Taxi Driver (re-release)
User Score
8.7 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 189 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 174 out of 189
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 189
  3. Negative: 5 out of 189

Review this movie

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. ag10
    Apr 28, 2013
    8
    Although personally, this wasn't my favourite Scorsese movie, Taxi Driver manages to tell a story with little flaws in a superb way way. The last 20 minutes made the movie. It was a genius approach to a story and very entertaining although I believe that some of the scenes were not developed as much as they had to, or were not necessary at all. Overall, great movie!
  2. TheWalrus2000
    Mar 9, 2013
    10
    On my list for one of the best films ever, Taxi Driver is by far Scorsese's best direction ever.
  3. cameronmorewood
    Nov 7, 2012
    10
    Taxi Driver will always be one of the greatest films of all time. It is the first movie in history to ever flawlessly show the disintegration of the human mind. It is an expert character study and Scorsese's masterpiece.
  4. Dollis
    Oct 16, 2012
    10
    Taxi Driver is one of my favorite movie's and the others movies i like is The Godfather (1972) . Carrie (1976). Scarface (1983). GoodFellas (1990) . Raging Bull (1980) .Casino (1995) there masterpiece movies.
  5. barnet42
    Oct 15, 2012
    10
    Quite possibly seven movies I can call a masterpiece Taxi Driver (1976). Carrie (1976). The Silence of the Lambs (1991) . 12 Angry Men (1957). To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) . Scarface (1983). Seven (1995) .
  6. JohnnyOla96
    Sep 19, 2012
    10
    This is Probably One Of Martin Scorsese's Best Film Ever, I would Recommend It To Every Body, Robert De Niro's Best Performance And It Won The Palme D'or At The Cannes Film Festival In 1976.
  7. theahsanhaseeb
    Aug 23, 2012
    10
    When you see Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in a single banner, you always see film-making at an entirely different level. Most of the people haven't been able to understand the true meaning of this film and that's the sole reason they don't like it. I can clearly say that it is one of the greatest films Martin Scorsese has ever made. The direction, the screenplay and the cinematography are very well done. And yes, you can expect a little biasness from me as I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers.… Expand
  8. Sorry15
    Aug 17, 2012
    10
    ,,Taxi Driver'' is one of Martin Scorsese's masterpieces, a must-see of cinematography, elevated, popular and highly appreciated movie. Scorsese presents a thrilling look over mid 70's New York, through the windshield of Travis's cab. The blurred lights, strong contrasts, steaming sewers, wet streets, moving frames creates a powerful image and gives notorious look to this movie. The picture created in ,,Taxi Driver'' become representative and gives a powerful, visual, artistical side to the movie. Travis Bickle is the main character, a taxi driver, veteran of Vietnam War, who takes any taxiing in New York, night or day, with no discrimination (,,It's the same for me''), an outsider to society (,,Loneliness has followed me my whole life'') and life, with no direction to go on, surely affected by the war, a time bomb and a very psychological complex character. ,,Taxi Driver'' is seen through the eyes of taxi driver, Travis, the vision over the city, the insights, the action, all belonging to him. Being psychological complex, Scorsese analyses Travis in broad and comprehensive areas, using the action at which he takes part, dialogues and also monologues of great intensity and moral attitude. De Niro's performance is outstanding, one of the greatest in his career, he gives life to a complex character with an amazing performance. The soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann completes the movie, all the other aspects of it being well-supported by this. The deep contrasts, sleazy sounds, music of saxophone, distressing atmosphere, dreaming state, the resonant power of the main theme elevate this soundtrack to an artistic peak and completes the distressing image of New York in Scorsese's vision. After Travis, the next point as relevance, is the image of New York. Scorsese creates a symbol in representation of New York from multiple points of view, the city is mastery presented through Travis's vision, directing vision and artistic vision (both visual and acoustic). From all the ,,scum'', depraved, vicious social categories to one, complex, lonely, moral character, from a distressing image to the cry of saxophone, from an outstanding direction to art, Scorsese combines all 4 major elements of this movie (the character, the visual, the acoustic, the direction) into an artistic, social and psychological lyric.… Expand
  9. AlvaradoKTA
    Jun 7, 2012
    9
    Taxi Driver has the best scrip I have ever seen be directed in film.De Niro portrays a taxi driver who's out to clean the dirty streets of New York. It is very well directed , I mean c'mon it was done freaking Scorsese. The supporting actors do an amazing job especially young Jodie Foster who plays a 12-year-old prostitute.
  10. moviebuff_420
    May 12, 2012
    10
    This psychological drama thriller is hard-hitting as well as one of the best movies.I liked all the characters and the climax was the highlight of the movie.
    There are so many possibilities for Climax but i interpret as a Dream sequence in which Travis Bickle is fantasizing in his comma that how healthy he is now in the society and with Betsy.
    Travis fights mobsters and Pimps just to save     a little girl, Iris stuck in hell-like-world ,Jodie Foster is too good in movie.
    As Albert Brooks debut was short but it was effective and proved to be useful for his further career,I liked him too.
    This movie is hard to forget as with such a great Storyline,Direction, and timeless Acting.
    So the Verdict,An all time classic and Martin Scorcese's masterpiece with Robert De Niro at his best.    … Expand
  11. cabrita
    Mar 19, 2012
    10
    This is Scorcese's second best film next to goodfellas. It is an unbelievable film with excellent camerawork, excellent acting from deniro and this leads to an excellent film.
  12. NightwingNoVA
    Dec 12, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An unjustifiably celebrated movie. Scorsese directs well enough. The actors are good (especially Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel). The gritty NY cinematography might have been awesome back in 1976 but nowadays we get a steady dose from Law & Order and other TV shows/movies. But, the plot is insufficient. There is no psychological insight into the protagonist/villain - nothing that tells us who he is and why he is driven to assassinate a presidential candidate. Worse and undeniably devastating to the film, the ending is absurd and morally silly and bankrupt. The protagonist fails to kill the presidential candidate so he runs off and "redeems" himself by rescuing a teenage prostitute and kills her pimp.

