best film: Raging Bull. Scorsese’s supreme masterpiece has moved to my #4 film of all-time. The opening credits, the battle with Sugar Ray (my god that lighting) and the slow-motion drive-by sequence with Frank Vincent are amongst the most beautiful images and sequences on celluloid. But as beautiful as the film is, it’s intercut with scenes as gritty and ugly in cinema history as well such as De Niro slapping his brother Joe Pesci, breaking the door down going after Cathy Moriarty, and the prison sequence slamming his fists into the wall. The craziest thing for De Niro is that this is not easily the best film. De Niro is in nine masterpieces. That’s the most for any lead (by at least 2) in film history. He’s not lead (nor the best performance) in Goodfellas and certainly his performance in Brazil is very supporting—but he’s the lead, co-lead, or show-stopping supporting (Godfather II, Mean Streets) in all the rest. Six of these nine masterpieces are in the top 100 of all-time. That’s absolutely staggering. They’re not quite at the masterpiece level but you can add 1900 and Casino to the list of films that are Must-See and worthy of being in their respective year’s top 5. Even if you take out his work with Scorsese (and why would you when you have Max von Sydow, Mifune, Mastroianni, Kinski so high on this list with their directors?) he’s been in five masterpieces and has a resume that could be a top 25 actor.
best performance: Raging Bull is the best screen performance of all-time. I’d listen to arguments (and probably have made a few myself over the years) on a handful of others focusing mainly on: Brando in On the Waterfront, Marie Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. The next tier of best performances of all-time may include Stewart in Vertigo, Mifune in Seven Samurai, Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves, and it’s also going to include another De Niro performance—his work as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver). But back to Raging Bull– it’s the definition of a tour-de-force transcendent performance. It’s an inhabitation of LaMotta- a transformation- and a landmark film and moment for screen acting, method acting, and dedication to a role (weight gain included along with everything else).
stylistic innovations/traits: It’s De Niro over Stewart, Brando, Bogart, Pacino, Nicholson Day-Lewis and others—and I don’t think it’s terribly close actually which is what is so amazing. De Niro gave us 29 archiveable films (and possibly counting of course as he’s still busy), most likely the greatest actor/auteur collaboration, the record for leads in a masterpiece, leads in a top 100 film, the best performance of all-time, and probably two of the top 10-15. To do his top 10 performances below I had to leave off a great performance in a top 5 of the year quality film (1900). De Niro’s run didn’t go for a few years here and there (like say Pacino or Nicholson in the 70’s) but really goes from Mean Streets in 1973 to Jackie Brown in 1997 (or 1998 if you want to include Ronin and Great Expectations). That’s 27 archiveable films in 25 years during that stretch. He experimented early in his career working with Bertolucci at the height of his run in the 1970’s and then going to Italy to shoot with Leone in the early 80’s. On the screen De Niro often played psychopaths or men of violence and/or self-destruction. He’d go through great lengths (becoming a taxi driver himself for a period of time) to make his performance seem natural. If you look at his first two archiveable films he really set the tone for his career by really going for it wildly over the top- (Mean Streets) to great success and underplaying a role and adding subtlety and internalizing brevity when the role called for it (Godfather Part II). De Niro won the acting face-off with Pacino in Michael Mann’s Heat (I mean in most careers being this good in a top 100 film of all-time is an easy career highlight). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his career post 1998 which, from an archiveable standpoint, consists of only two films—collaborations with David O. Russell. De Niro hasn’t been retired during this time of course, he’s been busier than ever turning out a ton of crap. As much as I complain about him now and lament the waste of talent– it still can’t erase his resume and whatever he lacks in a per film/performance average he more than makes up for by any other metric. If anything it’s just a shame that the greatest actor of all-time has been dormant, artistically, for so long. Perhaps I’m looking at it wrong and maybe any artist/actor only has so much to give and after being so dedicated for so long he just ran out of gas…
