10 Film Scenes Of Astounding Ultra Violence

6. Taxi Driver (1976)

From the very start of Taxi Driver, there is the looming threat of ultra violence - in the form of mentally unstable cabbie Travis Bickle, a Vietnam vet. The seedy and low life side of New York begins to impact upon his psyche. He Is totally alienated and has no social skills as we can see with his romance with Betsy - taking her on a date to a porno movie. He becomes obsessed with child prostitute Iris and saving her from the life she is in. Ultra violence erupts whenever Travis pays a visit to Sport - Iris' pimp. He shoots the pimp, goes into the brothel and shoots off the bouncer's fingers. Sport is still alive and shoots Travis in the neck. Travis shoots Sport dead. Another dodgy character shoots Bickle in the arm. Bickle responds by shooting him dead. The bouncer continues to annoy Bickle too, so he ends up dead as well. It is interesting no note that Bickle's ultra violent actions make him a hero. He managed to kill an awful lot of very unsavoury characters and returned Iris back to her family. The censors at the time were very displeased with the graphic shoot out and Scorsese had to have the colours desaturated. Bickle is an incredibly complex man to understand and is Scorsese endorsing vigilantism? Answers on the back of a postcard please.