Each year I try to do a deep dive into a famous director - last year was Sam Raimi and the year before that was Alfred Hitchcock.
I figured what better way to celebrate what I dubbed the Summer of Scorsese and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON coming out in October than to watch every single feature film that arguably one of the greatest of all time directors has ever made. (New York Stories not included because he just did one section out of three in that film, and The Last Waltz and others like it because they are documentaries). Before this summer, I had seen Shutter Island, The Irishman, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, Taxi Driver, and GoodFellas. Everything else was a first time watch.
Below is my list ranking every Martin Scorsese picture and some brief notes on each:
25) Boxcar Bertha (1972) - ehhhhh! largely boring and uninspired. I've forgotten most of it already
24) The Age of Innocence (1993) - On paper, this has everything I was looking for in a Scorsese movie. I'm a sucker for period pieces and I love Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder, so what went wrong? I don't know why but something about this just didn't click for me. I understand why people would like this though and recognize i'm in the minority here.
23) Kundun (1997) - a pretty straightforward biopic about the Dalai Lama. It's perfectly fine, just not nearly as gripping as Marty's other works and mostly forgettable by the end
22) Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) - not bad for a first picture! It's pretty interesting to see some of Scorsese's standard directorial style on full display in his first ever feature film ever. Overall though, mostly okay.
21) The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) - Not for me really. Loved the performances and thought it was still pretty gripping, but I just didn't really care about most of this
20) Mean Streets (1973) - pretty solid! This is really where you get the sense Marty feels in control of his style and work. This is also the first of many collaborations with Robert De Niro
19) Hugo (2011) - first hour of this was a complete slog to get to, but I did really enjoy the back half once the film starts to feature more and more on George Melies.
18) Cape Fear (1991) - I've seen this a dozen times before in the form of the Simpsons episode with Sideshow Bob, so I was quite shocked to see that the episode was essentially a 1:1 recreation of this. This is pretty solid overall and has some pretty good sequences. The climax on the boat at the end is especially great
17) Silence (2016) - Pretty good! Andrew Garfield gives a gripping performance in this, and Adam Driver and Liam Neeson aren't too bad themselves. Production design and cinematography is especially top notch in this.
16) New York, New York (1977) - I actually really liked this one! I know it was panned critically and commercially when it came out so I was expecting it to be way worse. I thought De Niro and Liza Minelli played off each other pretty well in this and really liked the musical sections.
15) Gangs of New York (2002) - Feels like it loses steam in the final 30 minutes, but really like this nonetheless. Daniel Day Lewis is fantastic in his very memorable roll of Bill the Butcher. Production design, costuming, hair and makeup is all especially really good. It's funny how many characters wear some form of a large top hat in this
14) Raging Bull (1980) - maybe one of my hotter takes in this list to have it this low? It's good, but not great. De Niro is amazing in the role though, and the ending is great (very reminiscent of Boogie Nights)
13) Bringing Out the Dead (1999) - Nic Cage is fantastic in this. I keep wanting to call this movie AMBULANCE DRIVER.
12) The Aviator (2004) - Leo is really good in this. The Plane crash sequence is especially memorable, the way that was shot and edited was flawless
11) The Color of Money (1986) - Really good! Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are both excellent in this. It's so satisfying to watch people who are really good at what they do. Had no clue this was a sequel to a film Newman did in the 60's.
10) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) - definitely a bit of an odd one out in Scorsese's filmography, but man did I love this one. Ellen Burstyn is magnificent in the title role and her performance just feels so raw and real.
9) The King of Comedy (1982) - Crazy how much Joker just rips from this and Taxi Driver lol. Really good film, it's hard not to cringe at how bad Rupert is at taking feedback when they try to get him out of the lobby for the 87th time and the final act is pretty great
8) Casino (1995) - what an incredible year for De Niro between this and HEAT. Loved this though, anytime Pesci and De Niro are on screen together is a treat.
7) Shutter Island (2010) - i've seen this a few times now but nothing will ever beat that first time watching. The final act in this and the final scene between Leo and Ruffalo in this is amazing.
6) The Irishman (2019) - honestly sick of runtime discourse today, this movie rocks and 100% deserves it's 3.5 hour runtime. The final hour of the film is so fucking bleak and really elevates the film to be something truly special.
5) After Hours (1985) - this movie fucking rocks!! The protagonist in this is the most down horrendous I have ever seen a character in film. This is definitely a sleeper Marty film because nobody I know has seen this. I would liken this to the Safdie's GOOD TIME in a way where the main character just keeps continually making worse and worse decisions that spiral into a night of chaos. This one is also surprisingly really funny too!
4) The Departed (2006) - DiCaprio, Damon, Wahlberg, and Nicholson are an unmatched combo of lead actors in this. The score and soundtrack in this is great in particular. Ending blew my mind the first time I saw this and still does.
3) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - The Lemmons sequence alone should've gotten Leo the oscar. What a picture.
2) Taxi Driver (1976) - I liked this enough the first time I saw this 5 years ago, but absolutely LOVED the movie this time around. De Niro is just so captivating in the lead role, I was transfixed for the entire runtime and couldn't look away. Crazy to think this film would go on to inspire an assassination attempt against Reagan.
1) GoodFellas (1990) - what else is there to say? This film is absolutely flawless. You're hooked right from the opening narration until the credits roll. Pesci, DeNiro and Liotta in this all play off each other so well. One of my favorite parts is the one shot sequence where Hill and Karen go into the club at the beginning, i'm such a sucker for those.
Overall, would recommend 1- 15 to generally anyone, and 16 - 25 if you're really interested in finishing Marty's filmography! The only three films I would say I really didn't enjoy are 25 - 23, but besides that I was at least mildly entertained and could appreciate the rest.
Any takes you disagree with? Where am I off base? Let me know your thoughts and your favorite Scorsese picture below!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/167gpwi/i_watched_all_25_martin_scorsese_pictures_and/
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