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Reviews
STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable 5 Stars
Excellent 4 Stars
Good 3 Stars
Poor 2 Stars
Tragic 1 Star

FILM DETAILS
Certificate
18
Cast
Robert De Niro
Cybill Shepherd
Jodie Foster
Harvey Keitel.
Directors
Martin Scorsese.
Screenwriters
Paul Schrader.
Running Time
114 minutes

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Taxi Driver
Scorsese's Big bad apple


Plot
Travis Bickle drives cabs all night. He can't sleep. But what he sees whilst cruising the NY city streets he finds so disgusting that it drives him to a climactic moment of violence, which some may deem equally disgusting.

Review
Taxi Driver
Many years have passed since nutjob cab driver Travis Bickle (De Niro) first washed the scum off the street, and the intervening years have done little to diminish his power to unnerve and rivet.

Bickle's odyssey, which sees him date a blonde angel (Shepherd) and save a kid hooker (an astonishing Foster), remains filmmaking at its most electric a tight, darkly funny Paul Schrader script, allied with Scorseses directorial fireworks and anchored by a wired De Niro working at the top of his game.

Bickle's yellow box cruising New York (this is the underbelly of the Big Apple that gives Woody Allen nightmares), Scorsese's backseat cameo, Bickle trying on guns, Bernard Herrmans brooding soundtrack, the OTT bloodbath at the finish - everything in this movie gets under your skin and stays with you like fever.


Verdict
The blend of Schrader's script, Scorsese's direction and De Niro's performance is both riveting and unnerving. A film that will stay with you forever.


Reviewed by


Related Reviews
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BFI Classics: Taxi Driver
 

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Taxi Driver
Empire Star Rating

All the Animals Come Out At Night...

Although Martin Scorsese has had his fair share of masterpieces (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Casino...) since this seminal 70s classic, Taxi Driver is the most cinematic, raw, powerful cityscape distubia examination of his long-standing career and even now hits like a bullet between the eyes. Groundbreaking for its time, nowadays it should be seen in an entirely different way, less for the shock value and outside influences, more for the astounding aesthetics, hardhitting, nihilistic ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by twinpeaks4eva at 13:30, 09 March 2012 | Report This Post


Gripping

I was completely engrossed in the plot of this one. The way it creates tension through Travis's dark character becoming obsessed with trying to help the world. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Hydrola at 14:33, 05 July 2011 | Report This Post


Taxi Driver The first time that I watched it was about 6 or 7 years ago when I bought the dvd. After all the rave reviews I read and knew that the film had the status of classic, I was a bit dissapointed afterwards. There was something about it that didn`t make it click for me. Now, so many years later, I gained quite some film experience and with the release of the US blu-ray it was time to revisit the film. This time when the credits passed on the screen I finally got where that status an... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by TheGodfather at 22:26, 11 April 2011 | Report This Post


Gritty And Unforgettable

Startling and powerful in a way that words can't describe, Taxi Driver is a landmark piece of cinema that needs little introduction other than two names: Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by blaud at 15:46, 15 February 2011 | Report This Post


A Masterpiece

Taxi Driver is definitely a masterpiece in the art of cinema, with probably the best performance I have ever seen from Robert DeNiro. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by dahughesy at 11:36, 09 January 2011 | Report This Post


A Masterpiece

Taxi Driver is one of the best Scorsese films ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by shady_88 at 14:45, 15 August 2010 | Report This Post


Great Movie ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by freshBELAIR at 23:01, 25 July 2010 | Report This Post


You talkin' to me?

Scorsese's masterful foray into the mind of a psychopath retains its brutality and stylism with each repeat viewing ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by TheNapalmKid at 10:35, 04 October 2009 | Report This Post


You talkin' to me?

Scorsese's masterful foray into the mind of a psychopath retains its brutality and stylism with each repeat viewing ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by TheNapalmKid at 10:35, 04 October 2009 | Report This Post


Just Watch It.

