Taxi Driver Reviews and Ratings


  • godsend311
    December 22, 2008
    godsend311
    Amazing award winning classic film starring a very young Robert DeNiro and an even younger Jodie Foster. Crazy film about a man preparing for a massacre and the paranoia accompanied by this preparation. Great eerie twisted film from the amazing Robert DeNiro. Definately not s...( read more)uited for children or the emotional unstable. Quite the vision and emotional trip for the able minded. A must see.
  • BluesLover
    December 18, 2008
    BluesLover
    Robert Deniro did a great job!
  • blakeevan
    December 15, 2008
    blakeevan
    Scorsese has neve created a finer piece of work. An intimate look at Travis Bickle with the most brilliant camera work / directorial choices I've ever seen. When Travis Bickle calls Cybill Shepherd's character after ruining a date by taking her to a porno movie - the conversation...( read more) is so awkward that Scorsese has the camera turn away from Bickle and focus down the hallway instead. It's as if we're so embarrassed for him that we, the audience have to look away. Absolute genius. Well crafted genius!
  • kitchenaut
    December 13, 2008
    kitchenaut
    I've only seen it once, but it was a decent film, and didn't have too many rat pack songs like other scorsese films.
  • bradwest
    December 13, 2008
    bradwest
    Only in the 70's do you get a psycho (a real one, not a compromise like Hannibal Lector.) that ends up a hero. (But you feel like the story doesn't end when the screen fades to black, as if Travis could build up and go off again and not have good luck come down on his circumstanc...( read more)es.)
  • tv104
    December 9, 2008
    tv104
    Liked it, deffinetly wasn't what i was expecting. I think i will like it more with time, after a few more viewings
  • AgentLexi2132
    November 28, 2008
    AgentLexi2132
    ''You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.''

    A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nightti...( read more)me taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process.

    Robert De Niro: Travis Bickle

    Quite simply, Taxi Driver is one of the best films ever made. This is one of those films that you do not get tired of seeing and every time you watch it you realize a little detail that you have not seen before. Excellent actors, a good director, an impressive soundtrack and a real story are the main appeals of this film.

    Taxi Driver is about loneliness, about the isolation of a man in a society full of scum. His objective is to finish with the scum of the streets. The story uses a taxi driver as a metaphor of loneliness and it has definitions of irony because we can see that a city which is full of people can be the most lonely place for a man to be. The long nights in the city, the night environment full of whores, junkies, pimps and thieves are the main elements of the world in which Travis Bickle lives. Travis is a misunderstood guy who is seeking desperately for some kind of companionship because as he says ''Loneliness has followed me all my life, everywhere'' but at the same time he seems not to do anything to avoid his situation and it is seen when he goes with Betsy(Cybill Shepherd) to a porn cinema. At the end of Taxi Driver the character makes real his most violent visages and dark recesses of fantasy, with a burning scope of various soldiers from fighting in Vietnam, and he behaves like this because of his loneliness, his alienation and because he does not find any purpose to his seemingly empty life. The violent behaviour evolves and shapes Travis into a hero, although he had killed many people and he could on a whim or for a purpose resort to doing it again. Although he acts with an extreme violence the spectator understand him and the reasons why he acts that way. The soundtrack of the film, which is composed by Bernard Herrmann, inspires that same kind of loneliness and isolation, sometimes mistyfying into an absolutely haunting horror film genre. This music and the slow camera showing the streets all help to introduce the spectator into the world of Travis, to know what he is thinking and to know what he is doing, it's beautiful.

    So put into an equation of sorts, Martin Scorsese wisely teams up with one of the most intense actors of the time to create a masterpiece of urban alienation. Paul Schrader's magnificent script paints a portrait of loneliness in the largest city of the world. Travis never once enters into a meaningful relationship with any character anywhere in the material given. He is the most hopelessly alone person in celluloid.

    ''Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man... June 8th. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change.''

    He is alone with his thoughts, and his thoughts are dark ones. The film fools you on a first viewing. Is Travis an endearing eccentric? Sure, he's odd, but he's so polite, and he's got an enduring sense of humour. His affection for Betsy is also pleasant and kind. But on more viewings, you see it for what it is. The audience comes to see Travis's psychology gradually, but there's actually far less development than one might assess. When he talks about cleaning up the city, the repeat viewer knows he doesn't mean some sort of revolutionary change. This is less a film about a character in development as it is a kind of snapshot into the psyche. To be sure, it takes the stimulus to provoke the response, but does that imply some kind of central change in the character?