directors worked with: Scorsese (8) of course the collaboration to end all collaborations, David O. Russell (2) and then once a piece with Francis Ford Coppola, Bertolucci, Leone, Kazan, Cimino, Gilliam, De Palma, Michael Mann, Cuaron, and Tarantino
Top 10 Performances:
- Raging Bull
- Taxi Driver
- The Godfather Part II
- Deer Hunter
- Heat
- Mean Streets
- Once Upon a Time in America
- Casino
- Goodfellas
- The King of Comedy
Archiveable films
| 1973- Mean Streets |
| 1974- The Godfather Part II |
| 1976- 1900 |
| 1976- Taxi Driver |
| 1976- The Last Tycoon |
| 1977- New York, New York |
| 1978- The Deer Hunter |
| 1980- Raging Bull |
| 1982- The King of Comedy |
| 1984- Once Upon a Time in America |
| 1985- Brazil |
| 1986- The Mission |
| 1987- Angel Heart |
| 1987- The Untouchables |
| 1988- Midnight Run |
| 1989- Jacknife |
| 1990- Awakenings |
| 1990- Goodfellas |
| 1991- Cape Fear |
| 1993- A Bronx Tale |
| 1993- This Boy’s Life |
| 1995- Casino |
| 1995- Heat |
| 1997- Jackie Brown |
| 1997- Wag the Dog |
| 1998- Great Expectations |
| 1998- Ronin |
| 2012- Silver Linings Playbook |
| 2013- American Hustle |
[…] In his time in Tinseltown, he has been nominated for seven Academy Awards and taken home two Oscars. He took home his first prestigious statue for his role in The Godfather Part II as a young Vito Corleone; a character played by Marlon Brando in The first Godfather film. De Niro would later take home the award for Best Actor in a leading role for his performance in Raging Bull. Films like Cape Fear, Taxi Driver, and Silver Linings Playbook are also a testament to his amazing ability to captivate an audience every time he is on screen.[9] […]
« The next tier of best performances of all-time »
Why not a ranking of the best performances of all-time ?
@KidCharlemagne– Thanks for the comment. I’ve thought about it and had a few requests for it. Frankly my focus and interest lies more in directors. Perhaps when I’ve completed my director list and updated my year by year archives again.
Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando are a little better than Robert De Niro in my opinion. But for tastes the colors.
@ Pedro– all great choices and great actors. I don’t think anyone– not even Pacino, Nicholson and Brando can touch the 1-2 punch of De Niro’s work in “Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver”. The rest of the explanation on why he’s #1 is above but i’m confident in this.
Pacino could with The GF2/Dog Day Afternoon, Brando with a StreetCar Named Desire/on the waterfront,Hoffman with Midnight Cowboy,The Graduate,and Nicholson could with Chinatown/one flew over the Cuckoos nest.
This is by far the best such list I have ever seen. To me, ranking an actor/actress takes into account of both the performances and the quality of the films. Beautiful!
@Larry thank you so much for the kind words and for visiting the site. Glad we’re on the same page here on the quality of the films. I get a lot of feedback the other way but I’m confident in my method.
I totally agree with him being your number one actor of all time. I was a little unsure of the choice when I first navigated your site, but with time I think I agree. I mean, De Niro has been from rock solid to mind-blowingly good in landmark films so I totally get it. There is literally no other actor in the history of cinema who has been in the Godfather part II, taxi driver, the deer hunter, raging bull and goodfellas. Just these five films and these five performances of course, and he’s already top 10. Then throw in casino, Cape fear, heat and everything else and it makes for the perfect number one pick. What always saddened me in De Niro’s case is that ever since the late nineties he’s been making incredibly mediocre (some of the are even actually bad) films. I think it is a good thing that the Irishman came along in 2019 – in that way we have another great film and performance to celebrate, and it makes for an appropriate addition to the twilight of this amazing career.
@Georg– so happy to hear we’re on the same page here all around. Yes, so I really got into cinema in 1999 so for the last 20 years De Niro has really been mediocre. In a lot of bad movies. But if you go back it’s really not even that close- pairing with Scorsese, but also working with Leone, Bertolucci, Coppola in masterpieces or borderline masterpieces to name a few.
What do you think of Marvin’s Room (1996) and The Score (2001)??
@AP- I’ve seen both- thought they were good- but have them both sitting outside of the archives. I’d see them both again though to make sure. How about you?
I think his work as Rupert Pupkin should be higher.I thought he was better here than he was in Mean Streets.
