Summary
- “Ocean’s Eleven” is a star-studded, beloved blockbuster that kickstarted the modern-day heist movie genre.
- The 1960 original and the 2001 remake both follow the story of a charming thief named Danny Ocean and his skilled crew.
- While the original had charm but lacked urgency, and the sequels had various flaws, “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) stands out as a critically acclaimed, high-stakes, and emotionally compelling heist film.
Including the original 1960 film, there are five Ocean’s Eleven movies spanning almost five decades. Most people are familiar with Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 remake of the original Ocean’s Eleven movie. This reboot starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and more in what turned into a star-studded affair. It became a beloved blockbuster and spawned two sequels directed by Soderbergh and an all-female spinoff directed by Gary Ross. Other than the 2018 spinoff, Ocean’s Eleven revolves around a charming and skilled thief, Danny Ocean, and his loyal crew.
In the 1960 movie, Frank Sinatra played Danny Ocean, with George Clooney picking up the role in Soderbergh’s three films. Both Ocean’s Eleven movies were set in Las Vegas, as was the 2007 sequel Ocean’s Thirteen, and see Danny Ocean putting together a talented crew of experts to steal millions from casinos. The Ocean’s movies are reliably fun romps about charming characters pulling off impossible feats and getting one over on a villain who deserves it, setting the stage for the modern-day heist movie. At the very least, all the Ocean’s movies rely on an abundance of charm, style, effortless cool, and likability, much like Danny Ocean himself.
5 Ocean’s 11 (1960)
The original Ocean’s Eleven was directed by Lewis Milestone and was a star vehicle for the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. The film also starred Cesar Romero (Batman 1966’s Joker), Angie Dickinson, Norman Fell, Richard Conte, and Buddy Lester, among numerous other notable names of the era. Lawford brought the idea of World War II veterans robbing five Las Vegas casinos to Sinatra. Sinatra stars as Danny Ocean, who recruits ten of his former Army buddies to simultaneously heist the Sahara, Riviera, Sands, Flamingo, and Desert Inn casinos.
Unfortunately, the movie falls behind all the recent efforts, as critics said it was a fun film, but had a lackluster script, little reason to care about the characters, and it was almost closer to a comedy than a heist movie. Sinatra and his gang shot the picture on the off hours during their Las Vegas performances, and it contains little in the way of urgency or real stakes. Instead, Frank Sinatra’s movie relies on the cast’s collective charm, wisecracks, in-jokes, and real-life camaraderie so that they’re essentially playing themselves casually inching through the film’s plot.
4 Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Tasked with following up his critically acclaimed 2001 blockbuster, Steven Soderbergh reassembled the entire cast for Ocean’s Twelve, along with a new addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones as Brad Pitt’s love interest. Vincent Cassel is the villain known as the Night Fox, who competes with George Clooney’s Danny Ocean for the title of best thief in the world. Soderberg chose not to repeat Ocean’s Eleven‘s plot and structure. Instead, he transplanted Ocean’s crew to Europe to pull off a couple of “impossible” heists in two weeks in order to pay back the money they stole from Terry Benedict in the first film to save their own lives.
The problem that keeps this lower in the Ocean’s movies ranked is that there is too much going on. The first movie had a heist that the guys set up and then viewers followed them through it, enjoying the twists and turns. In Ocean’s Twelve, the team pulls off a couple of heists while competing with a rival thief, and this causes the movie to lose out on the tight pace of the first film. The movie had exotic European locales (Amsterdam, Rome, Lake Como) and a very cool cast, but that wasn’t enough to match up with the first movie. However, despite mixed reviews, Ocean’s Twelve grossed $362 million worldwide; a financial success that assured a third Ocean’s movie.
3 Ocean’s 8 (2018)
With Ocean’s 8, director and co-writer Gary Ross continued the Ocean’s franchise with an all-female cast led by Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway, but to mixed results. Essentially a remake of Ocean’s Eleven set in New York City over 15 years later, Ocean’s 8 introduced Danny Ocean’s heretofore unmentioned sister Debbie (Bullock), who is newly released after five years in prison and immediately assembles a crew for the Ocean’s 8 heist – to steal a $150 million Cartier diamond necklace during the Met Gala. Debbie’s crew includes Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, and Awkwafina.
As Debbie, Bullock attempts to replicate George Clooney’s brains and bemused charm, but the film’s fatal flaw is that there’s essentially no villain and Ocean’s 8‘s heist goes off without a hitch. The film lacks tension and stakes since Debbie and her crew are never in jeopardy, which illustrates just how important the Terry Benedict villain character was to Ocean’s Eleven. This falls short of the other Ocean’s movies ranked because it feels safe and has very little in the way of worry for the viewers. This is sad because the cast is incredible and pulls their weight when it comes to the cool charm that an Ocean’s cast needs.