    Tremendous supporting roles are brought to life through vivid performances by Keitel and Foster especially. Shepard's character, Betsy, is little more than a foil to highlight Travis's utter alienation from society, but she is still impeccably portrayed. With only two scenes that don't center on Travis, it is unavoidably De Niro's show. The life with which the supporting cast imbues their characters is a credit to themselves, and to the director's willingness to let the film develop from the intersection of diverse ideas and approaches. What would the plot lose by eliminating the Albert Brooks character (Tom)? Nothing at all. He makes almost no impact on Travis's life, which is where the plot lives. But his inclusion makes the film as a whole much richer and fuller.

    ''You get a job. You become the job.''

    What makes the film even better is De Niro showing the type of form that makes his recent form such a major disappointment. He is outstanding as he moves Travis from being relatively normal to being eaten up from the inside out. His eventual implosion is impressive but it is only as impressive as the gradual slide he depicts over the course of the film. Although he dominates it, others impress as well. Foster stands out in a small role, while Keitel makes a good impression as the pimp. Shepherd is not quite as good but her character was not as well written as the others so it isn't all down to her. Regardless, the film belongs to De Niro and although the quotable scenes are the ones that are remembered it is in the quieter moments where he excels and shows genuine talent and understanding.

    Overall an impressive and morally depressing film that deserves its place in cinematic history. The portrayal of a city and a man slipping into moral insanity is convincing and engaging and it shows how well anyone can spiral into modern madness and the effects of a moral void in certain or all levels of Western society. Scorsese directs as a master craftsman, despite this being at an early stage in his career and De Niro is chillingly effective as he simply dominates the film in quiet moments and quotable moments alike.
    Vietnam war veteran Travis Bickle is a lonely, lonely man and I cannot stress this point enough. His mind travels through sleepless nights , but he then takes a job as a taxi driver in New York City. As DeNiro's Travis drives around at night as Bernard Herrmann's beautiful and subtle score plays, you can't help but just stare and gaze at the wonderful cinematography which puts you in the spot as if you are there.

    ''I think someone should just take this city and just... just flush it down the fuckin' toilet.''

    A true milestone and blessing for 70s American Cinema. In essence, one of the greatest achievements ever put into Modern Cinema, a modern Classic. Martin Scorsese's direction is just absolutely superb, he makes it unique and wonderful. Herrmann's score, in which he shortly died after completing the score is by far, one of the best. He was passionate and let his soul pour out here. Paul Schrader's career-defining script is just widely unique and fantastic. So many memorable quotes, incredibly unforgettable. From "You talking' to me?" to "Taking me to a place like this is about as exciting as saying to me "Let's f*ck." Said to be semi-autobiographical of Schrader (paranoia, obsession and porn), Schrader sang his whole heart out as he wrote this masterful creation.

    Disturbing, dark, subtle... So many words to describe the wonderfulness that is of Taxi Driver. Beautiful music, the amazing cinematography that makes you feel as if you are there. The acting from our leading man, Robert DeNiro is honest, compelling, dangerous and wonderfully structured. This movie will change your life. Scorsese's masterpiece. Incredibly thought-provoking. As we ground upon the final act, Taxi Driver just leaves you standing still...

    ''Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man.''
  • fredriksenn1990
    November 26, 2008
    fredriksenn1990
    Scorsese's masterpiece. DeNiro at his best.
  • Arlecchino
    November 23, 2008
    Arlecchino
    Fantastic music! and fantastic acting from Robert de Niro.
  • richardksbaer
    November 23, 2008
    richardksbaer
    I don't love this as much as everyone else, but it makes for good viewing.
  • hypathio7
    November 20, 2008
    hypathio7
    nominated for best picture at the oscars
  • Robbanflix
    November 15, 2008
    Robbanflix
    Martin Scorsese have made quite a few good movies over the years and with a actor like De Niro i had to see this old classic flick. I actually thought it would be more thriller crime than it really was. Its more a drama and rather slow but its an enjoyable moment to watch and wel...( read more)l made in a high level. Overall a movie worth to see.
  • catbox9
    November 14, 2008
    catbox9
    Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver tells the story of a New York City taxi driver. The film begins with him applying to become a taxi driver and the rest of the film deals with his life as a taxi driver. For the most part, this film is rather slow-moving. Overall, I found the plot to ...( read more)be decent. The exploration of the protagonist's psyche could be tedious at times, but it was still worthwhile.

