Since the Golden Age of Hollywood and the heyday of film Noir, gangster movies like The Untouchables, Goodfellas and The Maltese Falcon have given audiences some of the best films ever made. While many of these films end on ambiguous notes, leaving the door open for more for its main characters, others shock their audience by killing them off. Although some of these deaths can be seen coming, the best ones make it a complete surprise.

Gangster movies have attracted some of the best directors and stars in the movie business, and it only surprises audiences more when A-listers get killed on screen. While some of these fates can be deserved considering the genre, others are nothing short of tragic. From epic revenge sagas to explorations of organized crime, these movies show a great story can end with characters being killed off.

Get Carter focuses on a British gangster, Jack Carter, as he returns to his home city of Newcastle in the wake of his brother's death. As he looks into it, he discovers that his niece has been the victim of a horrible crime, and that his brother was murdered as a result of it. Carter sets out to avenge his family and punish the man responsible -- incurring the wrath of a local gangster. When he finally gets some semblance of justice, however, his spree of violence costs him his life.

As one of the British crime movies that helped define the 1970s, Get Carter is among the best gangster revenge stories of all time, as well as one of Michael Caine's best performances. The film pulls no punches in its gut-wrenching look at the criminal underworld, tackling grim subjects that only make Carter's quest for revenge all the more necessary.

Layer Cake focuses on an unnamed man, "XXXX," as he navigates the London drug trade in the role of middle-man, negotiating between the bosses at the top and dealers on the streets. When a dealer crosses the Serbian mob, XXXX is left to try and pick up the pieces, all while dealing with betrayal from his boss, and an offer from a powerful gangster. With a variety of threats converging at once, he and his friends try to build their own operation and settle every debt before they're killed first.

Layer Cake's ending is somewhat ambiguous, with the credits rolling while XXXX is drawing his last breath -- without actually showing him die. Whether or not he should live is up to the viewer, but it's practically inevitable that the criminal's gunshot would prove fatal. The movie has yet to break into the American mainstream the way it did in the UK, but its assembly of British stars like Daniel Craig, Michael Gambon and Tom Hardy alone makes it worth watching.

The Departed takes place in Boston, and follows both sides of the police effort to bring down Irish mob boss Frank Costello. As one of Costello's men, Colin Sullivan, infiltrates the Boston Police Department as a detective, an undercover state trooper, Billy Costigan, manages to do the same to the mob. When Costello is killed and Costigan confronts Sullivan, he's shot dead in an elevator, only for his killer to be revealed as a fellow cop.

The Departed is impressive in the sheer degree of stars it kills off from its ensemble cast, from Martin Sheen and Jack Nicholson to Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. For people who love a story packed full of shocking twists and unexpected deaths, Scorsese's 2006 movie is one of the best -- and builds tension in a way few of his other films did.

The Long Good Friday focuses on a London crime boss, Harold Shand, as he tries to leave his illegitimate business behind to go straight with some American investors. However, when one of his friends is murdered and his organization is targeted by a series of bomb attacks, he pulls out all the stops to try and find the responsible party. When his search leads him to the Irish Republican Army, he exacts vengeance -- only to find himself trapped in a car by a pair of assassins as the credits roll.

While Harold Shand's murder is never shown on screen, the fact that he's left with no allies on the wrong end of a gun basically seals his fate. As he contemplates the fate that awaits him, he moves through the five stages of grief, all conveyed through facial expression by Bob Hoskins. The movie doubles as both gangster and murder mystery, alternating between Shand's investigation and his efforts to leave crime behind, all making for one of the best British crime movies of all time.

Reservoir Dogs follows a gang of bank robbers employed by a Los Angeles gangster as they're thrown into chaos when their heist goes awry. The group includes: the secretly undercover cop, Mr Orange; the well-meaning seasoned criminal Mr White, who cares for a dying Orange; the sociopathic Mr Blonde; and Mr Pink, an otherwise relatable thief just looking for a way out before things get bad. As the story progresses, each man's backstory is explored, adding context to their actions after the failed heist.

