The story centers around discharged Vietnam vet Travis Bickle who is a cab driver in the 1970’s version of New York City. His attitude of working “anywhere, anytime” plants him firmly on the graveyard shift and driving through the meanest streets the city has to offer. He lives alone, and is constantly thinking about his lot in life among the tumultuous and in many ways terrible living conditions of the inter city. But the beautiful Betsy (Cybil Shepherd) catches his eye one day and he becomes quite fond of her. One day, he gets the cojones to ask her out for just a cup of coffee, to which she says yes. After a few dates, their time together becomes increasingly awkward and she stops seeing him all together. This does not sit well with the cabbie, and seemingly overnight he gets fed up with the “trash and filth” that surrounds his lonesome life. But a young prostitute names Iris (Jodie Foster) gives him an avenue upon which to focus his growing anger and sets out to make sure she breaks out of the “prison” they live in. From here, the mind of the taxi driver becomes increasingly demented as he struggles to keep himself sane while acting as a pseudo-vigilante for the one he believes is worth saving.
I apologize if that synopsis feels “scatter brained,” but the movie does not lend itself well to crafting a plot rundown without giving away major spoilers. The film’s story is one that showcases how a person’s mind can become demented with the variables of isolation, depression, and a hostile environment. Scorsese and writer Brian De Palma (who directed the awesome Al Pacino film Carlito’s Way) do a wonderful job of coming up with a really effective script and direction that makes it work. But the person I feel deserves the most credit for making this film succeed is director of photography Michael Chapman. The shots in the movie are able to convey the feeling of De Niro’s character to the tee and captures the “seedy” essence of NYC in ’76. The visual art on display will keep you occupied as the narrative slowly develops itself. Call me young, but the first half of this movie goes at a snail’s pace. This is most likely by design (as it wants to show the steady decline of one’s mental stability), but after hearing all of the cliche, stereotypical remarks about the violence, I expected a lot more to happen within the first 45 minutes. Another thing I had heard is the really “bad guy” that Travis is supposed to be. Again, call me different, but compared to some characters in Hollywood today that pass as “heroes,” Travis is no where near the antagonist. The real villain on display here is the city itself, which is populated with bad people and little hope.
Along with fantastic cinematography, the acting is top notch. De Niro masterfully portrays his part, as you are taken for this ride into his tortured existence. The actor is also able to effectively show the throttled progression of a person on their own to the clinically crazy man we see in the latter stages of the film. Also, the reading of the script and understanding what each scene needed is not only a trait of his performance, but also of Jodie Fosters. With the emotion that was required for her role, to pull it off at such a young age was quite an achievement. You really can see the different layers to Iris as she is somewhat jaded by her life on the streets but still shows some girlish charm. Cybil Shepherd also turns in good work, but her piece is rather limited and static. But I must say that I had no idea she used to be that drop. dead. gorgeous (good heaven!). The other minor part that was awesome in it’s own way was Harvey Keitel playing Iris’ pimp Sport. Not that it was just a “blowout” role for him or anything, but his presence on screen is believable and it was personally a little “odd” for me to see him in the “get up” he’s rocking in this movie.
The absolute best part of this Blu-Ray experience is the special features section. There are many, many choices here as well as a few that are quite unique that really work well to add to the experience of watching Taxi Driver.
-“Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver” has the director talking about this being his first major film and the “heart” that De Niro and Brian De Palma had for the film, which puched them to make sure it was brought to the screen
-“Producing Taxi Driver” is a sit down this producer Michael Phillips in which he describes the downturn in Hollywood that occurred in the 1960s that allowed younger talents to take their shot at film making, and was a major advantage for this film
-“God’s Lonely Man” illustrates the importance of De Niro’ character and how it was different from other main parts at the time
-“Influence and Appreciation: A Martin Scorsese Tribute” is commentary that details the director’s innate ability to create films that could be considered pieces of art along with his uncanny path to the top
-“Taxi Driver Stories” are interviews with real NYC cabbies at the time this film is set and the parallels between film and the real world
-“Making Taxi Driver” is an hour long documentary that talks about the overall process of creating the film with commentary from many members of the cast and production team
– “Travis’ New York” profiles director of photography Michale Chapman who says that much of the shots can be used as a lens into how the city actually looked in the 1970s
-“Travis’ New York Locations” is a unique selection that split screens shots from the film in 1975 and how those same streets look today
-“Intro to Storyboards by Martin Scorsese” has the director talking about the crucial importance of the storyboard process to his brand of film making
-“Storyboards by film comparison” is another “half n’ half” feature that shows pictures of the storyboard along with the final shot
-“Interactive Script to Screen” is an incredible selection that shows the movie along with scrolling a copy of the script at the bottom of the screen and gives you insight into any changes made along with detailed “set ups” leading into a scene
This set also has three commentary options: original commentary from 1986 by Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader, commentary with Professor Robert Kolker, and commetary with Paul Schrader