    For this, our "hero" is now the city's hero and he seems to go on happily living his life. No wonder John Hinckley, jr. got the wrong idea.    … Expand
  13. j30
    Nov 13, 2011
    10
    In my top 5 and my favorite Scorsese movie. The undertones and under lying themes are intense and thought-provoking. It's also one of Robert De Niro's best performances.
  14. Justinavery7074
    Oct 7, 2011
    10
    Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute. I have to take a few breaths and appluad like mad at the brilliance that this film unravels. It's captivating as **** the acting is completely magnificent, the directing and editing have nearly reached the height of their capabilites.
  15. grandpajoe6191
    Sep 29, 2011
    9
    "Taxi Driver", with "Raging Bull", is THE true American crime movie i'm talking about. Martin Scorsese presents the true countenance of the cinema of crime with powerful characters and jazzy music. Stars Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster also skillfully handled the movie with appealing performances in the movie too (De Niro HAD to get a **** Oscar!!). Its a movie where you watch it and become spellbound by the sheer epicness of the film.… Expand
  16. codfather96
    May 3, 2011
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A disturbing look into Travis's life and even glimpses into our own. It is hard to put a film like this into a category but it could go into horror genre in many ways as this is a nightmare to Travis but more so the people who he meets as there lives are either changed by him for better or worse with Travis's fate left hanging in a very thought provoking ending.… Expand
  17. Sindri
    Feb 18, 2011
    9
    Classic psychological drama - The Palme d'Or wiener from 1976 is a realistic depiction of a paranoid bachelor who lives in the shadow of himself and in the shadow of a condemnable society. Travis Bickle is a disillusioned Vietnam-veteran who lives in Manhattan and works at nights driving a taxi in New York City, a town he thinks is infested by animals and scum who should be terminated. He lives alone, has no friends and only talks to his colleagues at the cafeteria where they often hang out, but when he one night meets twelve year old Iris, a prostitute and runaway, his less apparent charitable side is awakened, and he decides to do everything he can to get her away from the street life. Martin Scorsese inculcated his name in Cinema history with this metaphoric vision of a USA in the aftermath of the Vietnam war where chaos and anarchy ravages along steaming streets. At the center of the story stands Travis Bickle, a loner with sociopathic tendencies who carries evident marks from the Vietnam war. The pitiful creature who wanders around in an alienated and doomed society with illusions of greatness, a quality which saves him from becoming a defeatist, get's as supposed to most people witness the night life in the streets of New York so ingoing that he becomes demoralized by the repetitive deprivation he sees. Paul Schrader's misantrophical, socially critical and chronologically told screenplay is an urgent character study about one individuals compromising behavior and moral downfall. If Bickle is a disguised Christ figure as the ingenious ending implies, or a full-blooded sociopath seeking redemption, is left for the viewer to interpret. The only thing one can determine, which is also a reassurance, is that Travis Bickle is a fictional character, not a real person. "Taxi Driver" is told through Robert De Niro's voice-over, and the whole film is seen from Bickle's perspective. A melancholic and often demanding point of view to follow as one realizes, already after the awkward scene where he shocks and repulses the beautiful campaign assistant Betsy by taking her out on a date to see a pornographic movie, that he is a doomed character who has burned all his bridges before they where even built. Bickle is personified with sharp authenticity and emphatically authority by Robert De Niro, who was nominated for best actor in 1976. What is so masterful with Martin Scorsese's classic psychological drama is that the essential cinematic elements converges, reflects the main characters darkened soul and is compressed into an eminent compositions of style and form. Another brilliant aspect is Scorsese's balanced mix of genre, where he navigates within film-noir, horror and western. The minimal rays of hope in this metaphorical inferno of a film, occurs in the sporadic and liberating moments when Scorsese drags the viewer out of the main characters frenetic mind.… Expand
  18. pedrostrik
    Dec 5, 2010
    10
    one of best movies from holywood , losing only for goodfellas i hope they start to the actual movies as good as the 60's , 70's movies
  19. rollingstone82
    Aug 20, 2010
    10
    One of the most timeless and brilliant psychological dramas of all time.

