Product Description

At 26, Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is slipping slowly into isolation and violence on the streets of New York City. Trying to solve his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the people who hang out at night: "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." His touching attempts to woo Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) to desert her pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel) and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a `lone crazed gunman'.

DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:

"Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver" Featurette

"Producing Taxi Driver" Featurette

"Influence and Appreciation" Documentary

Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman and others pay tribute to Scorsese and the film

"God’s Lonely Man" Documentary

"Travis’ New York Locations" Featurette

Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction

New Feature-length Commentary by Writer Paul Schrader

New Feature-length Commentary by Professor Robert Kolker

"Taxi Driver Stories" Featurette

"Making Taxi Driver" Documentary

Animated Photo Galleries

"Including Scorsese at Work" Photo Montage

Original Screenplay Read Along

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4064 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2007-08-14
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Limited Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Taxi Driver is the definitive cinematic portrait of loneliness and alienation manifested as violence. It is as if director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader had tapped into precisely the same source of psychological inspiration ("I just knew I had to make this film," Scorsese would later say), combined with a perfectly timed post-Watergate expression of personal, political, and societal anxiety. Robert De Niro, as the tortured, ex-Marine cab driver Travis Bickle, made movie history with his chilling performance as one of the most memorably intense and vividly realized characters ever committed to film. Bickle is a self-appointed vigilante who views his urban beat as an intolerable cesspool of blighted humanity. He plays guardian angel for a young prostitute (Jodie Foster), but not without violently devastating consequences. This masterpiece, which is not for all tastes, is sure to horrify some viewers, but few could deny the film's lasting power and importance. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
Columbia/TriStar's two-disc Collector's Edition of Taxi Driver represents a quantum leap over the single-disc Collector's Edition from 1999. On disc 1, Martin Scorsese's 1976 masterpiece has been remastered in high definition, and is once again presented in its accurate 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. The all-new commentary by screenwriter Paul Schrader occupies less than half of the film's total running time, but Schrader's comments are wide-ranging and richly informative regarding the origins of the film's titular character Travis Bickle, why Schrader chose that name for the character ("a clash of romantic and harsh"), the necessity of favoring images over words, collaborating with Scorsese and Robert De Niro, and various matters of theme, character, and dialogue. Also new to this release is the full-length commentary by University of Virginia media studies Professor Robert Kolker (author of the acclaimed book A Cinema of Loneliness), who brings an academic depth of analysis to the film, with emphasis on composition, structure, repeated motifs and images, and the visual and thematic influences of Hitchcock (especially Psycho), John Ford (The Searchers), Jean-Luc Godard, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. With additional details relating to production history and Scorsese's other films, Kolker's commentary is the next best thing to attending a master's class on Taxi Driver. Also on disc 1: A handy interactive feature allows viewers to seamlessly switch from the film itself to corresponding pages of Schrader's original screenplay.

Disc 2 is loaded with over three hours of special features, beginning with "Scorsese on Taxi Driver" (16:52), in which the director discusses the origins of the project (fellow director Brian De Palma brought Schrader's script to Scorsese), the personal impact of the material, proving his skills to producers Michael and Julia Phillips (and thus securing financing from Columbia), and various other aspects of production. In "Producing Taxi Driver" (9:53), Michael Phillips relates the process of discovering Schrader's screenplay, attracting Scorsese as director, getting the film green-lit by Columbia, assuming the role of on-set producer (while his wife, the late Julia Phillips, served as studio liaison), and appreciating the film's critical and commercial success and long-term influence. In the fascinating 21-minute featurette "God's Lonely Man," Prof. Kolker examines the loneliness themes that dominate the film, and Schrader discusses the personal hardships that led him to write the screenplay during a two-week stay in an ex-girlfriend's empty apartment in Los Angeles. "Influence and Appreciation" is an 18-minute tribute to Scorsese, featuring interviews with De Niro, Oliver Stone (a student of Scorsese's at NYU film school), Roger Corman (producer of Scorsese's early feature Boxcar Bertha), Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks, Jodie Foster and others. In the 22-minute featurette "Taxi Driver Stories," several past-and-present New York taxi drivers share colorful anecdotes about driving cabs in the 1970s, the way the industry has changed since then, and the various pleasures and difficulties of driving taxis in New York City.