Reservoir Dogs established Quentin Tarantino as one of the best filmmakers of the 1990s, reintroducing audiences to nonlinear storytelling in cinema with a great crime story. Unlike most "heist" movies, the film doesn't explore the robbery itself, instead focusing on character dynamics after the fact. By the time the credits roll, every main character in the story gets killed, some tragically, while the worst get what they deserve.

Thief follows an expert safe-cracker, Frank, as he plans his final score so he can settle down and pursue a relationship with his girlfriend. When his fence is murdered and a mob boss has him take on a big job, the man sees a chance to leave the business. However, when his employer refuses to let him go, going so far as to threaten his family, Frank realizes the only way they can be safe is if he kills his boss -- costing him his own life in the process.

As the film that truly put Michael Mann on the map, Thief explores the fallout of a life of crime, alluding to the fact that nobody truly walks away unscathed. When Frank is killed in the last minute, it comes after a satisfying end to the film's villain, and is bittersweet, knowing his family will finally be safe -- even if he won't live to see them again.

Road to Perdition follows Irish-American mobster Michael Sullivan as he and his son, Michael Jr, are forced on the run when the boy witnesses a mob hit. With his wife and other son murdered, Sullivan resolves to find the man responsible, his adoptive brother Connor, and take his revenge. However, protected by his mob boss father, Connor is sent into hiding and an assassin tasked with killing Sullivan. When the father and son finally get their revenge, they and the audience are allowed to breathe a sigh of relief as their troubles seem to be over, only for Michael to be gunned down by the assassin.

The death of Michael is one of the most heart-breaking moments ever shown in a gangster movie, but it allows for a poignant message of his son finally breaking the cycle of violence in the family. Based on Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner's comic book, the film continues to be one of the most underrated movies in the genre, despite being among its most emotional and star-studded entries. In a rare act for Hollywood, the on-screen death of a Tom Hanks character only makes it all the more unique and arguably the best gangster movie of the 2000s.

Scarface follows the story of Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant to Miami, as he ascends in the city's drug underworld, moving from an ordinary criminal to a ruthless crime lord. However, as he seizes power and tries to wipe out the competition, he gets a target painted on his back by law enforcement and rival gangs alike, culminating in an epic, deadly showdown.

Scarface has endured as one of the most outrageous, action-packed and quotable gangster movies ever made, giving Al Pacino the role that started him on the path to playing more bombastic characters. When Tony Montana finally goes down, it's in the greatest blaze of glory ever shown in the gangster genre, replete with the iconic quote "Say hello to my little friend!" to make it all the more memorable.

Heat focuses on a group of high-end bank robbers, led by Neal McCauley, as they plan their biggest heist yet. Planning his exit after this final job, McCauley and his friends realize they're being investigated by a detective, Vincent Hanna, who struggles to maintain a dying marriage in the face of his career. When the job is finally pulled off, and the gang guns down several cops, the LAPD hunt them down -- concluding with a stand-off between Hanna and McCauley that ends with the latter dead.

Heat is a crime movie that doubles as a character study, exploring the similar dedication to different sides of the law between Hanna and McCauley. When Hanna does finally kill the crime boss, it adds a layer of tragedy to the story, serving as a reminder of his own likely fate if he continues down the same path of obsession and violence.

Set in Los Angeles, Pulp Fiction tells three stories that focus on a small cast of characters involved in the city's crime scene via a gangster, Marsellus Wallace. Chief among them are Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, a pair of hitmen who work for Wallace; Butch Coolidge, a seasoned boxer who reneges on his commitment to take a dive; and Winston Wolf, a professional cleaner who keeps Wallace and his people out of trouble -- as well as the gangster himself. From taking the boss' wife out to dinner to getting caught up in a diner heist, the non-linear stories intersect brilliantly.

While Pulp Fiction has a number of key characters, the fact that John Travolta's Vincent Vega appears in and is central to all three stories makes him as good as the film's main character. It's to the strength of Quentin Tarantino's skills as a storyteller that, after getting the audience to love Vincent, they're also able to side with Butch when he kills the hitman -- only to bring him back for the final story. In a twist of irony, the film revived Travolta's acting career, paving the way for movies like Face/Off, Broken Arrow and Get Shorty.