Taxi Driver (DVD)

...exchange for raw independent films. Taxi Driver was one of the independent films that marked the beginning of this era. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is an ex-army veteran who spends most of his time wandering aimlessly around New York. When he gets a job as a taxi driver, he goes to the most dangerous parts of the city, witnessing first hand the sleaze of the New York underworld. He becomes obsessive and idealistic, his loneliness feeding his hate, ...
...part in "cleaning" the streets. Taxi Driver is a film whose story meanders, following the exploits of Travis more than keeping to a specific plot. It revolves around Travis' solitude, and how he thrives on the environment around him despite hating it. We witness his obsessions go from porno films, to a woman, to guns, gradually watching his lifestyle radically change, but whether for good or for bad remains to be seen. Taxi Driver is dominated by ...

harlequin21 04.02.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...one of my favourite films. Taxi Driver. THE CINEMA EXPERIENCE What is it about going to the cinema that I like so much? According to some people my wife included, cinema going is a very antisocial experience. You turn up sit in silence, can't speak to each other, can't stop the film and go and make a cup of tea or go to the toilet without missing some of the film, on the face of it not a great night out. However this is missing the point, watching ...
...Schrader Taxi Driver was made in 1976 when I was just 12 years old and as it was an 18 (or X as they used to say in those halcyon days!) certificate I wasn't able to see it until a few years later. I eventually saw it at the local cinema in 1980, I remember this well because it was the first X rated film I went to see, the local cinema was very lax about letting in under age viewers and since I was reasonably tall for 16 and could ask for my ticket ...

Mauri 15.07.2002 (07.03.2006) · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...occasions while cruising in his taxi he comes across a very young prostitute, (Jodie Foster) and he develops a fixation with freeing her from the clutches of her pimp Michael, (Harvey Keitel) and returning her to her home town and her parents. It is a little hard to picture Harvey Keitel as a hippy pimp, complete with shoulder length hair and bandana, but he carries off the part to perfection. The film gradually builds to an extremely bloody and ...
...disturb some viewers even today with its ferocity and scenes of graphic violence, that leave little to the imagination. ~ ~ There are many other golden moments and scenes to savour in this fascinating movie, which I still rate as one of the very best that Martin Scorcese ever directed. There is a scene where De Niro’s character Bickle hires the illicit services of Foster in order to get close enough to talk to her, and where she is intent ...

the_mad_cabbie 24.04.2001 (21.10.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...Scorcese and Robert De Niro. Taxi Driver won the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and received award nominations left right and centre after its release. It is a deeply disturbing study of a Vietnam veteran's decent into madness after having returned from the war and seeing nothing but scum around him on the streets. THIS is what he fought for? He is an insomniac and spends the night driving his taxi around the filth ridden streets of ...
...of its harshness and depravity. Taxi Driver is a deeply paranoid view of modern day life, aided and abetted by Bernard Hermann's most menacing score since Psycho and dark, grainy cinematography coupled with De Niro's superb performance. We watch fascinated and terrified as he slowly becomes increasingly alienated before finally snapping in the final much maligned scene which Scorcese still claims is a cleansing ritual which exonerates De Niro's character...rather ...

wampyrii 28.06.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...Ford's The Searchers, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver tells the tale of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in an iconic, legendary, career-defining performance), a Vietnam veteran serving as a night-shift cabbie on the streets of New York City. An unhinged, socially inept loner, Travis, having been rejected by the woman he has fallen in love - or lust - with, attempts first to assassinate the presidential candidate for whom said woman was working, and then ...
...and Scorsese's own Mean Streets, Taxi Driver helped to cement in the public imagination the image of New York as a dangerous, sin-sodden, nocturnal netherworld populated primarily by pimps, hustlers, hookers, gangsters and psychos. In stark contrast to the New York envisioned by, say, Woody Allen, these films presented a bleak, postmodern inferno of corruption and depravity, a place with no heroes, only twisted simulacrums of such, where the populace ...

