Taxi Driver - Blu-ray + DVD

TAXI DRIVER is an iconic film, considered by many to be a masterpiece and the crowning achievement of both Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. Whatever your opinion this is a powerful film that starts strong and never lets up that has also stood the test of time. Everything in the movie is done so realistically that the story could still be told today. Robert Deniro plays Travis. We know little about him other than that he is an ex marine and a deep insomniac. He also sees the world as a dirty place that needs to be cleaned up. He becomes a taxi driver in the city of New York which takes on a realistic role of its own here. We see the two sides of everything and the same goes for New York. Nothing is held back on showing the realistic gritty underside of the city. But what of the transfer of this movie classic to blu ray. Seems like all the classics are being brought to blu ray, some more succesfully than others. The questions are always how does it look, is it an improvement over the dvd and does it bring the film to new life. TAXI DRIVER was the first film to receive an enhanced 4k restoration and what it does is perform magic on a decades old film. The video presentation is purely amazing. It is funny for when the film starts the Columbia logo is very fuzzy and then the movie starts. It is clear, crisp with colors strong. The film is very definitive in that scenes are either nighttime or daytime, dark or light. The blacks and dark colors are brilliant and all color ratios amazing. Whites contrast perfectly. No matter what the scene everything pops. The night scenes are very realistic and when colors are introduced they are vibrant and real. Nothing is overenhanced. Instead the film looks the way it must have when released originally in theaters. It is leaps and bounds over any dvd version. The climactic scene at the end is brought to new devastating life with this new restoration. Flesh tones are also perfect. Blu ray is put to amazing use here restoring this classic film to all its glory. The graininess here is meant to be here. It represents New York City in full detail. And the audio is just as perfect. The DTS 5.1 audio allows the amazing soundtrack to fully blossom and soar over the entire film. The score here tells the story as much as any character or visual. And dialogue is strong and present. Nothing is wrong here. The film itself is told in a way that it is open to many different interpretations but the blu ray itself needs no debate. It is spectacular. I will reiterate again. The film looks as pure and original as when in the theaters restored to its true glory. Do not hesitate to double dip if you own the dvd. This blu ray shows the movie as a whole new experience. I give this blu ray my highest recommendations.

One of my favorites, a powerful movie.

I'd heard Taxi Driver was a great movie, and with Scorcese at the helm and all kinds of famous actors in it to boot, I was expecting good things. Nor was I disappointed. Taxi Driver is a special movie. It's a character study on one hand, a philisophical treatise on the other. It simultaneously entertains with it's sultry shots of 1975 NYC, lots of good dialogue between the characters, and a story line that unfolds naturally - people who appreciate photography will especially like Taxi Driver - it's a joy to watch Scorcese tell this tale. The movie is accessible on many levels, the acting is fantastic and the story itself, subtle, violent, occasionally funny - and finally, something to think about for those that are paying attention. SPOILERS The thing to notice is when he's trying to decide if he should 'do a bad thing' and he's talking to one of the other taxi drivers asking for advice. One of the things the guy says as he tries to talk him down is that we are what we do.. like you do a job, and that becomes who you are. This movie is never very 'in your face' about it's message if it could be said to have one at all. But what does happen? Either way, Travis is kind of a sick puppy with the desire to kill. When that desire is aimed at the politician, he's a wacko (he wants to whack him because the girl he loves and who rejected him, is working on his campaign - this would be a kind of revenge, showing who 'has the power' - in his twisted mind). On the other hand, he meets the underage prostitute (Jodie Foster), devolops a protective streak towards her and ultimately ends up offing her pimp and other would-be enablers of her profession. This happens somewhat by accident. His first mission was to off the politicician. He takes up Jody Foster's mission as kind of a side inspiration and does the deed before he gets a chance to kill the politician. When the smoke clears he's a hero. An accidental hero. Again, the words of the older taxi driver are fulfilled: 'You are what you do'. The IRONY is that it could so easily have gone the other way. What would he have been if he'd managed to hit the politician? Had it gone as he'd originally planned, he'd certainly have been nothing less than the 'trash' he despised - from any rational person's point of view. How much of what we do is up to chance, luck, or as fate would have it? The movie seems to unconsciously ask this question. Travis is a 'walking contradiction'. He hates the scum, the sickos, the perverts, but finally, it's only a stroke of fate that distinguishes him from them. Taxi Driver is a great ride, and there are many reasons to see it. Loved the mohawk. This movie is hard as nails.

