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People like Martin and Alan Moore (with his character of Rorschach) I think there's people that make media that doesn't actually say what they think it does or times change and the media takes on a new form based off the changed times. One of the two, because D-Fens from Falling Down is another example and Fight Club. They think they're (and that was their intention when writing) making cautionary tales of men NOT to become. We're SUPPOSE to see them as bad and insane, that was their intention, but that's not what actually happens in these films. Do the characters take things too far? YES, no doubt. ALL them go to EXTREMES thinking that's their own way to dal with their (retable) suffering in life. So while we can condemn their extreme actions, 100% don't condone it... NONE of these characters actually do anything evil. If anything, D-Fens/Tyler Durden/Travis Bickle are ACTUALLY anti-heroes lol. I don't care if that pisses people off, that's what the films ON THE SCREEN are lol. On paper they probably thought: "Oh yeah, everyone's gonna hate these guys." In practiced, the literally are anti-heroes lol. You're coping if you say otherwise lol. They might freak you out, I can get that, but tell me something EVIL they did... I'll wait, you can't. All you can point to is the extremes and even their actions in the extremes have noble motivations. Sure the Palatine assassination doesn't happen PURELY because Travis fails, but still doesn't change the fact that his mental illness was at least unleashed on a pimp trafficking young girls. Like it or not, Travis Bickle is an anti-hero lol. A mentally unstable anti-hero that might make your skin crawl, but an anti-hero none the less lol. Cry about it.
You guys (not just you, but let you know) are just normie loser shills. And then you're all still wondering "WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOUNG MEN!?" Lol. It's almost like any time we try to voice a grievance about life or daring or women, we're told either we're wrong/not trying/sexist etc. Yet I get here day and night about the sheer hatred women have for men before of the men they CHOOSE to fucking date lol. And I'm just suppose to be like: "Yes ma'am, I'm sorry about the man that wasn't me that merely lied about height or was awkward and know you have to hyperbole it to danger." Nah, fuck that and fuck anyone even trying to debate this shit with me.
Also your interpretations of this film and Joker are both wrong. They're actually BOTH say in the surface level normie shit you two believe. It's saying: DON'T be like that, but let us not ignore society CREATES these men by dismissing, belittling, ignoring them and most have little incentive to try in live anymore or really live... Soooo.... Be dismissive towards men's issues at your own risk because society IS on the edge of those men just losing it. Or maybe not since we're so sedated by porn, weed and drugs it'll just be a slow collapse as men abandon society. Which the latter IS in fact happening lol.
I found the moral of the story was that theres a thin line between being a hero through violence and being a vilan. That society should perhaps be caution in celebrating these acts. We felt justified in his slaughter of people we didn't like but that was the same impulse that would have made him a political assassin.
Exactly. There was plenty of talk about vigilantism back then, and movies about the same (Dirty Harry, Death Wish, etc.), so I think Scorsese was showing this fine line as a way of saying to his audience "Do you really want vigilantes? Is this really how we clean up this mess?" A kind of "Be careful what you wish for" sentiment. As much as we do feel for Travis, who is so clearly lonely and broken, probably by his service in Vietnam, I don't think we're ever meant to be totally on his side. It's a subtle and difficult line Scorsese walked at the end, and I can see why it might confuse modern audiences who are more sensitive to lone shooters, especially right-wing incels, a group to which now Travis appears to belong (yet wasn't on the radar back then).
@@DavidAntrobus its not just vigilantism I think its culture at large. The person you want next to you in the trenches may well be a psychopath, but because he's on your side you make him a hero, give him medals but what happens when they're back in society. It's not just violence either. You look at all these huge stars being canceled. And the truth is, to be a superstar the dedication and drive you need, there is a large chance they are not a good person.
19:25 Martin Scorsese has addressed this shot. I was curious about this too. He said it was his way of showing how pathetic the phone call was- even the camera didn’t want to watch.