    The protagonist in this film is played by Robert De Niro. De Niro plays a rather complex character and he plays his character fairly well. The character is rather dynamic going from a seemingly normal person early in the film to someone who appears insane by the film's end. De Niro was probably the best thing this film had.

    Overall, I was not particularly impressed by this film. While the ending was reasonably exciting and leaves plenty of room for interpretation, the events leading up to the ending weren't particularly interesting to me. Having the film's main character become more and more insane as a film progresses is hardly anything new and I'm not sure this film did anything groundbreaking in that regards. The ending was rather violent for 1976's standards, but that alone doesn't guarantee a good film. This review notwithstanding, this film tends to be fairly well-regarded so it is probably worth seeing.

    70/100
    C-

    UP NEXT: To be determined.
  • pt016
    November 12, 2008
    pt016
    Travis Bickle is one of the greatest anti-heroes in film history. An outsider with no rules.
  • rtmother
    November 12, 2008
    rtmother
    In this writer's opinion, this is easily one of the best American films ever made. The collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro is a constant reminder that there is no limit to what an actor and a director can accomplish together. Paul Schraders' script is a textbook example ...( read more)of good writing; in it the audience can find a man searching for himself in a world that he feels confused, paranoid, and reactive to his surroundings. In the end, he ultimately makes the attempt to do good and help a young girl off the streets by attacking the pimps and gangsters who rule her life. Possibly one of the most terrifying scenes ever filmed is the sequence of Travis Bickles stumbling up the staircase with a maimed gangster trying to stop him.
  • violawil
    November 9, 2008
    violawil
    Barbara "nickle & dimed" Ehrenreich is featured in this musical excerpt from The American Ruling Class, a "dramatic-documentary-musical" starring Harper's Magazine editor emeritus Lewis Lapham.
    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gDgFiW2xtf0&feature=related

    The full length trailer fo...( read more)r the movie The American Ruling Class.
    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=tCc6qOsmxW4&feature=related

    Source for film:
    http://www.alivemindmedia.com/films/the-american-ruling-class/
  • mh1285
    November 8, 2008
    mh1285
    Scorsese-De Niro strikes it again!!
  • sweetiefrances
    November 4, 2008
    sweetiefrances
    i didnt expect this to turn out good. it was worth to watch.
  • didjuan
    October 28, 2008
    didjuan
    find me my taxi driver!!!
  • nickg329
    October 28, 2008
    nickg329
    Brilliant character study by Scorsese. How the hell did this not win any Oscars?
  • firstsonxb
    October 27, 2008
    firstsonxb
    very cool movie. the blood was intense though. very interesting to watch though.
  • laVenrose
    October 20, 2008
    laVenrose
    On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.


    Rated: (R)

    Directed by: Martin Scorsese

    Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense

    Starring: Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster
    ...( read more)

    taxi driver Pictures, Images and Photos


    THE MOVIE OUTLINE

    "New York City cab driver Travis Bickle constantly, almost obsessively, reflects on the ugly corruption of life around him, and becomes increasingly disturbed over his own loneliness and alienation. In nearly every phase of his life, Bickle remains a complete outsider, failing to make emotional contact with anyone. Unable to sleep night after night, Travis haunts the local pornography emporiums to find diversion, and begins desperately thinking about an escape from his depressing existence. "


    taxi driver Pictures, Images and Photos



    MY APPRAISAL


    A CLASSIC CINEMATIC ACHIEVEMENT

    A story of one man's soul, trapped in his own mind hell are always fascinating. A stunning performance from Robert DeNiro in his early age and Jodie Foster completely deserved her Oscar nomination. Don't say you love movies without ever witnessing this first Scorsese's masterpiece.