Undoubtedly. Except Brando,no other actor is close
What will be his next 5 best performances?Does Irishman crack the top 10?
@Janith – No, his work in the Irishman doesn’t crack the top 10
How about his work with barry levinson wizard of lies(2017) and sleepers(1996) and also intern(2015)
@ Janith- I have seen all three
What do you think about Barry Levinson?He has acclaimed films like diner,the natural,good morning vietnam,rain man,bugsy,wag the dog and also the above mentioned sleepers,wizard of lies as well as his two television films with Al Pacino you dont know jack and paterno.Is he close to the top 200 directors list
@Janith– thanks for the comment. I’m actually very close to Levinson on my list. He’ll be coming up shortly.
Do you think De Niro should have won the Oscar for both Taxi Driver and Deer Hunter in 1976 and 1978?
Over Peter Finch in Network and Jon Voight in Coming Home?
Do you think he got robbed of the oscar in both 1976 and 1978?
Absolutely stolen in 1976, Finch only won because he died.
would you argue much if i said perhaps wayne in the searchers is better than raging bull de niro. now thinking about it it might be the greatest performance ever. the way you see his relation with marty evolve and a warmth you don’t always see with wayne. the duke should have won this oscar im sure.
@m – I think very highly of Wayne’s work in The Searchers– so you wouldn’t get a massive argument from me
Both Cop Land(1997) and The Score(2001) need to be in the archives.What a cast.Both are Certified Fresh on RT.
Deer Hunter Part 2 is coming.Are you excited?
What?
Deer Hunter 2: The Hunt Continues was released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows and Classic Mac OS.
I mean the second ever collaboration between Walken and De Niro.I’m sure this will get a lot of awards.
I have a hard time accepting Rupert Pupkin as his 10th best.should be at least 6th or even 5th.One of the memorable film characters ever.I can’t get Rupert Pupkin out my head.
Top ten performances of all time?
Hi @Finn. Here is a list. http://thecinemaarchives.com/2017/12/27/its-a-wonderful-life-1946-capra/
Thanks
Why do you have the Casino photo here instead of The Deer Hunter photo?He is clearly better in The Deer Hunter.
My personal top ten DeNiro performances
1. Taxi Driver (1976) (Martin Scorsese)
2. Raging Bull (1980) (Scorsese)
3. The Godfather Part II (1974) (Francis Ford Coppola)
4. The King of Comedy (1982) (Scorsese)
5. GoodFellas (1990) (Scorsese)
6. The Deer Hunter (1978) (Michael Cimino)
7. Casino (1995) (Scorsese)
8. Heat (1995) (Michael Mann) (just saw this movie and was blown away)
9. Cape Feat (1991) (Scorsese)
10. Mean Streets (1973) (Scorsese)
What about Once Upon a Time in America? Subtle and masterful. To me, it’s clearly better than his smaller performances, however great, in Goodfellas and even Godfather II.
Honestly, and I feel embarrassed to say this, but I didn’t like Once Upon a Time in America that much. It was too long and I actually got bored, but I’ve only seen it once, I plan to give it another chance. I didn’t like a few of Sergio Leone’s films though, same with Eastwood.
The Eastwood Leone films aren’t for everyone. I like in the west a lot but America is a masterpiece. It is like clockwork orange in its brutality and just like that great film its aesthetic is beautiful undeniably. De niro is great as he lives with regret and longing, an old romantic who ruined his chances. Like Pacino in godfather iii he could be forgiven but he doesn’t believe it so he just drifts on. This is a film more than any other that I would call “Lyrical” I suppose.
I am so glad that u consider America a masterpiece. This is my favorite film of all time for over 3 decades. Watched it at least a dozen times. De Niro gave a great understated but heartbreaking performance. Morricone’s sound track is the best film score of all time.