@@salomaogomes7311 FACT: *Young men going more right wing* People like these two and comment section: *Pikachu surprise face* Same people anytime young men call out one-sided ideological injection in their media: "OMFG! SHUT UP YOU INCEL! MAYBE IF YOU SHUT UP, YOU'LL GET LAID! Also muh white male capitalist patriarchy privilege bigotry transhphobia ableism..." Young Men: "Are they fucking serious?"
I can't believe they didn't show the most vital shot in the film. When he ambiguously looks in the mirror at the end. I mean the double eye flash in the mirror. Not the one they showed. Has he changed?
@@thebillryan Like most of this film, it's over their heads. They wouldn't get it. Weird watching them try to cluelessly explain what they see to each other.
The ending IS the point. It's the fact that he gets away with it....the cynical 70's approach for an ending that confounds expectations and doesn't go for an uplifting result.
We wouldn’t be cool with Travis assassinating a POTUS candidate (whom Betsy looks up to), but we’re cool with Travis taking out pimps (whom Iris looks up to).
Being a taxi driver is like being an observer where no one will acknowledge that you even exist and it makes you feel lonely seeing how happy and normal people's lives are when you're just struggling to be alive. Having driven Lyft, I can relate.
Travis has a significant thought disorder, compounded by PTSD. He is only intermittently connected to events and people around him. The unsatisfying ending is Travis's ongoing experience. It doesn't resolve satisfactorily for the audience because his story doesn't resolve. You don't understand his motives or actions because they are not understandable. The entire ending of the film makes sense as delusional experience not placed in reality.
I saw an interview with Jodie Foster recently in which she said at age 12 1/2, when she shot this film, she had more onset experience than De Niro and Scorsese combined.
I feel like a lot of people forget that Times Square was considered the Red Light District, especially back in the 70s and 80s. If anyone is interested, watch the series The Deuce. It goes into depth about Times Square and the sex workers there and its written and created by the same guy who did The Wire.
Don't agree with the interpretation of the ending that it's a celebration of raging against a world that's wronged you. I don't think that's what the movie is trying to say at all. It's supposed to be a portrait of a man who is deteriorating mentally and is alienated from society due to PTSD. There isn't supposed to be a lesson, moral compass, or cautionary tale. It should be seen for what it is: a snapshot into his troubled life.
1:56 Albert Brooks' real name is Albert Einstein. His brother was Bob Einstein (RIP) aka Super Dave Osborne aka Marty Funkhouser in Curb Your Enthusiasm aka Larry Middleman in Arrested Development
The “You Talking to Me? I’m the Only One Here. Who TF Do You Think You’re Talking To?” was actually improvised by Robert De Niro. Also this movie garnered controversy at the time with the casting of Jodie Foster who was 12 during the filming and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan later on
The ending is supposed to be challenging, I think. An actually flawed anti-hero “winning” in the end. We want to see redeemable qualities in him, but they’re minimal.
@@hilarymiseroy But it's still the more interesting and more realistic way of looking at it. I definitely keep going with the theory for the end with the last few scenes being only thoughts in his head - either while in coma or while dying.
@@anunnacy Paul Schrader was asked in an interview about the dream ending and he said that it didn't bother him how people interpreted the ending but that was not what he intended. He also explained a lot more in the DVD commentary released for the films 25th anniversary in 2001.
@@anunnacyIt's definitely NOT the more interesting theory. It actually happened, and right at the ending Travis' circle starts all over again. The bomb starts to tick again. Scorcese and Schrader both literally talked about it.
i think youre missing the point of the ending a bit..........WE the audience know that travis is totally cracked and that he only took out Keitel and the "bad guys" because his original plan to assasinate the presidential candidate failed. its intended as a comment on the media that travis is held up as being some kind of hero when we ourselves know this isnt the case.
Idiots and not getting the point of Taxi Driver, name a better duo. Maybe idiots and not getting the point of Falling Down. or Whiplash. Or Breaking Bad.