    Thrillers movies have nowadays become overly overdone, formulaic, half-baked, and worst of all, predictable. Thrillers like The Fugitive are great entertainment because although serving no purpose, it never fails to keep its audience gripped and guessing. The best psychological thriller movies are those that make fic    tion look real rather than fiction look...well, fictional. That type really creeps you in 3D and you don't need any special specs. It is an entertainment that works on the mind. And that is scary because it is believable and relatable as well. And the greatest film of this genre is Taxi Driver, one of my favorite films of all time.

    Taxi Driver starts with Travis Bickle getting his license as a nighttime taxi driver. He claims to be an honorably discharged war veteran dealing with insomnia. During his shifts, he nastily comments on the dirty conditions of New York, namely the crimes that occur at night. He sets eyes on a beautiful woman (Cybill Shepherd) who is helping with a campaign that Senator Palpatine is running. He impresses her once but later disgusts her after taking her to an adult movie. Travis then discovers a 12-year-old whore named Easy who is controlled by her pimp, Sport. Travis, having had enough with the filth he has seen happening in New York, takes up a violent mission to "save" his girlfriend and rescue Easy.

    This album is not really about plot. The plot is the character itself. In other words, Taxi Driver is a character study. Here Martin Scorsese takes us into the world seen through Travis. Travis becomes our eyes and guide throughout the movie. He is the perspective that we find creepy yet pitiable. He is a lonely chump. He has no friends and can only contact his family through letters. He even lies to his parents that he is a government agent who cannot disclose his address to anyone as it would affect his secrecy. Why? He doesn't want his parents to find out about his poor-paying job and miserable life. And he himself isn't too nice. Often he looks with cold stares at blacks showing a racist attitude.

    Yet his character is the core of the film that keeps drawing us further in. He tells us that he hates what goes on in New York: the drug trafficking, murders, robberies, and prostitution. Yet despite that, at day he watches porno movies in the theater. Out of a lack of importance. He doesn't know anything worthy enough for him to do. He doesn't know what to achieve. He is not exactly a hypocrite but a person who longs for meaning in a life that seems hopeless and aimless.

