Martin Scorsese: Ranking His Movies From Worst To Best

2. Taxi Driver

Like Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver earned itself a place in the National Film Register of the Library of Congress. It's not hard to see why - film critics and audiences alike are in near-unanimous agreement that it is a bona fide masterpiece and one of the greatest American movies of all time. Robert De Niro's career-changing performance as Travis Bickle, the depressed former US Marine who sinks increasingly into violent paranoia, is one of the finest ever committed to celluloid and a masterclass in method acting. Scorsese directs with incredible precision, evoking a city in which corruption and squalor lurk around every corner; an era in which the American Dream started to crumble into pieces. Despite being nominated in four categories, Taxi Driver amazingly didn't receive any Academy Awards, although the Cannes Film Festival awarded it the prestigious Palme d'Or. But its legacy has been far more lasting than any accolade could ever suggest - cinema rarely reaches these incredible heights.