One of the Greatest Movies ever

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2004)

There are some fine film actors outthere but standing above all of them is Robert De Niro and this is one of his finest acting performances. The character he played Travis Bickle was recently voted the greatest anti-hero of all time and anyone who has ever watched Taxi-Driver would have to agree with that.
De Niro gives a masterful performance as Travis Bickle a Vietnam veteran who is a loner and is slowly going mad. Through De Niro's performance we can watch him going mad as he drives his taxi through all the scum of New York. He chooses to work at night where the worst of New York can be seen.
Travis Bickle gets himself armed to the teeth and you know its only a matter of time before he explodes. He shots dead a punk trying to raid his local store and the owner is grateful to him. His character shows genuine concern for Jodie Foster's character who is only 12 and a prostitute. It seems she wants help but is trapped in a world of pimps and junkies. Travis Bickle takes it on himself to take them all on with very bloody results.
This is a truly classic film and probably one of the best De Niro-Actor Scorese-Director collabrations. Scorese evens has a cameo in the film.
De Niro didn't win an Oscar for his performance in this film amazingly enough though he was up against Jack Nicholson's performance in One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. In fact De Niro has only ever won two Oscars but his performances in Film's over the years should have netted him at least 10. Taxi driver was made 29 years ago but hasn't dated and is still relevant today. I would love to see a sequel of Taxi Driver and see what happened to Travis Bickle. The DVD is really good, the extras include a 70 minute documentary where all the main characters talk about the film. It is rare for De Niro to give interviews but he does here and he is clearly proud of this film. The only disappointment is there is no Directors Commentary. Hopefully one day they will rectify this and Both Scorses an De Niro can get together to to do a commentary for this film.