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Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver (1976)

tomatometer

98

Average Rating: 8.9/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 59 | Rotten: 1

A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best.

90

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 1

A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best.

audience

93

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 207,339

My Rating

Movie Info

"All the animals come out at night" -- and one of them is a cabby about to snap. In Martin Scorsese's classic 1970s drama, insomniac ex-Marine Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) works the nightshift, driving his cab throughout decaying mid-'70s New York City, wishing for a "real rain" to wash the "scum" off the neon-lit streets. Chronically alone, Travis cannot connect with anyone, not even with such other cabbies as blowhard Wizard (Peter Boyle). He becomes infatuated with vapid blonde presidential

R, 1 hr. 52 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Paul Schrader

Jun 15, 1999

Columbia Pictures

Cast

All Critics (61) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (67) | Rotten (1) | DVD (27)

Like Werner Herzog's Aguirre or Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver is auteurist psychodrama.

March 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

[Scorsese] seems to need scripts with well-designed humor and performers with the spirit of Ellen Burstyn to compensate for what seems to be a fundamentally depressed view of life and the belief that sobriety is the equivalent of seriousness.

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comments (98)
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Martin Scorsese's history-making scald is truly a phenomenon from another day and age. Which is to say, imagine a like-minded film of this decade killing at the box office and getting nommed for Best Picture.

January 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You may want to argue with Taxi Driver at the end, and with good reason, but it won't be a waste of time.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a powerful film and a terrific showcase for the versatility of star Robert De Niro

February 13, 2001 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The heart and soul of Taxi Driver are twisted in a way that can't be faked or copied.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Taxi Driver is a brilliant study of alienation, obsession, paranoia and perverse desire. There's an undeniable power and grittiness that very few films have come close to capturing since.

July 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Cinema Autopsy | Comment
Cinema Autopsy

Scorsese's masterpiece of urban alienation...

May 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

A haunting, visceral trip through the mind of a man on the edge of his own sanity.

May 16, 2011 Full Review Source: IGN DVD | Comment
IGN DVD

Only Raging Bull features a better performance from Robert De Niro.

May 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment
Guardian [UK]

Melodramatic as it often is, the film is a riveting watch and De Niro provides a character study it is impossible to forget.

May 13, 2011 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment
This is London

The bustling helter-skelter of Scorsese's Mean Streets gives way to a measured, chilly calm, and cinematographer Michael Chapman ensures the Big Apple glistens with barely concealed menace.

May 12, 2011 Full Review Source: Radio Times | Comment
Radio Times

Bickle is complex, intriguing and never one-note.

May 10, 2011 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

A high-water mark of American cinema gets its due treatment on this luxurious disc. No respectable collection should go without it.

April 9, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Hitchcockian unease permeates the film, but so too does a Godardian use of space and a Bressonian focus on obsession heighten the mounting sense of dread.

March 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

This DVD Limited Collector Edition of Scorsese's 1976 masterpiece contains many bonus features, such as docu about the making of the film, analysis of themes of alientaion and loneliness, interviews with Scorsese, star De Niro and writer Paul Schrader

March 12, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Portrait of a very disturbed man; NOT for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

... a portrait in psychosis and dislocation with a protagonist whose racism and intolerance becomes his excuse to unleash his anger in a violent spree under the guise of heroism.

December 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online | Comment
Turner Classic Movies Online

Writer Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese made names for themselves with this exquisitely crafted window into the contemporary male psyche. Taxi Driver seems aimless, taking as many u-turns and detours as a cabby does in the night. But it's

November 4, 2009 Full Review Source: AskMen.com | Comment

Martin Scorsese's masterly Taxi Driver both encapsulates and transcends its times.

February 12, 2008 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

If you haven't seen Taxi Driver, your education in film hasn't even begun.

February 12, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comments (7)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Taxi Driver

Martin Scorsese's eerily disturbing, greatly thought provoking and entirely unrestrained jewel; Taxi Driver, is one of the most powerful character study drama's in film history. "Someday a real rain will come and wash this scum off the streets". That's my favourite line from the film and also among the best i've

April 29, 2012
Directors Cat
Directors Cat

Super Reviewer

An absolute captivating movie. "Taxi Driver" is an incredibly complex, dark, psychological character study of a mentally unstable man. Robert De Niro is the character. He is absolutely mesmerizing and entertaining to watch on screen. This is filmmaking at its finest. For those that have not seen it, I highly recommend

March 3, 2011
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

    1. Travis Bickle: Someday a rain will come and wipe this scum off the streets.
    – Submitted by Directors C (7 days ago)
    1. Sport: Well, take it or leave it. If you want to save yourself some money, don't fuck her. Cause you'll be back here every night for some more. Man, she's twelve and a half years old. You never had no pussy like that. You can do anything you want with her. You can cum on her, fuck her in the mouth, fuck her in the ass, cum on her face, man. She get your cock so hard she'll make it explode. But no rough stuff, all right?
    – Submitted by Eduardo T (2 months ago)
    1. Travis Bickle: I first saw her at Palantine Campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway. She was wearing a white dress. She appeared like an angel. Out of this filthy mess, she is alone. They... cannot... touch... her.
    – Submitted by Filipe M (2 months ago)
    1. Travis Bickle: Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up.
    – Submitted by Filipe M (2 months ago)
    1. Concession Girl: Death to sex.
    – Submitted by Leon H (3 months ago)

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