Taxi Driver... one of the best De Niro movies.

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2014)

Xmas has just been and this was the movie I was most looking to finally watching. I go this on Blu Ray and sat down with my girlfriend to see this classic I had heard so much about.
Straight away I related to Travis (De Niro), quiet guy, keeps to himself, works hard and he doesn't like what he sees around him. The amount of 'scum' which exist in this world is scary at times and you either do something about it or you don't, Travis as a Taxi Driver sees this on a daily basis, you can see how it bothers him however he can keep a lid on his temper (for a while).
Loneliness is a big part of this movie, Travis explains the hours he works and that would be a nightmare for most people, but not for Travis. He has nobody to see, he has nobody he has to take time out of his day just so he can spend a day or night with. The first attempt he makes at doing this is with Betsy and to his joy it goes well for a couple of dates, but then she leaves him confused, angry and worst of all alone. The scene where Travis decides to purchase weapons and take action is one of my favourites, this is the decisive scene on which Travis decides he's got nothing to lose.
Well to summarise this is right behind Goodfellas for my favourite Scorsese movie, the journey was hard and gritty, you could really feel how Travis felt and then other times you had no idea how he was portraying the events he was seeing. The shootout at the end was brutal and gory, a satisfying ending to the life of the scum which Travis had taken out, but not as satisfying as knowing that Travis would live to fight another day. The hard truth though is what he did was great, but there is thousands more of guys out there like that and there is just no way of fully stopping them. As for De Niro's performance it was a 10/10, he was Travis Bickle that man was as real as you and I. The scene where he pretends to shoot himself as he's bleeding out just shows you what loneliness, depression, society had done to him. Perfectly directed, a tough, rough showing and also a very nicely played cameo from Scorsese as the mad passenger who told Travis about his plans to kill his wife.