15. Cape Fear
For Scorsese's penultimate film with long time collaborator Robert De Niro, the director opted to remake one of Hollywood's classic revenge thrillers, Cape Fear. With the original stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum making guest appearances, De Niro was joined with Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. De Niro plays psychopathic rapist Max Cady who, having been released from prison after serving a fourteen year sentence, decides to track down the defense lawyer (Nolte) who deliberately fudged the trial and exact his revenge. It's a taut thriller, stripped to the bare bones and more economical than much of Scorsese's other work. It's also, unfortunately, inferior to the original, although considering how great that was, this is no major criticism. Comparisons aside, Scorsese's Cape Fear remains a solid genre effort with sterling performances all round.