    Taxi Driver is disturbing, haunting, and a mind-blowing work of genius.

    taxi driver Pictures, Images and Photos


    "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK. "
  • horcrux
    October 19, 2008
    horcrux
    I heard it wasn't so good, but it's like a cult classic!
  • StarCrossedVoyager
    October 19, 2008
    StarCrossedVoyager
    At first it was really boring and not much going on. But when you look into it deeper there is a lot going on, to do with the characters. Great twist near the end though that's what made this movie.
  • cathy47
    October 18, 2008
    cathy47
    This movie was just straight up weird nonsense but it was good. I seriously had no clue where this was headed at all. His gun obsession was maddening =P
  • scratonspeed
    October 13, 2008
    scratonspeed
    A character study that is aptly directed, but feels a bit disconnected. DeNiro is fascinating, and a very young Foster is chillingly convincing.
  • thegodthatfailedbn
    October 9, 2008
    thegodthatfailedbn
    Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man.
  • KLFilmmaker
    October 8, 2008
    KLFilmmaker
    One of the best films of the 70's. Solidified Scorsese's reputation as one of the best directors of his generation.
  • tichel13
    October 6, 2008
    tichel13
    "Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?" yes I am talking to you go watch this movie
  • zachclairville
    October 5, 2008
    zachclairville
    I don't get what all the praise is about on this one. It's ploddingly slow, bogged down by thick, forced mood, and eventually ends up nowhere.
  • Bader1985
    October 4, 2008
    Bader1985
    "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"
  • engrymfilm
    September 30, 2008
    engrymfilm
    One of my all time favorites. One of the few films I knew nothing about when watching and it had such an impact.
  • hunnybear3354
    September 30, 2008
    hunnybear3354
    Loved Robert D. in this one. Jodie pulled in a great performance!
  • willieclancy
    September 28, 2008
    willieclancy
    De Niro and Scorsese at there best.A classic film you just have to love.The ending was unbelievable.
  • LeBunsen
    September 28, 2008
    LeBunsen
    "Taxi Driver" shouldn't be taken as a New York film; it's not about a city but about the weathers of a man's soul, and out of all New York he selects just those elements that feed and reinforce his obsessions. The man is Travis Bickle, ex-Marine, veteran of Vietnam, composer of d...( read more)utiful anniversary notes to his parents, taxi driver, killer. The movie rarely strays very far from the personal, highly subjective way in which he sees the city and lets it wound him.

    It's a place, first of all, populated with women he cannot have: Unobtainable blondwomen who might find him attractive for a moment, who might join him for a cup of coffee, but who eventually will have to shake their heads and sigh, "Oh, Travis!" because they find him ... well, he's going crazy, but the word they use is "strange."
    And then, even more cruelly, the city seems filled with men who can have these women -- men ranging from cloddish political hacks to street-corner pimps who, nevertheless, have in common the mysterious ability to approach a woman without getting everything wrong.

    Travis could in theory look for fares anywhere in the city, but he's constantly drawn back to 42nd Street, to Times Square and the whores, street freaks, and porno houses. It's here that an ugly kind of sex comes closest to the surface -- the sex of buying, selling, and using people. Travis isn't into that, he hates it, but Times Square feeds his anger. His sexual frustration is channeled into a hatred for the creeps he obsessively observes. He tries to break the cycle -- or maybe he just sets himself up to fail again.

    He sees a beautiful blonde working in the storefront office of a presidential candidate. She goes out with him a couple of times, but the second time he takes her to a hard-core film and she walks out in disgust and won't have any more to do with him. All the same, he calls her for another date, and it's here that we get close to the heart of the movie. The director, Martin Scorsese, gives us a shot of Travis on a pay telephone -- and then, as the girl is turning him down, the camera slowly dollies to the right and looks down a long, empty hallway. Pauline Kael's review called this shot -- which calls attention to itself -- a lapse during which Scorsese was maybe borrowing from Antonioni. Scorsese calls this shot the most important one in the film.
    Why? Because, he says, it's as if we can't bear to watch Travis feel the pain of being rejected. This is interesting, because later, when Travis goes on a killing rampage, the camera goes so far as to adopt slow motion so we can see the horror in greater detail.

    That Scorsese finds the rejection more painful than the murders is fascinating, because it helps to explain Travis Bickle, and perhaps it goes some way toward explaining one kind of urban violence. Travis has been shut out so systematically, so often, from a piece of the action that eventually he has to hit back somehow.

