You've got to have been in a coma for the past 30 years not to have seen this movie. Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, the "troubled" cab driver is awesome and scary. Jodie Foster (Iris) is alarmingly sexy, Cybill Shepherd (Betsy) is dreamy, and Harvey Keitel (Sport) is the evil pimp. The big shoot-out towards the end of the film is an unforgettable "classic." Tension-building direction from Martin Scorsese. Robert De Niro - The Best.

Bad acting, lame story and very poor execution. It could have been good if carried out right but it moves too slowly. The dialogue doesn't make much sense and it's like Martin was just killing film time by having the actors talk slowly so they had less to write. Nothing brilliant about this film, 1/5

Martin Scorsese, the writer/director of the Taxi Driver, has admitted that this film is the cathartic result of a bevy of dark thoughts that surrounded his mind during a very low period of his life. By the time the credits finally make their merciful way on screen, we can see exactly what Scorsese saw during those days and the residual effect it has on us, the viewers, will likely stay hauntingly familiar long after we have watched the conclusion of this film.

PLOT:

Tavis Bickle, a taxi driver and volunteer for a New York City political campaign, has tried it all. He's attempted doing things the right way, treating people with kindness and women with respect. Nevertheless, he is ignored and his chivalrous advances continually stepped upon or altogether discarded by one person after another. It is when Tavis realizes that he will forever be average and overlooked that he decides to make drastic changes in his world. Almost at once he begins driving the most dangerous portions of New York in his taxi, scouring the nighttime landscape with his mind cultivating a solution to his own personal, dark problems. Soon, his decision becomes conclusive: he will become a vigilante, and his first offering to the world will be in aiding a young teenaged prostitute by providing her a way out, no matter what it may cost Tavis personally in the process.

Perhaps Scorsese's most poignant film, The Taxi Driver offers a bleak, but somehow refreshing, alternative to the concept of "taking it lying down." Here, in his vision, there is another solution, and one in which while many of us fantasize about, almost all of us refuse to make a reality.

4.5 out of 5

This is the main observation of Travis Bickle, rookie NYC cab driver who has recently returned from active duty in the Viet Nam war. He cruises the mean and scummy skid row streets on the midnight shift, loathing the locals while he steals from his employer by "doing it off the meter".

Played by Robert De Niro (in what must be his twenties), Travis exudes all the makings of a spring wound too tight and ready to explode into a million pieces. Obvious signs of post traumatic stress including dependence on drugs and alcohol, inability to relate to "normal" people back in the USA, combined with a repulsion of those "night animal people" he services with his taxi, latent racist tendencies, and an underlying contempt for authority and the society who seemed indifferent to the war or those in it create a character who is a walking time bomb with many potential targets to choose from to vent his rage. It is a rage that simmers just beneath the surface and is never physically visible to those around him.



"She appeared like an angel out of this filthy mess."

Travis's first sighting of Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) was nicely photographed in slow motion. He finds a way to meet and charm her into having lunch with him. He asks her to a movie, she agrees and he now has an opportunity to have a relationship with a smart and beautiful woman. But on his way to the date the music is somber and we see Travis plodding slowly toward what we know will be a doomed encounter. The only world to Travis is fifty square blocks of seedy, dirty, crime infested neighborhoods including the local porno theatre where (to Betsy's horror) Travis takes her for their movie date. He thought it would be okay because "lots of couples go there". He wasn't trying to be salacious; he just didn't know any better. She leaves abruptly. Across the street from the porno theatre is a regular movie house showing regular movies.

He sends her flowers numerous times, phones to ask forgiveness and another date. This scene is probably the most pivotal and one of the best scenes in the movie. As he is going down in flames and it is too painful to watch, the camera mercifully and slowly pans away, focusing on the busy street outside as we can still hear the one way conversation. After he hangs up the phone his infatuation with Betsy is immediately over and he feels she has now become "cold and distant" and is "just like all the others."

The director, Martin Scorsese, makes a cameo appearance as an unhappy and creepy fare that is stalking his cheating wife and plans to kill her for her infidelity. A young Peter Boyle has a small role as "Wizard" the street wise career cab driver who tries to console Travis with guidance and life philosophy when Travis (in his time of grief over losing Betsy) says to Wizard he wants to go out and "do bad things".



"He called you a little piece of chicken."

As Travis descends into madness, he once again encounters a child prostitute named "Easy", real name Iris, (played by a very young Jodie Foster) being used and exploited by a punk, street thug pimp (played by a very young Harvey Keitel). He tries to convince her that he will rescue her from her sordid life style. She is not interested.

At the same time Travis plots to kill the Presidential candidate (that Betsy was working for). The fact that she jilted him seems the only reason he wants to do that. After a bizarre conversation between Travis and a secret service agent at a supporter rally followed by a failed assination attempt, he escapes into the crowd. Once back at home he begins to feel that his real purpose in life at this time is to rescue Iris from the clutches of the scum he detests even if she is unwilling.

He illegally purchases many weapons, shaves his head into a Mohawk and sets out to administer justice, punishment, and do the "right thing" because "here is a man who stood up and wouldn't take it anymore".

The ending was not unexpected but did have some surprising and thought provoking twists. The soundtrack is haunting and the cinematography is terrific. Overly bright neon lights sometimes seen through a rain washed windshield or cruising the grungy, seedy, skid row streets that show the color of blood brighter than anything is a tribute to Scorsese's ability to put us right in it.


I have to agree with the American Film Institute that this is one of the best 100 films ever made. I think it is De Niro's best work followed by Goodfellas (also directed by Scorsese).

I can definetely see why this movie is considered a classic. It is both powerful and disturbing. And completely memorable.
I havent made up my mind whether the ending is fantasy or reality and I do see a strong case for both, however I am leaning towards reality because I feel they wouldnt have panned the wall of his still oh-so-cheap apartment with the newspaper clippings and the letter. It would have been more dream-like. But who knows, lol. Perhaps it was left a bit ambiguous to produce discussion.

If someone did this in real-life the ending would be an institution for the criminally insane (probably for life), although many would regard the person as a hero IF the actual story came out accurately (thats a big if). And who says insane people dont ever become heroes :)

Im glad I watched it although I found it to be very hard to watch as I feel it was almost too real. With the meth and crack plague in America the portrayal of the young girl was a bit too close to home for me. Which is why this movie doesnt even feel as though it has aged a bit. In fact I am guessing it will remain relevant for many, many generations. It really is a classic.