2 Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Ocean’s Thirteen returns the whole crew to Las Vegas for a last big hurrah that marked the end of Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy. The Ocean’s cast reunited for one more big score to take down a new enemy, Willy Bank (Al Pacino), an unscrupulous hotelier who is opening the Vegas Strip’s swankiest new casino. Ocean’s Thirteen is a pure revenge fantasy as Danny reassembles his crew to get retribution for Bank double-crossing their mentor Reuben (Elliott Gould). Vincent Cassel also reprises his role as the Night Fox but Ellen Barken plays the film’s lone female role since Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones didn’t return.
The plot of Ocean’s Thirteen is seen by many as the most preposterous and centers on Danny’s crew renting a drill that can generate an earthquake on the Las Vegas Strip. However, the film is a return to form for the Ocean’s franchise. While Ocean’s Thirteen isn’t of the same caliber as Ocean’s Eleven, Al Pacino makes for a dastardly villain, the whole cast has a spring in their step, and it’s overall the most enjoyable film of the sequels and remakes. Ocean’s Thirteen also happily reminds fans that Las Vegas is truly Danny Ocean’s town, so while it doesn’t take the chances that Ocean’s Twelve did, its ability to play the hits made it a more enjoyable outing.
1 Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Ocean’s Eleven is a critically acclaimed, crowd-pleasing blockbuster, a modern classic, and one of the best Hollywood heist films of the 21st century. Director Steven Soderbergh’s reinvention of the 1960 original brings together an all-star cast and fully immerses them in the high-stakes glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. In Ocean’s Eleven, George Clooney’s charming master thief Danny Ocean comes out of prison and assembles a crew of expert thieves for an impossible job: robbing $160 million from the Bellagio hotel and its ruthless owner, Terry Benedict.
As Danny Ocean, Clooney has never been cooler, and he’s supported by Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, the late Bernie Mac, and Julia Roberts, all of whom match Clooney’s sheer movie star wattage. Also, vital to the story is Andy Garcia’s Terry Benedict, who is a fearsome villain and the best of the franchise. Ocean’s Eleven was a smash hit that grossed $450 million worldwide, and it’s the high-roller standard that the rest of the Ocean’s franchise and other heist movies that followed it have been unable to equal. It not only was better in every way than the original, but as far as the Ocean’s movies ranked, it was an untouchable heist movie even for its sequels and follow-ups.
How Ocean’s 11 Compares To The Original
While the basic premise of both Ocean’s Eleven films is the same, several key differences make Steven Soderbergh’s movie unequivocally better. For starters, as iconic as the Rat Pack is, they make up only five of the titular Ocean’s Eleven, with the other six characters being mostly forgettable. By contrast, every member of the crew in the 2001 film feels unique and valuable. Both films feature strong ensemble casts with good chemistry, but 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven invites the audience into this dynamic more, rather than featuring lots of real-life in-jokes that don’t resonate unless one is actually a friend of Sinatra’s.
There’s also pacing to consider; as mentioned, Sinatra’s Ocean’s Eleven drags without urgency and has high enough stakes, whereas these are some of the remake’s greatest strengths. Finally, there’s Danny Ocean’s differing motive. Sinatra’s version of the character is smooth and likable but robs the casinos purely out of greed. Clooney’s version of Danny Ocean, however, wants to win his wife back and get revenge, which gives 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven greater emotional buy-in. When it comes to the Ocean’s movies ranked, the 2001 movie wins hands down.
The Future Of The Ocean’s Franchise
There should be a sixth Ocean’s movie coming soon. While it will have to wait for the end of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the lead actors from the 2023 smash hit Barbie are set to star in an Ocean’s Eleven prequel series. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling have been confirmed as starring in the new prequel to Ocean’s Eleven and Warner Bros. will still produce the movie. Since this was considered a prequel, this means that the George Clooney movies will still happen in this world in the future. Whether the new movie ties in with the storyline from that first Clooney movie or just takes place in the same universe earlier than it is unknown. Director Jay Roach talked about his movie.
“The Monaco Grand Prix is the backdrop and there’s a big famous shipping magnate who has a yacht. It’s not inexpensive. And I wanted it to be old-fashioned. Margot brought it to me as a kind of old-fashioned epic love story slash adventure disguised as a heist. It is a heist movie still, but it’s very much a love story. And we were both inspired by Hitchcock. To Catch a Thief but also Notorious. It just wants to be a big, big, you know, cinematic spectacle.”
This movie’s start comes five years after Ocean’s Eight premiered, and it looks like, for the first time, the cast might mix things up. While three of the latter movies had all-male teams and the fourth had an all-female team, with Robbie and Gosling, there might be a better mix this time around, which might help the movie deliver something different in a heist movie that will likely remain consistent tonally to the originals. The one thing to keep in mind is that Barbie will increase the pressure of any movie that Gosling and Robbie star in together, and since it is part of a popular franchise, the next Ocean’s Eleven movie will have a lot of eyes on it – for good or bad.