This is a very high quality transfer of the film, if you love classic cinema it's a must have

This item arrived quickly Via Amazon prime. The picture quality of this Blu-ray is excellent. Though the age and nature of the film does not lend itself to enormous amounts of fine detail, the film still looks amazing for its age. Minute details (where present) are quite clear, and the color palette shifts seamlessly between the more natural and vivid aspects of Travis' daytime activities to the yellow/green tint of 70's New York nightlife. I found no issues with the audio presentation. The dialogue, music, and sound effects were all crystal clear. This particular release is loaded with special features. There are many documentaries and tributes, along with the standard trailers, commentaries, etc. A stack of collectibles snapshots was also included in the case, but I have no plans or need to open them. All in all, it's a very comprehensive release, and the quality of the transfer is top-notch. All releases of classic films should be handled with this level of care and thoroughness, because this was well worth the price. No software update was needed in order to play this Blu-ray on my 2017 model LG Blu-ray player.

Essentially a treatise by writer Paul Schrader on pathological loneliness and PTSD, "Taxi Driver" goes deep into the numbingly boring yet emotionally painfilled and completely socially disconnected life of taxi driver Travis Bickle. We follow him down a rabbit hole of his own making leading to increasingly disturbed behavior and onto the final blood bath. So dark and violent in its day, Scorsese had to edit some shots and desaturate the blood color of the climatic shoot out scene just to avoid an "X" rating by the censors. Today, it would be a fairly standard "R" rated film for language and some violence, ha! It shows a coal black, seedy and amoral 70's New York City mostly at night. The images haunt the viewer, and we know that nothing good is coming down the line with this narrative. Part of this feeling of tension and foreboding is enhanced by the stunning score by the great Bernard Herrmann. It's a masterful mixture of smooth, jazzy themed elements with discordant, howling blocks of chords sounding almost like a horror film at times. The score becomes another full character of the movie. Sadly, Herrmann passed away literally hours after he finished it and never saw the released film. The film is dedicated in his honor. Another thing to note is the almost movie stealing work of a 12-year-old Jodie Foster as Iris, the like aged prostitute. Detailing in interviews years later how uncomfortable and awkward it was being on the set playing her role and interacting with the fellow male actors yet she still somehow managed to put on a stunning portrayal of hardened, street wise bluntness with an almost childlike humor and vulnerability. It is truly amazing to watch. Even Scorsese himself steps out of the director's chair and into a scene as one of Bickle's fares. It is an extremely chilling interaction and further contributes to Bickle's disintegrating mental state. Colombia does itself proud with the 4K Dolby Vision release of this film. Restored from the original camera negative the video quality just oozes with the grainy, grimy color saturated world of nighttime 70's New York City. Detail is abundant. Grain is wonderfully present and textural. Blacks are deep with no crush. Neon signs pop with the HDR giving a garish eye dazzling experience. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track is quite atmospheric delivering a sense of "street" sounds as well as the unforgettable sonics of Herrmann's score and clear easy to understand dialog. There's lots of interviews, documentaries and behind the scenes extras on both the 4K disc as well as the included SD Blu-ray disc. This is a must own for all lovers of American neo-noir films and belongs in just about anyone's physical media collection. It will haunt you well after the credits roll.

Last saw this on cable about 15 years ago for about the 5th time, and liked it after every viewing, spaced about 3 or 4 years apart. Fast forward to day with a longer gap between views, coupled with higher quality blu-ray this time, and I now love it more than ever. This film has aged very, very well for me. I'm telling you a quality transfer to blu-ray from original film elements improves the color depth and contrast and audio so much so that it's like watching with a new perspective. Especially watching on a good quality big screen tv, in a dark room, sitting close to get a cinema theater type experience. Trivia that I learned in the extras: A big scene with blood late in the film looked oddly brownish to me, instead of dark crimson red. I was thinking a defect in the color from a damaged film element. Turns out the brownish blood was by design, via censorship from the powers that be. The scene was so graphic for the time that the only way the censors would let the scene remain was to alter the blood's color in post, to make a little less graphic. A deranged DeNiro is at his height as a young actor, and Cybil Shephard's sizzling good looks and decency create a dynamic contrast that bodes so well for the story line. This is pure cinema and story telling at its finest.

