A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action by attempting to liberate a presidential campaign worker and an underage prostitute.
Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City. As he suffers from insomnia, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night, watching porn movies at seedy cinemas during the day, or thinking about how the world, New York in particular, has deteriorated into a cesspool. He's a loner who has strong opinions about what is right and wrong with mankind. For him, the one bright spot in New York humanity is Betsy, a worker on the presidential nomination campaign of Senator Charles Palantine. He becomes obsessed with her. After an incident with her, he believes he has to do whatever he needs to make the world a better place in his opinion. One of his priorities is to be the savior for Iris, a twelve-year-old runaway and prostitute who he believes wants out of the profession and under the thumb of her pimp and lover Matthew.Written by
Huggo
Obvious discontinuity when one drives says to another he should have advised the two guys he drove to go to California. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
[a telephone rings loudly]
Personnel Officer:
[to the dispatcher]
Harry, answer that.
[to Travis]
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 what do you do now?
Travis Bickle:
Well, I ride around nights mostly... subways, buses... I figure, you know, if I'm gonna do that I might as well get paid for it.
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Crazy Credits
The original television version of the film featured the following disclaimer before the closing credits: "To our Television Audience: In the aftermath of violence, the distinction between hero and villain is sometimes a matter of interpretation or misinterpretation of facts. 'Taxi Driver' suggests that tragic errors can be made.- The Filmmakers." See more »
Alternate Versions
Original UK cinema and video versions suffered a very brief 1 second sound cut to the scene where Iris unzips Travis's fly in the bedroom. The BBFC finally restored this cut in 1993. See more »
We certainly have here one of Martin Scorsese's best and most striking films, one of Robert De Niro's best performances and one of the biggest Oscar wrongdoers of 1977, in which the film ran for four categories, including best film, but won none. . Certainly one of the things that stands out the most is the New York setting, the city is practically a character in the film, the soundtrack is also great, the direction of Scorsese needs no comments, and the feature has what is in my opinion the best character study in the history of cinema. Judie Foster also looks great in the film, showing that at just twelve years of age she was an excellent actress, and even received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Absolutely fantastic film in all aspects.
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We certainly have here one of Martin Scorsese's best and most striking films, one of Robert De Niro's best performances and one of the biggest Oscar wrongdoers of 1977, in which the film ran for four categories, including best film, but won none. . Certainly one of the things that stands out the most is the New York setting, the city is practically a character in the film, the soundtrack is also great, the direction of Scorsese needs no comments, and the feature has what is in my opinion the best character study in the history of cinema. Judie Foster also looks great in the film, showing that at just twelve years of age she was an excellent actress, and even received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Absolutely fantastic film in all aspects.