    "Taxi Driver" is a brilliant nightmare and like all nightmares it doesn't tell us half of what we want to know. We're not told where Travis comes from, what his specific problems are, whether his ugly scar came from Vietnam -- because this isn't a case study, but a portrait of some days in his life. There's a moment at a political rally when Travis, in dark glasses, smiles in a strange way that reminds us of those photos of Bremer just before he shot Wallace. The moment tells us nothing, and everything: We don't know the specifics of Travis's complaint, but in a chilling way we know what we need to know of him. The film's a masterpiece of suggestive characterization; Scorsese's style selects details that evoke emotions, and that's the effect he wants. The performances are odd and compelling: He goes for moments from his actors, rather than slowly developed characters. It's as if the required emotions were written in the margins of their scripts: Give me anger, fear, dread.

    Robert De Niro, as Travis Bickle, is as good as Brando at suggesting emotions even while veiling them from us (and in many of his close-ups, Scorsese uses almost subliminal slow motion to draw out the revelations). Cybill Shepherd, as the blond goddess, is correctly cast, for once, as a glacier slowly receding toward humanity. And there's Jodie Foster, chillingly cast as a twelve-year-old prostitute whom Travis wants to "save." Harvey Keitel, a veteran of all of Scorsese's films (he was the violent maniac in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") is the pimp who controls her, and he's got the right kind of toughness that's all bluff.

    These people are seen almost in flashes, as if darkness threatens to close over them altogether. "Taxi Driver" is a hell, from the opening shot of a cab emerging from stygian clouds of steam to the climactic killing scene in which the camera finally looks straight down. Scorsese wanted to look away from Travis's rejection; we almost want to look away from his life. But he's there, all right, and he's suffering.
  • Ivan6655321
    September 26, 2008
    Ivan6655321
    The Greatest film ever made. Scorsese and DeNiro's best film. A very realistic film showing a man's descent into madness. DeNiro couldn't get much better than this one.
  • surfaceartstudios
    September 22, 2008
    surfaceartstudios
    One of Scorsese's best films and by far one of the greatest films to ever come out of the decadent 1970s.
    A very effective and disturbing portrait of what urban decay and unbearable loneliness can do to a fragile mind.
    Most critics see Travis Bickle (DeNiro) as some psycho...( read more) on the prowl and granted he does have his problems but deep down he is just a tortured soul begging to be understood he sees the young prostitute (then 12 year old Jodie Foster) as an extension of himself which forces his hand into action as he tries to save her from the hell that she's mired herself in. He also tries to reach out towards a woman hes attracted to (Cybil Sheppard) but fails miserably when their vastly different worlds collide.
    Fantastic acting performances all around including Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and Albert Brooks in rather small but very effective roles.
    New York City, the Checker cab, and Bernard Herrman's haunting score (his last before his death) are supporting characters themselves that help bring this brilliantly directed film to life.
  • g0disd3ad
    September 20, 2008
    g0disd3ad
    Classic, if you haven't seen it, see it
    DeNiro's amazing, and so is Scorsese
  • simplymj
    September 20, 2008
    simplymj

    On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.




    Directed by : Martin Scorsese
    Genres : Drama, Mystery & Suspense
    Released : February 8, 1976
    Casts
    ...( read more): Robert De Niro,Cybill Shepherd,Jodie Foster,Harvey Keitel,Albert Brooks









    TAXI DRIVER HAS OFFICIALLY PROVEN THAT OSCAR IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS MOVIE!








    Taxi Driver took a tragic look inside a man's lonesome heart,and what man capable of doing in most depressing situation.Travis Bickle,is a lonely,impotent,insomniac Taxi Driver in New York City,whose pains,loneliness,rejection is translated into this utterly disturbing,paranoia movie.




    Taxi Driver,is a nightmare for everyone that is,evokes all the emotion brilliantly into it's masterpiece camera work,and it's marvelous acting,from the heartwarming opening scene to the climactic shooting scenes,which brilliantly shot from above.









    Scorsese,wants the audience to feel all the darkness this movie exudes,and it didn't fail a second.Every second of this movie is a strike hit,dark,creep,and thrilling.






    As for me,Taxi Driver is the most powerful and controversial movie in the history of American Cinema,and triumphant for it's archievement in filmmaking and gritty realism.











    All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me."




    Travis Bickle
  • flugendorf
    September 19, 2008
    flugendorf
    This has to be experienced, can't really be described: an atmospheric guided tour of a lonely man's descent toward violent madness.

Summary

Taxi Driver Summary