As we all know, a film's critical review is a subjective journey. Many have universally praised Taxi Driver an American masterpiece. In my humble opinion, it is Scorsese's crowning achievement. I won't bother you a with a critical review of the narrative itself, the power of the performances, the lush cinematography not to mention the haunting soundtrack. Lets get down to brass tacks with the Blu-ray experience: The new 4K transfer and remastering ( under cinematographer Michael Chapmen and Scorsese's supervision ) looks fantastic. I can only hope for more studios to take their time when transferring vintage masterpieces. The clarity, color and detail even surpasses my last film-screening of this film at the Hollywood Cinerama Dome in the mid-90s. The soundtrack is presented in 5.1 DTS HD with wonderful results. The special features are chock full of goodies, too numerous for me to list here fully: I really enjoyed the "screen to script interactive", and also the "storyboard to film comparisons". Multiple documentaries are included in this single BR disc, including "Travis' New York " The changes of New York 1975 to Today" Multiple interviews and commentaries with both Scoreses and writer Paul Schrader + much more supplementary material. The Picture Quality at 1080P was like peanut butter to jelly on my 52" LCD XBR, and switching the images to a 150" screen ( via Sony VPL-VW50 1080P projector ) was like adding a couple strips of crispy bacon to that peanut butter sandwich. If you are into HT and projection systems, this BR disc is made for you. Seeing New York City in the mid 70s presented in such detail and color was a visually arresting experience. The vibrant night shots really stays with you, vivid colors pop during those long tracking POV shots from Travis's cab. A museum quality documentation on NYC street-life during that period. The packaging is robust, with a 3 section pullout-type case that holds the bonus lobbycards. This is the definitive copy. ( at least until The Criterion Collection decides to give it a BR go ). Yes folks, for a small price, its time to get into Travis's Taxi for a cinematic ride like no other.

capolavoro. un Robert deniro allucinante, storia drammatica ma che ti fa riflettere molto sulla quotidianità di certa gente

｢脇役が名演技だから主人公が映える｣、そんな映画のセオリーを超えるからロバート・デ・ニーロは凄い。これは凄い映画です。ただ、30を越えた男性にしかわからない内容かもしれません。ロバート・デ・ニーロが強烈なので周りの役者たちも輝く。ただ、率直にそう感じました。海兵隊復員兵、夜の大都会、イエローキャブ、女の見方、強力な銃器、甦る闘争本能、銃撃戦。ロバート・デ・ニーロが確立された作品と考えただけでも魂が凍りつく。当時11才のジョディ・フォスターを自分なりに救おうとするデ・ニーロは｢救世主｣以外あり得ない。デ・ニーロを非難したくとも、教〇委員会の方々では絶対ジョディは救われなかった。そのうちカイテルに捨てられるのがオチである。シビル・シェパードがラスト、よりを戻しにくるが｢グッド・ロング｣とデ・ニーロ。男だ。 ロバート・デ・ニーロは自分にとって｢神｣なので、造反意見は断固書きません。

Taxi Driver est un véritable chef-d’œuvre du cinéma, porté par une performance inoubliable de Robert De Niro. Le film nous plonge dans l’esprit troublé de Travis Bickle, avec une intensité rare et une atmosphère captivante du début à la fin.

Taxi Driver is one my favorite films of all time. I love 70's films like Apocalypse Now, Clockwork Orange, Get Carter, Godfather and others that broke new grounds in filmmaking in general. It's my favorite era of film-making next to Classic Hollywood and the 80's. Taxi Driver is very effective portrayal of New York, loneliness, violence and does it so well that no film afterwards has managed to capture it. Every single aspect of the film works. The performance by Robert De Niro has become an iconic. The direction by Martin Scorsese is very stylish and gives Taxi Driver a unforgettable look. The music by Alfred Hitchcock's composer Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Vertigo) gives the film another level of atmosphere and mood. There are great supporting cast that includes Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepherd and Peter Boyle. While Taxi Driver is mostly De Niro's show, these actors give very good supporting performances. There is no real point talking about the plot of this film because most of you have heard about it in one way or another. It's an iconic film with iconic performance and iconic scenes that influenced modern pop-culture. It's a true masterpiece. This DVD is a 2 Disc set with great amount of extra features. Picture quality is superb as is the sound quality. There are also stills from the movie which are quite nice. Extra Feature: *Commentary track by writer Paul Schrader *Commentary track by Professor Robert Kolker *Original Screenplay *Interview with Martin Scorsese *Making Taxi Driver - 70 min long making of documentary *Travis New York - Interview with 1970's New York mayor *Travis New York Locations - Films location comparison now and then *Introduction to Storyboards by Martin Scorsese *Storyboard to Film Comparison *Animated Photo Galleries *Scorsese at Work - Photo Montage *God's Lonely Man - interview with screenwriter *Influence and Appreciation: Martin Scorsese Tribute - Oliver Stone, Robert De Niro and others talk about Scorsese *Taxi Driver Stories - Real life taxi drivers tell real life stories *Producing Taxi Driver - Interview with producer. *************************************************************************************************************************** This DVD is a must have for any collection. It's very well put together. There are a lot of extra content that cover every angle of the process of making Taxi Driver. If you are a fan of cinema you should get this one without a second doubt.

parfait