My ranking of his performances :
1 – Raging Bull (1980)
2 – Taxi Driver (1976)
3 – The Deer Hunter (1978)
4 – The Godfather Part II (1974)
5 – The King of Comedy (1982)
6 – Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
7 – Casino (1995)
8 – Mean Streets (1973)
9 – New York, New York (1977)
10 – Heat (1995)
It is really amazing that you have the same actor and actress as best of all time as mine. Since my last visit a year ago, De Niro added another masterpiece, the Irishman under his repertoire. Although I dislike Joker, it is surely another archivable film. I also want to comment how great he was in The king of Comedy and the Untouchables. I have come to regard the King of Comedy among the top 30-40 male performances of all time. Taxi driver and Raging bull are on my all time top 10 list and these two go back and forth as number 1 of all time for me. Once upon a time in America is my favorite film of all time. Taxi driver and raging Bull among top 25. godfather 2, 1900, Goodfellas, the deer Hunter, the Irishman, Brazil, heat and the king of comedy are all on my all time top 250 list. So that is a staggering 11 films.
Similarly Ingrid Bergman has 5-6 films on my top 250 of all time list. She is lead or sole lead in all of them. Arguably the most international actress of all time, Ms Bergman worked with some of the absolutely best auteurs of all time in US and Europe, her impeccable filmography, star power, box office draw and award recognition made her by far the First Lady of world cinema. It is not even close.
@Larry– very happy to hear we’re on the same page with the best actor and actress of all time. Agree on the “most international actress of all-time”– any other candidates? Juliette Binoche?
Good stuff here, I consider De Niro as the greatest actor of all time too.
My top-10 De Niro performances are:
1. Raging Bull
2. Taxi Driver
3. The Godfather 2
4. Awakenings
5. The King of Comedy
6. The Deer Hunter
7. Casino
8. Cape Fear
9. Mean Streets
10. Once Upon a Time in America
Honorable mentions: Angel Heart, Heat and This Boy’s Life.
I think you’re overlooking and massively underrating his performance in Awakenings (so do many critics and also most of the audience). It’s an amazing movie with amazing De Niro performance. Yes, I agree the movie isn’t as good as other movies starring De Niro (Taxi Driver, Heat, Casino for example and a bunch of other movies that came in 1990, with or without De Niro. You have it as an R in the archives, I personally have Awakenings as the 9th best movie of 1990 and a HR). In my opinion De Niro gives one of the all-time greatest screen performances in it. The speech he gives when he is starting to deteriorate again is so amazing and moving, and the final parts of the movie when De Niro is defiant and fighting with the nursing staff while he is losing control of his body is just some of his best acting. It’s an amazing and powerful movie based on a true story and a poignant reminder of how fragile humans are. You should go watch archived footage of person that has Encephalitis lethargica (also known as “sleepy sickness”) he is portraying, it looks so real. It’s a perfect, very touching performance and an all timer in my opinion. It also showed his softer side, and we really haven’t seen it much in his career. 100% deserved the Oscar nomination for it and I personally think he should have won an Oscar for this performance.
I think you’re underrating his performance in The King of Comedy too. It’s honestly one of the most painful acting performances I have ever seen. I think Rupert Pupkin can be us when it comes to our dreams. Overly ambitious and daring. Sometimes we lose sight of how big our dreams are and don’t look wide enough to see we may never get to attain those dreams. Rupert, kind of like De Niro’s other character Travis Bickle, loses sight of reality and engages in abnormal behavior that escalates into crime. Perhaps Rupert is suppose to teach us to control our ambitions and to be more cynical. A more cynical performance than Travis in my opinion. I think this performance should have been nominated for Oscar of the best actor in a leading role and should have won it.
(Sorry for possible misspelled english, as it’s not my native language)
Can’t say I’m with you there on Heat and Mean Streets. They have some of De Niro’s greatest performances. I also think the placement of The Deer Hunter as his #4 is quite accurate. Probably in between you and Drake on The King of Comedy, I wouldn’t go as low as Drake does nor as high as you do.
This should’ve been a reply to above, but it wasn’t for some reason.
Where would you rank Mean Streets, King of Comedy and Heat in his performances?
Why do you think his performance in Heat is so great? No, i don’t think it’s bad, it’s an amazing performance actually, but in my books it’s not in his top-10, althrough Heat is in my top-50 movies and his 4th best movie in my books (after Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Once Upon a Time in America). Neil, who De Niro plays, is at one moment driven by anger, at other times, quiet, introspective, almost sweet. The scene when he strides toward Charlene berating her for cheating on Chris is an amazing piece of acting. Then the famous restaurant scene, when Hanna, played by Pacino takes Neil for coffee; He is quiet, almost delicate. Of course, he does the lip thing, the half closed eyes, but it works – it’s authentic, rather than parody, because there is an unblinking confidence to it all. Amazing performance, but not in my top-10 De Niro performances.
