Product Details

• Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Frank Adu, Victor Argo
• Directors: Martin Scorsese
• Writers: Paul Schrader
• Producers: Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips, Phillip M. Goldfarb
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: June 15, 1999
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (439 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767830555
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,170 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scorsese's 1976 New York City in 1080P never looked so good!, April 5, 2011

By 

DEEP B FLAT "ORANGE" (Venice, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taxi Driver [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

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.

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Special Edition that this film so richly deserves., August 15, 2007

By 

Cubist (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (DVD)

The first disc features an audio commentary by Professor Robert Kolker. He analyzes the film's style and themes but tends to describe what we are seeing making obvious statements. He talks about the influence of Alfred Hitchcock's movies on Taxi Driver but in mind-numbingly boring way.

The second commentary is by the film's screenwriter Paul Schrader. He points out Travis' contradictory nature - he talks about purifying his body yet he also takes speed. There are several lulls during this commentary but he more than makes up for it with some excellent observations about the film and the nature of screenwriting.

"Original Screenplay" allows you to read the original shooting script and then go to the corresponding scene in the film.

The second disc starts off with "Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver." He talks about the genesis of the film and how hard it was to get a studio interested. Scorsese says that visually, everything is from Travis' point-of-view.

"Producing Taxi Driver" features Michael Phillips briefly discussing how he became a producer and how he got the script for Taxi Driver. When he saw Mean Streets, he knew that he wanted Scorsese to direct and Robert De Niro to star.

"God's Lonely Man" examines the theme of loneliness in the film and profiles Schrader, his background and it informed the script.

"Influence and Appreciation: Martin Scorsese Tribute" features fellow filmmakers Roger Corman and Oliver Stone along with actor Robert De Niro and others paying tribute to the man.

"Taxi Driver Stories" includes anecdotes told by actual New York cabbies who worked in the city during the `70s. Some of their stories are wilder than some that are in the film.

"Making Taxi Driver" is the excellent 70 minute retrospective documentary that was included on the previous edition. It takes a fascinating, in-depth look at how the film came together with most of the major cast and crew members returning, including De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd and Albert Brooks. This is excellent doc. with loads of information.

"Travis' New York" reflects on New York City of the `70s. The film's director of photography Michael Chapman points out that now the film is a documentary of what the city looked like back then.

"Travis' New York Locations" is a very cool featurette that compares nine locations used in the movie then with what they look like now and not surprisingly most them look very different.

There is a "Storyboard to Film Comparison" with an optional introduction by Scorsese.

Finally, there are several galleries with stills taken on location, for publicity purposes, shots of composer Bernard Herrmann's sheets music for the score and posters.

269 of 333 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The case for delirium, March 9, 2003

By 

Stanley Allen (League City, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

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.