Its a masterpiece. Its iconic. It has one of the world's greatest lines in it. And De Niro's performance is unforgettable ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by MovieAddict247 at 15:44, 06 June 2009 | Report This Post


A true masterpiece! A dark psychodrama with a stunning performance from De Niro who truely lives the part! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Kyuzo at 15:12, 24 May 2009 | Report This Post


THE GREATEST PSYCHODRAMA EVER MADE. DE NIRO IS AWESOME, THE SCREENPLAY IS AWESOME, THE WHOLE PREMISE OF THE FILM IS AWESOME. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by WiseGuy101 at 04:12, 05 February 2009 | Report This Post


:) ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jomo999 at 23:34, 16 January 2009 | Report This Post


:) ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jomo999 at 23:34, 16 January 2009 | Report This Post


3 diddy paragraphs is all empire can spare for this masterpiece. am i the only one who is starting to think reviewers are getting lazy? ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jomo999 at 23:33, 16 January 2009 | Report This Post


3 diddy paragraphs is all empire can spare for this masterpiece. am i the only one who is starting to think reviewers are getting lazy? ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jomo999 at 23:33, 16 January 2009 | Report This Post


couldn't agree more with everyone here *may contain spoilers

I mean its not just s film you see on tv, or at the cinema and then after a while, you forget. Its one of those films that stays with you, i do have to atmit the begining is a bit slow, but when *Spoilers* he looses his mind and goes to the brothel, and the shoot-out happens, you can understand why he is so sickened by pimps, drug dealers (ect) a masterpiece from M.Scorsese Better than Mean streets. 4.5/5 ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by JaCkT794 at 23:31, 27 September 2008 | Report This Post


couldn't agree more with everyone here *may contain spoilers

I mean its not just s film you see on tv, or at the cinema and then after a while, you forget. Its one of those films that stays with you, i do have to atmit the begining is a bit slow, but when *Spoilers* he looses his mind and goes to the brothel, and the shoot-out happens, you can understand why he is so sickened by pimps, drug dealers (ect) a masterpiece from M.Scorsese Better than Mean streets. 4.5/5 ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by JaCkT794 at 23:31, 27 September 2008 | Report This Post


A brilliant film and depiction of slow development towards insanity. Unlike the aviator, Scorcese gets right into his protaganist. Although Travis does descend into madness, the viewer can relate to his problems and state of mind. Travis isn't helped by his life of isolation nor by terrible advice with cabbie, wizard. "Go out an get laid." The editing and mise en scene are stunning this movie is perfect and it should never have lost to Rocky. Scorcese is undoubtedly the greatest ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Ace Rothstein at 15:44, 10 September 2008 | Report This Post


To my shame, I hadn't seen 'Taxi Driver' until now. I had high expectations of it -- with it being a Scorsese directed Classic 'n' all -- and luckily it really did turn out to be a masterpiece. Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle is a saddening but fascinating character and Scorsese's portrait of a broken man driven to the edge truly mesmerizes. I know the rest of the world already knew all that, but now I know too! "You talkin' to me?" ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by 1der at 18:57, 29 April 2008 | Report This Post


Cinema doesn't get much better

From the greatest director of all time comes his most darkly beautiful and acomplished film. A flat out masterpiece. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jamdodge1 at 18:20, 12 November 2007 | Report This Post


a mate of mine saw it for the first time not long ago and thought it was rubbish - you just carnt please some people. de niro is awsome ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by bobbyperu at 16:20, 22 October 2007 | Report This Post


Unique

During the film i felt slightly confused yet strangely drawn in by the almost mundaneness of the film (Although it is far from mundane), and only afterwards did it sink in. This.Movie.Is.Genius. Empire's totally right, this will stay with you forever. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by kerz at 21:38, 08 October 2007 | Report This Post


Good.

Heavily Character plotted, as a film; good, but just doens't do it for me like Casino, Departed or Goodfellas. A bit plodded in the centre, plot takes shape at the end, all in the life of a cabbie really. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by indysid at 00:17, 15 September 2007 | Report This Post


RE: Taxi Driver

Great Film, prefer goodfellas and Casino though. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by shool at 14:15, 03 September 2007 | Report This Post


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