After a futher thinking I think i should swap his performances in Casino and Mean Streets. In Mean Streets there’s a completely different energy and physicality he brings to that role than a lot of his other work in that era, and it feels like he laid out a template a lot of other guys would follow as the fuck up scumbag friend who ruins his best friend’s attempts to safely navigate the underworld.
Do you think Robert De Niro should have at least been nominated(or even won) at the oscars for Heat(1995)?
@Anderson- I absolutely do, yes
De Niro has the most archivable films for a male actor(32) inside the top 100. 5 films in the top 100. He has been in a staggering 21 films that should land in the top 10 of their respective year(HR). And has 2 of the best film performances of all time. What an incredible career.
As much as i love his acting , his work and career(from 1973 to 2000); i think after 2000s it just feels like that he’s in a contest of producing the more trashier film than the last one. I hang my head in shame when i see the same man who did raging bull do dirty grandpa.
Someone like James Stewart never lost his game.
I feel like Nicholson and pacino may not deliver masterpieces now but constantly deliver watchable movies (Nicholson is retired now).
And actors like willem dafoe, DDL and gary oldman have aged beautifully they are as relevant and consistent as they were back in the day.
Lol. Did you see even see Dirty Grandpa? How about Brando in Island of Dr Moreau? DDL in Nine? Al Pacino in Jack and Jill? Bruce Willis in 99% of what he does.is I have never watched this movies. Nor do I intend to. It’s better to avoid these ones.
Like I said he has 32 archivable films. Most for a male actor in the top 100 and 21 of them land in the top 10 of their respective year(HR). That’s staggering. So your argument for other actors doesn’t mean a thing. Because they don’t have this many archivable films. And if you are talking crap about his work this century. It’s officially over. He has five archivable films this decade(Limitless, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joker, The Irishman) and 2 nice resume builders(Silver linings playbook, The Irishman). The Wizard of Lies(2017) is a very watchable movie with a very good De Niro performance. Even though it is currently not in the archives.
This is probably true, but how much effect this has on his ranking is dependent on whether you’re valuing people by primarily their successes or if failures are a primary component as well. On this website, Drake does mostly the former, and I generally agree. Who is better, a person with 10 successes and no misses or one with 12 successes and 8 misses? That’s a foundational question.
@Graham-This is not true either. It’s more like Drake doesn’t give a shit about bad performances. So this page was written before Irishman came out. 5 archivable films and 2 nice resume builders(Irishman, Silver Linings Playbook) this decade is pretty good. Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp only has one archivable film each this decade and they are 20 years younger than De Niro. Maybe this line “turning out a ton of crap” belong on their pages. Not in De Niro’s page. If someone is obsessed with watching any other De Niro film other than these 32 archivable ones. I can recommend The Wizard of Lies(2017) and The Score(2001). He is good in both these films as a lead and these are very worthy and good films. Even though they are currently not in the archives.
I agree with you. I’m not sure if you’re trying to refute my comment or not, because your evidence here has nothing to do with what I said. You’re definitely right: many other actors who were once great have done worse than De Niro has this decade. I feel like you’re really strawmanning, though; you’ve stated facts that are true, but do not counter what MASH and I are saying at all. Neither of us (or you for that matter) is arguing against De Niro’s greatness, or against what you are saying. Despite that his recent accomplishments do not quite compare to his achievements decades ago, he still far exceeds almost every other actor in history.
No. I’m sorry I didn’t try to counter. De Niro was once the best actor on the planet. Now he is not. But for most actors in the top 25 Silver Linings Playbook and The Irishman make their top 10. It’s DDL’s choice that he acted in very few movies but you guys are making it seem like DDL didn’t have any misses. The Ballad of Jack and Rose and Nine are both rotten. I heard that he is pretty badly miscast in Nine. Dwelling on bad movies are meaningless. That’s why I said Drake and myself as well doesn’t give a shit about them. I hope he is recovering well from his leg injury and get back to work with Scorsese and Russell.