Disc 2 continues with "Making Taxi Driver," a 70-minute documentary carried over from the 1999 single-disc Collector's Edition. It remains the definitive documentary about the film's production, featuring interviews with all of the primary cast and crew including cinematographer Michael Chapman and legendary make-up effects master Dick Smith. "Travis' New York" is a six-minute featurette about the state of New York (especially Times Square) during the Taxi Driver era of the mid-1970s, featuring interviews with former New York mayor Ed Koch and others. "Travis' New York Locations" is a split-screen comparison feature showing then-and-now footage of nine Taxi Driver locations from 1975 (when the film was shot) and 2006. (You'll be surprised by some of the differences, while other locations remain almost completely unchanged). In a 4-minute introduction, Scorsese discusses the vital importance of his original storyboards (in terms of on-set preparedness, etc.), and the "Storyboard to Film Comparison" (8:20) clearly demonstrates how the director's crude yet well-organized drawings were (in most cases) precisely translated into cinematic images. When using the "Play All" option, the photo galleries run as a 9-minute slide-show arranged in four categories (Bernard Herrmann's Score, On Location, Publicity Materials, and Scorsese on Location). --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

"Here is a man who would not take it anymore...."
The public knows Taxi Driver for one cliché, the infamous "You talking to me..etc, etc." This somewhat funny line is just one part of an immensely powerful performance by a young Robert DeNiro, whose role as disturbed psychopath Travis Bickle makes this one of my all time favorite movies. Taxi Driver is a deep look into American society during the 1970's, especially the dreary slums of New York City. The moral confusion, the thirst for vigilantism, the outbreak of drug crime and the failure of the welfare state are all paraded by Martin Scorsese with damaging insight. Taxi Driver is not a violent vengeance epic like Death Wish, but it is one of the most vicious and powerful message films ever made.

Travis Bickle hates so much because he sees so much. As a cab driver, he is forced to work the worst neighborhoods, where savagery is common and law is non-existent. In addition, Travis is definitely unbalanced, with mood swings, insomnia, and a sugar habit. This combination wakes something up in Travis, a violent hunger for justice and civility in society. He feels trapped, he wants to do something, as he says. His attempts to ignore this urge by entering into a relationship with a high-class political operative, played by the beautiful Cybill Shepherd, fails. He slowly but surely descends into madness. Finally, he finds someone he can concentrate his energies on, a young prostitute played by Jodie Foster. As he learns more about the poor girls past, he decides to embark on a plan that will solve all their problems.

DeNiro should have won the Oscar that year, because his performance is something else. I cannot think of another actor that could pull off the steady descent of paranoia that Bickle goes through convincingly. The cinematography is wonderful, with an oppressive and dank feeling of grime and decay. Scorsese lets the storyline develop naturally, shying away from any unbelievable twists and turns. The end scene is, of course, amazing in its ferocity and graphic nature. This DVD edition is a wonderful way to experience the movie, as its extras and the making of documentary are quality editions. Great movie.

Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest films of the 20th Century. The story about a man drowning in loneliness that desperately seeks the approval of the social lives of those around him. He is Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), who (as the film opens) gets a job as a cabbie because of the insomnia he suffers of. He prefers working nights (12 hour shifts), will take anyone anywhere, and still he can't seem to sleep. His point-of-view is an ingenius cinematic approach whereas it is viewed in slow-motion (which symbolizes his heightened observation). There are so many undercurrents within the film that even Bickle himself doesn't realize. There is an apparent prejudice against african-americans (the usual stereotype of them all being pimps or drug dealers - and ironically enough when Bickle finally does meet a pimp, he turns out to be white).

Bickle bides his time in a coffee shop where all the 'night shift' cabbies hang out. He listens to them ramble about imaginary women who give them $500 tips and their phone number to somewhere in South America. His attention wanders and his inability to socialize presents an awkward air that is at times difficult to watch.

Bickle eventually meets Betsy (Cybil Shepherd) who is an avid supporter of the presidential candidate Palantine. His former view of the inhabitants of New York as "scum" is finally changed when he meets a girl who "is not like the rest of them". He asks her out to a movie and it turns out to be porn. He knew it was porn (he goes to the same theatre every night he's off work), but he doesn't go for the usual reason people go, he gets no satisfaction out of it, it is as if he's punishing himself for having walked into such a place. He seems to not realize why she looks at him with disgust and eventually leaves and never wants to see him again.

Bickle is a "walking contradiction" whereas he sees the world as evil and wrong, but in his attempts at being accepted, he finds himself bending the rules of morality and becoming what he despises.

He comes across a 12-year old prostitute named, Iris (Jodie Foster), who he immediately likes, but the only way he can be near her is to pay for "half an hour". He does so, and despite her attempts to "make it", he tries to tell her that he's come to set her free from the life of prostitution. "Don't you want to get out of here?" he asks. "But it saves me from myself," she answers innocently. He leaves frustrated.

Bickle is (like the John Wayne character in "The Searchers") trying to rescue women who don't want to be rescued. It becomes his obsession that these women are being oppressed and that his goal in life is to set them free.

