Taxi Driver (1976)

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writer:

Paul Schrader (written by)

Release Date:

8 February 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.

Plot:

A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Prostitute | Loner | Insomnia | Pimp

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert De Niro	...	Travis Bickle (as Robert DeNiro)
Jodie Foster	...	Iris
Cybill Shepherd	...	Betsy
Harvey Keitel	...	Matthew 'Sport' Higgins
Leonard Harris	...	Charles Palantine
Peter Boyle	...	Wizard
Albert Brooks	...	Tom
Diahnne Abbott	...	Concession Girl
Frank Adu	...	Angry Black Man
Gino Ardito	...	Policeman at Rally
Victor Argo	...	Melio (as Vic Argo)
Garth Avery	...	Iris' Friend
Harry Cohn	...	Cabbie in Bellmore
Copper Cunningham	...	Hooker in Cab
Brenda Dickson	...	Soap Opera Woman

Also Known As:

Runtime:

113 min | Spain:110 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (re-release) | Stereo

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | South Africa:16LV | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Spain:13 (re-rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 (re-rating) | France:-16 (original rating) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Israel:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) (cut) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (1993) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:R (Approved No. 24441)

Filming Locations:

13 St between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Various studios considered producing this film; one suggested Neil Diamond for the lead role.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The black market gun dealer misidentifies the .380 Astra Constable in his case as a Walther PPK - however, this could easily be a mistake on his part or a deliberate misrepresentation with his sales pitch, given that the guns are extremely similar, and the Walther PPK name was and is much better-known. He tells Travis the Walther PPK .380 replaced the P-38 as the standard German military sidearm in WW2. That is incorrect; the P-38 (a full size pistol) replaced the P-08 (Luger) as the standard military sidearm. The PPK was a compact pistol for use by police (hence the PP in the name, Polizeipistole) and undercover/personal protection use, not as a combat sidearm.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[phone rings loudly]
Personnel Officer:Harry, answer that.
Personnel Officer:So whaddya want to hack for, Bickle?
Travis Bickle:I can't sleep nights.
Personnel Officer:There's porno theaters for that.
Travis Bickle:Yeah, I know, I tried that.
Personnel Officer:So now what do you do?
Travis Bickle:I ride around most nights - subways, buses - but you know, if I'm gonna do that I might as well get paid for it.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

LATE FOR THE SKY

Live it and lose it

Scorsese's best. Not too many hyper-critical reviews of this film have anything near as intelligent to say about what the director and the screenwriter had in mind when they created this American gem.

To those people that have seen it and thought it was "slow" or the pacing was sub par, they don't know what they're talking about; "Taxi Driver" is about the gradual and eventual take-over of insanity, and not about violence, action-shoot-'em-up 'slash' car chase... or whatever they expected from it. The modern audience today is expecting everything--comedy, drama, unbearable suspense, spfx--all rolled-up into one-stop entertainment... and no, I'm not anybody's grandfather, or here to tell you that movies were great in my day, but, viewers, lighten up already.

De Niro, and the rest of the cast, do a serviceable job in this micro-cosmic window into the life of Travis Bickle--a Vietnam vet--who, true, writes mind-numbing entries in his diary, leads a, for the most part, dull existance as a cabbie, and strikes out with a female political campaigner who, after Travis becomes a hero, discovers she is indeed attracted to unstable, sometimes violent chauffeurs.

The rest of this movie's story is for the less initiated viewer; decide whether you've truly become desensitized to sexual and violent content in today's films... Ah, forget it! You have to have lived at least some of which goes on in "Taxi Driver," or you've just been plain lucky in this life so far.