    He sights Cybill and is drawn to her beauty and wants to have a relationship with her. But he doesn't know the workings of society. When she leaves the porno theater in disgust, we feel appalled yet sympathetic towards Travis. There is a scene in the film where Travis is shown trying to phone Cybill and the camera slowly goes away from Travis. Scorsese did this to make the audience feel as if they did not want to bear seeing Travis' pain because we have connected so tightly with him even though it is only almost halfway into the film. And later on, Travis tries to tell Easy to quit prostitution and go back to her family. While to us, Easy seems disinterested and quite content with her life with Sport, Travis insists because he has nothing better to do. He just wants to make his life worth something by doing a good deed. Similarly, when he talks with a secret service agent and Palpatine, he takes it as a regular conversation whereas we and the other characters smell something wrong. That is the mystery of his character that keeps us gripped, wanting to find out more. I won't say further. I have already given too much. Please, if you haven't, go see this film.    … Expand
  20. PaulM.
    Mar 20, 2008
    10
    Mind blowing and brutally brilliant work.This is essentially the film that singlehandedly got me into films.After I saw this hard hitting, chillingly atmospheric and gripping masterpiece I was forced to re asses what a motion picture really is. I had never seen anything that demanded and rewarded my attention in such a powerful and serious manner.Scorsese's direction is pure genius as is De Niro's psychotic and disturbing aura.The creepy score is immense in its feel and the evolotion of thought throughout is unrivalled. Darkly compelling and definitive stuff. This is without doubt a landmark in film making, underlined by one of THE partnerships in cinema history 'De Niro and Scorsese'. As effectively strong as a picture can be.… Expand
  21. JesusHChrist
    Sep 5, 2007
    9
    Brilliant film. Brilliant performances. Brilliant. But while not giving anything away, i thought the ending was a missed opportunity. They could have ended on something much darker and hardhitting, but instead went the opposite. Criminal decision!
  22. SimonM.
    Sep 3, 2007
    10
    A classic. If you liked this movie I recommend "Harsh Times" with Chris Bale and Fred Rodrigez.
  23. BlakeJ.
    Mar 11, 2007
    10
    Robert De Niro IS Travis Bickle. A must see for anyone who thinks they know anything about film.
  24. RichardF.
    Jan 26, 2007
    10
    Is there any doubt that this movie is one of the finest pieces of cinema ever unspooled anywhere? This is also the first time that Scorsese was screwed by the people who vote for Oscars.
  25. Mr.Hankey
    Apr 20, 2006
    10
    Brilliant and a bold statement of the film industry. The acting is superb by all cast members and the brilliance of Robert Deniro cannot be denied. The movie is original and deals with loneliness so well. The movie displays violence towards the scum of the world as Travis Bickle would say. [***SPOILERS***] He trys to help a 12 1/2 year old prostitute, Amazingly played by Jodie Foster. And all hell really just breaks loose. But you may find Travis as an anti hero because of the violence he uses to protect this girl. But all he wanted to do was show her the right way as many others would say be a Guardian Angel from God. Martin Scorcese did a fabulous job of directing and made a movie that has the most disturbing thematic material you could ever experience but in a way you have too.… Expand
  26. Rchak
    Jan 22, 2006
    10
    this is clearly scorsese's best film and de niro's 2nd best performance after Raging bull. This film disturbs because it actually points the finger to you.The taxi driver's problem is our problem. The society makes an arena of bloodbath to be unleashed one day, just like travis said, one day rain will come and remove all the scum.travis took the right path, but in the wrong way.He was more driven by his own desire of freedom rather than that of the teenage prostitute he was planning to save. It is easily comparable to the greats like the bicycle thief.… Collapse
  27. MarkD.
    Sep 14, 2005
    10
    Behind its time? Are you insane? This movie was light years ahead! Even today people are still hailing this movie as one of the greatest pieces of film of all time. It lives up to the hype in every way. Innovative camera angles and great acting make this film definitely one of the greatest.
  28. RonT.
    Feb 24, 2005
    10
    I rank it with Tarkovsky"s Andrei Rublev as the greatest movie I've ever seen.
  29. DaveC.
    Feb 18, 2005
    4
    Criminally overrated and vastly inferior to the electrifying Raging Bull and the ironic chic of King of Comedy. Taxi Driver was a film truely behind its time. De Niro does his best as usual but the laconic self-consciousness of the lead character harkens back to superior French New Wave films, this one just offers nothing new.
  30. JohnK.
    Jan 9, 2005
    10
    Brilliant...DeNiro's greatest role, one of Scorsese's best films.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
93 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    Perhaps the most formally ravishing-as well as the most morally and ideologically problematic-film ever directed by Martin Scorsese. (Review of Original Release).
    Read full review
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    A brilliant nightmare and like all nightmares it doesn't tell us half of what we want to know. (Review of Original Release)
    Read full review
  3. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    100
    One of Scorsese's most influential and disturbing films on the big screen. (Review twenty years after release).
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »