1. Robert De Niro - Raging Bull
Raging Bull, released in 1980, is considered to be Martin Scorsese's best achievement as a director and also tops many lists as the best film of the 1980's. Robert De Niro's performance in Raging Bull is what makes this film so good. As Jake LaMotta, the real life Middleweight boxing champion, De Niro gives one of the finest performances ever captured on film. De Niro plays LaMotta as a man surrounded by violence in his life, he takes punches for a living, but both in and out of the ring, he knows how to throw them back. He is emotionally cut off from everyone around him, in particular his wife (Cathy Moriarty) and his brother (Joe Pesci) are both sometimes caught in the crossfire of his deadly and unpredictable behavior. De Niro disappears into LaMotta, and we are left to wander with him through his tumultuous life, as a spectator in a bloody and tragic battle. De Niro, the consummate method actor, is also praised for his commitment to the role by gaining 60 pounds to play the elder LaMotta, a washed up, overweight has been, an unrecognizable shadow in the light of his younger, trimmer self. LaMotta's demons are still present, and his past is not over with him yet, even though he puts on a happy-go lucky facade. De Niro lets all of LaMotta's emotion, rage, confusion and regret out in a surprisingly heart-breaking scene in a jail cell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J8I9XgwfmU For his masterful and influential performance in Raging Bull, De Niro was awarded the well deserved Best Actor Oscar. Robert De Niro earned rave reviews in last year's Being Flynn and Silver Linings Playbook, and has been in talks to reunite with director Scorsese in a film about the Irish mob. Are there any great performances from a Martin Scorsese movie that we missed? Don't forget to have your say in the comment section below.