DavidJay 10.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...behind the wheel of his taxi which itself becomes a character in the picture. He contemplates the vision of violent justice handled with a shotgun. He buys a whole arsenal of fire arms on the street, just as a kid would buy sweets behind their parents' back. He keeps a morbid diary and contemplates in the mirror his deviant image of power, wearing his guns as extensions of his body and tormented mind. It is this scene which produced arguably the ...
...scene as one of Bickle's taxi passengers (a stalker determined to kill his unfaithful girlfriend) further contributing to the dark, full-blooded atmosphere of the film. His direction is defining. But, as I suggested in the beginning, "Taxi Driver" is not best remembered for its subject and direction, but for Robert de Niro's performance. In it, the actor purely and simply redefines acting: he doesn't play a character incredibly well, but IS that ...

C_C_Ryder 24.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...impersonations in the following decades. Taxi Driver is an important film seen as a classic to many and rightly so but why? The story sees Travis Bickle (De Niro), a lonely man with a touch of insomnia. He drives a Taxi Cab on the streets of New York for hours on end but mainly at night. He sees the dirt and grime of the city and the same dirt walking the streets in the shape of pimps, hookers, and adultery..... This affects him deeply and soon it ...
...it's dirty element. Taxi Driver gets under your skin for so many reasons. Above all else it features a performance from one of the best screen actors of the past few decades. De Niro is intense, scary yet vulnerable. You understand why he does what he does, he's the anti-hero and you want him to succeed. Of course there are moments of genius such as the conversation with himself in the mirror. He dominates the film but each of the supporting cast ...

utero 28.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...from society by driving a taxi on the graveyard shift. A series of events conspire against him while throwing him into contact with Jodie Foster's teenage prostitute. The pressure builds until everything gets on top of him and the scene is set for what is probably one of cinema's top ten climax's.(No crude comments please) De Niro is genuinely frightening, and totally realistic as he portrays a man whose grip on the real world is failing, and whose ...
...lines - "You talkin' to me?" will still be uttered by would be hard me for years to come.The film's depiction of violence was ahead of it's time in it's gritty realism. The result is that you cannot help but be stunned by de Niro's performance. The supporting cast are also very strong, with good work by Cybill Shepherd and the ever reliable Harvey Keitel. Basically there are no bad actors in this film. Filmed in 1976 this masterpiece was a generation ...

colinlivingstone 08.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

Taxi Driver tells the story of Travis Bickle, who, through sexual angst and living in a society more keen to give retribution rather than forgiveness, turns into an American madman/hero. I’m warning you that what is about to come up is a long and detailed exploration of Taxi Driver’s denouement. The extract begins with Iris and Sport kissing in the Brothel. If you are unfamiliar with Taxi Driver then it is inadvisable for you to read ...
...the expressionist film making in Taxi Driver as his surroundings show his newfound clarity of thought. The mise-en-scene marks it as different as he wears a bright white shirt, instead of his chequered one, and there are flowers in the background. Stylistically it differs with the mise-en-shot with a slow zoom outwards. The lighting has also greatly differed, as his apartment looks bright, without the dankness that expressed Travis earlier. This ...

toastfuf 02.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

Taxi Driver is the fascinating story about an alienated young insomniac who works as a night time taxi driver to earn small amounts of money, and over time builds up an endless hatred for the occupants of New York's ghetto. The taxi driver, played by Robert De Niro is portayed a quite a violent person, but also someone who feels deeply attracted to a young woman working for the local senator. In a bid to become closer to her, he builds up a political ...
...the local hero. Taxi Driver is a very interesting film, with lots of social messages and perspectives to think about. I believe that this film is one you can marvel at for it's genious, yet also one that you can be disgusted by because of the way in which the driver tackles the so-called "scum". Clearly the people metioned as "scum" are the sleazier of characters, yet they shouldn't really be dealt with my using means as primative as their own. Should ...

