Every Martin Scorsese Film Ranked Worst To Best

Within a sea of compelling characters, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is Scorsese's greatest. De Niro dives deep into the role, elevating Paul Schrader's script to greatness with a performance that is as disturbed as it is tragic.

Taxi Driver remains one of cinema's greatest character studies, following Bickle - a Vietnam war veteran turned cab driver in a nightmarish, grimy New York - as he becomes detached from reality and imagines saving a young prostitute (a brilliant Jodie Foster) from her troubled life. Bickle is cold, unhinged, lonely and broken, moving between violent, bitter and even heroic within seconds.

De Niro's endlessly complex performance as Bickle may be the film's star, but so is Scorsese's direction and his ability to craft such a menacing atmosphere. Taxi Driver's inner-city setting is as dark and unpredictable as Bickle himself, focusing on the seedier side of New York rather than the city's beauty that characterises many other movies.

Taxi Driver is ugly but flawless, violent but haunting, and would be Scorsese's best-ever feature if wasn't for our number one pick...