@Anderson- you and I are on the same page overall with De Niro– but check out his metacritic page… now, metacritic isn’t gospel, but just look at the colors here, lots of red and yellow https://www.metacritic.com/person/robert-de-niro . I still think he’s pretty easily the best of all-time regardless. But I do think about if he had continued to strive for the same quality of work over the last 20 years. Again, the collaborations with David O. Russell are great, and hell, he’s back working with Scorsese again. But there are a lot of Little Fockers and Grudge Match’s on that page.
@Drake-I think the 2000’s decade is the problem. He could have done so much great work at that stage of his career. But considering his age and the films he made in the 2000’s I don’t think you ever expected him to feature in 5 archivable films and give two stellar performances(The Irishman, Silver Linings Playbook). So you have to appreciate that. And for many actors in the top 25 Silver Linings Playbook and The Irishman fall in their top 10.
Now this one is pretty sad. Considering his age as well. He gives us Black Mass to remind us how great of an actor he can be. But other than that there are a lot of Mortdecai’s and Alice through the looking glass in here.
https://www.metacritic.com/person/johnny-depp
Have you been able to catch The Wizard of Lies(2017)? It is certified fresh on rotten tomatoes. And I thought De Niro was good here in the lead.
@Anderson- I have seen The Wizard of Lies- is is solid, as is De Niro in it. You’ve convinced me on his 2010’s- that’s a fine collection. Overall though part of why this is a discussion is the sheer number of films De Niro has been is. It is more than not only the very selective, like Daniel Day Lewis, but the only actor in the top 10 actors of all-time with more films overall is Mifune and I just wasn’t around to see most of Mifune’s films (he has like almost 200 IMDB credits).
@Graham– indeed. The problem I had with that is those like Falconetti, Bjork, Ledger or James Dean who died so early, retired, etc… If De Niro gets hit by a bus in 1983 is that version of De Niro better than the one with Goodfellas, Casino, Heat, Untouchables, Silver Linings, Once Upon a Time in America, etc.?
@M*A*S*H- I agree with much of this. I lament some of De Niro’s choices in the 21st century. But, I mean there’s no touching De Niro’s work from 1973-1998 (including the great names you mention here from Stewart, Nicholson and Pacino to Dafoe, DDL and Oldman). They simply don’t compare
I think my comment is being taken in a negative way. I’m not trying to criticize him in anyway shape or form. I’m complaining or rather mourning the mountain of bad movies that will forever be associated with him. I admire the courage of the makers of those films (who probably might have seen taxi driver or raging bull or deer hunter) who offer him such roles.
About Dafoe or Oldman , i meant they were working in 80s and 90s but are doing their best work now in this century.
DDL according me worships the medium and probably will die before doing senseless comedies.
De niro is a great actor. I think he was top 10 in 1980 and 1995 might have solidified him as a definate top 5 or 3.
The last quote doesn’t make any sense. He doesn’t need Jackie Brown, Silver Linings Playbook and The Irishman to become the best actor of all time. If you are saying he doesn’t had depth at that time that doesn’t make any sense either. Because he has New York, New York(1977), Cape Fear(1991), The Untouchables(1987), 1900(1976), Brazil(1985) that fall outside his top 10 at that time. Certainly Jackie Brown, The Irishman, Silver Linings Playbook added to his depth.
This just made me realize all of his top 18 performances have come in top 10 of the year quality or higher movies. That’s truly remarkable.
What i meant by that is … drake has him on #1 not everyone else does (i believe most of the people will have brando at #1). But de niro doesn’t deserve to be below top 3 or 5 on anyone’s list and that’s definitive.
I get it. But still some of that quote doesn’t make any sense. It’s more like he definitely doesn’t deserve to be any lower than #1 after 1995. He gets 10 full mentions for his top 10 performances. And has incredible depth.
