famous Actors
Pacino has worked with several major actors across different stages of his career. These collaborations are also popular search topics because many viewers remember the co-star before they remember the movie title.
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro Movies
Pacino and Robert De Niro are connected to four major films:
| Movie | Year | Shared Scenes? |
|---|---|---|
| The Godfather Part II | 1974 | No |
| Heat | 1995 | Yes |
| Righteous Kill | 2008 | Yes |
| The Irishman | 2019 | Yes |
Heat was the first film in which audiences saw Pacino and De Niro properly act opposite each other.
Their later collaboration in The Irishman gave them far more screen time together and placed both actors inside a story about ageing, loyalty and consequences.
Al Pacino and Johnny Depp
Pacino appeared with Johnny Depp in Donnie Brasco (1997).
Depp plays undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, while Pacino plays Lefty Ruggiero, an ageing mobster who develops a close relationship with him without knowing his real identity.
Al Pacino and Robin Williams
Pacino starred opposite Robin Williams in Insomnia (2002).
Pacino plays detective Will Dormer, while Williams plays Walter Finch in Christopher Nolan’s Alaska-set psychological thriller.
Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey
Pacino appeared with Matthew McConaughey in Two for the Money (2005).
McConaughey plays former football player Brandon Lang, while Pacino plays sports-betting adviser Walter Abrams.
What Is Al Pacino’s Football Movie?
The Al Pacino football movie most people are searching for is Any Given Sunday (1999).
Directed by Oliver Stone, the film stars Pacino as Tony D’Amato, the veteran head coach of the fictional Miami Sharks.
Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz and Dennis Quaid also appear in the film.
Two for the Money has a football connection because of its sports-betting story, but Any Given Sunday is the direct answer to searches for an Al Pacino American football movie.
Al Pacino’s First Movie
Pacino’s first feature-film appearance was Me, Natalie in 1969.
His first leading film role came two years later in The Panic in Needle Park.
Turner Classic Movies identifies the 1971 film as Pacino’s first movie lead and notes that the performance helped convince Francis Ford Coppola to pursue him for Michael Corleone in The Godfather.
That gives his early film career a remarkable progression:
Me, Natalie → The Panic in Needle Park → The Godfather
Within only a few years, Pacino went from a small film role to one of Hollywood’s most important leading actors.
Al Pacino’s Latest and Recent Movies
Pacino continued to work in his eighties.
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Father Joe and Killing Castro among his 2026 films, following 2025 titles including In the Hand of Dante, Dead Man’s Wire, The Ritual and Easy’s Waltz.
IMDb also lists Maserati: The Brothers and Lear Rex in post-production, Captivated as filming, and another project titled Assassination with its production status still unresolved.
Because release dates can move, recent and upcoming titles are the part of this filmography that should be checked whenever the article is updated.
Where to Start With Al Pacino Movies
For someone watching Pacino for the first time, a good starting movie depends on the type of story they enjoy.
- Classic crime drama: The Godfather
- Gangster epic: Scarface
- Police drama: Serpico
- Crime thriller: Heat
- Undercover Mafia story: Donnie Brasco
- Sports movie: Any Given Sunday
- Psychological thriller: Insomnia
- Oscar-winning performance: Scent of a Woman
- Later-career performance: The Irishman
What makes Pacino’s filmography last is that these characters do not feel interchangeable.
Michael Corleone is restrained, Tony Montana is explosive, Lefty Ruggiero is worn down, Vincent Hanna is obsessive and Frank Slade is theatrical and commanding.
That range explains why Al Pacino movies remain relevant to audiences decades after his breakthrough and why his filmography extends far beyond The Godfather and Scarface.
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