Also none of you grasping that we don't live in the 70s anymore lol. In fact, there's even MORE of a logical reason for men to be acting like Travis than there was in the 70s lol. Also it's a kind of a misandrist view because Travis is lonely but even why he tries to talk to someone he's told: "Just do your job and you'll be okay." And that didn't work. TAHT'S what you're all STILL doing to men to speak and you don't like what they have to say because it either offends women or isn't politically correct lol.
The ending is meant to be ironic. Travis is hailed as a hero by the media for killing the pimp when if he had assassinated the politician as planned he would be reviled. In the end everything goes back to how it was in the beginning. The scene with Betsy is not literally a dream but intentionally made to feel that way to force the audience into buying into Travis’ delusions. But as he drives away he looks back in the mirror in disgust and the tone of the music turns dark and ominous to suggest that he’s still unhappy and unfulfilled despite everything because ultimately nothing has really changed.
I interpreted the ending differently. I think Scorcese/Schrader is saying because Travis redirected his violence away from Palantine and/or those working on his campaign and toward the pimp and the slimebag hotel owner, as a society we now see Travis in a heroic light. This is unfortunate. Instead, what we should be examining is what caused Travis to become unhinged in the first place. Remember when he looks into the cab rearview mirror real quick as he's driving away from Betsy in that last scene? Scorcese's telling us that this guy is still dangerous. Only because of that small change of the Secret Service guys foiling his plan to kill Palantine does his status in society's eyes go from a villain to a "hero," but make no mistake, Travis isn't a hero. Also, I know you guys were asking about why Travis might target Palantine versus Sport, etc. I don't think the choice of victim matters that much to someone as unhinged as Travis. Remember the awful time he was having trying to convey to The Wizard what was wrong. He kept saying things like, "I have some bad ideas in my head..." and "I just feel like.... I'm gonna... ohhhh I dunno..." He can't put it into words. He just wants to do SOMETHING. He's not exactly sure the form it's going to take at that point. So I think the choice of victim here is secondary to the fact he just wants/needs to do something. And that something is going to be violent. But the choice of victim doesn't necessarily have to be logical from the viewer's standpoint, IMHO.
Travis calling himself "Henry Krinkle" to the agent, the song Mr Krinkle by Primus is loosely about Mike Puffy Bordin (Faith No More drummer) using that name as a pseudonym when he'd check in to hotels. Also, "Suck on this" (when shooting Harvey) is a Primus album.
It's on their cover of Kiss's 'God of Thunder'. The same line's also sampled on 'The Badge' by Poison Idea as well as Pantera's cover of the same song.
Their lukewarm reception of this masterpiece of character study is such a huge reflection of our “PC” culture, and negates so much meaningful examination of the movie in favor of criticisms that equate to nothing more than virtue signaling. Still love the channel and I think they’re actually good guys, they just don’t need to try so hard to prove it.
At 19:25 the shot is used to show how not only is betsy forgetting about travis but even the cameraman. Just like the end where eventually he is forgotten by everyone.
One of the greatest films ever made. Another Scorsese NY based film I recommend that I watched recently is After Hours from 1985, one of his most underrated films ever, geniuslly written surrealistic dark comedy satire.
Grew up in NYC, and attended a school in the neighborhood where the "Palantine HQ" was set in the movie. I remember seeing all these Palantine for President signs, and going home to ask my parents who he was - of course they were mystified. Wasn't until I saw the movie that the mystery was solved. And yeah, the movie really captures what New York was like at the time.
To all those who say this film is boring or overrated, its not an action Dirty Harry film. Is a Psychological Drama about a troubled Insomniac Individual who struggled to connect with others until things change wanting to save a Young Jodie Foster. Most Reactors do Skips like this and Falling Down because of Angry Men with Mental Illness or Traumas even Anger Issues into Violence. Travis is a really well written character. even his narration makes understand same as Goodfellas.
To the point of your comments about Travis' talk with Palantine remember all the night scenes are actual images of NY, which is why he is looking at the 2 pimps when seated with his colleagues. In the 1970's the NY subway was considered the most dangerous journey in the western world, mayor Edward Koch changed that. This was the Master's Bernard Herrmann final score, he died shortly after. His first was Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane", he did 7 movies with Hitchcock (consultant on "The Birds") and wrote the timeless theme for "The Twilight Zone".