His obsession leads to violence when he purchases weapons and attempts to assassinate Palantine, but runs away almost as if, at the last moment, coming to his senses. But that is only the "dress rehearsel" for the climax of the film which is one of the most graphic scenes of violence ever filmed. It is shot in 'washed out' colors as if the ensuing violence has drained the blood from the film.

The famous line, "Are you talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here," spoken to himself in a mirror, has been many times mimiced but the meaning can only be fully realized in this film. It is the voice of a lonely man amidst the crowd, a voice of sarcasm at his own worthless condition. The condition we all find ourselves in from time to time.

The film ends with Bickle meeting Betsy one more time as he is driving her home in his cab (by a chance meeting). Her look has changed from one of disgust to admiration and the viewer senses that this scene is not real. That it is either his final dying thoughts or simply a fantasy in his mind. It is Bickle finally finding redemption, finally finding his place in society. It has all been resolved and now he can lead a normal life or die happily.

The case for delirium
The ending of Taxi Driver has generated a lot of controversy and confusion because most people tend to assume that it's a simple continuation of the narrative of the film. In critical studies, however, the possibility is often raised that the end (after the the shoot-out scene to the end of the movie) is no less than Bickle's dying delirious imagination. I want to set forth the case that this is so.

First, at the end of the shoot-out scene, Bickle rolls his eyes backwards in the classic movie signature of death. Just before, of course, he put his blood-dripping finger up to his temple and mimed blowing his own brains out (after having failed with the empty real guns). Bickle is suicidal, dying, and will not recover.

Second, after this scene the camera pans across various news clippings on the wall of Bickle's room; these clippings describe him as a "hero" that saved a young girl. Also we hear the voice-over of Iris' parents saying that Bickle would always be welcome in their home for saving Iris. But think about real life crimes for a moment. When newspapers report about a man that goes on a shooting spree in a run-down part of town, do they really ever report them as "heroes"? Even if Bickle could explain to them why he did this (Iris' dad says he was in a coma after the shoot-out), would anyone really take a person like this at their word? And would Iris' parents really want to allow a murderous man a place at their table? What we have here is Bickle's fantasy about how he _wants_ the press and Iris' folks to interpret his actions, not a realistic view of how the world generally views such actions.

Third (along the same lines as #2), it's hard to imagine Bickle's buddies at the cabstand glossing over his rampage and treating him like old times. Really, if a co-worker of mine were involved in so violent an incident, I would probably not hang out with him so blithely. This is Travis imaginging that things are "back to normal" after getting out of the hospital -- a fantasy of peace.

Fourth, Bickle happens to find Betsy in his cab soon after returning to work. How fortuitous in a city of millions! But their conversation shows that she now respects him, considers him a hero like the newspapers and Iris' parents. Again, extremely unlikely -- especially given their history. In real life if she heard about the rampage (or recognized him trying to kill Palentine), that would only tend to confirm her earlier opinion of him as a depraved person. But here she also interprets his actions in the way he wants them to be interpreted (that he saved Iris from the human scum that were selling her) rather than how she probably would in real life. (Also note that the photography of this scene always shows Betsy's face from his viewpoint, floating in a dreamlike way in his rear-view mirror.)

Fifth, when Bickle drops Betsy off she seems uncertain, embarrased, and demure, and is obviously just on the verge of offering some kind of intimate apology. Instead she asks how much is the fare. He drives off without accepting a dime. This is Bickle's triumph -- he wins their relationship battle by rejecting _her_, and by being confident, independent, and morally superior. Typical subconscious inversion tactic.

Sixth, as he drives off, Bickle sees himself in the car's rear-view mirror, then adjusts it to see if he can see Betsy. As he does so, a violent wrench is given to the accompanying musical score. Then we see no one in the mirror at all as the credits roll to Bernard Hermann's haunting love theme. There's nothing in the mirror (except the rolling, ubiquitous city) because Travis is not there. Its symbolic of his death -- like that of a vampire -- that the mirror doesn't show his reflection. Travis is dead and we have just witnessed his last thoughts.

Travis is only a hero in his own mind. There is no hero in this movie. It does not have a happy ending. Travis continues to justify his own behavior and viewpoint to the last, and grants himself a kind of sainthood -- beatified by the press, Iris' parents, and Betsy's acquiescence.

The tragedy of the movie is deepend by this reading of its end. To my mind, this also makes the movie more coherent, since it's main theme is the psychological isolation of Travis Bickle. The end consumates his separateness. Others will never connect to his vision of himself as a master (rather than a victim) of circumstance, a protector of innocence, a scourge of evildoers, an instrument of God's judgement.