Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1937 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-10
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Taxi Driver is the definitive cinematic portrait of loneliness and alienation manifested as violence. It is as if director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader had tapped into precisely the same source of psychological inspiration ("I just knew I had to make this film", Scorsese would later say), combined with a perfectly timed post-Watergate expression of personal, political and societal anxiety. Robert De Niro, as the tortured, ex-Marine cab driver Travis Bickle, made movie history with his chilling performance as one of the most memorably intense and vividly realised characters ever committed to film. Bickle is a self-appointed vigilante who views his urban beat as an intolerable cesspool of blighted humanity. He plays guardian angel for a young prostitute (Jodie Foster), but not without violently devastating consequences. This masterpiece, which is not for all tastes, is sure to horrify some viewers, but few could deny the film's lasting power and importance. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German
English
Region 2
Dolby 2.0 English\Mono French German
Dolby 2.0
Mono
Behind The Scenes Documentary
Video Photo Gallery
Original Screenplay
Storyboard Sequence
Advertising Materials
US Theatrical
Filmographies
Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Greek\Hebrew\Hindi\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Swedish\Turkish

Synopsis
Martin Scorsese's intense film, a hallmark of 1970s filmmaking, graphically depicts the tragic consequences of urban alienation when a New York City taxi driver goes on a murderous rampage against the pitiable denizens inhabiting the city's underbelly. For psychotic, pistol-packing Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), New York City seems like a circle of hell. Driving his cab each night through the bleak Manhattan streets, Bickle observes with fanatical loathing the sleazy lowlifes who comprise most of his fares. By day he haunts the porno theaters of 42nd Street, taking his cues from the violent vision of life portrayed in these movies. As badly as Travis wants to connect with the people around him including Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a lovely blonde campaign worker, and Iris (Jodie Foster), a prepubescent prostitute he tries to save his attempts are thwarted and his pent-up rage grows, turning him into a Mohawk-wearing walking time bomb. Paul Schrader's screenplay is filmed with a tragic realism by Scorsese, which brilliantly captures the muck and grime of New York City. De Niro, playing the fragile hero, steps inside his role so far that the results are deeply frightening. Bernard Herrmann's haunting score which turned out to be his last completes the urban nightmare.

Customer Reviews

Taxi Driver
'Taxi Driver' is a dark film looking at one mans alienation from society and life around him. It looks at how he gradually descends into his own form of madness and you really get a sense for how he feels through De Niros chilling portrayal. The lack of sleep and night shifts Travis (the main protagonist) works only serve to isolate him further from reality and life. When he meets a young political campaigner and a prostitute, both of these relationships spur him into dark action against the scum of new york. I have to say the direction and acting was excellent, you really get a feel for the malevolence Travis feels around him and his sense of disjointed exhaustion. The soundtrack is very dated now and the same jazzy refrain used throughout the film started to get on my nerves. It is a good film and definitely one to watch, but I have to say I was expecting so much more after all the hype on these pages and from things i've heard before that I was left a touch disappointed. The ending is powerful and then kind of fizzles out afterwards, you'll know what I mean when you watch it. Overall a good film and worth a viewing.

A CLASSIC - SLOW BUT STILL A CLASSIC
It's not everyday when you come across an "out of body' experience. The last time I felt it at the movies was when I saw Star Wars. That was before I saw Taxi Driver. I rented Taxi Driver with some friends seventeen years after its theatrical release.I was blown away. My friends and I didn't say a word until ten minutes after it was over. How was it that a movie like this could have such an impact?

The film stars Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle who takes on a taxi career after serving in the Marines in Vietnam and suffering from some horrible discharge. From the beginning we already feel something unpleasant about Travis. We can see that he's lonely, reserved and a bit socially awkward. We sense something more intense underneath but we don't really know what it is. Wandering into porn movie theaters makes him seem even more lonely and perverted. This is his quality time after long days of witnessing a violent atmosphere of pimps, prostitutes and homeless drug addicts.Taxi life sure isn't the solution to his miserable and solitary life. Bur one day, Travis spots a girl played by Cybil Shepard who works at a campaign headquarter for a presidential candidate. We watch Travis trying to flirt and ask her out and although it seems charming to an average bimbo, it comes across as totally awkward. There are long pauses of silence and observations that sound creepily insulting. "I can see the way you carry yourself that you're not a happy person" he says. When he takes her out to lunch, we see Travis's loneliness amplified with a a mild sense of paranoia. This scene is utterly ironic in how we see a typical first date as sounding nervous and alienating. Who is this guy? Cybil seems intrigued by him and is reminded of a Kris Kristoferssen song: "he's a poet and a pusher, partly truth, partly fiction, a walking contradiction." It's a great description of Travis but he immediately gets insulted. Rather then analyze the song, he just gets defensive." "I'm not a pusher and I never have pushed." He proves himself wrong. After a bad date of trying to take her to a porno movie, he can't take "no" for an answer. We start to see more of Travis's creepy personality unfold as he obsesses over her by sending flowers and finally bursting in the office to yell and scream at her. Why does'nt he get it? After all the drunks, weirdos and psychos he picks up, could'nt he learn something ? No, instead, he is driven to a plan of madness. We don' know exactly what but its definitely building inside him. We see this in an amazing scene with Peter Boyle outside a cafeteria. Their interaction reinforces the loneliness and alienation between these characters. Its a quiet scene but its so true in its portrayal that it seem scary.

The film looks like a documentary at times because we see street action in the background that weaves in and out of the foreground giving you a sense of real life drama. Some of the shots are particularly shocking and so matter of fact. When an encounter with a pimp turns bloody, we see it from a distance as if we were pedestrians witnessing a crime. The violence in this film is anything but glorified. It puts the film in a gritty and dirty atmosphere that we don't want to participate in. But its not just the violence that hooks us in, its the bizarre and psychological mysteries that carry the story. How did Travis get infatuated with Cybil Shepard? Was it coincidence that she worked for the presidential nominee? How events happen and get traced in this film is utterly disturbing. I still can't explain how a film could have an impact to the magnitude that it did. One thing I do know is the director (Martin Scorsese), the screenwriter (Paul Schrader) and the main actor (Robert DeNiro) were all going through similar experiences during the making of this film. That is rare in a field that involves a lot collaboration. When it does happen it as it did, it becomes truly magical. This is without a doubt, Scorsese's best film to date.

"I've got some bad ideas in my head"!
Yeah, you're not the only one Travis, try commuting on the central line every day. Jesus.