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Look, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci aren’t so inseparable that it’s hard to think about one without thinking about the other, but they do make for a dynamic duo and have appeared in a fair number of movies together. Most of these are thanks to the two being among Martin Scorsese’s favorite actors, though both also appeared in two movies De Niro himself directed, as well as the last film directed by the great Sergio Leone.

All that’s to say that there are a total of seven movies where both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci appear, and all of them are ranked below, starting with the decent and ending with the best. A couple of Pesci’s performances here are borderline cameos, but he’s the kind of actor it’s always good to see in anything, and the fact both he and De Niro have appeared in so many great films is worthy of recognition; perhaps even celebration.

7 'The Good Shepherd' (2006)

Director: Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro has only ever directed two movies, with The Good Shepherd being the second, and certainly the most ambitious. It’s a spy drama/thriller that spans about a quarter of a century, beginning a little before World War I and ending during the most intense years of the Cold War, in the 1960s. It’s far from linear, too, jumping back and forth over the course of 20+ years and certainly having the time to do it, what with the runtime nearing three hours and all.

That’s the biggest problem with The Good Shepherd: it’s just too long, and that runtime coupled with the sometimes slow story does make the film a challenging sit at times. That being said, it looks good and certainly feels like it captures the period of time in which it’s set. The cast is also amazing, with De Niro directing himself in a handful of scenes and Joe Pesci showing up for one scene (some Joe’s better than no Joe). Beyond those two, it also stars Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Eddie Redmayne, and John Turturro, to name just a few.

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6 'A Bronx Tale' (1993)

Director: Robert De Niro

The better of Robert De Niro’s two directorial efforts, A Bronx Tale might appear to be a gangster movie on the surface (and it does feel a little Scorsese-influenced), but it’s honestly more of a coming-of-age film. It takes place in - you guessed it - the Bronx during the 1960s, focusing on a young boy feeling torn between two father figures, one being his actual working-class father (played by De Niro) and the other being a law-dodging and volatile mob boss, but nonetheless a charismatic one.

There’s not a great deal more to A Bronx Tale than the exploration of the main character’s journey through adolescence, but there doesn’t need to be, because the simplicity of what’s on offer works wonders. Robert De Niro is good in his role, but knows not to steal the show from the other stars, while like in The Good Shepherd, Joe Pesci’s role is more or less a cameo, and one not seen until near the end of the entire film at that.

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5 'Casino' (1995)

Director: Martin Scorsese

When ranking Casino among Martin Scorsese’s other movies, it might not jump out as one of his very best, but it’s still very good overall and stands as an ambitious/epic gangster movie. Running just a minute or two shy of three hours, Casino is all about the mob’s influence over Las Vegas, particularly throughout the 1970s, and the way they essentially ran the place due to owning all the lucrative casinos. There’s a rise in power among many characters before things come crashing down; it's expected, but well-executed in any event.

For those wanting to see as much De Niro and Pesci as possible, Casino truly delivers, because they share many scenes here and it feels like they play the two main characters, at least going by screen time. Joe Pesci has played many memorably volatile characters, but he’s never been quite as scary or explosive as he is in Casino, while De Niro excels in a slightly less flashy and more reserved role. It doesn’t consistently hit the same highs Scorsese’s best crime films do, and it feels a little overlong (even if perhaps it’s meant to feel exhausting), but for what Casino does get right, it’s still possible to label it a minor gangster classic.

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4 'Raging Bull' (1980)

Director: Martin Scorsese

A movie that ended up providing Joe Pesci with his breakout role, Raging Bull was also the first film to feature both him and Robert De Niro, and the only film of theirs where the pair play brothers. It’s a biographical movie about boxer Jake LaMotta (De Niro), focusing on his chaotic life outside the ring, which includes exploring the dynamic between him and his younger brother, Joey, who was something of a manager to his older brother.

Compared to other biopics and (especially) sports movies, Raging Bull stands out for being emotionally intense and harrowing, getting uncomfortably personal and uncompromising in its exploration of a volatile individual. Still, despite it very intentionally not being an easy watch, it’s a phenomenal film, and the lead performances are especially worthy of praise. The Oscars seemed to think so, with De Niro winning his second Academy Award and Joe Pesci earning his first of three nominations.

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3 'The Irishman' (2019)

Director: Martin Scorsese

When The Irishman came out, Martin Scorsese had recently passed the 50-year milestone in his career as a feature film director, and the years since 2019 have shown no indication he’ll be slowing down anytime soon. It is technically another gangster movie directed by the legendary filmmaker, but the exploration of aging, loneliness, and regret are what makes the film stand out, ensuring The Irishman doesn’t just feel like Scorsese relying on retreading his greatest hits, so to speak.

It's also significant for being a movie that brought Joe Pesci out of retirement, so far as his acting career was concerned, being his first live-action credit in almost a decade (while also getting him his third Oscar nomination). Pesci’s terrifying in a unique way here, not being loud and explosive like past gangster characters, but quiet and calculating in a way that’s still menacing, but in an entirely different way. He’s a scene-stealer with his supporting role, but De Niro has to carry much of The Irishman in the lead role, and he’s similarly fantastic.

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2 'Once Upon a Time in America' (1984)

Director: Sergio Leone

The Irishman’s long, sure, but Once Upon a Time in America was even longer, being one of the lengthiest American movies ever made. It earns its almost four-hour runtime, though, thanks to having an epic scope and a narrative that spans multiple decades. Though it’s told in non-chronological order, it effectively begins with a focus on young boys taking part in petty crime during the 1920s, follows them as young adults and wealthy criminals during the 1930s, and then goes forward several decades to the 1960s, when the main characters are older and considerably more regretful (or is that stuff all a dream?).

Robert De Niro is the star of Once Upon a Time in America, playing the main character as both a young man and in old age, while Joe Pesci only has a small role, appearing and then vanishing from the film (both were ignored by the Oscars, though). Perhaps such a disappearance is mostly noticeable because Pesci is so recognizable, but his character being seen in a hotel lobby at some point after his one big scene, only to never have that brief moment explained or expanded upon is confusing. Still, it doesn’t matter too much, because Once Upon a Time in America is too immense and grand of an epic to nitpick, and it’s one classic that certainly lives up to the hype.

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1 'Goodfellas' (1990)

Director: Martin Scorsese

It’s hard for anything to beat Goodfellas, as it might well be the best thing Martin Scorsese’s ever directed, and stands as easily one of the greatest movies of the 1990s, too. It was also the movie for which Joe Pesci won an Oscar, and deservedly so, considering how memorable and scene-stealing his performance as Tommy DeVito is. De Niro’s character is quieter and more calculating, though both actors take a backseat, at times, to Ray Liotta, who’s ultimately the film’s central character, Henry Hill, with the audience seeing what a lifestyle in the mafia entails through his eyes.

Goodfellas is undeniably stylish, well-polished, perfectly edited, amazingly acted, and supremely entertaining from start to finish. It may run for two and a half hours and play out over many years, but it’s so well-made it flashes by in the blink of an eye. Ultimately, it’s easy to single it out as the best movie featuring both De Niro and Pesci, and, concerning the latter, it’s a film that contains what might well be his greatest-ever performance.

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NEXT: Every Paul Thomas Anderson and Philip Seymour Hoffman Movie, Ranked