The way I see the ending is after Travis drives off into the night and then quickly glances in the rear view mirror, it actually dovetails with the opening shot of the film where you see the Taxi cab emerge out of the fog. The implication being that Travis is a time bomb on a constant loop and it's a question of when not if something will set him off again. Sort of like "time is a flat circle" from True Detective. This is why I don't believe the theory that the epilogue is all just a fantasy that Travis sees while dying after the shootout. It makes more sense to me that Travis survived and that he is inevitably going to snap again, because he now has a taste of the glory that comes with being a vigilante. In his mind, there are plenty of Iris' out there who need saving from the Sports' of the world, and if he can save as many as he can while also punishing the "filth" in his words at the same time, maybe he'll stop feeling like God's lonely man.
Travis was poorly educated and moved around a lot. The military gave him stability, because he had to follow a regimen, and would have been able to indulge his worst impulses in combat. He self-medicated with booze and pills. His understanding of culture was pornography. He lied to his parents about his circumstances of having an important job working for the government, perhaps to disprove to them his feeling that they thought he was worthless. He was fixated on Betsy, Iris and the Senator, but he felt an affinity with Iris because she (a runaway estranged from her parents) was as broken as he was, although without the psychosis. If he were to get the girl at the end, the question would be what unspeakable things would he do to her. The only thing missing from this film portrait was a dog speaking to either him or sitting beside the taxi Scorsese telling them what to do. A fantastic film. Ten years later, we would get Michael Rooker in the docudrama Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)…Did you really kill your Mama?…I guess I did. Then in 1996, we got Billy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade…I killed some folks quite a while back..they tell me I’m well from it now.
Scorsese have had a cameo appearance in most of his movies either acting or voice work. He's in Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Gangs of New York, Killers of the Flower Moon and The Aviator to name a few.
Scorsese also appears on camera interviewing member of The Band in his seminal concert film: The Last Waltz. Probably the greatest concert film ever made.
6:18 That pr0n theater concessions clerk is played by Diahnne Abbott, Robert De Niro’s 1st wife. They married in 1976, the same year as _Taxi Driver,_ and divorced 12 years later.
'Taxi Driver' has a dedication in the film's final credits to Bernard Hermann. He composed the soundtrack and died before the completion of the movie. He is also known for composing the soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'.
I don’t like James Cameron’s, ‘The Titanic’ because I don’t think it’s responsible or right to advocate for the sinking of passenger ships. There was no justice in that film. The iceberg damages the ship and just drifts away never to be punished. That kind of depiction of 1912 transatlantic crossings seems very exploitative and without any moral compass on the part of the writers, and the director. Just my opinion, but the ocean is not for me. Stay strong.
He blames the politicians for the downward spiral of the country and culture. And his motivations don't even have to make sense----he's a psychopath and wants to lash out, but also feel like some kind of righteous savior.
If you two were cringing and hiding your eyes from this video, just think what it was like to watch this on the big screen with theater sound. Amazing. You didn't show the critical last shot of Travis' crazy eyes. He's not healed, he's still messed up, he's still dangerous.
Personally I never took the ending as a "good" ending/wish fulfillment ending. Travis lived a completely broken life that led him to a mindless attempt of assassinating a political figure that had nothing to do with him other than a woman that he feels scorned him, worked for him. And when that didn't work he needed something else to fuel his lust for violence and need for purpose. The ending is haunting because Travis' completely flawed logic is then rewarded thus perpetuating his cycle. Who knows what he might do next. Who knows if the ending was even real or if that was just a fantasy he dreamed himself up for being a "good guy". Frankly, I find it terrifying.
Yeah, I've always seen the ending as more directly attacking society. Throughout the movie, *Travis* judges society, but it's more a condemnation of him than society. I think the ending is a way of directly blaming society... for encouraging and forgiving his behavior.
