Taxi Driver

Name: Taxi Driver
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: February 7, 1976
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 94
Cast: Albert Brooks, Cybill Shepherd, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Garth Avery

1976

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 23 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 736 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 736 Ratings

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Taxi Driver

Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: February 7, 1976

Starring: Albert Brooks, Cybill Shepherd, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Garth Avery, Gino Ardito, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle, Robert De Niro, Victor Argo

Summary: Scorsese’s 1976 masterpiece is the all-too-real story of a psychotic New York cabby who is driven to violence in an attempt to rescue a teenage prostitute. [Sony]

Director: Martin Scorsese

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 114 min

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Awards & Rankings

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Total Film - Jamie Graham

Watch this 4K restoration of Scorsese’s ’76 masterpiece, its colours a seeping virus, and marvel that he originally planned to shoot on black-and-white video. Read full review

100

Empire - William Thomas

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. Read full review

100

CineVue - John Bleasdale

Scorsese’s direction always keeps us uncomfortably close to Travis’ subjectivity, whether we’re prowling night time Manhattan or gazing into a glass of Alka-Seltzer until the whole world disappears into the healing hiss. Read full review

100

Washington Post - Desson Thomson

It hasn't aged so much as triumphantly metastasized. [20th Anniversary Release] Read full review

100

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

The film can be seen as a series of his failed attempts to connect, every one of them hopelessly wrong.... This utter aloneness is at the center of Taxi Driver, one of the best and most powerful of all films, and perhaps it is why so many people connect with it even though Travis Bickle would seem to be the most alienating of movie heroes. We have all felt as alone as Travis. Most of us are better at dealing with it. [20th Anniversary Release] Read full review

100

Village Voice - J. Hoberman

Taxi Driver was a powerfully summarizing work. It synthesized noir, neorealist, and New Wave stylistics; it assimilated Hollywood’s recent vigilante cycle, drafting then-déclassé blaxploitation in the service of a presumed tell-it-like-it-is naturalism that, predicated on a frank, unrelenting representation of racism, violence, and misogyny, was even more racist, violent, and misogynist than it allowed. [35th Anniversary Release] Read full review

Time - Richard Schickel

The movie has an air of recent discovery, of shocked innocence about the tawdry quality of city life that is gratingly naive. The film goes most disastrously wrong when it tries to turn slice-of-life realism into full-scale melodrama. Read full review

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User Reviews

TheWalrus2000

Mar 9, 2013

On my list for one of the best films ever, Taxi Driver is by far Scorsese's best direction ever.

6 of 8 users found this helpful62

Iky009

Nov 30, 2016

A film not to be missed by movie lovers, Martin Scorsese 's masterpiece is just as compelling as it is convincing with Robert De Niro in one of his best roles

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Sorry15

Aug 17, 2012

,,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,,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

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

PaulM.

Mar 20, 2008

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 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

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Sindri

Feb 18, 2011

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 aClassic 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

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Swati

Oct 31, 2013

A very comprehensive character study. The transformation of Travis from a low-life into a vigilante is portrayed with extreme detail. The character development was believable and entertaining. The acting was top notch in De Niro's case. Cybil Shepherd played a subtle, soft-hearted campaignA very comprehensive character study. The transformation of Travis from a low-life into a vigilante is portrayed with extreme detail. The character development was believable and entertaining. The acting was top notch in De Niro's case. Cybil Shepherd played a subtle, soft-hearted campaign worker for a presidential candidate. Jodie Foster delivered a surprisingly engaging performance, and showed great promise at such a tender age. De Niro carried the momentum by himself for much of the movie. The pacing was brilliant and was just right to get the balance between plot, character development, and action right.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

dimaclay

Jan 1, 2018

I am starting to see a trend in movie reviews that mimic's restaurant reviews. I would call that trend "by the industry and for the industry". I am sure this movie broke a lot of new ground, but the story was disjointed and didn't really flow at all. Restaurant's seem to do the same thing.I am starting to see a trend in movie reviews that mimic's restaurant reviews. I would call that trend "by the industry and for the industry". I am sure this movie broke a lot of new ground, but the story was disjointed and didn't really flow at all. Restaurant's seem to do the same thing. Food might be inventive with a bunch of flower petals artfully arranged on it will get stunning reviews by critics when everyday eaters might not see the advantage. This movie just had a feel of a collection of 'What would a functional psycho do?' stories. I have seen a lot of classic movies that I do like, so it isn't just that I hate older movies. This movie suffers from a severe case of overrated just like Citizen Kane.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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