Martin Scorsese Films Ranked

Posted on by Remy

  1. Raging Bull (1980)
  2. Taxi Driver (1976)
  3. Casino (1995)
  4. Goodfellas (1990)
  5. Gangs of New York (2002)
  6. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
  7. Mean Streets (1973)
  8. The Aviator (2004)
  9. The Departed (2006)
  10. The King of Comedy (1982)
  11. The Color of Money (1986)

Shutter Island debuts today.

[Click below for the write up.]

  1. While I dislike boxing,  I do love the aesthetics of it.
  2. Travis Bickle. Done.
  3. A flawless gangster movie, like the Godfather trilogy except six hours shorter.
  4. Has Ray Liotta done anything as remotely good since this movie?
  5. One of Leo’s weaker efforts and severely flawed (coughCameronDiazcough), but Bill the Butcher is one of the all time great badguys.
  6. Surprisingly funny.
  7. Underrated, De Niro’s breakout performance.
  8. Unwieldy and uneven, but with its dramatic moments.
  9. Outstanding individual efforts that are not totally undermined by the glitzy production value.
  10. A funnier oddball take on Paddy  Chayefsky’s Network. Also, Jerry Lewis!
  11. The 80s killed a lot of movies, despite the greatness of Paul Newman (this totally makes the movie worth it though).

Confessions:

I don’t remember Goodfellas well enough to defend its ranking. If you give reason for a lower ranking I’ll prolly believe you.  You may swap The Aviator with The Departed, I won’t complain, but The Departed isn’t even better than the original Infernal Affairs. I enjoyed the King of Comedy more than 6-10. It’s mysterious to me that I rank it lower.

I Have Not Seen:

Kundun (1997)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Cape Fear (1991)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
After Hours (1985)
New York, New York (1977)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Who’s That Knocking At My Door (1968)

Actually, I watched most of Cape Fear on television years and years ago and all I remember about it is that it has a ludicrous ending.

Published by Remy

Married to the Flowerpetal-eater Father to five rolling and rambunctious boys. I spend my time teaching the runes.

5 thoughts on “Martin Scorsese Films Ranked”

  1. the only Scorsese film i haven’t seen is Kundun.

    that said, here’s how you should rank Scorsese once you finish watching all of his work:

    1) Who’s that Knocking at My Door?
    2) Taxi Driver
    3) Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
    4) Goodfellas
    5) Mean Streets
    6) After Hours
    7) Last Temptation of Christ
    8 ) Raging Bull
    9) The Aviator
    10) Bringing Out the Dead
    11) The King of Comedy
    12) Boxcar Bertha
    13) The Color of Money
    14) Gangs of New York
    15) Casino
    16) The Departed
    17) Shutter Island
    18) New York, New York
    19) Age of Innocence
    20) Cape Fear

    Scorsese’s documentaries are rather insipid pieces, hence not ranked.

    Reply

  2. I’ve only watched the movies once with the exceptions of Raging Bull, Casino, and Goodfellas. That said, you might be right about Gangs being lower. All I’m remembering is Bill the Butcher and that long tracking shot leading to Bill the Butcher. Casino is waaay better than you give it credit. At some point I plan on watching Gangs and Aviator again. I’ll add a few more from his oeuvre and try it again.

    Reply

  3. Rems, I think we agree here more than we disagree, which might be a first. Here’s my ranking:

    1.Casino – you said it: flawless. Film school could be taught with this movie.
    2.Raging Bull – As good as DeNiro was with Bickle, I think this is his masterpiece. Pesci was excellent, too.
    3.Goodfellas – I can’t put my finger on what this movie is missing, but it’s just about perfect: so close to Casino/Godfather status, and yet…
    4.Taxi Driver – Superb character (Bickle), but the movie overall isn’t quite at the level of the top 3.
    5.The Departed – Much better than everyone gives it credit for. I have no problem with glitz, in fact, I think it works well here.
    6.Gangs of New York – Yeah, Cameron Diaz was awful, but Leo is better than you think. Give it another watch.
    7.Mean Streets – I saw this quite a few years ago, and only once, but I remember liking Keitel better.
    8.The Aviator – Not sure what it was, but I thought this was mostly average. Much more glitzy than The Departed, I didn’t think it worked as well.
    9.Bringing Out the Dead – The crash scene in the snow, filmed backwards is unbelievable, but I didn’t think overall it was nearly as funny as others did.
    10.Cape Fear – The ending wasn’t THAT far-fetched, given the craziness of the film itself. Genuninely frightening and well-made (big surprise), it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
    11.The Color of Money – Yeah, you hit it right on with the 80’s. Paul Newman and Tom Cruise should have been dynamite.

    -I haven’t seen the rest, either. But nearly all of these movies are fantastic, so the lowest-ranked are still better than most of the fluf out there. Scorcese is amazing, I can’t wait to see Shutter Island.

    Reply

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