But let’s just forget that and say others can have an argument. Actually Pacino is the 6th best but if someone is gonna make an argument for Pacino it should be based on that 3rd best performance. I think Pacino has the edge over De Niro in that department. So maybe De Niro can be 6th. So that definitive top 3 thing doesn’t make any sense either. I don’t know about other actors but Brando and Pacino definitely has a claim to being the best of all time based on their top 3. But if we are talking whole careers De Niro easily come out on top even without his post 1995 work(Jackie Brown, Silver Linings Playbook, The Irishman). Haha. Donnie Brasco and The Wild One can’t hold a candle to King of Comedy.
I fully agree with you. Sorry if we misinterpreted your comment. I wasn’t trying to imply that I thought you were criticizing De Niro’s greatness (clearly you aren’t), but my comment may have seemed to indicate that I thought that.
I think one of the biggest compliments you could give De Niro, is that you could take five of the best films that he’s in, and it would be a decent (but not great) attempt at a list of the five best films, I don’t think you can do that for other actors.
eg. Godfather II, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Once Upon a Time in America and Raging Bull
@Harry- good point
Canterbury Glass (O. Russell), Killers of the Flowers Moon (Scorsese) & maybe Armageddon Time (Gray). I can’t wait…
@KidCharlemagne- it is exciting to see him taking on more serious projects again. I hope the De Niro / DiCaprio (Scorsese’s male muses) pairing lives up.
@Drake-Who do you think gave the better performance Pacino in Heat or De Niro in The Irishman? And are you a little dissapointed by their performances because they play integral roles in 2 fantastic films.
@Anderson- Pacino in Heat. Sure- I guess a little disappointed, but I usually keep my focus on the stronger elements of the film (including the other performances)
Isn’t there a page on Heat(1995)? I couldn’t find it.
@Anderson- not currently. It is coming soon. The Michael Mann pages will be coming out in the next few weeks
Do you agree that after year 1995, he hadn’t have a great performance? I think that Heat and Casino in one year destroyed him, and the only performance of his in 21st century worthy of talking about is in Silver Linings Playbook, and even that one is not in my top 10.
@RujK- 1995 is probably the last time he gave one of the best performances of the year though he does still have another nine archiveable films now post 1995. I guess it depends on what you mean by “worthy of talking about” but even if I do not think he gives one of the best performances in the film (let alone the year)- I think his work in The Irishman is worth talking about.
@RujK – while it is not a master performance De Niro showed off some comedic chops in films such as Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000). While these may not be the type of films that are the focus of this site they never the less demonstrate some additional range that people may not know he had.
Funny enough Meet the Parents (2000) was the first De Niro movie I saw (I was 11 or 12 years old at the time). I watched it with my family in a hotel room during a vacation and we all loved it. My Mom and Dad were quite amused by De Niro (his role being so atypical for him) and I didn’t get it at the time.
DeNiro was so effective and affecting in Bang the Drum Slowly. It’s a brilliant performance.
Whats crazy is if you get rid of his collaboration with scorsese (lets leave one film (one film isnt really a “collaboration” in my mind), lets say raging bull) hes still probably the best actor ever
@Big chungus- Right- this was one of the major revelations from doing this exercise.
AND he didnt do anything of note for an entire decade (analyze this and meet the parents were a fun time tho)
And then he had joker and the irishman in 2019, and i believe another Orussel and another scorsese film in the next couple years. Hes having a mini comback in his late 70s (as is pacino) yay!!
My top 15 :
1 – Raging Bull
2 – Taxi Driver
3 – The Godfather Part II
4 – The Deer Hunter
5 – Once Upon a Time in America
6 – The King of Comedy
7 A Heat
8 – Casino
9 – Mean Streets
10 – New York, New York
11 – Cape Fear
12 – Goodfellas
13 – Jackie Brown
14 – Brazil
15 – 1900
The Greatest Actor Ever.
Drake, where do you think De Niro ends up on the list with *only* his Scorse collaborations, and everything *but* his Scorsese collaborations?
@Matthew, from this page:
“Even if you take out his work with Scorsese (and why would you when you have Max von Sydow, Mifune, Mastroianni, Kinski so high on this list with their directors?) he’s been in five masterpieces and has a resume that could be a top 25 actor.”
@Matthew- Yep- Harry grabbed this comment here- thanks @Harry. After updating the female actor top 100 list, I’ll move to the male side and will spend some time looking at De Niro- his resume is just so impressive.