I spent my childhood in Brooklyn in the late 60s/early 70s...I remember a lot about my childhood...I remember a lot about New York...it was a different world then...I am not condoning De Niro's character's actions...but you need to spend time in the kitchen to understand the heat... Sometimes things don't make sense because they don't have to...they're just things that happen...I like this movie..yes it has faults...but it's still an excellent movie... Great review...
Wrapping up this film in a neat little bow by serving up an editorialized sense of morality would be the worst thing for it. Like life, this movie doesn't leave you with all the so-called "correct" answers or solutions. Travis has no interest in Betsy at the end. Though, what does it say about her character that she's so taken with him only after his newfound "fame"? Ultimately, Travis (as evidenced by the last shot of the rearview mirror) will always remain a tortured and paranoid soul.
Please check out the documentary called "American Boy" that was release in 1978 it's about the actor Steven Prince who plays the gun dealer in Taxi Driver he has lived an interesting life. Scorsese directed the documentary.
That unsettling feeling you had about the ending, I believe, is EXACTLY what Scorsese was going for. Society rewarded him for the murders he succeeded in but we as the audience saw the other murders he failed at: namely Palantine and himself. The society is just as detached from reality as Travis is.
Have some imagination; movies back then had a lot of abstract concepts to them. Like the movie no country for old men, not everything has to have a moral to the story, it could just be about how life is for some people. Maybe the Wizard of Oz is more your speed
Yeah, totally agree. These guys are always trying to find some kind of moral lesson or cautionary tale in movies where none exist. I guess ambiguity makes them feel icky.
Voicemail? Most people didn't even have answering machines when this movie was made. Actually dialing a rotary phone, busy signal, hanging up and dialing again, rinse and repeat, is how you'd get a hold of a girl you were pursuing back then. Universal use of answering machines wasn't a thing until late 80s, maybe? Around the same time as Cool Ranch Doritos. Scoring the tip of the bullet is the same concept as a hollow-point round, I think. I makes the slug break up and fragment so it causes more damage as it passes through. Not any kind of firearms expert, so take that speculation with a grain of salt.
Travis was cutting the cross to his bullets so they would expand upon impact. This makes them more deadly since the expanding bullet tears more flesh and causes bigger wounds. That practise is illegal and goes against the international rules for war. It is literally a war crime to cut your bullets like that, because the damage is so severe. On the other hand, for hunting that is encouraged since it ensures a cleaner kill for the animal.
Came across this channel and was browsing it thinking, "hopefully they react to a true classic movie" And i started thinking of that saxophone theme from taxi driver, i clicked this video without making the connection that the song in my head at that moment was actually from Taxi Driver.❤ Havent seen this movie in a long time.
I don't believe Travis was rewarded. Yes, his actions "saved" Iris, while also traumatizing her for life (remember, he intended to blow his own brains out in front of her), although we have no idea why she was a runaway initially, and kids often have good reasons, and no one feels a moment of remorse for the brothel guys, but the media simply makes a call as to whether to call Travis a hero or a villain. If he'd killed Palantine, he would have been perceived differently. In other words, this is ambiguous intentionally. Unlike the audience, Travis himself didn't perceive much moral difference between his victims; he only wanted to go out with some kind of statement in a murder-suicide. We're not meant to be entirely on board with him, even if we feel bad for him in _some_ ways (his loneliness, mainly). Some audiences aren't comfortable with ambiguity, I get that, but it doesn't make the ending bad or wrong; it's just not for you if you prefer to think in more linear ways.
I forget how young you all are. Other great classics from the 1970s u should see The Godfather 1 & 2 Jaws A Clockwork Orange Star Wars Raging Bull Deer Hunter Superman The Muppet Movie Alien Just to name a few
Oh my god, YES, pleeeeeeeease do "The King Of Comedy"!!!! Absolutely!!! One of Scorsese and De Niro's best together, and that's saying alot! Also the movie Scorsese made after King Of Comedy: "After Hours". Both are dark comedies and both are two of the best of the 80s. (PS: The commentary on this reaction is fantastic!).