tadosborne 22.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER was released in 1976 and for me, like millions of film buffs, is the greatest film ever made, elevated above every character study since through its fevered, paranoid, stark and unforgettable imagery of one man's vision of hell on earth, an entirely plausible New York. Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle is a "cabbie" by night, insomniac by day. With long drawn-out nights looking through his windshield at New York's famous ...
...over the ultimate merits of TAXI DRIVER due to, in my opinion, their wholly short-sighted interpretation of the hallucinatory climatic bloodbath, which Scorsese claimed to be a "positive, cleansing ritual that redeems Travis´ character". Be that as it may, with the great Bernard Herrmann's last eerie score before he died, now a classic, Michael Chapman's grainy cinematography, Paul Schrader's endlessly fascinating script and Robert De Niro's truly ...

Charles_Strickland 22.09.2006 (28.07.2007) · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

This 1976 film is the perfect example of the real aftermath of the Vietnam War, as Travis Bickle (De Niro) struggles to adapt to life within social convention. Set in the cultural hotpot of 1970's New York it deals with the decline of a man so disaffected that he begins to slip through the very fabric of society. One of the most striking elements of the film, and one which immediately grabs your attention, is the Music score. The sleazy edge, interspersed ...
...of a sleepless world, where Bickle meets a diverse mix of humanity. Despite this he still cannot manage to connect with any of them. There are some truly great scenes. The mirror sequence has been repeated so many times that it is surprising to realise just how understated it actually is. Bickles experiences with the opposite sex are insightful, with his inability to form a relationship with Cybil Shepperds' secretary, and his bizarre sense of loyalty ...

mabaker 13.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

I first saw Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver when I was about 18, that was a long time ago, and this haunting and dangerous movie is still imprinted on my mind. Taxi Driver is the story of a mixed-up unhappy Vietnam Vet, Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro. Unable to sleep, and without work, Travis takes a job as an all-night New York cabbie, more to divert the demons that torment his mind through the small hours. Scorsese, expert in character ...
...I have probably seen Taxi Driver 20 times, and its power never lessens on me. There is a great supporting cast, including ex-monk Peter Boyle as cynical old Hack 'Wizard', and Albert Brooks, as mild-mannered and witty campaign worker Tom. Look out too for Scorsese doing a Hitchcock, and appearing in cameo roles at various key points along the way. With a haunting score by Bernard Herrman, who died just after the movie's release, asnd brilliant cinematography, ...

henryhallandhisdog 16.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

...gets the job of the taxi driver. In the NYC, which probably speaks for itself. He tries to set some close relationships with the other people but usually fails. He meets a 13 years old prostitute and that causes his greatest rage against this cruel world. Which is really seems cruel at times what is perfectly shown in the “Taxi Driver”. And watching such films you just try to guess: are these stories true or is it all just a bit of exaggeration and ...
...description may seem quite basic but that’s what I’m talking about – any retelling of the plot may reveal just another ordinary story. Hundreds of them happen everyday around us. Well, actually, I’m ready to admit that this is not fair regarding to the action movies/thrillers. Like if someone of you watched films such as “Sleepy Hollow” you’d probably agree that even simple retelling of their scaring plots is enough to impress most of the people ...

EVVV 21.09.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)

One of the great things about this film is how contemporary it still feels, if it wasn't for the youthful skin of the big name cast this could easily be mistaken for a modern urban drama. Scorsese has many tricks up his sleeves and his experiments pay off in a skillfully directed film. The camera maintains a feeling of awkwardness and claustrophobia. One of the key shots of the film is a headache tablet dissolving in a glass of water symbolizing ...
...revelation, he brings the right level of humanity and sympathy to this loner who is slowly allowing his demons to take over. He is ably supported by the cast, if Cybill Shepherd is maybe a little too lightweight as the love interest, Foster and Keitel more than make up for it. Foster's charm and control shows a skill beyond her years and Keitel is clearly having fun as the slimy pimp. For me, Keitel's performance is one of the all time most under-rated ...

Syklone 16.08.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Taxi Driver (DVD)